It’s comforting to see Donald Trump as a buffoon, to accept the facade he presents of a blustering and ill-educated ignoramus who does not understand the world of geopolitics. But that is nonsense.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Donald Trump at the Ben Gurion airport in May 2017, during the U.S. president’s first trip to Israel. (Amos Ben Gershom, GPO, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)
By Craig Murray
CraigMurray.org.uk
What if Trump’s apparently chaotic thought processes and intuitive decision making are all a blind, a charade? What if we are really witnessing, in the Middle East and more widely, a carefully constructed plan with very definite objectives?
Has Trump in fact “planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway”, while flinging the chaff of apparent chaos? I realise that this is not intuitive, but bear with me…
What kicked off my thinking was the revelation by Lockheed Martin that they had been instructed by Trump, months in advance of the attack on Iran, to massively increase production of interceptor missiles, with a short term goal of quadrupling capacity of THAAD.
In January, before the start of the current conflict, Fox News was already reporting on various deals, including a trebling of PAC3 MSE interceptor deliveries, having been finalised between Lockheed and the Department of War.
While obviously there are supply chain and production line constraints on the ability to ramp up production within months, the urgency of this activity – almost entirely focused on interceptor missiles – that started in 2025 is in hindsight a clear indication that early war with Iran was expected. It is plain evidence of premeditation.
The second thing that triggered my thought that this is all carefully planned, is the nature of the breakdown of the nuclear deal talks. It appears there was a broad consensus that Iran offered concessions which made a deal very practical, in particular giving up its stocks of enriched uranium into trust (a proposal Iran had historically rejected when Putin offered to hold the material). Both the hosts, Oman and the British thought a deal was there.
The failure of the talks is being spun as due to the incompetence and lack of technical knowledge of Witkoff and Kushner. But I just don’t buy this. The sending of unqualified negotiators was part of a ploy to use the negotiations as cover for an attack – the second time in a year that the United States had pulled the same trick.
They didn’t need competent negotiators, because they had never intended a good faith negotiation.
The attack on Iran was always planned by Trump. He was not “bounced into it” by Israel. It had been in gestation for months. That fact had been held within a very tight circle to avoid both political opposition and institutional opposition from the US military and intelligence community.
January’s protests in Iran found ordinary people genuinely ready to protest, motivated by economic hardship caused by sanctions. But they were guided and abused by Mossad and C.I.A. agents among the Iranian people, who committed and encouraged violence and initiated pro-Shah chanting.
There was never the slightest possibility the protests would bring regime change, but that was not the intention. The purpose was to incite an over-reaction by the Iranian government that could “justify” the planned attack on Iran. The dead protestors have been great martyrs for Trump’s – and Israel’s – wider cause.
The planting by Western state-sponsored individuals and organisations of ludicrous claims throughout Western state and corporate media of thirty to forty thousand killed, was a deliberate and considered plan to reduce domestic opposition in the West to the forthcoming war against Iran.
Now factor in another apparently random act by Trump – the astonishing kidnapping of President Maduro of Venezuela on 3 January, a month before the attack on Iran.
Trump’s naval blockade of Venezuela’s oil has secured a U.S. monopoly of its sale and distribution. As with Iraq, only US-approved contractors can buy the oil and payments are made to a Trump-controlled account in Qatar, from which revenue is given to the Venezuelan government entirely at Trump’s discretion.
This audacious imperialist grab of the world’s largest oil reserve further insulated the USA against the effects of the forthcoming closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Again, the narrative is being spun that Trump did not foresee the closure of the Strait by Iran. That is plainly a nonsense – every commentary on a potential Iran war for half a century has focused on the Strait of Hormuz. The only possible explanation is that Trump does not mind the closure.
While, as Trump says, the United States does not need the oil that comes through the Strait, the apparent weakness in his case is that higher oil prices are universal and hit Trump’s support, particularly as Americans fill their gas tanks.
But to concentrate on this is to make the fundamental error of imagining that Trump cares about what is good for the American people. He does not. He cares about what is good for Donald J. Trump and his immediate circle.
Here is the Chevron share price over the last month:
And here is Lockheed Martin. Note that the start of the 40% leap in share price coincides with those instructions last year on massively ramping up interceptor production.
Not to mention, of course, that the really big fortunes will have been made in oil and derivative commodity futures by those who knew this war was coming (acting through proxies).
The $200 billion Trump is requesting from Congress to continue the war is going to make an awful lot of well-connected people even richer.
So the plan is the making of fortunes, the strengthening of the military-industrial complex and the ratcheting up under cover of national cohesion in war of the authoritarianism that has reduced freedom of speech and outlawed dissent against Israel across the Western world.
To benefit Israel is the other predominant motive.
Trump’s thrashing about to articulate objectives for the war in Iran is performative, a blind to cover his true and steadfast objective – simply the annihilation of Iran as a functioning state, the infliction of the maximum amount of death and infrastructural damage, the reduction of Iran to the condition of Libya.
It goes without saying that the seizure of control of Iran’s hydrocarbons by the U.S. is the ultimate endgame of this destruction, exactly as in Libya and in Iraq. But a linked and crucial objective is the elimination of the source of the only physical resistance to the expansion of Israel. Iran and its allies in Yemen and Lebanon have been the sole support of the Palestinians for years.
The colonial settler state of Israel is central to the projection of imperialist power in the Middle East. Its expansion is an essential part of the plan.
Destruction of Iran on the scale envisaged will take years of hard pounding. Again, it is planned – you don’t ask Congress for an instalment of $200 billion for a war you plan to wrap up in a month.
Again, Trump’s taunts about having already won, objectives being achieved and about possibly finishing soon, are all just smoke and mirrors. The scale and horror of what is planned for Iran has to be obfuscated to limit a public revulsion that would be echoed in parts of the state apparatus.
Netanyahu yesterday revealed an interesting part of the endgame – construction of an oil pipeline that brings Iran’s oil out to be shipped from a Mediterranean terminal in Israel. That is a breathtakingly audacious plan, but absolutely aligns with Netanyahu’s and Trump’s actions.
Which brings us to the Greater Israel side of the project. Israel is not going to put any of its ships or soldiers in harm’s way in Iran – that is the American contribution.
But while the world is primarily watching Iran, Israel is starting a large-scale invasion of Lebanon with the aim of annexing all of Southern Lebanon permanently, even beyond the Litani River and including the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh, both currently under Israeli evacuation orders.
This land of course adjoins the annexed Golan Heights and the much larger area of Southern Syria that Israel has annexed in the past year with the acquiescence of Zionist puppet “President” al-Jolani.
It is essential not to lose sight of the bipartisan nature of the United States’ long term plan. In a very real sense Trump is continuing – if greatly accelerating – the policy under Biden, who protected and enabled the Genocide in Gaza.
The success of this US policy is phenomenal. Just consider that only 18 months ago the Zionist “Presidents” al-Jolani of Syria and Aoun of Lebanon were not in power. Both were brought to power as a result of US-aligned military action, by Israel against Hezbollah and by the C.I.A.- and MI6-sponsored HTS forces. Put in place by Biden, they are now central to Trump’s strategy.
Aoun and al-Jolani are now united in threatening Hezbollah in the rear as it fights a desperate action against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Meanwhile Israel officially occupies over 60 percent of the Gaza Strip – under cover of Trump’s “Board of Peace,” and continues to murder, blockade and starve the inhabitants of the remnant, while the de facto expansion of Israel into the West Bank and the levels of settler violence are escalating to levels of the utmost barbarity.
Iranian resistance is noble and Iran’s resilience has surprised many. It will be able to make any ground invasion, or even limited incursion, extremely costly for the United States. But as in Gaza or Lebanon, if the U.S. and Israel are content simply to pound from the air for years with devastating force, and with no concern whatsoever for civilian casualties, ultimately all Iran can do is hang on and try to survive.
Given another year of destruction at the current levels of intensity, I do not believe that Iran would effectively be sending many missiles and drones back in self-defence.
In a week or two we will hit the period of maximum Iranian effectiveness, where depletion of U.S.-supplied interceptor missiles coincides with Iran retaining significant strike power. Israel’s fragile civilian morale will then be tested severely for a few weeks.
Iran’s capacity to defend against massive, years-sustained aerial bombardment is limited. We should not blind ourselves to that fact out of current joy at the Americans and Israelis getting a bloody nose.
It is comforting to see Trump as a buffoon, to accept the facade he presents of a blustering and ill-educated ignoramus, who swings wildly between policy options, and who does not understand the world of geopolitics.
But that is nonsense.
I have no hesitation in characterising Trump’s genius as evil, focused on personal gain and willing to inflict any amount of death, maiming and deprivation on innocent civilians to attain his goals. But he is indeed attaining his goals on the world stage.
Trump has forced the Security Council to underwrite his Board of Peace. This was a quite astonishing diplomatic triumph over a helpless Russia and China, both of which decided that other negotiations with Trump were more important.
Trump has presided over Israel expanding on the ground by the day. Trump has taken Venezuela’s oil, the largest reserves in the world. Trump is currently killing the people of Iran and destroying their infrastructure, while feigning indecision.
You should hate Trump: but he is no clown.
Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010. His coverage is entirely dependent on reader support. Subscriptions to keep this blog going are gratefully received.
Subscriptions to keep Craig Murray’s blog going are gratefully received. Because some people wish an alternative to PayPal, Murray has set up new methods of payment including a GoFundMe appeal and a Patreon account.
This article is from CraigMurray.org.uk.
Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Some are suggesting that removing the two partners in crime forever, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from political power is a choice which is becoming a matter of survival.
Others suggest a correctable inaccuracy in the wording of that proposal:
Removing Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu from political power – and putting a stop to their global mass murder crime spree, arguably a global mass murder crime spree begun in late 2019-early 2020 and continuing up until today – HAS become a matter of survival.
Peace.
Brilliant, rare Integrative Complexity 7-level analysis. Trump is indeed hateful, nut also the most significant President since FDR. It’s as though Hitler did not invade Russia, stopped the holocaust, and won and kept Europe.
That could all be true. At the same time Israel coul be the tail wagging the US dog.
Meaning, Trump is the instrument and Israeli interests are using it to persue their expansionist objectives.
You can focus on all the buffoonery, the hijinks & rank incompetence but if you turn your gaze a bit in another direction, you’d have to admit that since just after 911 & the plan for the GWOT, some specifics as later revealed by General Wesley Clark, the neo-con goal was to destroy or render inoperable 7 Muslim countries in the Middle East in 5 years. Look at the results, 6 out of 7, so far on target if not on time.
Yeah, given the shifts in global power & growing challenges to US Supremacy that plan now sounds stupid, unworkable. But what else have they got but to go for the 7th target, Iran? With time drifting away to best China.
Personally, I think it’s useful to see Trumpolini as a sort of MC for the interests of the big money behind him calling the shots. It’s a reminder that he’s like a distracting sideshow to the main event or maybe like the tip of the proverbial iceberg? That makes me wonder, are there any icebergs in Greenland? Could be an overlooked hoodoo kind of attraction for him.
It certainly seems to me that there is one and only one Western Empire with many factions now fighting amongst themselves. The talk of the US in charge or Israel in charge is a great cover each can point at the other – it is one empire one merciless anti-humanist mono-theistic enemy of humanity.
Craig Murray is giving Trump waaaaayyyyyy to much credit. Trump has a track record of being an idiot. There are others pulling the strings of which he is more than happy to dance to their puppeteering. His tactics are of a simpleton that is able to get away with anything he wants because in the final analysis they benefit. Why do you think the “electors” voted him in twice to begin with! Case in point: Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte, Boris Johnson, George Bush, Idi Amin, Benito Mussolini, are great examples of imbeciles who were intelligently impaired, yet they held the highest office in their province. Just because someone is able to get away with their shenanigans does not give them a claim to higher intelligence, but in essence reveal the frailty and vulnerability of the system they inhabit. Anyone giving Trump a title of intelligence has to be held suspect big time.
The right wing is correct about “The Deep State” but they’re wrong about who that is. It’s not lib Dem DEI bureaucrats, it’s the neocons and their fantasy of a unipolar world, economic and political empire enforced by powerful military. Same who were trained by Dick Cheney and ran Biden’s Dept. of State. Their plans were underway long before Trump 2024.
Cheney didn’t endorse Harris because Trump is so bad–since when have the Rs had a problem with entitled uber wealthy narcissists?! It was that Harris could be relied on to keep the neocons at State. Whereas Trump is well-known as unpredictable and he’s never been known for long range thinking about anything. That’s not to say he isn’t clever and great with fans.
There have been posts on CN about Netanyahu and gang convincing Trump that Iranian agents were behind the assassination attempts. If so, that’s a huge factor. Plus the high probability of a connection between Epstein and Zionist intelligence with damning evidence about Trump in all those files. This pressure seems more likely than Trump as a grand strategist who involved the Israelis rather than the other way around. Also consider his pro-Zionist megadonors.
No surprise the corporate elite and powerful investors would be in on what was planned; they’re part of the MICIMATT complex. I remember the ’71 Nixon price controls. There were politicians in my state I’d worked for who knew about what was coming. Certainly the very well-connected lobbyists and corporate donors in WA D.C. would have known long before.
A rather good reading of U.S. politics and foreign policy as it is actually MENhandled !
Craig Murray, you have dared to question the easy characterizations of Trump that have prevailed … and provided evidence to support your analysis. I have long thought that the ease with which commentators – both written and spoken – have dismissed Trump, often with extremely demeaning pejoratives, may be underestimating Trumps’ capacity to set a goal and find a method or methods by which to reach it. I would add: Trump seems to me to be fully aware of ‘the game’ and how to play it. “The game” is the game of capitalism and hegemony. What Trump does lack, and I believe there is ample evidence, is a conscience. If one thinks about it, capitalism is a monetary system that requires an absence of conscience. If one wishes to ‘win’ the game of ‘capitalism’ one cannot simultaneously have an active conscience. The same is true of ‘majority rule, one of the pillars of ‘democracy’ – individuals form gorups (such as AIPAC, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party) with the intention of dominating, becoming the majority whose wishes the minority will, like it or not, dominate the lives of the minority.
Underestimating Trump has led to many, otherwise astute individuals, to use a number of pejoratives publicly that hardly reflect a deep and considered analysis such as Craig Murray has offered.
Is it not sobering to consider that Trump may be more savy than he is given credit for? Does this absence of deep and careful analysis not act as somewhat of a cover behind which Trump carries on toward whatever goals he wishes?
I would only add: it seems to me that there is a cultural, systemic inability to hold those in high office to account – unless an individual generates a certain level of public broad and deep disdain that there is no sweeping it under the rug or covering it over. Obama is a prime example. There are more.
Well – Iran could scuttle this “hidden” in plain sight scenario by completely obliterating Psychopathically deranged Israel into powder smoke. There was an ex-USA retired governmental official on the excellent Dialogue Works with Nima Horskild (sp) whose prescription for Iran was “DO IT NOW”??DON’t wait??Be like other world heroes – take the initiative now??
Why would Israel murder Ali Khamanei the religious leader blocking Iranian development of nuclear weapons?
Why would Israel murder Larijani, the academic philosopher who was a ‘moderate’ in Iranian politics?
The answer is they want Iran to replace them with extremists. Extremists who will accelerate development of nuclear weapons.
The answer is they want Iran to have nuclear weapons so they can stage a ‘credible’ false flag attack preceding Israel’s nuclear escalation.
IT IS ALL PLANNED.
Spare a thought for the Cypriots and/or Turks. They will be Israel’s target for a false flag attack because it has to be a NATO target for obvious reasons.
THAAD site were said to have been eliminated already.
Trump has several intelligence minders, who likely making millions form their investments in Lockheed Martin Corp. alone.
With all respect Mr. Murray I feel I must point something out here.
This man is a madman. This fact does not mean he doesn’t know how to survive in the business world. Something his billions allow.
If it is not obvious by now he has made his deal with the devil. Getting older, failing physically and mentally, are issue which plague each and everyone of us.
Trumps success, in spite of what seems his best efforts to destroy himself and everything around him do not speak. to his individual talents. Lawyers and Bankers, greedy to the point of them willingly selling their own souls to darker side of mankind are the very real problem here. He survives on the knowledge he has people so compromised they must care for HIS best interests.
Americans must rid themselves of this Albatross MAGA and it’s billionaire backers have lashed to every American currently living.
So, I repeat America Wake Up and break the bonds which Israel , The Albatross, has very effectively choking the life of Democracy from Americans. American Eats it;s young and Israel enjoys every minute of it.
It should be no surprise American Christians, especially Evangelicals – SEE U.S. Air Force – have their sites set on the Rapture.
I see it as no surprise these folks cannot bring themselves to admit they have have been wrong about these issues for generations.
Too many, way too many are not capable of uttering those magic words, “I was wrong!” Proving again the fallibility of humans nature.
Fact is these folks fail to see they are being played and those who do will never kill their golden goose, it makes them too much money.
This detailed article made me think of the difference between causation and coincidence, specifically that Trump is THE cause/evil genius behind all this. I’ve never actually accepted that same analysis that has been applied to Hitler. A focus on an individual villain creates a simple and simplistic narrative when the focus should be on the “elite” who hold the wealth and power and who are desperate to continue to do so. As long as the masses can be distracted with simplistic narratives, the elite will continue their life-destroying control. Perhaps only the environmental catastrophes their narrow and selfish actions are “causing” will change the course humanity is currently following. IMO, the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of “a few” is what we should be working to eliminate and prevent, and that means that getting rid of Trump won’t fix anything. There’s a deep bench at work here.
I’ve subscribed to this view, but having watched the last couple Trump press interviews, he clearly has no control of the situation, is out of his depth panicking, and seemingly cant reign in Israel from assasinating would be Iranian negotiators (on the premise that they would want to talk with him) and bombing power stations.
Maybe the deep state guys are running it with Israel behind his back, but if he is in the decision loop, looks like they are all flailing.
I keep in mind Netanyahu and Trump would be in jail if they weren’t the current head of their governments, and both conveniently at war; also, the US Empire is on its last legs about to go the way of the British Empire. We’re beating a dead horse, IMO.
so we – those who once hoped peaceful co-existence would one day be possible –
were even more gullible than we thought? and are utterly helpless when it comes
to convincing the governments of our complicit western/global northern countries
to pour sand and/or sugar into the huge, relentless, ruthless, bloodthirsty war machine?
“peace does not pay!”, is what they keep saying, all the way to their bank$.
thank you, mr murray, yet again!, for keeping my eyes open and my heart from
sinking into total despair. we, those who once hoped …, are in for a long, rough ride.
“It goes without saying that the seizure of control of Iran’s hydrocarbons by the U.S. is the ultimate endgame”… since at least 1953 when the fledgeling CIA, with the help of MI6, overthrew the newly (democratically) elected Iranian PM, Mosaddegh.
Ostensibly this was to preserve the “interests” of British Petroleum but the always treacherous and conniving US government obviously foresaw, if not accelerated, the changing of the imperial homeland headquarters and must have assumed that the US would soon benefit directly from the regime change.
We should have learned by now, when the last occupant of the White House was teetering on his dotage, that Presidents don’t run anything. They are not masterminds. They may or may not be idiots but they are likely narcissists. And they all do the bidding of the owners in the Deep State, one way or another
One thing Craig has omitted, the rapidly declining economy, political situation, and societal collapse in the USA. What then?
I’m not sure if it even matters if Trump is a buffoon or not. Clearly, the same dark forces that have always directed Western imperialist hegemony, are behind it still. Control of energy resources is what the geopolitical game is all about. Michael Klare was writing about where this was all headed decades ago. It appears he was right.
The world is addicted to fossil fuels for survival. That’s no accident. It’s also no accident the switch to renewables has been slow. The government could have made a commitment to achieve the total transition instead of squandering trillions on wars to control dirty fossil fuels. That’s the fault of our corrupted institutions. Capitalism will be the death of life on earth.
Trump postpones planned strikes on Iranian energy sites (South Pars Gas Field/Asaluyeh processing hub) by five days after “productive” talks.
Trump is no clown, nor is he any sort of strategic planner. He is an incarnation of Loki, the Norse god of chaos and disorder.
It will happen that some parties profit opportunistically from the chaos he sows, and it is just as likely that their profits will soon go up in smoke.
It is clear that Trump expected Iran to surrender under the mere threat of a joint US-Israel attack; he is on record expressing his surprise and confusion that Iran did not cow to his commands.
After that, he had no alternative but to attack, having massed so much naval force and being so heavily influenced by Netanyahu.
When Iran declined to give up after Israel’s targeted assassinations and the initial bombing, neither Trump nor Netanyahu had any Plan B. All the chips were staked on Plan A: That Iran is weak and fragile and easily subdued.
Now Iran has demonstrated the superiority of its missiles and the durability of its air defenses, and has turned the table on its enemies by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is more in control of this war than Israel and the US, and Iran will decide when the war ends. Israel and the US are mired in a tar-pit of their own making.
The long-term effects, which were predictable by everybody with half a brain, range from global recession to severe global depression economically, from increased hunger to widespread famine nutritionally, and from political uproar to food riots and revolution socially.
I admire Craig Murray as a person and generally respect his analysis on Israel and Palestine, but he is way off on his analysis of the broader geopolitics.
You have captured the broader geopolitics so well. Geopolitics is never determined by any individual, least of all one of Trump’s egoistic character and flippant idiosyncrasy! I.R. Iran has suffered and is suffering and the brave Iranian peoples have been watching the developed and First World claimant states generally being totally immorally indifferent to the unending sufferings of the Palestinians besides many others and now even their own people at home. Believe me, I.R. Iran and its strategic partners are going to decide the end of this imposed war, come what may. In their eyes, the “civilized” world stands totally wanting and suspect !
The plan is this:
hxxps://michael-hudson.com/books/super-imperialism/
Apparently (if my sources are correct) Israel has just jumped the gun and defied Trump’s deadline by attacking Iranian energy sites, Khorramabad has been plunged into darkness. Ergo, we will likely now see crucial energy infrastructure and desalination plants inside the Gulf satrapies and the Jewish supremacist entity targeted by the IRGC. This could make swaths of the Middle East uninhabitable.
The reason the Jewish supremacists are so committed to escalating this war and annihilateing Iran is bc of course they’re neurotic, paranoid and hegemonic and perceive Iran as a threat to Greater Israel. But the key reason that the Jewish supremacists are pushing all this deadly lunacy right now is bc they fully understand that younger U.S. citizens have turned against the creepy sadistic arrogant Zionist entity. The Jewish supremacists know their gravy train will soon come to an end, so they’re going for broke, trying to blow everything up.
Three hearty cheers for Generation Z and the Millennials!
You’re missing Murray’s main point. The US/Trump regime does not care about that, nor does Netanyahu.This is making huge amounts of money for the oligarchs, and that is the ONLY interest AND the planned interest. The complete control of the Middle East will be the outcome with the financial control.
Bingo!
Tasnim is reporting that the attack on Khorramabad was only on civilian areas, that the blackout resulted from damage to electrical grid.
Also, all Iranian sources seem to be saying that there are no negotiations with the US and that Trump’s statements of productive meetings are lies intended to control the narrative — covering up that the US is taking the Iranian threat to attack desalination plants and energy infrastructure seriously — denying that the US is backing down.
Very nicely put.
l feel Mr. Murray is somewhat off here. Never give a sucker a break and Trumps people call the shots, those legal eagles in conjunction with those super rich who also control those sycophants he has surrounded himself with.
One of whom may very well at some point stick a big knife into his back. Believe me Craig Murry not a one of this bunch can be trusted.
I’m sure at least one super plan exists. We all will know soon enough if it is a success or failure.
Following the money is something Craig has right here. Under tremendous self imposed stress Trump s braiding the rope he will be hanged with. Bibi will tie the noose and place it around Mr. Oranges neck.
Your Paragraph 2 explains the murder of Charlie Kirk.
As Netanyahu and a couple of his fellow mobsters have an ICC Arrest Warrant out on them, why doesn’t the ICC (backed by the UN) put out an arrest warrant on Trump, as he attacked Iran illegally ?
The easy questions have hard answers ?
Its so obvious it needs no saying ?
Indifference is a helium filled balloon , it squeaks when its released .
Compunction is low on the totem pole ?
A forced march up a hill where the leader walks in the back ?
Just why ?
The UN would not even vote against this illegal war. ALL UN Security Council countries voted FOR not stopping the Iran War. Russia and China abstained. We can not count on them.
Because Trump and his Zionazi cabal and their handlers OWN the ICC. IMO.
I prefer Brian Berletic’s take on this: the Washington Blob has been planning this war for twenty years (as outlined in the policy papers by their favorite think tanks), and the president has no real power to resist them. Trump, like every other president since Kennedy’s murder, is simply instrumentalized to do their bidding. Does it really even matter if Trump a fragile narcissist dealing with dementia or not? The Blob gets what it wants.
Exactly! I was thinking the same as I read this. It’s not Trump, per se. It’s the whole Epstein class
What a stretch. Murray could write for netflix. I’ve followed Trump’s decades long career of unbridled incompetence long before his entry into Politics. Trump is, and always has been a markedly hubristic individual of simple intelligence. To believe he is other than that shows either a lack of knowledge of his history, or a hidden agenda which requires distorting the obvious truth.
However, it doesn’t mean that Trump isn’t an unwitting pawn (with the exception of Israeli influence) – which he clearly is. But as for the suggestion of him being an integral contributor to a Washington “Blob” plan, is patently absurd.
Less that and just plain ignorant and stupid is Trump. Everything is transactional for him. He’s actually demanding that the Gulf States pony up 5 Trillion bucks for some “protection!” Pure gangster.
It seemed a given since the ‘Twelve Day War’ that the United States and Israel would resume active hostilities against Iran in the coming months. The only uncertainty was when. So, Trump ordering accelerated production of armaments in the interim would make sense. The ‘negotiations’ between the U.S. and Iran were dubious on their face; given the deception of the last rounds in 2025. So, again, no one should have been surprised when America/ Israel repeated its trecherous script of 13 June {only this time, taking the lead}. Is Trump playing 4D chess ? It is doubtful that he’s as clueless or muddled as he often presents himself. Though the often incoherent or contradictory messaging of this Whitehouse is unlikely to be strategic. The administration is largely comprised of rabid imperialists, sycophants, rapacious opportunists, halfwits, and incompetent losers. Is Israel steering the ship of state ? Certainly, that appears to be the case. Particularly since 7 October, the Zionist regime’s lebensraum goals have profoundly affected U.S. foreign policy – which, of course, includes Biden and the Democrats. Donald Trump is bought, and probably compromised and intimidated by the Zionist malignancy that is metastatic in the United States.
You are ABSOLUTELY right, I don’t disagree even one tiny bit !
Craig Murray joins Francesca Albanese in revealing how the
“War Industry” (Christian Sorensen), applies “the utmost
barbarity” to expand Zionist Israel’s Middle East dominance
for US imperialist control. And Saudi Arabia’s “Jack the
Ripper” (Khashoggi killing, 2018), prince already siding
with the Zionist genocidal torturing Trump partner in this circus.
Thanks for painful truth.
It is difficult to imagine Trump as Ernst Blofeld, but Murray’s argument is strong and does add interesting data points. What the argument doesn’t do is consider the option of long standing conspiratorial forces operating through the Trump presidency(ies). I have long considered Trump’s public behavior as performative with what ever there is lying behind as deeply unclear. Murray is offering one cogent assertion, but without ruling out others.
I would simply remind Craig Murray that processing enough of that Venezuelan crude is years away from becoming bankable and usable. Trump flipped out when oil execs told him this.
Craig sees Trump clearly now,
The rain has gone.
Craig can see all obstacles in our way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had us down.
It’s gonna be a bright, bright, bright
Sunshiney day!
Trump is no genius. He doesn’t know his own administration’s imperialist moves that just follows other US Administrations but is even more open and brutal than Biden’s Presidency. The US imperialist focus is fueled by our military/Industrial companies and their interest.
I’d say the evidence presented in this article is pretty solid. And a long war of attrition against Iran dovetails perfectly with the slow destruction of free speech at home, and the departure of any meaningful Constitutional rights for U. S. citizens (and anyone else) altogether. Like the Iraq War, we’ll paint little ribbons on our cars and trucks. And this time we’ll burn Venezuelan oil while our leaders light their cigars with thousand-dollar bills. This time, however, I doubt that the rest of the world will ignore us. They can divide the world into two parts, starve us and sanction us, much as we have done with the Global South. A well-reasoned reminder of the likely reality behind this war, Craig Murray.
We won’t be burning Venezuelan oil for some time. That heavy sour crude is a bitch to process. Even the Oil Boys Trump brought in to the WH told him that, and he wasn’t happy to hear it. It will take 5 to 10 years (!) and billions in federal subsidies before the Oil Boys start seeing enough flow to see a profit, and this is assuming Venezuela remains stable and the people there agree to continue living in squalor.
Though your final clause is most pertinently true ; actually the broader Orinoco belt includes a wider variety of crude not just the ballast bitch !
I have much respect for Craig Murray’s writing. However, of all the articles I have read over the past four years (I plugged in back when I thought Putin was going to take over the world) of horror and disillusionment, this article is the most depressing! I want to believe Trump is an idiot and buffoon but I fear Craig is correct. The only nagging thought is that much of the previous US governments seemed to align with Trumps foreign policy. So my small glimmer of hope is that Trump is an idiot and buffoon and some evil wizard is still behind the curtain.
Right!? And all we need is to get our hands on the Ruby Slippers. Alas, but unfortunately, we need to do what we haven’t done and to understand that the power is to use our hearts, our brains and our courage to organize and fight for systemic change by all means necessary.
Trump is neither idiot nor buffoon, but a willing front man for the band of evil wizards behind the curtain
Exactly ! I listen to Brian Berletic’s reports which are true and depressing plus Mercouris, dialogue works, Glenn Diesen, India and global left , Syriana Analysis …… and this is the most depressing so far!!!!!! Thank you Craig!!
You thought Putin was gonna take over the world, eh? Anyway, Brian Berletic, who saw all this coming and its particulars years ago, recently appeared with Rachel Blevins (search YouTube for her) and explained his views on this matter. Similar to Craig Murray’s, but a bit more nuanced. You can also go back to the many appearances of Berletic on various podcasts, where he can set you straight on the US proxy war in Russia–also a war planned for years by the US and NATO by baiting the Russians. A war wanted, provoked, and gotten by the US,and a war being lost by the US. But boy oh boy, the profits! Actually CN has had many fine articles and essays on the US proxy war too.
Always hi was a buffoon,a tv clown & still is,the power who sit him at the chair & any other is the one behind the decisions, always was like this.
Corporations,banks, guns manufacturing,media, elons ,etc,etc…..are the one who decide.
“In the end, peace can be achieved only by hegemony or by balance of power”
Henry A. Kissinger
Murray still in his best outing.
This war on Iran is also about oil and Greater Israel. The only thing is Russia and China are not playing the role expected as the next countries to be devastated are them whether they understand or not.
Its about China and Russia, and believe me, they are acutely aware of that.
You are not too wrong here.
If Trump is such an idiot, why isn’t Millionaire Bernie in the White House today?
It is best not to underestimate one’s enemy. And at least appreciate that it was as hard for Trump to get to the White House as it would be for you to get there. Even if someone gave you a billion dollars! You still wouldn’t be able to just stroll into the door. Getting to the top of the pile of snarling dogs is always difficult, thus to underestimate the snarling dog at the top of the pile seems rather foolish.
Yet, from Dumbya to Donald, the Dems maintain this foolishness of saying the opponent that has defeated them is an idiot. There are reasons why neither Millionaire Bernie nor Killer Kamala is in the White House today, and Donald Trump is. And yet everyone wants to act as if Donald Trump is the idiot?
It is far better to swing a lead bat in the warmup circle, then a lighter one at the plate, than to do try the reverse. Treat your enemies with respect. Just not too much respect. These people are not Genghis Khan, even if they pretend to be in their masquerades. And as Gandhi once pointed out, even the mighty emperors always fall. Even the real Genghis Khan. But it is still best to prepare with respect.
Trump IS an idiot and nothing but a gullible gangster, and Sanders isn’t in the WH because the Dem Party didn’t want him in there. They prefer Trump, actually. How can they possibly raise money without him? I’ve always argued that they should have exalted Sanders, because there is no more faithful servant to them than the old Zionist fraud. He would have abandoned immediately any of his “positions” that bothered the Donor Class, and Israel would have had another true and unwavering friend in the WH.
The mistake is in thinking that there’s any real difference in the two Parties, both of which serve Wall Street and War. This should be terribly obvious to everyone by now, and the problem for the Ruling Class’ two toady Parties is that a critical mass of citizens is waking up to this.
You nailed the stark truth. This is the irrefutable reality in U.S. politics. The only redeeming fact here now is the rapidly growing body of truly learned citizenry who refuse to be educated by the status quo “intelligentsia” !
Anyone who watches Judge Andrew Napolitano’s podcasts knows that many of his regular guests, among whom are former members of the US military and intelligence communities, had been predicting as early as last September, if not before, that a war with Iran was virtually certain. However, that does not mean that the President is making decisions based on sophisticated geopolitical reasoning. If his strings are being pulled by an Israeli puppet master, for instance, then he is merely a player in an insane drama. There’s a reason why so many observers call this the “Epstein War.” Or perhaps his neocon advisers are the ones who are actually calling the shots.
Everything that I see in Trump suggests that he is a narcissistic, demented fool who acts on whims and changes his mind frequently. Unfortunately, with this war against Iran, he has dug himself a hole from which he can see no way of escaping that would not bruise his tender ego, so he just keeps digging deeper. The whole world will suffer as a result.
Yours is simply the best comment here. The US has a long-running tradition of bringing in the most suitable executive character to carry through the Globalist, Zio-Con agenda that overwhelmingly animate the US deep establishment and its unrelenting mission. At this juncture of US history, Trump, a buffoon or not, fits right in ! His rhetorical “America First” is nothing but the duping motto of his Zio-Con handler’s “Israel always first” operating mission ! Trump is the right guy to care two f**k for the average U.S. citizen or even less the free-sucking U.S. allies ! If alleged buffoonery brings in the intended outcome, why not have a go at it !
I am a U.S. citizen and I hate the government in Washington and how it has ruined my country and is bent on ruining the entire planet. I am far from alone in this. You may be right in your estimation of the planning of the attack on Iran, but those of us who pay attention to these things already knew that Iran was on the list of “seven countries” General Clark enumerated years ago. We already knew that the government of the U.S. was not to be trusted on anything. I learned that lesson in the 1960s during the Vietnam War (which the Vietnamese call the “American War”, and they’re right). More than anything I want Iran to prevail and Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth. Your article depresses me because you seem to have just accepted that as a fait accompli.
That’s right, Carolyn. Before the war actually started, every night upon going to bed on a Friday night, for 7 straight weeks, I feared waking up to the news the war had started. Some people may recall that back in 2006 there was some serious beating of the war drums for an Iran war, with Pelosi particularly unhinged.
Mass murderers, the western “elites” are!
Proven million times.
Falling for their show means you lose.
You do not negotiate with such criminals; they got be to be held accountable!!
Those puppets in front of the scenes, and even more those from behind pulling the puppet strings.
Tremendous analysis. People need to wake up even more. This war on Iran would never be happening without the support of the global elite, the Brussels crowd. The same people that want to take away your gas stoves, “protect” you from viruses, and penalize you for your carbon footprint are supporters and enablers of the mass destruction and hyper genocide that is occurring in Iran, not to mention Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. To call Trump a buffoon is to pay him a compliment, and is insulting to true buffoons. Craig Murray nailed it.