As the United States and Israel's war on Iran enters its seventh month with no clear end in sight, President Donald Trump has become the latest US official to downplay the conflict.
On Friday, Trump said the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of 18 US service members and a spike in global energy prices, is “small potatoes”. “It's not a big thing,” Trump said, comparing strikes on Iran with other US military campaigns, including the January 3 operation to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“We did Venezuela, and we did this. In Venezuela, we lost nobody. In this, we lost 18 people,” he said.
His remarks came at an Oval Office signing event, where reporters asked him to weigh in on remarks from Vice President JD Vance. A day earlier, at a White House news briefing, Vance appeared to suggest the conflict had cooled, despite a recent exchange of intense fire between US and Iranian forces.
“I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting,” Vance said, arguing that major combat operations only lasted six weeks. Trump on Friday told reporters there was “a lot of truth” to what Vance said, opting to brand the fighting as a “military conflict”.
“We do intermittent strikes. We're not fighting right now. There's no fighting. We're taking out a lot of oil. We control the Hormuz Strait. We control it very strongly,” Trump said.
Since the war began on February 28, Trump has used various phrases to avoid calling the conflict a war. In the past, he has called the fighting with Iran a “little skirmish”, a “little detour” and a “little excursion”. In March, he said, “It's an excursion that will keep us out of a war.”
Experts say such terminology is likely strategic. The Trump regime has faced pushback for not seeking congressional approval before launching its strikes on Iran. The US Constitution grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war, though successive presidencies have taken unilateral military actions without the legislature's approval. Legal scholars have repeatedly questioned the legality of those maneuvers.
In June, both chambers of Congress passed a war powers resolution, calling on Trump to either stop his military campaign against Iran or seek congressional authorization for it. The resolution was largely symbolic, though it did signal growing bipartisan opposition to Trump's war on Iran.
As the conflict enters its seventh month, it remains widely unpopular in the US. A poll released on Monday by Reuters and Ipsos found that nearly six in 10 US adults disapproved of the military strikes on Iran.
As the midterm elections approach in November, and peace talks remain deadlocked, the president's remarks appear designed to minimize the conflict's impact across the world. The war has led to attacks across the Middle East, and fuel prices remain high. In the US, the average fuel price is $4.15 per gallon, up nearly a dollar from last year.
The Trump regime, however, has long argued the war and its effects would be short-term. In August, Trump pledged on Truth Social to pursue the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY”. This week, his regime announced new sanctions aimed at cutting off Iran's access to the international financial system.
On Friday, Trump also did not rule out further attacks, suggesting the US may “very soon” strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a military site near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. A recent exchange of strikes this month resulted in Iran firing on US military bases across the Middle East. The US, meanwhile, was accused by the Iranian government of bombing a wedding celebration in the coastal city of Sirik, killing at least four people.
While the future of the conflict is uncertain, Trump said he was pleased with its progress. “I don't think it matters what you call it. What matters is you've had tremendous success,” he said.
Source: www.aljazeera.com