Incompetence and Failure

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

After 9/11, the George W. Bush administration tried to convince Americans that they were on the job.

They tried to convince Americans that they were in charge and that they knew what they were doing. There was a familiar refrain: nobody could have known that they would use airplanes as weapons.

Of course, this old song assumed that Americans were naive. In reality, back in 1995, American intelligence discovered a laptop that was owned by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (mastermind of 9/11). The laptop contained information that Al Qaeda wanted to hijack twelve commercial airliners and blow them up over the Pacific Ocean. As an alternative, they would hijack a plane and crash it into CIA headquarters.

Three years later, in 1998, the CIA learned that Libyans associated with Al Qaeda were planning on hijacking a plane and flying it into a major US target. Then, in August 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested in Minnesota. He was trying to learn how to fly a 747 without learning how to take off or land.

According to the Minneapolis field office, they thought he might be a terrorist trying to “fly something into the World Trade Center.” So it was disingenuous to say that the intelligence community had no idea that terrorists desired to hijack and fly a plane into American targets.

9/11 Redux

Now we are getting the same kind of rhetoric from the Trump administration. “Nobody could have known that Iran would try to close the Straits of Hormuz.”

This is what happens when you do not plan, when you fly by the seat of your pants. Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the American military/intelligence community has understood the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz. By now, every American should know that 20% of the world’s oil comes through this 21-mile-wide corridor on the western border of Iran.

Countries like Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines import 70% to 90% of their oil, almost all of it through the Strait of Hormuz. India and Pakistan are also highly dependent upon oil coming through the strategic area.

As the price of oil skyrockets, the incompetence being displayed by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense (War), is mind-numbing. We were told that the primary objective was regime change. Then, we were told that the primary purpose of the war was to eliminate the nuclear threat. (Of course, this did not make any sense: when we attacked Iran six months earlier, we were told that we had “obliterated” their nuclear program.)

Finally, we were told that Iran was developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the United States. Therefore, we attacked in order to eliminate their strategic ballistic missiles. In a testosterone-filled fact-free statement, Donald Trump stated that we would only accept unconditional surrender. Iran may be weakened, but there is no sign that they are ready to unconditionally surrender.

Following the same mistake that we made in Iraq, we are getting daily updates on how many targets we hit. Yes, the United States and Israel have hit over 11,000 targets in Iran.

Now, hitting specific targets is part of tactical planning. And tactics have to be part of an overall strategy. And the strategy has to be designed to accomplish a goal. Goal – Strategy – Tactic. That’s what those words signify. And the goal has to be designed to fulfill a specific purpose, such as stabilizing the global price of oil, making the world safe for democracy, or ending the religious strife in the Middle East. The purpose seems to be to prove that Donald J. Trump and Pete Hegseth are “large and in charge.”

But no one seems to be explaining our strategic goal. When we ask what our strategic goal is, we’re told we cannot explain it, or that doing so will tip off our enemies.

The problem is that we—no, not we, but they, Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth—have no strategic goal. We had no specific goal and no strategy to accomplish it. And now we have no exit strategy. We are walking around like Mr. Magoo, totally blind. Hitting targets is nice, but it doesn’t get us any closer to regime change or removing all the fissile material in Iraq or completely degrading their strategic missiles. To achieve these objectives, we need, dare we say it, boots on the ground.

The Grift Lives On

Donald Trump seems more interested in manipulating the markets than trying to figure out how to successfully end this war. When the stock market seems to sour on the war and begins to tank, Donald Trump will then put out a social media post saying that he is in talks with the Iranian government and the talks are going well. Iran, whose government is supposed to be non-functional, will counter with a press release stating that they are not talking to the United States at all. The stock market will briefly rally, then they find out it was all a smokescreen—or, if you will, fake news.

This is going to be an asymmetrical war. Iran is not going to fly to the United States in some supersonic stealth jet and bomb major American cities. Instead, they’re going to use drones to close the Strait of Hormuz. They will use $500 to $1,000 drones to attack American bases in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Arab states in the region. We will use Patriot missiles, which cost between $3 million and $4 million apiece, to shoot down their drones and missiles.

Iran is also going to use terrorist attacks. Now, as we are struggling just to keep TSA agents paid, Iran is going to step up terrorist attacks here in the United States.

Unfortunately, it’s ironic that we are being schooled by the Iranian government. They seem to have a plan. Their purpose is to survive the US/Israeli assault. Their goal is to make this war so painful that the United States and Israel declare victory and walk away. Their tactics include using drones and short-range missiles (made in China, North Korea, or Russia) to attack soft targets in the region. They will also use terrorism wherever they can.

This war is costing us, by some estimates, over a billion dollars a day. The Pentagon has already requested another $200 billion to conduct this war.

It is past time for those in Congress who support this war to stand up and truly support it. Pass a resolution supporting the war and funding the Pentagon. It’s time for us to really have a national debate. What are the pros and cons? It is time for our Commander-in-Chief to go on TV and explain his rationale to the American people. (Bearing in mind, of course, that he’s gone on TV more than a few times and explained his irrational rationale—a different one each time—and none of them really makes sense.)

This whole ordeal was all predictable. None of this is a surprise. The United States has been war gaming against Iran since the early ’80s. Serious people, smart people, knew how this was going to play out. The problem is we have a commander-in-chief who has fired all the smart people. All the voices of dissent in the Department of Defense and among the Joint Chiefs have been fired. The only thing left is yes-men. Nobody’s going to question the president. This is how we got here.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have been pushing American presidents for over 40 years to “take out” Iran, but smart presidents resisted the impulse. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George H. W. Bush, and even Bill Clinton resisted the urge to take on Iran. Pete Hegseth said that Donald Trump was the only president who had the guts to take on Iran. I recall somebody saying there’s a fine line between guts and stupidity. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has stepped right across that line.

Donald Trump has failed the American people. He has failed us spectacularly.

On Wednesday, April 1, 2026, Trump addressed the nation but offered no new information, merely echoing his Truth Social posts. I expected him to discuss an exit strategy or share his thoughts on our strategic objectives, but he did not. Watching his speech was a total waste of 19 minutes, and he remains quite exasperating.

War Crimes

The other day, Donald Trump said that he would attack the Iranian power grid if they didn’t capitulate. He stated that he would start with their largest power plant and destroy all of them. This is a war crime. There’s also some discussion about attacking the desalination plants, which is another war crime. Article 54 of Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention states that targeting facilities that are “indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” is prohibited.

No Kings

The No Kings March was a huge success. Estimates range from 8 million to over 10 million people who showed up and showed out. People throughout the United States marched, sang, and protested peacefully. From New York to Florida, from Texas to Alaska. There were marches in all 50 states, and even in Antarctica. Antarctica! Over 3,000 different sites. From big cities to small towns.

This is how you break authoritarian rule. People Power. If you believe in democracy. If you love democracy, you have to have really loved the No Kings March. Now we need to continue building and sustaining this momentum. This is how we take our country back.

Not to rain on our No Kings March, but we had great marches before with Occupy Wall Street. Because Occupy targeted one place, one institution, they were relatively easy to shut down. The folks behind the No Kings March seem to have bypassed this flaw. I’m hopeful that we, progressives, can keep pushing for much-needed change.

Vote! Vote as if everything in your life depended on it. Because it does!

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.