A former US defense secretary and CIA director, Leon Panetta, said that US president Donald Trump is in a difficult situation after three weeks of war in Iran.
He said the US president is sending a message of weakness to the world.
Panetta, who worked during the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama presidencies, said that national security experts were always careful about Iran’s power to cause an energy problem by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
“That very scenario is now unfolding, leaving Trump with no exit strategy beyond wishful thinking,” Panetta, 87, who led the operation to find and kill Osama bin Laden, told the Guardian UK
He said that “Trump tends to be unaware of how things can actually happen. If he says something and keeps repeating it, there’s always a chance that what he says might actually happen.
“But that’s what kids do. It’s not what presidents do.”
The war began on 28 February with what the US and Israel hoped would be a knockout blow.
A surprise attack by Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US and Israel quickly achieved control of the skies.
But the longer the conflict goes on, the more it seems like that initiative is disappearing.
According to Iranian health officials, more than 1,400 Iranians have been killed during the operation, and Khamenei has been succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The Ex-CIA boss said, “We replaced an old man, a supreme leader who was nearing death at a time when the people of Iran were ready to take to the streets with the hope that they could ultimately change their government.
“Now, instead of that, we have a stronger system in place. There’s a younger top leader who will stay in power for a long time, and he is even more strict and firm than the original top leader. That didn’t go well.
“The regime has punished the US and Israel by nearly blocking the Strait of Hormuz, causing big problems in the world’s energy markets.”
One-fifth of the world’s traded oil flows through the waterway.
He added, “It’s a crisis that the president caused himself. This is not rocket science; understanding that if you’re planning to wage war with Iran, one of the major vulnerabilities is the Strait of Hormuz, and it could lead to a major oil crisis, causing fuel prices to skyrocket.
“In every national security meeting I’ve been in where we discussed Iran, the topic of Iran always came up. For some reason, either they didn’t think about that possibility or they believed the war would end fast and they wouldn’t have to deal with it.
He added, “Whatever the reason, they weren’t ready for it, and now they’re facing the consequences. If there’s a way out for Trump, it would be to declare victory and say the war is over. So far, we’ve been successful in hitting all our military targets.
“The problem is he can declare victory all he wants, but if he doesn’t get the ceasefire, he’s got nothing. He won’t get a ceasefire as long as Iran is keeping the gun pointed at the Strait of Hormuz.”
