The US is at war with Iran. The US has always been at war with Iran.
That’s the Orwellian vibe spilling from the Trump administration this past two weeks as it scrambles for ex post facto justifications of its joint operation with Israel. The latest line is that Trump is the only US politician who had the guts to finish the “war” that Iran “started” 47 years ago with the Islamic Revolution.
(Never mind the 1953 CIA-backed coup that installed the autocratic Shah Reza Pahlavi. We don’t talk about that!)
Rising gas prices, however, are driving home why no US president has ever made a military move against Iran. The country retains control over the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for shipping oil from the oil-rich Middle East.
According to the BBC, 20% of the world’s oil supply flows through this shipping route. Iran has effectively closed the Strait and vowed to keep it closed to increase pressure on both countries. Nominally, the country has maintained that the Strait is only closed to US and Israeli ships.
The Iran War has been unpopular in the US from the get-go. The latest polling from ABC News shows a majority disagree with the war, with an even larger percentage – 64% – saying they don’t understand the goals of the conflict.
While public opinion about the Iran War in the US is bad, it’s positively wretched in Japan. A new poll plus social media chatter reveal just how bad, and why – and why this might spell trouble for Japan’s first female Prime Minister.
