CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Photograph Source: U.S. Navy – Public Domain

There are two wars taking place in Iran – one being fought by the United States, the other by Israel.

For the U.S., the war against Iran is a war of distraction.

For Israel, the war against Iran – and Gaza and Lebanon – is also a war of distraction as well as a war to destroy an Islamic challenge to its regional hegemony.

Donald Trump’s second presidency is faltering.  A month after taking office, in February 2025, his approval rating was 48 percent (and his disapproval rating was 43 percent). A year later, his approval rating has fallen to 38 percent (and his disapproval rating increased to 59 percent).

Benjamin Netanyahu, not unlike Trump, is suffering politically. According to a March CNN report, “nearly 70% of Israelis in some polls indicate they believe Netanyahu should step down.”  In addition, he still faces a corruption trial.  Orchestrating a war with Iran may indeed postpone a day of reckoning – but for how long?

Defining features of Trump’s presidency speak for themselves: his anti-immigrant campaign – as exemplified in what took place in Minneapolis, MN — has run aground; his tariff program has been rejected by his Supreme Court loyalists; and then there is the Epstein scandal, which the Trump administration is doing everything it can to suppress.

Making matters worse, Trump’s electoral promises to improve Americans’ standard of living, especially involving issues associated with “affordability,” is failing.  The only winners of Trump’s presidency are the super-rich, who are only getting richer and the oil and gas industry.

Trump’s........

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