CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The Muddle-Minded Still Rule at the Washington Post

Photograph Source: Sdkb – CC BY-SA 4.0

“Words of advice for President Donald Trump as he tries to extricate himself from the mess of the Iran war: Just stop talking.  Let America’s overwhelming military and economic power do the work.  Job one is still to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and I’m all for the use of selective military power to get that done.  If Iran keeps obstructing the strait, it invites a continuing military response”  (David Ignatius, The Washington Post, July 14, 2026, Opinion)

For the past few decades, Ignatius has been an apologist for the Pentagon’s use of force, the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of covert action, and Israel’s aggressive use of military power to secure its sovereignty.  Once again, the United States is faced with a difficult geopolitical challenge of its own making, and once again—like Ignatius—politicians and pundits argue it will simply take more military power for the United States to achieve its misbegotten objectives.

Ignatius has been a reliable stenographer in recording and repeating U.S. optimism regarding various peace plans that involve Israeli and U.S. national security interests.  When Trump said in May that a “peace deal is near,” Ignatius echoed the president.  In June, Trump and Ignatius trumpeted their optimism once again.   Even the New York Times’ leading Cold Warrior, Ross Douthat, understands that the war with Iran is a “folly and a snare.”

Ignatius has........

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