Trump’s humiliation would cost us all dearly

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Who is winning this war? The honest answer is that it is still too early to tell.

But that hasn’t stopped a welter of commentary to the effect that Donald Trump has made a serious mistake, that he has badly underestimated Tehran’s resilience – as well as its ability to wreak wider economic havoc by blockading the Strait of Hormuz – and that the only victor in the end will be Iran.

This could admittedly still turn out to be true, but at this stage it’s based as much on wishful thinking among the US president’s political enemies as it is solidly grounded in military and strategic analysis.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the conflict, a growing body of opinion makes common cause with the Iranian regime in wanting to see Trump humiliated. For now, it appears to be very much in control of the narrative – in Europe, the UK and increasingly, even the US.

It doesn’t seem to bother Trump’s critics that any such outcome would be disastrous for America and the wider Western alliance. A humiliated America could mark a tipping point that eventually sees a catastrophic loss of American influence and power.

In a contest between Trump and Tehran, it’s tough to know who to believe

No one should welcome such an outcome, though it is worth pointing out that American power has survived many such humiliations in the past.

None of this is to argue that Trump’s White House doesn’t thoroughly deserve much of today’s opprobrium.

It has punished allies alongside enemies with economically debilitating tariffs, it has threatened to invade a fellow member of NATO, it has essentially given the thumbs-up to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and it........

© The Age