| Kensington Review |
2 April 2026 |
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Cogito Ergo Non Serviam |
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Latest Commentary: Trump Speaks, Oils Soars, Stocks Drop -- Last night, Donald Trump spoke for 20 minutes on prime time TV. He read the speech in his uninterested voice with about as much enthusiam as the average person has for dental surgery. It was clearly a job he had to do. It was a weak performance by a man in over his head. As best, he could have rallied Americans to stay the course for the next while as he winds the war down. Instead, he delivered the worst, a confused and self-contradictory monologue that signaled an escalation of the fighting. His is proving that hope is not a strategy. [2 April] Trump Will Escalate or Surrender -- Tonight, Donald Trump will adddress the nation and the world at 9 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The White House has said it will be a major speech about Iran. This is probably something he should have done a month ago to prepare the American people for the war he and Benjamin Netanyahu started. He has only two options at this point, and it is likely he will announce which path he will take when he speaks. By the same token, this is Donald Trump, and he may try to have it both ways (he cannot). Either he will announce that the US is going to put boots on the ground (at least on a few of the Gulf islands) or he will announce that America is winding up its war. That will leave the theocrats in power and in control of the Strait of Hormuz. This path is called surrender. And aptly, he is making this announcement on April Fool's Day. [1 April] Water May Decide Iran War -- The war with Iran is entering its second month, and it looks like it is going to go on and on. The American administration has failed to find an off-ramp. The Iranians believe they are in an existential fight for the survival of the regime with no desire to quit. The Israelis have a war in Lebanon that demands them to fight for months to secure their buffer zone south of the Litani River. As the missiles and bombs continue to fall, there is certainly going to be massive infrastructure damage across the region. While the media are focused on the price of oil, it might make more sense to keep an eye on the drinking water supplies in a region that relies on desalination. [30 March] US, Israel, Gulf States Have Different War Aims-- The US and Israel started the war with Iran on February 28. The Arab Gulf States have had to bear Iranian attacks as a result. These three different power centers are all allied in fighting the Iranian theocrats. They diverge, however, when it comes to why they are fighting. The US wants the war to end quickly with a symbolic surrender of Tehran. Israel is much more concerned with creating a buffer zone south of the Litani River in Lebanon than with anything else. The Gulf States want the war to continue until Iran is incapable of threatening them anymore. As the war goes on, these different war aims will cause fractures in the alliance, which could collapse under the pressure. [26 March] War Going Worse than US Admits -- There is a saying that generals are always fighting the last war. That is a bit of an over-statement as a great many leading military minds are focussed on new technologies and new battlefields, e.g., cyberspace. But there is also a great deal of truth in the adage. The US has a bad habit of fighting the last war and hoping that its massive advantages in production capacity and logistical infrastructure will carry the day. In Iran, the world is seeing what the Soviets learned in Afghanistan; cheap weapons often defeat expensive ones. The US is on the wrong side of this economic-military equation. [25 March] © Copyright 2026 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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23 Years Online Volume XXIV, Number 46
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