United States-Iran War: President Trump’s Strategic Fight Against The Axis Of Evil
BY DONALD INWALOMHE
TODAY, President Trump’s war on Iran would be more than justified in viewing of Iran’s weaponisation of Strait of Hormuz and even Hamas, Hezbollah and Houthis also being part of a new axis of evil. Iran’s evil activities started when it took control of three strategic islands—Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa—by force on November 30, 1971, just two days before the official establishment of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The islands have remained a major flashpoint and under full Iranian administration ever since. However, the UAE maintains its sovereignty claim over them, considering the presence of Iranian forces an ongoing illegal occupation. Control over the Strait of Hormuz has become a “golden weapon” to Iran, for which it is willing to risk new escalations with the United States, and is a bigger priority than a nuclear programme for which it accepted decades of sanctions.
I must commend President Donald Trump for executing United States strategic and dynamic foreign policy as identified by former President George W Bush. President Trump military action on Iran and naval blockade of Cuba are strategic and dynamic. The ‘Axis of Evil’ coined by George W. Bush is not redundant for Washington today because Iran is a threat to global order. The threat of a new, enlarged axis of evil is the United States’ increasing concern. President Bush waged war on Iraq, he had Saddam Hussein executed and he thoroughly destabilized the axis of evil . Yet despite his success in removing Iraq as a serious threat, the regimes in Iran and North Korea remained intact.
Axis of Evil was coined by speechwriter David Frum and spoken by President Bush on January 29, 2002. The original countries are Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Later officials in Washington added Cuba, Libya, and Syria. Iran has repeatedly said it will destroy Israel and if Iran acquires nuclear weapon it will be a threat to Israel and entire Middle East. After 24 years of President George W Bush’s Axis of Evil, people are beginning to understand that Iran is the main backer of radical Islamists that are killing innocent people in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Gaza and Sahel of West Africa.
These alliances of convenience fit into Israel and United States’ concept of distracting and weakening the West through secondary wars against what we might describe as the Iranian-supported activities of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. All things considered, the phrase sounds a lot better now than it did 24 years ago. In January, 2002, Bush said the three states were “seeking weapons of mass destruction” and posed a “grave and growing danger.”
Iran manages an informal network of allied armed groups across the Middle East and Africa which constitutes Axis of Evil since 2002, primarily featuring Hezbollah, the Houthis, and various regional militias. Funded and directed largely through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, these groups project Iranian power and counter the United States and Israel. All things considered, the phrase sounds a lot better now than it did 24 years ago. In January, Bush said the three states were “seeking weapons of mass destruction” and posed a “grave and growing danger.” I must commend President Donald Trump for fighting Axis of Evil and transnational banditry in West Africa. Armed groups in West Africa are bandits, and foreign jihadist elements from Mali, the Niger Republic, Chad, Sudan, and Cameroon frequently operate in Nigeria.
President Trump is paying much attention to United States strategic foreign policy on “axis of evil” (frequently misspelled as axil) originally described Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. U.S. President George W. Bush used this term in his 2002 State of the Union Address to accuse these nations of supporting terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. Those who still hate Bush’s rhetoric can take comfort from the fact that the three nations today are really an axis of evil; they have nothing like a formal alliance.
Iran wants nukes (and has wanted them since the Shah was in power) partly because three of its neighbors–India, Russia, and Pakistan–have them. North Korea uses its weapons to blackmail the rest of the world into propping it up with food aid and energy.
Key Proxy Groups
Hezbollah: Based in Lebanon, it is Iran’s oldest and most heavily armed ally, acting as a major military and political force.
The Houthis (Ansar Allah): Controlling large parts of Yemen, this group targets international shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Iraqi Shiite Militias: Various armed factions inside Iraq that frequently target U.S. and regional interests.
Palestinian Groups: Organizations like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza receive financial and military backing from Tehran.
Strategic Purpose
Forward Defense: Fights adversaries outside Iran’s borders to protect the domestic regime.
Regional Influence: Expands Tehran’s political and ideological footprint across the world.
Plausible Deniability: Shields Iran’s central leadership from direct military retaliation during conflicts
Inwalomhe Donald writes via inwalomhe.donald@yahoo.com
