𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A wise philosopher once wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Unfortunately, President Trump is clearly not a fan of the works of George Santayana – in fact, judging by the way he’s been behaving, he probably struggles with the story of Santa Claus at the moment. But his capricious and calamitous behaviour as the Iranian conflict is poised to enter its seventh week is proof positive of the accuracy of that doctrine, because the President’s ever-changing and often incoherent tactics have proved a betrayal of both America and its history.

Remember, it was fewer than 18 months ago that Trump was swept to power by his adoring MAGA base after promising “no more foreign wars.” Now, it’s a case of reality bites as the price of ‘gas’ has rocketed to more than $4 a gallon and Americans – who view affordable fuel as part of their DNA – are growing increasingly restless. Trump, nothing if not a survivor, has realised this, hence his appallingly crude, foul-mouthed social media demand to the Mullahs of Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz; using language that brought disgrace to the office of the President of the United States.

Intriguingly, even some of the other expressions he has employed in some of his other rantings has shades of previous failed US military campaigns. When Trump talked of a wish to “bomb Iran back to the Stone Age” he was echoing precisely the same words used by General Curtis LeMay, who led the Strategic Air Command in the disastrous Vietnam war as to how America would triumph in that conflict. And the world knows only too well how that ended for the US.

More recently there has been the war in Afghanistan where, despite being a supremely superior fighting force with better trained troops and outstanding military capability, the US again came up against a nation ready to do anything in its power just to survive. Again, sound familiar?

Mercifully the loss of American lives, and those of others, has not been on the horrific scale of Vietnam, but be in no doubt the reputational damage is swiftly reaching that level.

For a start, despite the bragging and bluster it is blindingly obvious to everyone on the planet – and even to those Artemis II astronauts who were hundreds of thousands of miles away – America is weaker because of this ill-advised foray. Tragically, we are also now forced to question every statement they make as contradictions and confusion reign unchecked.

Paradoxically, Iran has grown stronger. Despite a failing economy and no real military heft, they have shown they are able to hold off the might of the USA with ease and bring much of the world to its economic knees with the singular action of closing down the Strait of Hormuz. Indeed, it is reported their demands for a toll of $2 million for any ship to be allowed through is being discreetly met by an increasing number of nations.

The faint hope, encouraged by Trump, for Iranians to “rise up and seize control” has not transpired and instead a frail, elderly and repressive regime of hated Mullahs has triumphed.

Meanwhile, in the White House is a President failing spectacularly at trying to fix the future as he continues to ignore the clear warnings of history.

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Any word yet from Ed Miliband about that Moon voyage?

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The embarrassment of our once great Royal Navy that proudly ruled the waves is complete. Having arrived weeks late, the only warship we could muster to deploy to the region is, at the time of writing, currently in harbour somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean awaiting repairs.

The MoD has sought to pass this off as “a routine logistical stop,” which is baffling as the volatility of the crisis there means almost anything could happen with little or no notice, making battle-readiness surely a must.

How can any government justify this?

Those students’ moans about the student loans system are wholly justified, but last week the Government claimed to be fixing the problem. While admittedly an improvement, repayments will be fixed at the retail price index of inflation (RPI) plus up to 3%.

How can any government justify making any money off many of our youngsters the minute they enter the workplace?

Does Sadiq Khan think we can’t see reality?

If London is as safe as the Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan continually tells us, why was a bag of guns left outside his home by armed police who guard him and his property?

The reality, despite his quoting of numbers concerning the rates of crime in cities elsewhere in the world, can be seen in the most recent headlines concerning three killings, so-called “link up” mobs running wild and ambulances being set alight.

What a bunch of hapless Herberts…

If you, like me, had little more than a vague notion of the Wireless Festival, we’ve certainly been educated over the last few days – and about the bunch of hapless Herberts who’ve been running it.

One minute they were pleading that the disgraced artist Kanye West should be allowed the opportunity to perform and apologise for his vile behaviour, the next they were saying “antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent.”

Ignore this duplicity, it was right to can Kanye.

How is this anything new?

Heralded as a positive new advancement in policing, the Government revealed last week it will target “high knife crime areas” with special surveillance, CCTV and other measures.

Question: wasn’t this what we once knew as simply “patrolling the beat?”