Trumps strategy in the Middle East faces a backlash

“Blowback. Can Trump undo the chaos he has sown in the Gulf?” writes The Guardian Weekly, on the cover of its March 27 edition. A drawing of the American president illustrates the cover. He is seen wearing a combat helmet, rocket launcher on his shoulder, his tie obstructing his view. He is about to accidentally fire a projectile backwards.

This image chosen by the British newspaper’s weekly supplement illustrates the turn taken by the conflict in the Middle East, triggered by Israeli-American strikes on Iran on February 28, which is said to be “unraveling”. In an article, international affairs columnist Simon Tisdall portrays an impulsive American president, not hesitating to deceive the public and denigrate his allies to target the regime of the mullahs – encouraged, it must be said, by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. All with an almost laughable detachment: “[Trump] plays with his golf balls as oil terminals burn. While thousands of people are dying or injured, he struts in the White House ballroom. He publicly insults his most loyal allies, including Keir Starmer [the British Prime Minister]. He harbors potentially catastrophic plans, like sending ground troops to seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. All this while refusing to acknowledge his alarming failure and his inability to anticipate Iran’s clear intention to expand the conflict to the Gulf countries and close the Strait of Hormuz.”

However, the reality of the conflict is gradually imposing itself on him. Iranian and Lebanese civilian casualties are now joined by those of its Gulf and Israeli allies. The global economy is undergoing significant disruptions. And the US mid-term elections are approaching. “The big question is: Can Trump still get the US out of it before the situation becomes even more serious? And if he ever calls for an end to the conflict, will Iran on one side and Israel on the other be willing to listen?” concludes the author.