Bush, in Zakaria’s grotesque take on the Iraq war, was just trying to help. The destruction of Gaza, Lebanon and Iran are episodes in a single war jointly prosecuted by Israel and the US. In retrospect, it is obvious that the Gaza war was a training run for US-Israeli assaults on Iran and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. Trump’s unpredictability and Netanyahu’s impunity make it impossible to know if the fighting in Iran and Lebanon can be ended. What is certain is that Trump’s abandonment of rules-based pieties has stymied Beltway liberals, strange orchids rooted in the fungus of American exceptionalism.

Source: The Telegraph April 12, 2026 02:13 UTC