As the war with Iran enters its third week, the American president has begun to plead for assistance in opening the Strait of Hormuz. Despite comments saying that Iran has been incapacitated, he has called upon nations to help fight a war they did not initiate. Perhaps his plea for assistance wouldn’t have fallen on deaf ears if his build up to the war included the allies from the planning stage. Whether the allies will join in the war is yet to be determined. Even as the us has temporarily lifted sanctions against nations who buy Russian oil, the EU has maintained its sanctions. Unfortunately, Russia is now able to use the cash to continue funding its war against Ukraine.
While he has couched his requests to European nations and NATO for assistance as threats, it is clear America is realizing its need of allies in terms of war. Calling upon China to help even though they are still receiving their oil from Iran through the Strait of Hormuz is probably a non-starter.
Nations such as Spain has denied the presidents request as well as Germany, Luxomberg, South Korea, Australia and the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer went even further when he said It will not be a NATO mission. NATO however, downed a ballistic missle headed for Turkey airspace. which is part of NATO. They could call for the implementation article 4 ehich would lead to consultations amongst the member nations but has declined to do so for the time being. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who is scheduled to visit the US this week has also said her country has no plans to send naval ships to escort ships through the strait. Japan’s constitution would most likely prohibit Japan from getting involved.
The call for assistance as well as the recent threat by the FCC chair Brendan Carr to revoke licenses of news organizations that don’t cover the war correctly, raises the question if the war is going as well as the nation has been told. What makes the call for assistance sound even more desperate is the fact that the president had allegedly been briefed by about the potential for the Strait of Hormuz being. In fact an article by Nate Swanson, Trump’s former Iran specialist
who was fired because of allegations by Lara Loomer, laid out the dangers that would be faced
if the United States went to war against Iran, including the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
There has been a lot of discussion that the administration has not thought the idea of war all the way through. While that may be true, the US military through their war games has definitely thought through various scenarios. What is more likely is that the administration ignored a lot of the advice given to it.
America is definitely more powerful than Iran whether militarily or economically. Nonetheless it must be remembered that it won most of the battles in Vietnam but lost the war. In past times, the United States probably would not have faced this type of public opposition from its allies. Perhaps the rejection of the Trump demands stems from his cavalier treatment and antagonizing of other nations. No-one can predict how the war will end or on what terms. One thing is clear, major powers no matter how powerful, need allies.
