Hillbilly wisdom: whatever you have to do, keep the peasants broke; give them only enough to survive;and remind them of all the good things they have going for them.(Machiavellian) Strikes in the Middle East are great for record oil profits and sales of military hardware. But the expense of the Iranian situation endangers the United States’ overall national security and lessens our ability to defend ourselves and our allies against real or imagined enemies. Israel, Russia, China and Trump have greatly benefited in the last year at the expense of the American public and the world.

President Trump would have us believe the United States will not be supporting Israel after the new year. Give him points for creativity. His statements are just more lies as he tries to influence the coalition building in the state of Israel in favor of his buddy Netanyahu. Whatever power is being used to guide President Trump in his relationship with Netanyahu, it must be bad. How else would you describe an American president at the beck and call of foreign leaders? A phone call to Trump and American resources are deployed.

Congress is afraid to call Bull. Current strikes are defensive! Give me a break. Defensive strikes might happen after we remove ourselves from the Middle East but as long as the United States remains in the area, the United States and those that align with us will be targets. *The gulf countries are talking among themselves about a self defense process without the United States. The last time this happened was in the 1970’s.

The price of oil slipped and the bombing returned. Will the gulf states and the world tell the United States to go home? The individuals benefiting from this war will not stop on their own. The violence and destruction needs to stop. This policy, not the individuals, lead to the democratic surge in the election. Follow the money.