Demands that Port of Oakland End Arms Shipments to Israel Continue

Photos: Leon Kunstenaar

(Oakland. April 23) - The Oakland People's Arms Embargo group held a rally in front the Oakland Port Commission Board Room at 530 Water Street. They then provided public comment at the meeting which ended with another demonstration.

Not content to have Trump provide the arms for Israel's ongoing war crimes, Netanyahu finally succeeded in his forty year goal of using the US to attack Iran. Trump is the first US president stupid enough to fall for the con of promoting Israel as the new Middle East hegemon.

Dove, hawk, or chicken, the US had nothing to gain and much to lose from the war on Iran. Even as Israel was routinely murdering their leaders, Iran was not messing with the strait of Hormuz and was complying with the JCPOA nuclear agreement. Perhaps they feared a US attack if they upended the world's economy by closing the strait.

Thanks to Netanyahu, the US attacked anyway and now Iran has little more to lose by shutting down the world's shipping. Israel's plan is to expand into Lebanon under the cover of a generalized war with its US "ally." For Netanyahu, the price of oil is a secondary issue.

The war is devastating the Trump regime. The massive inflation and wasted billions is evaporating what little political capital Trump has left. The peace movement can rejoice in that Trump has also demoralized the US military, sullying their image and reducing their war making potential..

Trump has created what can jokingly be termed an "administration" consisting of incompetent clowns. They weren't even supposed to manage the various branches of government but rather to promote his fantasies of power, wealth and revenge. Look at his "press conferences" with a sitting Trump surrounded by a circle of choreographed, awkward, debased, and humiliated sycophants attempting but failing to salvage a shred of self respect.

Trump is now stuck with managing a war he can't handle. He knows it and wants out because the war is interfering with his agenda of racism, ethnic cleansing, destroying the administrative state, and enriching himself.

He is in a fun house room surrounded by distorting mirrors. He is fighting to open the strait of Hormuz which was closed because he attacked. His tactic is to seal it further with a blockade in order to get it reopened. Logic and strategy are clearly not his specialties. Not only did he did not think Iran would close the strait and devastate the US oil based economy but he forgot, though he couldn't care less, about Lebanon which Israel is attempting to annex. Lebanon hosts Iran's ally Hezbollah. Iran cares about Lebanon and is using its power to make it a central issue. Trump can't get out of this war without forcing peace on Israel.

In spite of what they have suffered, Iran now sets the war's agenda, and they still have yet another powerful card to play. This is the Houthi threat to reduce the world's oil by another ten percent by blocking Saudi oil from traveling the Red Sea.

In a fascinating turn of events, instead of Israel using the US to destabilize Iran, Iran is using the US to force Israel to make peace with Lebanon and Hezbollah. A formal break between the US and Israel cannot be far away. Ironically, Trump and Iran might be the ones to force Israel back to civilized norms.

Netanyahu must be apoplectic. However, his usual way of dealing with the threat the peaceful resolutions is to stage some big event to rekindle the conflict. The current situation presents a serious roadblock to his plans to create a hegemonic "greater Israel." He does have the bomb and the Israeli nuclear threat could be the world's bigger cause for concern.

Iran is aware of TACO Trump. With Trump's glaring incompetence, we can take comfort in that he is likely to lose the whole enchilada.