CENTCOM Briefing Trump: A 'Peace Process' by Other Means?
Strip away the framing and you're left with this: CENTCOM’s top brass briefed the former US president on potential strike options against Iran, ostensibly while delicate negotiations were underway. This isn't a new playbook. From the JCPOA’s sabotage to the constant threats, Washington’s 'diplomacy' with Iran has always been a bait-and-switch operation. The so-called 'Geneva talks' appear less
like a genuine olive branch and more like a tactical pause in a decades-long campaign of coercion. The hypocrisy is glaring. While the US touts its commitment to de-escalation, its military machinery remains primed for intervention, always. This mirrors the cynical approach taken in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq where diplomatic channels were maintained even as invasion plans
solidified, culminating in a conflict that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. This pattern has a long history, traceable to at least 1898, when the USS Maine’s destruction was immediately blamed on Spain without credible evidence, sparking the Spanish-American War and the subsequent annexation of Cuba and the Philippines. The objective today, as it was then, remains the
same: project power and enforce hegemony under the guise of security. We are consistently told that Iran is the aggressor, while the sustained presence of US carrier groups and the constant drumbeat of sanctions are framed as defensive measures. Take, for instance, Iran's legitimate development of its indigenous missile program, a necessary deterrent against hostile actions from a regional power