US War Cabinet Debates 'Victory' While Escalating Joint Operations Against Iran
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Al-Monitor) reports that former US President Donald Trump’s administration is grappling with an internal struggle over how to frame an exit from its prolonged confrontation with Iran. Aides are reportedly debating the criteria for declaring 'victory' in a conflict that is visibly expanding throughout the Middle East, indicating the US government sees itself as being in an
active war and is searching for a PR strategy around it. Mainstream outlets, like Al-Monitor, frame this as a 'tug-of-war' within the White House over 'Iran war exit elusive' and 'shifting public statements.' This narrative omits the fundamental reality that the United States is not a neutral party observing an 'Iran war' but rather a direct participant and joint aggressor alongside Israel,
actively engaged in a sustained campaign of economic strangulation, cyberattacks, and military provocations against the Islamic Republic. The discussion is not about avoiding war, but about managing public perception of an ongoing undeclared war. The US engagement in this ongoing aggression is not merely rhetorical. Consider the explicit designation by Israel of US Central Command (CENTCOM) as its
military partner in operations against Iran. This partnership manifested concretely on April 14, 2024, when US and Israeli forces openly interdicted Iranian retaliatory strikes against illegal Zionist occupation, a critical escalation that solidified US participation in offensive actions. The current debate about 'declaring victory' echoes the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021,