Trump’s epic but substantively disappointing visit to China is over. Everybody is back in the states, and the world is returning to its asymmetric military conflicts. The battle between Iran, Israel, and the United States will probably reignite with intense, if not widespread violence. Since Iran is a depleted foe, the jump-started conflict will continue to be one-sided, but with far-reaching consequences.
As the United States puts the muscle on what is left of the Iranian navy, outgunned, the Iranians will do what they can to maintain pressure in the vital Strait of Hormuz, trying to keep it bottled up with small boat-born missile and drone attacks.
The tempo of the fighting should remain cat-and-mouse, with competing blockades. Our destroyers have turned back or boarded around 2000 ships on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz; thousands of sailors remain stranded. One ship anchored near the United Arab Emirates was seized by the Iranians last week, and another was sunk.
Meantime, the UAE hosted a surprise visitor.
Even as President Trump was being robustly, if insincerely, feted by President X in China, Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had quietly visited the United Arab Emirates. Even before the current conflict, the UAE has been Israel’s not-so-secret Persian Gulf ally.
Still, the UAE promptly denied the Bibi visit, condemning its mention as a mere political stunt designed to help him survive Israel’s hotly contested elections coming up in October.
No one really knows what shape the current conflict will take, but there is no reason to believe gas prices will go down anytime soon. As brutal as the pain at the pump is, imagine what it is like right now living in Southern Lebanon, where Israel pounds and grinds suspected Hezbollah strongholds. Pity the civilians who have no say in what Hezbollah does to provoke Israel, which retaliates with grim, deadly efficiency.
Lebanon has endured five decades of brutal violence that has claimed thousands of Lebanese and U.S. lives. I have covered the literally war-torn country since the early 1970s. The most vicious attacks were on the U.S. Embassy and the massive truck bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, both in 1983. 258 Marines, sailors, soldiers, and embassy staffers died in the two blasts.
My ABC 20/20 News producer on the scene at my side that awful time was Daniel Goldfarb, formerly of Great Neck’s Russell Gardens.
I mention Dan because he passed away last week at his home in Hawaii. Our mutual friend and former colleague Tim Cothren hosted an informal memorial for Danny.
Source: LI Press
