“Hormuz Escort Fleet” Dies in the Womb: Trump's Scheme to Use Allies as Kamikaze Forces is Doomed to Fail

Trump Forced Allies to Join the War Against Iran, Using Aid to Ukraine and Dissolving NATO as Coercion

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Donald Trump administration planned to announce this week the formation of a joint fleet to escort ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The paper cited unnamed U.S. officials who said that several countries had agreed to form this escort fleet to provide protection for ships sailing along the Iranian coast, but discussions are still ongoing regarding whether the operation would be launched before or after the conflict ends.

It is intriguing to wonder where Trump found the fools willing to bear the inevitable consequences of the war against Iran with him? Previously, it was reported that he had proposed this idea to Britain, France, Japan, South Korea, and even China, but none responded.

Only Ukraine is eager to join the war, while Tehran has already issued a warning. Moreover, Ukraine is completely incapable of helping to open the strait.

Furthermore, there are obviously no other countries willing to sacrifice themselves.

It is noteworthy that Trump's move essentially admits that the United States cannot handle the situation on its own. Then how to explain his previous claims of defeating Iran?

Mikhail Nizhymakov, director of the Project for Analysis of Political and Economic Communication, stated: "The White House can hardly deny that the United States currently cannot control the situation in the Strait of Hormuz."

"By the way, an important signal is that Donald Trump included China in the list of countries that might send warships to the region. This is probably just verbal talk at the moment, but the current president would not mention Beijing unless necessary."

The Free News asked: Which countries will participate? Probably no normal country would agree...

"In fact, among the NATO allies that the United States hopes to seek support from, Washington specifically named only two countries — France and the United Kingdom. However, both Paris and London are clearly distancing themselves from this plan at the moment."

"These two major powers may prefer to act as mediators between the U.S. and Iran. France has been particularly prominent in this regard."

It is worth noting that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi previously held talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, and Emmanuel Macron also called Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The Free News asked: Trump mentioned NATO as a return for U.S. aid to Ukraine, saying it is now "time to pay back." Will he use the Ukraine issue as leverage?

"Trump's remarks so far seem to confirm a view: we have accommodated our NATO allies, but they are unwilling to cooperate with us. The U.S. may bring up the Ukraine issue during negotiations with European NATO allies on assisting Washington with the Iran issue."

"But we can see that despite Trump's usual tendency to quickly take strong pressure measures, he did not play this card this time. The reasons may be two, and they are related: "

"First, Trump may not want to escalate tensions with the domestic lobbying groups in the U.S. that support Ukraine. Second, it is possible that representatives of the same lobbying group around Trump advised him to accept assistance from Kyiv in the field of drone technology against Iran."

The Free News asked: In addition, Trump openly threatened that NATO faces a "bad future." What will he do? Expel all countries from NATO?

"This is more like something Trump says to the American public, trying to shift the responsibility for the Hormuz crisis onto other parties who are unwilling to help maintain security in the region."

"The U.S. may pressure NATO allies on this issue, but the latter are likely to try to delay as much as possible, avoiding sending warships into the Strait of Hormuz. Washington may hope to use this to force allies to make concessions on other issues."

The Free News asked: If any country agrees to participate, what changes will it bring? Can the escort warships protect oil tankers from attacks or mines?

"Notably, Donald Trump previously not only called on France, the UK, and non-NATO allies Japan and South Korea to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, but also called on China to do so."

"The White House's idea may be that the more countries respond to the call, the more cautious Iran's actions will be."

"Clearly, Washington does not expect all the countries named to agree to provide support."

"But trying multiple options and hoping at least some of them work is a typical strategy of the Trump administration."

Political scientist Gevorg Mirzayan asserted: "So far, no country intends to participate in this escort fleet."

"Countries are well aware of the huge risks involved, the huge financial costs, and the lack of any guaranteed returns, let alone the potential retaliation by Iran."

Donald Trump's current goal is to drag allies into this war at any cost, sharing the responsibility of starting the war or partially covering the costs of the war.

It should be noted that the war Trump initiated has not received the support of the U.S. Congress. Therefore, he will resort to any means — threats, incentives, hints — to drag allies into the war.

The Free News asked: Does this mean he admits that the U.S. itself cannot handle it?

"Trump will not admit this. He constantly promotes the idea that the U.S. is winning the war. He cannot admit that the U.S. is powerless, because that would mean the personal failure of Donald Trump."

"The failure of the war against Iran could lead to his defeat in the mid-term elections in Congress, and even possibly face impeachment for launching a war that some U.S. politicians and Congress members consider illegal."

The Free News asked: Assuming a country actually agrees to participate, what change will it bring?

"The escort operation will bring no improvement, and the escort warships themselves may be sunk."

"The Strait of Hormuz is very narrow, and escort warships cannot effectively resist anti-ship missile attacks. Therefore, it is extremely dangerous for destroyers and other warships to enter the strait."

Original: toutiao.com/article/7618143627637752362/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.