I am not in the habit of quoting myself, primarily because . . . well, because I’m just not that quotable. Instead, I defer to Shakespeare, or Eleanor Roosevelt, or one of the ancient Greek philosophers, who were obviously so much more astute, insightful, and eloquent than I could ever hope to be.

But sometimes — the law of averages being on my side — I do get it right. And such was the case on February 21st, when I posted an article titled “Iran Is Not Venezuela,” in which I warned Donald Trump that he shouldn’t let his January “success” in Caracas muddy his thinking (any more than it already was) about invading Iran. In part, what I said was:

“Of course, I’m talking about Donald Trump, who — fresh off of his Venezuelan “success” — now has his sights, and a sizable number of U.S. military forces, aimed at Iran. The issue there is bigger than the Latin American drug trade; it involves ongoing talks concerning nuclear containment, which have dragged on with little or no progress for longer than he anticipated.

“At the first meeting of his ironically-named “Board of Peace” in Washington this week, Trump gave the Iranian regime another ten days to knuckle under to his demands, saying:

“‘We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen.’ [Bernd Debusmann, Jr., BBC, February 20, 2026.]

“Trump did not explain what he meant by “bad things.” But I doubt that what then actually happened on Thursday was what he had in mind. That was the day that Iran and Russia began joint military drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, with the purported goal of ‘upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences.’ [Ryan Mancini, The Hill, February 19, 2026.]

“Apparently, Trump does not understand the difference in consequences between stepping on an anthill and poking a hornets’ nest. Furthermore, in his own ignorance concerning the history, the culture and the mindset of the Middle East nation — and his failure to anticipate Russia’s willingness to step into the fray — he placed responsibility for the negotiations in the hands of two equally unqualified individuals: realtor Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s own wunderkind son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

“Yes, the same pair who have thus far failed to bring Ukraine a millimeter closer to peace have simultaneously been tasked with convincing Iran’s leaders to bow down before the Temple of Trump.

“Well, good luck with that, boys. The countdown has begun.

“10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . .”

But — and I’m really rather glad about this — Donald Trump obviously does not read my blog or my FB page. (Why would he, when he doesn’t even read his own daily intel reports?) Because just a week later, he went ahead — without consulting Congress, any of our NATO allies, or anyone else with a brain — and invaded Iran anyway.

And we all know where that has led: “bad things” have indeed been happening since then, just as Trump promised . . . but nowhere close to the way he anticipated they would.

As usual.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/26/26