There’s nothing like a new war to make people forget about the existing one.

Since Donald Trump invented a reason to invade Iran, his attention has been drawn away from Russia’s ongoing decimation of Ukraine, allowing him to foist responsibility for aiding an ally — a valuable, strategically-situated, democratic bulwark between Russia and the NATO countries of Europe — onto those European nations that are themselves at greatest risk of possible future aggression from Vladimir Putin if Ukraine should fall.

. . . not to mention upending the entire world’s economic, trade, and diplomatic structures.

The first and most obvious effect of his ill-conceived adventure was one that any idiot could have foreseen — except for the one idiot who was calling the shots. That effect, of course, was Iran’s immediate closing of the Strait of Hormuz, thereby cutting off access to some 20-25% of the world’s supply of crude oil. Second was Iran’s knee-jerk response, which involved attacks on U.S. and allied facilities in neighboring Mideast countries — despite Trump’s delusional belief that an earlier attack had “obliterated” their nuclear capability and more recent activity had wiped out their entire military.

We’ve all seen him scrambling to do damage control, insisting that our NATO allies step in to pull him out of his self-made mess — apparently oblivious to the fact that NATO is a defensive alliance, not responsible for helping its member states to wage an offensive war. Wisely, they have all refused, choosing instead to bolster their own (and Ukraine’s) defenses.

So, to whom did he turn next? Would you believe, his old friend Vlad?

Yes, the same Vlad who has been sharing intelligence with Iran to aid in their defense and counter-offensive against Trump’s madness. The same Vlad who can now say, when accused of war crimes against civilians in Ukraine, that his buddy Donald is doing precisely the same thing in Iran. And the very same Vlad who is benefiting financially from the closing of the Hormuz Strait by welcoming new customers willing to pay for that good Russian crude because their usual supply from Iran has been . . . well, you know. (Not incidentally, that extra money in Russia’s coffers is proving useful in financing the continuation of Putin’s war against Ukraine.)

What’s that? You think Trump wouldn’t turn to Putin for help?

Well, perhaps not directly. But what would you call it when he removes sanctions on three Russian-flagged commercial vessels previously linked to sanctioned Russian financial institutions involved in activities tied to that war in Ukraine?

Although a U.S. Treasury spokesperson said, “SDN [Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals] List removals are not indicative of a broader shift in US-Russia policy,” not everyone is buying that disclaimer. [Alex Raufoglu, RFE/RL, April 1, 2026.]

Because just days later, the Treasury Department’s website noted that sanctions had also been lifted against one Mikhail Zadornov, a prominent Russian banker and former finance minister who had been on the sanctions list since 2022. Coincidentally — that is, if you believe in coincidence, which I do not when it comes to politics — an unnamed U.S. official also said that Zadornov’s delisting . . . guess what . . . did not reflect a larger change in Washington’s position on Russian sanctions.

Sound familiar? It should. Without offering details, what this official said was:

“Like the imposition of sanctions, removal of sanctions on persons, or delisting, is a tool to realize U.S. foreign policy goals” . . . and that the goal of sanctions was not to punish but to “bring about a positive change in behavior” that is in the U.S. national interest. [Andrea Shalal, Reuters, April 3, 2026.]

So I guess that Mr. Zadornov has been deemed “rehabilitated,” and no longer a threat to U.S. interests. Like some petty thief who has found God in prison and is now eligible for parole. How nice for him!

In my world, that smacks of major sucking-up to Putin. My only question is: What is Trump getting in exchange for all of this largess?

I can hardly wait to find out . . . if we ever do.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/6/26