Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Mar. 19, 2026
Update	: Mar. 19, 2026
Parts	: 03

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part one, and our examination concerning why it would be very perilous in a political sense for President Trump to be forced to put American forces on the ground in Iran, following is a summation of the current tragic situation in Iran. These points easily reveal why President Trump keeps encouraging -- and hopelessly wishing for -- an Iranian groundswell which would in theory avoid the necessity of putting American boots on the ground in Iran. These points also reveal exactly why that groundswell of resistance has simply not materialized as Mr. Trump had anticipated:

Regime Stability and Fear:

American intelligence indicates that despite the deaths of so many of Iran's top leaders, the Islamic regime STILL retains control, and is NOT at immediate risk of collapse. The IRGC -- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- remains in control of the streets, and public fears of their repression act as a rather significant deterrent, with few reports of major defections.

Failed Uprising and Internal Factors:

While public protests had previously challenged the regime of the mullahs and the IRGC, the anticipated mass insurrection has simply not occurred. Reasons for this failure include the lack of clear organization, an inability to maintain momentum, and the fact that previous protests -- such as the uprisings which occurred in late 2025 -- were brutally crushed.

Nationalist Sentiment and Wariness:

Some analysts suggest that many Iranians -- even those who do oppose the Islamic regime -- are nonetheless nationalistic. As a result, they remain wary of foreign-driven conflict. To add to that, casualties and damage which have resulted from all of the American-led attacks have in some cases reinforced the Iranian's hesitation to embrace American-Israel intervention, rather than creating a popular uprising against the leaders in Tehran.

Protest Realities:

While certain Iranian citizens initially hoped for very rapid change to occur, the mounting cost of the conflict has forced many to reassess their situation. Thus again, a widespread, effective opposition movement has simply not materialized on the ground in Iran.

Despite the significant degradation of Iran's missile and drone capabilities -- 86% and 73% drops respectively -- the internal resistance movement has not translated into a successful, large-scale uprising against the leadership.

So, my friends, as you can obviously see, despite everything that the United States and Israel have done to weaken Iran in both a political and a military sense, due to the absence of a powerful, popular, national protest movement, this terrible war will go absolutely nowhere, unless the United States and Israel put boots on the ground in Iran, and engage in a very bloody ground battle, until the IRGC -- and whoever is now in charge -- is totally wiped out. The Iranian people are still filled with too much fear of the oppressive regime which has ruled over them for the past forty-seven years since 1979.

These are the bare facts. President Trump and his warmongering friends obviously know these things. They realize that they've failed to ignite a strong protest movement which is capable of doing the rest of the ground work for them. They also know it would be a serious political gamble for them to send in ground troops in order to wage war against the IRGC, who undoubtedly know their own territory better than the back of their hand. American and Israeli forces would be at a total disadvantage. As I explained earlier, the political fallout of more American soldiers dying in Iran could be enough to seriously damage the Republicans in the upcoming midterms, and even extend to the presidential election in 2028.

Thus, President Trump hesitates and now appears to be showing a small sign of possible weakness. Why do I say this? Well, because just now as I was working on this part of this series, I received the latest email news bundle from The Washington Times. Consider the headlines for one of the included news articles:

----- Begin Quote -----

Trump says he might destroy Iran's leadership and let other countries deal with Strait of Hormuz

President Trump said Wednesday the U.S. might finish off the Iranian regime and let countries that rely on the Strait of Hormuz as an oil-shipping channel deal with its security.

----- End Quote -----

After reading the full article on The Washington Times site, I traced the Trump quote to its actual source on the Truth Social website. What President Trump actually said is the following, which he posted on March 18, 2026 at 10:35 PM:

----- Begin Quote -----

"I wonder what would happen if we "finished off" what's left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don't, be responsible for the so called "Strait?" That would get some of our non-responsive "Allies" in gear, and fast!!! President DJT"

----- End Quote -----

As you can see, President Trump's thinking seems to be that if United States military forces were to pull out of Iran after taking down the remainder of Iran's leadership, the countries which heavily depend on the oil which flows through the Strait of Hormuz would have no choice but to become more seriously involved in reopening the Strait, if they truly expect to get their oil. For those of my readers who have long memories, you may recall that Mr. Trump has used this very same strategy in recent years with regard to his sometimes-heated dealings with the NATO alliance.

More to the point, President Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull the United States out of NATO. At times, he has even suggested withdrawing American troops from Europe if NATO allies did not increase their defense spending so as to meet their agreed-upon targets. That target was previously set at 2% of their GDP, or Gross Domestic Product. However, as of 2025, NATO members have agreed to a new, higher goal of 5% of their GDP on defense by 2035. The new target consists of 3.5% for core military equipment, and 1.5% for related security, infrastructure, and innovation.

Mr. Trump repeatedly argued that the United States was paying disproportionately more than other NATO members. Well, I was curious regarding exactly how honest Trump was being about it. As we all know, he has a huge propensity for embellishing or distorting the facts -- if not outright lying -- when it may suit his purposes. As it turns out, in this particular case, Trump was actually being quite honest. Upon conducting quick online research, I discovered that the USA accounts for about 60-62% of the entire Alliance's total defense spending, with an estimated $980 billion in 2025, which far exceeds the 2% NATO guideline.

At any rate, with regard to his dispute with NATO members, it does seem that Trump's strategy worked, because NATO slackers did begin to contribute their fair share after that. In fact, as we saw a moment ago, they even agreed to a higher goal by 2035. Returning to Iran and the current war that's been raging there, please notice that in his previous quote from his Truth Social platform, Trump placed the word "Allies" in quotes. He did this for a very specific reason, as I will be explaining to you momentarily. The previous quote in fact leads us right into our next important topic of discussion.

As the Iran War drags on week after week, American casualties continue to slowly climb, and American stockpiles of various weapons of war continue to slowly dwindle as the US military expends an increasing number of its bombs, missiles, drones, interceptors, money, etc., on an extremist Islamic country which simply refuses to be put down. What began as a united, singular attack against the nation of Iran, has now spread across the entire region of the Middle East. Multiple nations are being attacked by Iran, and are also retaliating against the Iranian threats.

But as I briefly mentioned a moment ago, for the rest of the world, the most negative consequence which has resulted from Operation Epic Fury is the effect that Iran's smart, strategic closure of the very important Strait of Hormuz has had on oil supply lines, and other important Middle Eastern products such as LNG -- or Liquefied Natural Gas -- and LPG -- or Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

It has been estimated that somewhere between %20-%30 of the world's oil flows through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Likewise, based on data for the 2024–2025 period, about 20% of the world's liquefied natural gas, and nearly 27% of global seaborne liquefied petroleum gas exports also pass through the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, it comes as no surprise that with Iran's current strict control over the Strait of Hormuz, global oil prices have begun to rise. In fact, where I live, gasoline prices have already risen three times since eighteen days ago when the war first erupted. If you doubt my word, below is a photograph of a Mobile station which was taken on March 13, 2026.



As I mentioned earlier, with the rising cost of living in the United States, and now the rising cost of gasoline and other commodities as well, the Trump administration realizes that it is in serious trouble. Certain US critics argue that President Trump and his fellow warmongers should have known that sooner or later, we would arrive at this current moment where Iran is holding a large part of the world hostage due to its control of the Strait of Hormuz. I would have to agree with them. Did President Trump and his warmongering friends really think this out thoroughly before choosing to pick a fight with Iran? Did they look before they leaped?

Not only are the 2026 midterms now in jeopardy, but it may very well be that a Republican victory in the upcoming 2028 presidential election may be in jeopardy as well. So again, it is no wonder that President Trump is now doing his best to try to resolve the Strait of Hormuz problem as quickly as he possibly can before he totally sinks the Republican party. However, Mr. Trump has run into a rather serious problem. He has sought military assistance from the very countries that he has both pressured, ridiculed and snubbed in the past. As a result, now he is the one who is actually being snubbed by them. They are giving President Trump a good taste of his own medicine.

My friends, at issue is the following. The world is not so quick to forget what happened during the Iraq War, or the disappointing results which that war bore after the United States and a few allies spent eight years fighting there. I discuss this topic at length in Bill's Bible Basics articles such as"Saddam Hussein's Execution and the Euro Dollar War" and "Obama, McCain and the Bush Legacy", which you will find listed at the end of this same series.

For those of my readers who may be too young to know, while U.S. President George W. Bush referred to the 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom as the "Coalition of the Willing", in my view, that name was really a deceptive misnomer. Why so? Because few countries actually participated in that foolish endeavor in any major way. Furthermore, my friends, most countries half-heartedly sent a small contingent of soldiers to Iraq, just to save face, and so that they could claim that they were doing their part to bring down Saddam Hussein, and to prevent him from using NON-EXISTENT WMD against the rest of the world.

While at the time the White House claimed that forty-nine countries had joined George W. Bush's coalition, as I just said, the truth of the matter is that only a small handful of nations contributed to a significant degree during the invasion and the early, crucial phase of the Iraq War. In fact, the ONLY major contributors to that endeavor outside of the USA were the UK and Australia. Poland contributed a few hundred soldiers to the initial invasion. Aside from those countries, Italy, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, South Korea and Japan also made contributions during the occupation and reconstruction phases of that terrible war, but NOT during the initial and more dangerous invasion.

In fact, my friends, outside of the United States and the UK, contributions by other countries amounted to less than 1% of the total number of troops which were deployed to the region during the initial invasion phase of that very misguided and illegal war. In other words, the vast majority of Mr. Bush's so-called "Coalition of the Willing" was comprised of nations which merely offered symbolic assistance at best. They did NOT go in guns blazing, ready to fight and kill. They played mostly noncombatant roles, and they only went in AFTER the initial invasion force had done all of the dirty fighting and killing. As I said a minute ago, those nations went in during the occupation and reconstruction phases of that war. So it was all an illusion created by the George Bush administration to save face. The Iraq War was basically America's war, and no one else's.

Equally important, exactly what was the real outcome of that awful, illegal and foolish war venture? We all know -- or at least we should know -- the answer. For one thing, WMD were NEVER actually found, hundreds of thousands of noncombatant Iraqis died needlessly, and many more Iraqis suffered in an assortment of other ways in the war's aftermath. Sadly, this included being maimed for life, suffering the loss of their livelihood, losing their basic utilities for literally years and other things which made their lives rather difficult. Of course, Iraq's military was destroyed. Iraq's government was wiped out. Iraq's national economy was basically obliterated.

Furthermore, Iraqi infrastructure was destroyed, or at least majorly damaged, and it took literally years to restore some of it to any serious degree of normalcy. I recall that some individuals suggested at that time that the slow restoration period may have been done intentionally by the powers which eventually took over as a means to ensure that the Iraqis would remain divided, and in total submission to their new overlords. Whether or not this is true I really do not know, because I don't live over there. But in short, Iraqi society was pretty much destroyed by the Iraq War.

And for what? Exactly what did the Iraq War accomplish? Yes, the big, bad dictator -- Saddam Hussein -- was gone, but who took his place? Have they been any better for Iraq? So in my view, the Iraq War was a war which was totally based on the WMD lie, and on the foolish claim that mushroom clouds would soon be seen over America if Saddam Hussein was not stopped. Again, did the downfall of Saddam Hussein actually result in Iraq converting into a wonderful, shining beacon of democracy which now overflows with peace, freedom and abundance for all Iraqi citizens? Do I even need to respond to that question?

Taking this thought a step further, has that same spirit of democracy, freedom and material abundance rippled across all the lands of the Middle East as the Bush administration had hoped for and assumed would occur once Saddam Hussein had been deposed? Most definitely not! Granted, there was some hope during the so-called 2011 "Arab Spring". However, that hope soon fizzled out, and was crushed when the dictatorial leaders of the Middle East reasserted themselves over their people. In fact, while the country of Tunisia was able to successfully transition to a democracy due to the 2011 Arab Spring, that democracy has been systematically dismantled since 2021, and the nation has returned to an authoritarian or "hybrid" regime with concentrated presidential power. So I rest my case. George W. Bush's Iraq War accomplished little.

So tell me my dear friends, does everything I just shared with you seem vaguely familiar? Well, if you are old enough to remember, it most definitely should, because we are now witnessing a close replay of what occurred in Iraq years ago with the current war in Iran. Furthermore, my longtime readers should recall that I warned you for literally years that the United States was relying upon the very same game plan with Iran, beginning with the tactic of demonizing the Islamic leadership of Iran, just as they demonized Saddam Hussein a few decades ago. Lastly, just as imaginary WMD were used as the main justification for the stupid American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the very SAME thing occurred with Iran.

Please remember that only weeks ago, it was claimed by some sources within the USA -- and within Israel as well -- that within a matter of only ONE WEEK, Iran would have weapons grade uranium -- and thus be able to produce ten nuclear bombs -- unless the Iranians were immediately stopped in their tracks by whatever amount of force might be necessary to accomplish such a task. Of course, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu promoted the very same frightening narrative.

Thus, as the countdown supposedly ticked down by the middle of last year, the United States and Israel worked together, and they collectively engaged in the terrible bomb strikes which occurred in June of 2025. Those strikes supposedly "obliterated" -- that was President Trump's word -- Iran's three primary nuclear fuel processing facilities. President Trump did in fact boastfully assure us of this. Yet not even a year later, what happened? We were told that Iran was now on the verge of creating as many as ten nuclear bombs. Wait! What? But wasn't the processed uranium destroyed, or buried, or whatever, due to the previous bombing raids that occurred in June of 2025? Somebody is NOT telling us the truth!

My friends, what you need to understand is that while the US government may have swept the truth regarding the Iraq War under the proverbial carpet, the rest of the world did NOT just forget any of those earlier tragic events. Neither did they simply forget how President George W. Bush and his war hawks -- Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, et al. -- pressured them into joining the so-called "Coalition of the Willing", which to this day has not born any tangible positive fruit. Neither have they forgotten how they were in fact lied to regarding the actual reasons for that disgusting war. Lastly, neither have they forgotten all of the destruction and death which the United States rained down on the Iraqi people during their campaign of "shock and awe".

So, my friends, is it any wonder then that as of the middle of this current month -- March 2026 -- at least five and as many as eight major U.S. allies -- including Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea and the United Kingdom -- have either resisted, declined, or even outright rejected US requests to join a naval coalition as a part of ongoing Operation Epic Fury to secure the Strait of Hormuz? ALL of them have remained noncommittal. Their basic position is that they did NOT start the Iran war, and so they do NOT want to become involved in it. It is America's war and it is Israel's war. However, it is NOT the Europeans' war, or the Asians' war, or the Australians' war!

I should also add that as of this writing on March 19, 2026, China has likewise not yet responded to President Trump's request for military assistance in order to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, even though China happens to be one of the largest importers of Iranian oil. However, in case you are not aware of it, there is a very good reason for current restraint on China's part. You see, Iran has already made it very clear that it is ONLY restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz to the United States, to Israel, and to the allies of those two nations. Any other country is free to continue using this vital waterway for commerce.

These countries which are currently resisting pressure from the United States are NOT so stupid, my friends. They don't want to get sucked into another terrible, destructive war in the Middle East by President Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu despite the havoc Operation Epic Fury is wreaking on the international oil markets, and on other sectors of the global economy. In short, as I recently told one of my close friends, they don't want to become a row of carnival ducks sitting in the rather narrow Strait of Hormuz, ready to be leisurely picked off at will by the Iranians with their missiles, speed boats and mines. Would you?

Of course, President Trump is absolutely furious and quite frustrated that these supposed key American allies are now refusing to participate in his foolish warmongering, and in his vain endeavors to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to all shipping traffic. President Trump has in fact already begun to publicly lambast these other countries, as is his usual style when he does not get his way. He acts just like some very spoiled child! Yet after enduring his public tantrums against so many people and nations for years now, haven't we come to expect this kind of behavior from the man? Is Trump's shameful behavior really anything new? Following is a direct quote taken from the Truth Social website which President Trump posted on March 18, 2026 at 1:18 AM. H really lets it rip, let me tell you:

----- Begin Quote -----

"The United States has been informed by most of our NATO "Allies" that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon. I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street -- We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need. Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military -- Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again! Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer "need," or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea. In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP"

----- End Quote -----

Wow, my friends! Talk about extreme arrogance and oversized self-importance! President Trump's pride and vanity know no bounds, wouldn't you agree? At any rate, now you can see why in that earlier Trump quote I shared with you, and in this one as well, President Trump chose to place the word "Allies" in quote marks. In other words, it is because Trump does not view them as being true allies whatsoever. They are allies in name only as far as he is concerned. Do you agree with him?

However, despite the Trumpian pressure, these countries are standing their ground, and they're basically saying "Thanks for thinking of us, Mr. Trump. Thanks for your invitation. But NO THANKS! It is YOUR war, so YOU fight it, along with your buddy Benjamin Netanyahu." But tell me, my friends. Can you really blame those nations for refusing to participate in President Trump's madness? I most certainly can't. Of course, they already know that if they foolishly decide to side with President Trump, they will NOT be given access to the Strait of Hormuz, and to the valuable products which pass through it on a daily basis, meaning oil, LNG, LPG and other products which they so desperately need to survive.

As I have shared on a number of previous occasions, the fact of the matter is that due to their pride, greed and various other misplaced motivations, the violent children of this present world will always fight their wars. They will always find some new reason to engage in warfare. They will always find some new enemy, and there is very little that you and I can do about it. As the Apostle James was inspired to write:

"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."


However, as citizens of Heaven, it is NOT our place to take sides in any secular war, or to wish death and destruction upon anyone. That is simply NOT a Christian attitude, so if any of you are doing this, I urge you to stop it immediately, because that is most certainly NOT the Spirit of God. I also urge all of my Christian friends to be very careful that you do NOT allow yourselves to become overtaken by any sense of national patriotism, especially if you happen to live within the United States of America. That is just the spirit of the world. This statement is particularly directed to the MAGA extremists who, sadly, have become spiritually drunk on the MAGA mentality which contradicts the tenets of our Christian faith.

As I have pointed out on many previous occasions, we are NOT of this present world. Our citizenship is above. Thus, our loyalty should ONLY be to the Kingdom of Heaven, and NOT to any earthly government, or to its causes. This very sound and Biblical doctrine is plainly revealed in Bible verses such as the following:

"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."


"I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."


"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."


"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"


"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."


"No man that warreth [meaning spiritually] entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."


"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."


"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."


"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."


Please go to part three for the conclusion of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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