The war hits home: Why financial pain and economic uncertainty threaten Trumps drive to topple Irans regime

As the Pentagon keeps releasing video of bombs destroying , the smoke can’t obscure an increasingly urgent question here at home:

How high a price are Americans willing to pay for this war?

I don’t mean in terms of casualties, as the seven Americans killed so far is a relatively low figure, although each fallen soldier is a tragedy. Each should be honored for their sacrifice, as the first half dozen were in a Delaware ceremony attended by and other dignitaries. 

It’s that the financial turmoil is really taking a toll on the homeland, not to mention around the world. Markets are tanking. Oil prices are soaring. Jobs are declining. And this has fueled doubts about Trump’s decision to wage relentless attacks against Iran – and offering a series of shifting explanations as to why the war is necessary, and why it needed to be launched now. 

All major wars involve sacrifice. But since the president never made a prime-time speech to support his decision, many Americans have the sense that they woke up one morning and were at war with Iran. 

Was the goal here to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons? Or, having wiped out Ayatollah Ali Khameini and other top leaders, was it regime change? Pete Hegseth said the aim wasnt to topple the regime, but that was contradicted by Trump saying he had to approve the new leader and rejecting the anointment of the ayatollahs son. If that isnt George W. Bush-style regime change, what is?

At the outset, the Dow was plunging, the 401ks were shrinking, and gas prices were surging.

In military terms, the on the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism have been a remarkable success, at least so far. But how long will this 24/7 bombardment continue? 

Hegseth told “60 Minutes” that he and Trump are “willing to go as far as we need to go” overturn Irans dictatorial regime, including sending troops if necessary. The War secretary understandably said he wouldn’t tell the enemy whether the military assault would last four to six weeks or longer.

“Short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over, is a very small price to pay for U.S.A., and World, Safety and Peace,” the president posted. “ONLY FOOLS WOULD THINK DIFFERENTLY!”

The president told CBS yesterday, “the war is very complete, pretty much.” Thats a significant shift.

Hegseth argues the media are playing up American casualties to make Trump look bad. Sorry, but theres a reason many people find this offensive. Journalists cover American military casualties in every administration, and its not aimed at any particular president. Its to honor our war dead. Most of the press is hardly pro-Trump, but these deaths would be major news no matter who was commander-in-chief. 

Meanwhile, other Arab nations, under attack by Iran, have slashed oil productions because of that and risky conditions at the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for energy shipments.

At the same time, history shows that some political opponents try to exploit American combat deaths, as many Democrats are doing here by refusing to call Iran a terrorist state. When 13 Americans died in an attack at Kabul airport during a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Republicans blamed Joe Biden throughout his term. When four Americans died in Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, was hammered for years.   

has also been polarizing. The Washington Post, citing a classified report, said the Kremlin is aiding Iran in targeting U. S. forces – in blunt terms, helping to kill Americans.

When reporters raised this with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, she said “whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter.”

The backlash was instantaneous.

There is, at the moment, a growing sense of international uncertainty that has everyone off balance. 

I watched for years as LBJ and Richard Nixon bombarded the Viet Cong in