War Lasts Forever
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Darrell Castle talks about the war in which Europe currently finds itself as well as the seemingly inevitable war against Iran and its affiliates.
Transcription / Notes
WAR LASTS FOREVER
Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 25th day of April in the year of our Lord 2025. I talk of war today as we are about two weeks away from May 8th which is the 80th anniversary of the German surrender in WWll or what became known as victory in Europe Day. I speak today not of the German surrender but of the war in which Europe still finds itself as well as the seemingly inevitable war against Iran and its affiliates.
It is very easy to get into a war and so very hard to get out of one. The efforts to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia have become more difficult because neither side has been defeated. They have killed each other and invented new technological methods of warfare but neither is in a position of absolute defeat. Many seem disappointed that the war might end and they look for ways to make it continue. The only way it can continue is if the United States and Europe remain committed by supplying the money and hardware the Ukrainians need to continue the struggle.
Even if the U.S. decided to continue the supply chain the Ukrainians are running out of bodies. Even U.S. money and weapons might not be enough and so some are urging the use of U.S. and European troops to continue the fight against Russia. France seems to be seriously considering the idea. I have read that the usual argument in favor of U.S. commitment is that China is supplying Russia and some Chinese officers have been captured inside Ukraine where they were apparently learning about the incredible drone warfare campaign Ukraine has developed. I guess you don’t need so many bodies if you can fight each other with robots.
The situation in Ukraine reminds me of the U.S. efforts to extricate itself from Vietnam. Once again it’s easy to get into but hard to get out of. The U.S. was never defeated militarily and U.S. troops were not defeated on the battlefield but neither did the U.S. win and so by not winning it lost. History is filled with examples of committed guerilla forces fighting and winning against technologically superior forces. The American colonists against the British Empire for example. The more powerful force, usually with long supply lines, grows ever more exhausted and the war appears unwinnable so they simply look for a way to quit, but sometimes the guerillas will not allow them to quit and keep their dignity.
President Trump now finds himself in the position of fulfilling his promise of ending the war but the war is a lot more important to Ukraine and Russia than it is to the United States. The stated reasons for U.S. involvement, i.e. to weaken Russia have failed and it appears Russia is more resilient than previously thought. It appears to be the same situation the U.S. found itself in as it tried to leave Vietnam. The Viet Cong achieved their goals of uniting their country under their rule and the U.S. finally decided to accept that and just go.
The Ukrainian situation has similarities because Russia occupies Crimea and several provinces in the Eastern border region of Ukraine proper, while Ukraine still occupies some positions inside Russia although not many. Ironically, this Kursk frontier is the exact same region where the Russians fought invading Nazis during WWll. Not much changes except technology because human nature never changes.
Vice President Vance conveyed the President’s thoughts about efforts to end the struggle in that if his final offer is rejected the U.S. might simply abandon the process. If the U.S. went away and took its bombs and bullets with it then Zelensky and Putin could resolve matters on their own. The U.S. negotiating team seems to be growing weary as Secretary of State Rubio has stepped back from it, according to J.D. Vance.
“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians and its time for them to either say yes or for the U.S. to walk away from this process. We’ve engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy.”
Trump expects Ukraine to agree to U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia but apparently not the Eastern Provinces which are in Russian hands after 3 years of war. Ukraine would be barred from joining NATO but could join the European Union. All sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 would be lifted and the U.S. and Russia would pursue greater economic cooperation. Ukraine would receive a “robust security agreement” from Europe but the details of that agreement were sketchy. Ukraine would receive money to help rebuild but again the details were unclear. I raise an eyebrow at that but again the costs of peace are cheaper than war. A summit was scheduled in London yesterday to hopefully reach an agreement, but the summit has already failed because Zelensky rejected Trump’s “final offer.”
Meantime, the U.S. is involved in another war currently raging in the Middle East. What we are seeing now could be a precursor to an even bigger war coming soon or maybe not, if sanity prevails. President Trump has made many statements toward the Houthi tribes in Yemen as well as the Mullahs in Iran. For example, last month he told the Houthis that “hell would rain down on them” if they did not stop their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The attacks have not stopped and in fact have intensified. Hell has been raining down now for several weeks.
The U.S. has deployed another Carrier Battle Group to the area to support the continuous air strikes. The logistics of constantly supplying ammunition, bombs, food, and fuel to so many ships so many miles away has to be taking its toll on the navy. Why do it at all. Does it make any sense at all for the U.S. Navy to accept responsibility for keeping sea lanes open for others. Very little of the shipping passing through those lanes benefits the U.S. with most of the cargo going to Europe. Once again, the U.S. has gotten into something that is hard to get out of. History could reveal to the President that air power alone is rarely decisive against a determined foe. The bottom line is that a full-scale ground assault will be necessary to completely destroy the Houthis ability to cause trouble and I doubt if even that will work.
There is another reason for doing it, of course, besides keeping shipping lanes open. The real reason is to degrade all of Iran’s proxies in the Middle East and thereby deprive Iran of allies. Since the attacks of October 7th by Hamas against Israel the Israelis have been at war in Gaza. Dennis Kucinich tells us that in an area the size of Detroit, the Israelis have dropped over 100,000 tons of bombs. Most of those bombs are U.S. made by the way. The point is that Hamas, another Iranian proxy, has been degraded to the point that it is no longer much of a threat or of much help to Iran.
Israeli air attacks in Syria and the overthrow of the Syrian regime of Bandar Assad has destroyed or severely damaged Hezbollah the other Iranian proxy terrorist group. The fall of Assad deprived Iran of the ability to resupply Hezbollah and left them without many obvious allies in the area. The Iranians apparently recognized their predicament and have publicly abandoned the Houthis. Trump seems to want peace instead of war, but it is difficult when the one who wants war is Israel.
Apparently, during Netanyahu’s second trip to Washington he told Trump that he was going to attack Iran with or without U.S. participation. To me, if I had that decision to make it would be one of the easier ones. I would just say that I hope you don’t do that because if you do it will involve the immediate end of all U.S. military and monetary aid to Israel. Trump didn’t take my approach but he did say that he wanted to resolve the matter diplomatically if possible. When asked about Israel’s postponement of its attack he replied, “I wouldn’t say that I postponed it, but I’m not in a rush to do it.”
Trump has a Middle East trip coming up and one of the stops will be in Turkey to meet with Erdogan. The Turkish newspapers are full of stories about the upcoming meeting and how it can help resolve the Iran matter peacefully. By the way, folks Google has given us access to newspapers all over the world. If you want to read inside information from Turkey or Israel, it used to be difficult because of language but now you just click English and the articles are automatically translated.
Well, Turkish newspapers tell us that Trump gave Netanyahu what they termed a historic reprimand by telling him “You should be reasonable too.” Trump, himself, confirmed that Netanyahu went to the White House with a plan to attack Iran. The Turkish paper suggests that Trumps decision to negotiate instead of fight did not please Netanyahu but since it was the President of the United States he had no choice but to accept the decision.
Trump and the people he has assembled understand that his real fight is with China and it’s a fight for leadership of the world. That’s why he wants the Russia-Ukraine War to end and he wants the U.S.- Israeli war against Iran not to start. The talks are coming along nicely according to Turkey and involve supervision of Iran’s nuclear activities and lifting of sanctions against Iran. Both are fiercely opposed by Israel and that’s a problem.
In conclusion, involving your country in foreign military adventures is insane. The U.S. doesn’t have to do what it has been doing for the past 85 years. It should instead rethink its place in the world because fortress America sounds a lot more sensible than wasting blood and treasure on foreign battlefields when there is no national interest involved.
Finally, folks, in addition to the military aid provided to Israel during times of crises such as now, the U.S. provides 4 billion each year that has no known purpose except a kind of welfare which decades of administrations have seen as a kind of moral duty. The Israelis need that money because they recycle it into the U.S. Congress and other key defense decision makers. In other words. The Israelis have figured out a way to buy the U.S. Congress and make us pay for it.
At least that’s the way I see it,
Until next time folks,
This is Darrell Castle,
Thanks for listening.
