More More on Iran and/or U.S./Iran War.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page or response (in a Friend’s Page) to the same issue.

THE United States contributes $570 million to $750 million of taxpayer money to NATO, annually. President Trump lowered it from 22 percent to 16 percent in 2019 but still the top money. For 2025, however, the U.S. gave more (google stuff because numbers vary but in billions$). Meanwhile, Europe or NATO countries' economic woes suffer more due to delays or stoppage of oil shipments via Strait of Hormuz because they are already reeling from the Ukraine war since Russia was their top energy importer for years until 2022. 

       Pre-U.S. operation in Iran, the IRGC massacred thousands of its people in a matter of days or weeks. Question: Would it be "better" that the U.S. didn't make a move? Protests in Iran have been happening due to economic murk for years now. Mr Trump took out the IRGC's brain or the hardcore Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a.k.a. the Supreme Leader after talks failed. Iran's best move is to return to the table and talk. The world suffers from the looming oil crisis but what about the Iranian people? 

       Before this tempest, Iran joined the BRICS trade bloc and shook hands with Saudi Arabia. Those were moves to fix the economy as China increased oil purchase. But the people wanted faster changes and reforms. So the protests. Until the massacre happened. 

       I don't know why some even say the U.S. "masterminded" the killings... I was anti-U.S. (hawkish) foreign policy for most of my old life until Washington prioritized trade deals over military aggro in Donald Trump time but how would a POTUS react to a massacre such as that horror in Iran? Ignore it because it's them, not us? Then we need to go back to Bretton Woods 1944 etcetera and why America is the de facto cop of the world. I may disagree but… ☮️☮️☮️

Associated Press: “Counterterror chief Joe Kent resigns and breaks with Trump on Iran.” / Reuters: “Trump was warned that strikes on Iran would embolden the regime, say sources.” I am both baffled and annoyed by reactions to President Trump’s response to Iran’s massacre of thousands of its people, after negotiations to avoid a U.S. military operation, didn’t work. So it’d be better to just ignore the horror because it’s them, anyways–not us? In my personal experience in the Philippines, would it be “better” if the U.S. didn’t aid the coup that took out the 20-year Marcos dictatorship in 1986? The regime wasted over 3,000 (official count) in two decades. Iran’s vicious IRGC shot dead over 30,000 in a matter of days! 

      Yet POTUS tried to avoid this war or its escalation. Must I rant why per The D’s foreign policy playbook? Tell me, if this is Barack Obama or George W. time, what’d they do? Sit back and just watch as Iranian families bury their dead in mass graves? More deaths to come? Yet after the Supreme Leader was erased, Iran’s leadership should have opted to go back to the table and talk about an end to hostilities, for the sake of their own people. Still, they don’t. Yet I concur with Washington’s response to Iran’s “easy” wastage of humanity: “You can’t do that!” 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷

THE relatively higher cost of gasoline (per gallon), as usual, is pitched as a political caterwaul feed than a living imperative issue. Yet aren’t we in America used to this fluctuating trend? The current price at the pump aligns with how it was just a few years ago, in 2022: $4 to $5. Adjusted per inflation, that was the average in the 1970s during the global oil crisis. America’s average since 2000 is $1.50. Yet look at Europe: Today? $9 per gallon. The global average is $4. Yet “ordinary” costs in some in Asia (Hongkong) and Europe (Norway) are already around $8 to $10. My point? Chill. This is not World War 3. ⛽️🗽⛽️

All About Iran.

Previously posted on my Facebook Page.

A smart individual chastised me for issuing my “conclusion” about Left-wing dissent’s “selectivity” as blurred by their gargantuan hate for Donald Trump. I based my insight/opinion on available fatalities data in Iran (before the U.S. hit days ago). He reckoned my data is not a “universally-accepted” fact or news report. Universally-accepted. Uh huh? Meaning, both Left and Right must accept the info to warrant veracity? In these divided times?

      Anyhow, here: Iranian government data: 3,117 deaths. Human Rights Activists News Agency: 7,007. Independent/Media Estimates: Exceeds 30,000–36,500, which the media, such as The Guardian, picked up. Certainly those numbers are higher than “2 dead in Minnesota.” 

       Yahoo: “Trump says 'the big wave' of military action in Iran is 'coming soon'.” A current events/POTUS fact: Donald Trump is hot and high on “big talk.” Still surprised, eh? But since his MOAB hits in Afghanistan and Syria in April 2017, his “big talk,” to me, is more a chess move tactic than a hint of Rambo mayhem. Examples. His erasures: 2019, ISIS’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; 2020, IRGC/Quds’ Qasem Soleimani; 2026, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Add, power-removal of dictator Nicolas Maduro. Technically, those are not wars. War is the Ukraine War (since 2014 or 2022) or Iran vs Iraq of the 1980s. So easy with dramatics, people! 

       Yahoo: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leaves door open for boots on the ground in Iran.” War engagements have immensely evolved since the 20-year Afghanistan War, at least for the U.S. Less “boots on the ground” or non-escalation of hostilities in favor of political/economic pressures ensue. Only the Arab League, not Israel, could heighten this shudder into a full-blown conflagration. And The League, starring Saudi Arabia, doesn’t favor a prolonged mess. So is China, the top buyer of Middle East oil (including Riyadh and Tehran’s shipments). Until his hands were forced, Mr Trump favored trade on the table, not wars on the front. 

       Yahoo: “Defense secretary says 'regime change' was not the goal of strikes, but urges Iranians to 'take advantage'.” / Reuters: “U.S. officials skeptical of Iran regime change after killing of supreme leader.” Regime change, of course, is powered or executed by the U.S. But the change in leadership, following an election, is the people’s decision. If you are an older Filipino (who was an adult in 1986) and has gotten old watching geopolitics unfold, you know what that is. Iran: The Supreme Leader is out so Iranians have got to recover from the rubble of civil unrest and economic murk. 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷

AND More Rant. 

WHEN I read about Americans “comparing” actual dictatorship deaths or evil regime deaths elsewhere, I feel the horror of those carnage is diminished or “mellowed down.” Sometimes I feel offended. Are we downplaying actual deaths elsewhere by comparing all these with internal America? Like, 2 dead in Minnesota were mourned over the 6,216 dead in Iran in the same week or month. But let’s see. 

       The deadliest riot in the U.S. happened in 1863, the New York Draft Riots, 120 people killed. Others: Tulsa Race Massacre (1921): 50 to 300 deaths. East St. Louis Riot (1917): Estimates suggest 40 to 200 deaths. LA Riots (1992): 63 people were killed. Red Summer (1919): Racial tensions across 38-40 cities led to hundreds of deaths.

Yet I couldn’t compare those days alongside years of extra-judicial killings, in the Philippines, for example. Maybe America imprisoned many, silenced or killed, but still I couldn’t compare. I am sorry. In the case of current-day Iran, I don’t really give a hoot that the U.S. launched this attack as long as the “leader” who ordered the killing of thousands in a few days–is taken out. If the U.S. didn’t do anything, then I will complain. 

       As of 25 January 2026, the total death toll estimates ranged from 3,117 people (per the Iranian government) to upwards of 36,500 people. Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA): 7,007 verified deaths. Independent/Media Estimates (High-End): Reports citing medical sources, morgue staff, and leaked intelligence documents have suggested the death toll could be significantly higher, with some estimates exceeding 30,000–36,500 (which the media, such as The Guardian, picked up). 

       In 20 years of Marcos dictatorship (which ended in 1986). Estimates of EJK deaths: 1,500 to over 3,000 victims. By Historian Alfred McCoy: 3,257. I am talking about 20 years. 🇺🇸☮️🇮🇷