Trump’s Consequential War

Trump’s Consequential War

By Bob Rae

March 4, 2026

I begin writing today with a quotation from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

In a press conference Monday morning, Hegseth celebrated Israel and its strikes alongside the U.S., while he condemned “so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force.”

In explaining the Trump doctrine of military intervention, the former Fox News host said: “America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history…. No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.”

The Trump administration has given many explanations for the decision to assassinate Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was the Israelis. President Trump gave a whole lot of reasons, including regime change by means of a great rising up of the Iranian people, “obliterating” (again) the Iranian navy, air force and missile capacity, but then saying he’s ready to talk to Iranian “leaders”, admitting that most of the people he originally wanted to talk to are now dead.

I am not a pearl clutcher by nature. But unleashing an attack on a ruler in a willful violation of “stupid rules of engagement” marks a new low.

There is no refuge in mumbling about this. Neither the Israelis nor the Americans have taken responsibility for the attack on an Iranian girls’ school on the first day of bombing in what Secretary Hegseth boasted was the “most lethal and precise” campaign in human history.

Lethal, certainly. Precise? Surely not, unless they were aiming for a girls’ school, which is unimaginable. An air bombing war such as this always mean missed targets and innocent lives lost.

The consequences of fighting a war in this way are very grave, as Prime Minister Carney said in his statement upon arrival in Australia. The Prime Minister made clear Canada’s insistence that international law prevail, and that diplomacy must do its job. Other leaders are weighing in as the realization of civilian losses and the deeply confused messaging about war aims takes firmer hold.

President Trump’s messages on “Truth Social” and in wandering commentary while greeting visitors to the White House take shots at whichever country or leader has expressed concerns — one moment, Spain is the target, the next moment it’s President Zelensky, whom he called “P.T. Barnum” before shifting the rant to another target.

I am not a pearl clutcher by nature. But unleashing an attack on a ruler in a willful violation of ‘stupid rules of engagement’ marks a new low.

To say these are difficult times is a gross understatement. People looking for clear historical parallels with what is happening, or simply whistling through the unreality of it all, will find no comfort in the end. No matter how many times we tell ourselves differently, we need to confront the fact that the United States under its current president and administration is in no position to lead us anywhere good.

In 1956, British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, in poor health, labouring in the shadow of Winston Churchill’s heroism and on a cocktail of pain medication for a severed bile duct, was convinced that Gamal Abdel Nasser was the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and that Egypt’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal was the signal for a military response from the Israelis, the French and the British.

The three countries cooked up a scheme for the Israelis to launch a surprise attack on the Egyptians and for the British and French to send in paratroopers to “defend the canal”.

The Americans in 1956 were furious at the lack of consultation, and public opinion in Europe was equally horrified at what looked like the Empire’s last gasp. It was Canada’s moment at the United Nations to create the momentum for a peacekeeping mission as a way to end the embarrassment for the British and French.

Eden resigned in disgrace two months later, and was replaced by Harold Macmillan, who shocked his party by signaling that the “winds of change” were blowing through Africa and the age of Empire was over. Dean Acheson used to say that “Britain has lost its Empire and is searching for a role”.

President Trump has certainly made it clear that imperial America is not leaving quietly. By destroying the State Department and USAID, the president has undermined the essential tools of modern diplomacy. But while America has great technological fire power — as do the Israelis — there are limits as to what lethal air superiority can do in addition to destruction.

We have seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, to name just a few examples, that when governance structures are destroyed, chaos is a more likely result than the peaceful dawn of a democratic era. Exploitable chaos as an outcome in Iran is hardly a “win” no matter how hard the president repeats the mantras.

There are lessons here for Canada as well. As important as international travel and engagement is for a country like Canada, there is an underlying sense in the country that our domestic situation also needs the Prime Minister’s full attention. That is true at all times, but it is even more true today.

Tip O’Neill’s truism that “all politics is local” is never truer than when the economy is troubled, and when the public knows that tough times are both here and ahead.

Ministers, diplomats, and others whom Mr. Carney trusts need to continue to to make the Davos vision a reality — whereby on the global stage Canada makes clear its own interests and engages diplomatically with a world in significant disarray and hegemons trying to press their own advantage in often unpredictable ways.

Defence, diplomacy, and development go together. They all need to be joined up and properly funded.

Policy Columnist Bob Rae teaches and writes on law and public policy. He is the Visitor of Massey College, a Distinguished Fellow at the Munk School at the University of Toronto, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Forum of Federations and a Matthews Fellow in public policy at Queen’s University. He served as Ontario’s 21st Premier, interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations.