As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, isn’t it time we learned the lessons of history? From Vietnam to 9/11, the War on Terror, and now Iran, America never seems to understand what ought to be obvious conclusions about its actions…
Page A3From§Eachthe coffee break edition — 31 August 2026
Trump 'speedruns' Bush's biggest mistake, posts video of Kharg Island 'blown to smithereens,' eyes Venezuela resource grab.
As it ran on the front
Here's the word that got me: speedran. Not my word — that's the Examiner's own headline, calling it straight: Trump just speedran Bush's biggest mistake, going from a security scare to a full Middle East entanglement on a clock that used to take a whole administration. That's not me being cute. That's the actual language somebody at a conservative outlet chose to describe the sequence of events. When the friendly press starts using speedrun terminology for foreign policy, you're allowed to notice.
Now put that next to the video. Not a leaked satellite photo somebody had to explain in a briefing — a video the president posted himself, of Kharg Island, in his own words, "blown to smithereens." You don't stumble into posting that. You don't get caught with that one. You choose to put it up, because the point of the video isn't information, it's the flex. He's showing you the receipt before the invoice even arrives.…
…(cont) And then the third piece, the one that should've been the front page and instead ran like a footnote: somebody's on record accusing this whole production of being cover — their word, in quotes — for a resource grab in Venezuela. Not a policy dispute. A resource grab, with cover being provided by an energy crisis that this same war helped create. You don't need a conspiracy board and red string for this one. It's a straight line: destabilize the region, post the fireworks, then reach for the country next door that's sitting on oil we've wanted since before some of these congressmen were born.
Here's the part that actually bothers me. Nobody has to explain any of this to the guy who gets sent to enforce it. He doesn't get told "resource grab" on his deployment papers. He gets told something about a threat, or a mission, or freedom, whatever's on the sheet that week. He finds out what the operation was actually for later, in a think piece, months after the part where he was the one standing near the smithereens.
So no, I don't think "speedran Bush's mistake" and "cover for a resource grab" landing in the same week is a coincidence. I think it's the same movie with a shorter runtime, and I think somebody already knows how it ends, because they wrote it that way the first time.
“Bomb the island, post the video, then put in a bid on the oil next door — that's not diplomacy, that's a supply run with a highlight reel. Nobody explains the sequence to the guy who gets sent to stand near the smithereens; he finds out what it was for later, same as us.”
“This is about regional deterrence and energy security, full stop — showing strength discourages further aggression, and any discussion of resources afterward is a completely separate diplomatic track, unrelated, coincidental timing. Look, I didn't pick the headline.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump was accused over the weekend of exploiting an energy crisis of his own creation to make the case for what he dubiously characterized as "the biggest oil deal in world history" with Venezuela, a country that the US…
On Sunday afternoon, the United States launched strikes against Iran on Laruck Island. On Sunday night, President Donald Trump posted a video to his Truth Social account with the caption “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens.” The video…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.