"Death to America" — Do We Actually Know Why?

President Donald Trump on Thursday touted the benefits of rising oil and gas prices amid the Iran war after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying that it is worth the cost of keeping the Middle East nation from obtaining nuclear capabilities.

"Of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Why It Matters

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli joint strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and opened the war in the Middle East on February 28, sending gas prices soaring as global markets reel. Some analysts have suggested that American motorists could be paying $5 at the pump by the end of the month.

Oil started trading at more than $100 a barrel on Sunday for the first time in four years, but Trump downplayed the hike and insisted in a post on Truth Social that the price would "drop rapidly."

As of Thursday, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was $3.598 nationwide, according to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), up from $3.109 a week earlier and $2.921 a month earlier.

In a Truth Social post, the president wrote: "The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money."

"BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," Trump wrote. "I won’t ever let that happen! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP"

The president on Wednesday said the war with Iran had already been decided in America's favor, even as the conflict continues into its 13th day, with American and Israeli forces continuing to carry out strikes.

He reiterated the need to prevent Iran from developing "nuclear potential," telling a crowd in Kentucky on Wednesday that the U.S. "obliterated" any such capabilities, without providing details. He insisted that Iran “started again,” saying: “That’s why we got to finish it. We don’t want to go back every two years.”

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-brags-making-money-oil-prices-rise-11667079

NEWSWEEK - MarCH 12, 2026

"Death to America" — Do We Actually Know Why?

Most Americans hear that chant and feel anger or fear. But right now, as bombs fall on Iran and Trump threatens to wipe out "a whole civilization," I think it's worth asking a question most of us were never taught to ask: Where does that hostility come from? Did it arrive out of nowhere?

It didn't. And we helped build it.

1953 — We Destroyed Their Democracy.

The CIA and British intelligence overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in a coup — Operation Ajax — because he nationalized Iran's oil industry. We killed Iranian democracy over oil, and reinstalled an authoritarian Shah.

The Shah's Secret Police.

For 26 years, the U.S. propped up that Shah while his secret police, trained in part by the CIA, tortured and disappeared political dissidents. Iranians lived under a repressive regime that existed largely because America wanted it to.

We Armed Saddam Against Them.

During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the U.S. provided intelligence and support to Saddam Hussein — even after he used chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers. Tens of thousands of Iranians died.

We Shot Down a Civilian Airliner.

In 1988, a U.S. Navy warship shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 civilians aboard. America never formally apologized.

Decades of Crushing Sanctions.

Years of economic sanctions have caused severe hardship for ordinary Iranian people — not their government, but regular families.

Now bring it to today.

Trump launched "Operation Epic Fury" in early March 2026. The stated goals were regime change, destroying Iran's nuclear program, and dismantling its military. After six weeks of war, none of those goals have been met. What has happened: a fragile two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, threats from Trump to destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran — which international legal experts called potential war crimes — and a chilling moment when the President of the United States warned that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if his demands weren't met.

Some analysts now say the war may have produced a more hardline Iranian government — one more determined than ever to pursue nuclear weapons.

This is the official version: Iran is the aggressor. Iran is the threat. Iran started this.

But here's what that version leaves out: the 1953 coup, the Shah's torture chambers, the chemical weapons we helped use against them, the airliner we shot down with no apology, and 70 years of treating Iran as a chess piece for Western oil and military interests.

Here's something else most Americans don't know: polling consistently shows ordinary Iranians often have warm feelings toward American people. After 9/11, Iranians held candlelight vigils in solidarity with us. That's not the image we're shown.

None of this makes Iran's government admirable. It isn't. But the hostility has a history — and that history is largely something we did.

Before we decide how we feel about this war, we owe it to ourselves to know that.

[Photo: "Documenting Iran-U.S. Relations, 1978–2015" — National Security Archive]

#IranWar #WarCrimes #OperationEpicFury #USForeignPolicy #OperationAjax #Blowback #DeathToAmerica #ForgottenHistory

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116216383667242591