Rules of Engagement
The rules of engagement are the ones that tell you you’re not supposed to murder prisoners, attack civilians, or initiate force, among other things. They are not foolproof...as Hegseth demonstrates.
Thursday, March 5th, 2026
Bill Bonner, from Youghal, Ireland
“How ye been keepin?” a neighbor greeted us.
“Not too bad. And you?”
“Not bad at all...it’s been raining almost every day since November. In the Bible it says it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. We beat that record handily.”
“I noticed that Mick had not added a single stone to that wall he was working on in October.”
“Nooo...but after so much rain...the flowers will be magnificent.”
That is how it works. It takes a rainy day to produce a beautiful one.
And the gist of our dot-connecting today: you may need an umbrella.
Poor Iran. It needs more than an umbrella. Bombs from America falling on its leaders. Missiles from Israel coming down on its people. And now, the earth beneath its feet seems to have turned against it. MorningOverview:
Powerful earthquake rocks Iran as US and Israeli strikes keep falling
God must not like them.
And then, we were just settling down to watch the war in Iran when...boom...another one shows up. The New York Times:
U.S. Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’
U.S. Special Forces soldiers are advising and supporting Ecuadorian commandos on raids across the country against suspected drug shipment facilities and other drug-related sites.
We’ll have to take them one at a time.
Both wars, however, are the products of one man’s ambitions. Many readers think we spend too much time criticizing POTUS. But he is the man of the hour...the day...the year...and perhaps, the 21st century. Failing to understand Trump is a little like writing about the Decline and Fall of Rome without mentioning Caesar. Or surveying the 17th century and ignoring Cromwell...or the 19th without Napoleon...or the 20th without that fellow with the mustache.
All of them were the Big Men of their time. And whatever they thought they were doing…they played important historical roles that shaped the future. Commentators might have saluted Caesar after he crossed the Rubicon and expected him to reign over Rome for many years ahead. in 1812, they might have applauded Bonaparte’s victories at Marengo and Austerlitz…and predicted ever greater victories to come in Russia. They could have remarked at how the Nazis ‘made the trains run on time’….and looked forward to their getting the rest of Europe running correctly.
And now, Donald Trump thinks he is making deals that will add to America’s (and his own) glory. Alas, the history books may describe a very different outcome. Our job is to try to figure out what it is.
What readers might take as criticism of Trump is really our own unrepentant catastrophism on display. Our guess — based on the dots we’ve connected so far — is that the future is going to be marked by inflation, chaos, bankruptcy, war…and higher nominal interest rates. Life may be poorer and more brutal. It’s not Donald Trump’s fault. He’s just helping us get there.
Take the war on Iran, for example. Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the Pentagon didn’t need no stinkin’ “stupid rules of engagement…unlike so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force.”
The rules of engagement are the ones that tell you you’re not supposed to murder prisoners, attack civilians, or initiate force, among other things. They are not foolproof...as Hegseth demonstrates. But largely in response to the disaster brought on by the man with the mustache, ‘rules’ were meant to nudge the world a little further in the ‘civilized’ direction. You stick with the rules, trusting your adversary to do the same.
It rained down hard in WWII. Even then, the Nazis generally respected the ‘rules of engagement’ on the Western Front. Atrocities were the exception, not the rule. As far as we know, they made no serious attempt to murder Churchill or Roosevelt. On the Eastern Front, meanwhile, murdering prisoners and civilians was much more common; both sides gave as good as they got.
Killing the Ayatollah, contrary to the rules of engagement, may have been a good way to make a deal. Or may not. But since our goal is to protect ourselves against the Big Loss, it set off alarms. Ina Hassan:
‘The assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei is the single greatest strategic blunder in modern history. By killing him, the US and Israel didn’t just eliminate a leader, they fulfilled a 1,460-year-old prophecy and created a martyr whose shadow will haunt the West for decades.’
Whether that is true, or not...we have no way of knowing. But since Iran posed very little threat to Americans prior to the war, we can only assume that it poses a greater one now.
Looking on the bright side, after six long years, WWII came to an end. Then, the flowers came out...soldiers put down their guns and took up their hammers and briefcases...the ‘rules of engagement’ were elaborated…and most people in the West enjoyed a period of (relative) peace and prosperity that lasted for the next 81 years.
And now...another sunny season may be on the way...but, in the meantime, it may be wise to keep an umbrella handy.
Regards,
Bill Bonner
In response to Bill's challenge to figure out if our current president will achieve glory, here's Reagan era OMB director's opinion, one that I share:
"There is more history percolating up in the current Iranian madness than just another failed Forever War.
It’s going to be the end of the Trumpified GOP.
Replacing it will be a motley menagerie of Dem statists, spenders, regulators, lifers, wokests and outright freaks likely to be swept back into power in the elections just ahead.
Sadly, that will likely mark the end of capitalist prosperity and constitutional liberty in America as we have known it, too."
The quote below provides better insight:
“Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
― G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain
Trump is now dealing with the predictable product of a series of extremely "weak men".
Some of whom had simply turned a blind eye. Our Euro friends to preserve their trade deals, refrained from any criticism altogether. Others, such as Barack Obama, tried to pay off the bully with planeloads of cash. The amiable dunce, Biden, was simply oblivious to reality - as his ignominious flight from Afghanistan aptly demonstrated - None of it worked and all of it telegraphed weakness. So the bad guys just kept on - and things just got worse.
In fact, as we all know "if you subsidize something, you will get more of it". Even terrorism works that way.
Trump is a strong and visionary leader now acting to counter decades of callow and craven acts by others here and elsewhere. Will he succeed? I certainly hope so. If so, we may then reset to "good times" once again. An era of relative peace.
However, that being said, the words of Machiavelli counseling the Medicis' now come to mind, - especially apropos when dealing with populations of death cult primitives - "it is better to be feared than loved".
Those of us that have traveled extensively in hostile places know that human mentality varies. Human evolution across all populations doesn't act in lockstep. Some cultures see kindness as weakness to be exploited. The Iranian Mullahs, Communists, Narco-state potentates come to mind and those are precisely the ones with whom Trump is now dealing.
I've had root-bound American "Progressive types" assure me that "studies show" that capital punishment doesn't prevent bad actors from bad deeds as if wishing a relativist world would bring it about. If they were correct, then the post-Friday prayers followed by ritual lashings, amputations and beheadings in conservative Islamic ME nations wouldn't act as the deterrent to crime that it certainly does.
Yet, if one simply walks through the village Souk on market day and witness the open display of Gold and valuables of all types, with no fear of theft, you will easily understand how others deal with their own primitives, to the desired effect.
Or, if you prefer something pithier but to the same point; "if you treat your dog like a human, he will treat you like a dog".