Actions have consequences. Not always intended.

Probably nowhere is that more true than in wartime. It is so easy to make things worse.

The United States continues to pummel Iran from the air. Iran doesn’t have the ability to do much in response, but it has managed to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

Especially oil shipping. Twenty five percent of the world’s daily oil supply. That has naturally led to an immediate increase in the price we all pay for gas at the pumps.

It isn’t just oil though. About half of the world’s most widely used nitrogen fertilizer comes from the region – and it isn’t moving either

That’s means price increases are coming for food. Maybe even shortages. Was Donald Trump aware of these potential consequences before he started his war? No-one is saying.

Most of us have no memory of the Second World War. Which means we are probably unaware of the spirit of unity that brought people together. There was food rationing, gas rationing, rationing of any materials that could be used in the war effort.

Silk was used in parachutes, not women’s stockings. Cooks learned to bake without butter or eggs.

It was understood that in wartime sacrifices has to be made. Sometimes big ones, The UK was on the winning side in that war, but rationing continued until 1954, nine years after the German surrender.

That spirit of sacrifice is as long gone as the generation that endured it. Which explains why Donald Trump has eased sanctions against Russia. Americans want cheap gas, no matter what the cost.

The United States and most of the world placed sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The idea is to squeeze the country economically so that it can’t afford to wage war.

It has had some effect, though not as much as hoped. Some countries defied the embargo and continued to buy Russian oil. Still, there have been signs it is working.

Now though, faced with American anger over rising gas prices, Trump has dropped the sanctions against Russian oil. Apparently the invasion of Ukraine was wrong only if it didn’t inconvenience Americans. No one should be expected to sacrifice in order for their country to do the right thing.

How can removal of sanctions against Russia be justified? Allowing Russia more income in order to rebuild their depleted armoury will lead to more Ukrainian deaths, just so Americans can pay less for gas. It makes the fight against tyranny more difficult.

Is that a consequence that American war planners also couldn’t see?

The world used to look up to America. Countries wanted to be like the United States. Somehow I don’t think that is true anymore