{"id":602,"date":"2026-04-05T20:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=602"},"modified":"2026-05-17T06:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T03:39:59","slug":"the-corleone-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/the-corleone-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Corleone Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

A particularly distinctive issue in the current developments regarding the war in Iran is the problem faced by President Trump concerning how to bring the entire military operation to an end. This is referred to in Washington as the “Corleone problem.” It is the dilemma of the boss, of Don according to Mario Puzo\u2019s The Godfather, to end the war with a peace that appears to be \u201cgranted\u201d rather than \u201cstruggled to secure.\u201d In other words, choosing policies that conclude a conflict because they serve certain personal principles, not out of fear of losing prestige. The Americans experienced this before with Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the US withdraws while Iranian missiles continue to be launched, the message to Washington\u2019s rivals \u2013 especially Beijing \u2013 is clear. Challenges pay off and bring gains. For the US, the end of the war necessarily has to look like a success, if not a triumph. De-escalation should be the first step, at least with regard to the current form of the war. That means destructive bombings aimed primarily at breaking morale. Gradually departing from Israel\u2019s tactics, which focus on deeper strikes and a more permanent confrontation.<\/p>\n

For this reason, beyond the rumored negotiations, if they do not swiftly bear fruit, the Americans may choose a ground military operation to secure tangible and immediate results. Possibly within the next 24 hours. It is no coincidence that the so-called \u201cpizza watch channel\u201d\u2014now famous in Washington around the Pentagon\u2014has recently been very active. There, they monitor which nights large quantities of fast food are ordered at the Pentagon, indicating the engagement of extra personnel on weekend nights. This means high-intensity operations requiring meticulous surveillance. This implies that ground actions in Iran are either being prepared or are underway\u2026<\/p>\n

Consequently, the strategic sequencing for the US exit from the conflict is in preparation. Whether it will be carried out and succeed or lead to further involvement, no one can predict.<\/p>\n

(Andreas Andrianopoulos\u2019s book, The War in Iran: Europe\u2019s Tragic Failures<\/em>, Epikentro, 2026, is already available in bookstores).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump faces a \u201cCorleone dilemma\u201d in ending the Iran war\u2014seeking a victorious peace that upholds U.S. credibility while preparing for possible ground operations amid rising tensions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[438,196,277,205,209],"nfg_topic":[135],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-andreas-andrianopoulos","tag-donald-trump","tag-operation-in-iran","tag-pentagon","tag-united-states","nfg_topic-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":604,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions\/604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}