William Lindsey 
"From all appearances, neither Donald Trump nor any adviser knows the purpose of his strikes against Iran."
~ Jennifer Rubin
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/trumps-war-underscores-his-massive
"It's pretty clear that Trump decided to go to war. I mean, we know he decided to go to war, but in trying to explain why, The administration is, you know, is giving exercises in pretzel logic. ...
Never have we launched a war for yet-to-be-decided reasons without preparation for civilians in the region."
~ Max Boot
To his credit, Boot has admitted that he was spectacularly wrong in beating the war drum during the Iraqi war.
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/trump-started-another-middle-east
Trump Started Another Middle East War. What Could Go Wrong? | Washington Post Columnist Max Boot Joins The Strategy Session
America's reputation is plummeting in the world and we are less safe.
"You know who didn’t like all that talk on Monday of Israel pulling Donald Trump along for the bomb-Iran ride? Donald Trump. The president denied yesterday that Israel had 'forced his hand,' telling reporters that 'based on the way negotiation was going, I think [Iran] was going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen.'"
~ Andrew Egger, Benjamin Parker, and Jim Swift
"'If anything,' he said, 'I might’ve forced Israel’s hand.' Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth immediately chimed in: 'This is 100% correct.' This, of course, set the president and the secretary of defense 100 percent against the attack rationale laid out a day earlier by both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson…."
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied he said the U.S. had to strike Iran because Israel was about to attack, despite comments the previous day stating the U.S. acted preemptively because it knew Israel planned to strike Iran and expected Tehran would retaliate against American forces if the U.S. didn’t act first."
~ Aaron Parnas
#Trump #MarcoRubio #Iran #war
/5
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-senators-sound-the-alarm-as
NEWS: Senators Sound the Alarm as Trump Moves Closer to Boots on the Ground While CIA Arms Iran Opposition to Cause Uprising
Good evening everyone.
"Trump: 'Most of the people we had in mind [to succeed Khomeini] are dead [due to missile strikes]. We had some in mind from that group that is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead also. Pretty soon we're not gonna know anybody. I mean, Venezuela was so incredible because we did the attack and we kept govt totally intact.'"
~ Aaron Rupar
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mg6alhgje52a
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)
Trump: "Most of the people we had in mind are dead. We had some in mind from that group that is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead also. Pretty soon we're not gonna know anybody. I mean, Venezuela was so incredible because we did the attack and we kept govt totally in tact."
"Trump: 'I guess the worst case is we do this and then somebody takes over who is as bad as the previous person. That could happen.'"
~ Aaron Rupar
"JD [Vance] has become a lurker. The greatest sycophant and word-twister alive has decided that his best move is to just shut up. He can’t admit 'No dumb wars,' his foundational excuse for backing Trump—after once comparing Trump to Hitler—was a lie. Vance, the posting machine, has essentially stopped; the cheer captain gone silent and is just watching the game."
~ Jason Sattler
https://thecause.substack.com/p/the-iran-war-is-so-bad-even-jd-vance
"Here is a word neither Hegseth nor Trump like the sound of at all: prepare. To prepare is all about planning and waiting, and planning and waiting is boring. To do things that bore Donald Trump and Hegseth and their diplomacy poodle Marco Rubio is illegal. Trump hates only one thing more than being bored and that is losing."
~ Lucian K. Truscott
#Trump #PeteHegseth #MarcoRubio #Iran #war
/9
https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/how-to-plan-for-a-war-of-choice-you
"The Joint US-Israel attack on Iran has now expanded into a region-wide conflict involving 12 countries. For 40 years, the policy of the United States has been to prevent this very conflict. ...
This was a war of choice that I would certainly never have made."
~ Malcolm Nance
"Once upon a time US and Israeli air superiority might have contained Iran’s ability to harm its neighbors. But in an age in which even third-rate powers have the ability to launch missiles and drones, Iran has a huge stockpile of drones and also has ballistic missiles that are destructive, hard to intercept, and have a 1200 mile range."
~ Paul Krugman
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/reality-sets-in-on-trumps-new-war
"The US State Department and Department of Defense apparently failed to anticipate a regional war as Iran’s defensive strategy—a failure of contingency planning, wargaming, and imagination."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/a-good-night-for-democrats-as-the
"Qatar’s Defense Ministry said an Iranian missile struck the Al Udeid U.S. air base, the biggest military base in the Middle East. No one was injured, the ministry said on social media early Wednesday local time."
~ Alyssa Lukpat
"Satellite imagery shows an Iranian ballistic missile struck the AN/FPS-132 phased array radar at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. If the damage is as severe as the imagery suggests, Iran just destroyed a $1.1 billion piece of equipment that took years to build and cannot be replaced on any timeline relevant to this war."
~ Shanaka Anslem Perera quoted by Greg Dworkin
"It doesn’t appear that Donald Trump will be getting that Nobel Peace Prize anytime soon—at least not one he earned. The big story today is the growing global fallout as the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran enters its fourth day."
~ Adam Parkhomenko
"4 days after the Iran War started, the State Dept announced it was evacuating embassy personnel from 14 different countries in the Middle East and advised all Americans in those countries to leave immediately. However, due to DOGE cuts, the State Dept budget to evacuate Americans was slashed and the US govt has no ability to help anyone get out."
~ Ron Filipkowski
https://www.meidasplus.com/p/today-in-politics-bulletin-320-3326
"Right now, amid Donald Trump’s war in Iran, the US government has left many Americans in the lurch across the Middle East."
~ Maria Kari
"Iran has retaliated against the U.S. and Israeli strikes by targeting bases, infrastructure and certain civilian structures throughout the region with missiles and drones. The half million or so U.S. citizens in the region are now desperate to escape, but the U.S. State Department is offering no assistance whatsoever."
~ Jay Kuo
"You have to understand: Just like any wartime president, Trump has also been preoccupied with the intense planning and logistics of his beautiful new ballroom. As he noted Monday, it was a real shame that American soldiers died in a reprisal attack, but also, how about those drapes?"
~ Marty Kelley
/s alert
https://www.wonkette.com/p/fifa-peace-president-would-evacuate
"NATO is now involved. It has shot down an Iranian missile heading into Turkish airspace. Turkey is a NATO member housing a major U.S. military base where the U.S. has nuclear weapons, including B-61 thermonuclear bombs. NATO’s Article 5 says an attack on one member of the alliance is considered an attack on all. ...
Trump and Netanyahu’s war is rapidly escalating into a global conflict."
~ Robert Reich
Alex 🏴they will have to use the yank version of "pay as you go" airlines...
Wulfy—Speaker to the machines"THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOU!!!"
- George Carlin
Travis Scott@wdlindsy the new Nazis are the political arm of the U.S. and Israel. How awkward. Atrocities off the charts and close to zero good to anyone.
Nicole ParsonsTrump's Epstein Class billionaires are indifferent to the cost of war.
Their attitude to taxpayer funded defense assets is "There's always more where that came from".
The funding for a replacement will come from where? Taxpayers
American national debt is already $38 trillion & expected to rise to $64 trillion by the end of the decade, and none of the Epstein Class pays any taxes.
https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/republicans/debt-dashboard
Strider Uwe 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽@wdlindsy They really don’t anticipate anything beyond whatever belly-rumble they themselves just came up with this particular instant. These are the galaxy-brains who are eating the crayons, every time 🤷🏻♂️
RainbowFrogOMFG !!!
https://deanblundell.substack.com/p/the-most-dangerous-idiots-in-american
Trump probably hoped that Iran would fold, or the regime would fall in a few days...
He used the ammunitions at unsustainable rate... and Iran still has thousands of missiles 😱
Did he never play video war games : the main rule is... stockpile ammunitions if you don't wanna die 😏
The Most Dangerous Idiots in American History Just Started a War They Can't Finish: A full accounting of Iran's devastation, depleted stockpiles, and 1 million stranded Americans
Inside the weapons shortage, the burning embassies, and the defense contractors Trump is now begging to save him
armadillosoftMalcolm Nance needs to read over his voice-dictated columns before publishing them or better yet hire a copy editor
tlarivno stupid : the worst case is you do this, and the whole country unites, and the US are in a vietnam situation.... without ammunitions 😐
Edelruth, PBS Passport HolderWhy do they let him talk? Can they at least take the shovel away from him? People, many people, are dead, and all he can do is embarrass himself.
RealGravitas -Citizen Saboteur@wdlindsy … and billions of our tax dollars are wasted, while the GOP-led Senate continues to kowtow.
The President of the United States, ladies and gentlemen. Accept no substitutes.
Can we just keep playing their own tape back at them at loud volume until they acknowledge that we are real people, and we can understand when we are being lied to, and that does not go away just because they steamroll over us and move on to the next lie.
@iveyline
cognitively accessible math@wdlindsy Snork. His ego can't stand that they made him do it, but I"ll wager they "made" him do it.
I read on to the article below this one, also excellent, regarding penetrating the Gulf of Hormuz. Trump's wild promise.
The article makes the point of the strategic triumph, "If Iran manages to sink a tanker," but even little me, in an armchair in California, can see that the risk is if Iran were to sink a US battleship. Why take the risk?
Does Hegseth know enough about Iranian defense capability for the straits to risk a battleship group in defense of oil tankers?
https://newrepublic.com/post/207138/trump-coup-detat-midterm-elections
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/opinion/trump-cancel-elections-voting.html
https://www.vox.com/politics/478708/donald-trump-2026-midterm-elections-threat-take-over
Miriam Adelson paid Trump $250 million in hopes a war would be used as a pretext to cancel elections.
https://newrepublic.com/post/204532/trump-jokes-third-term-miriam-adelson
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-offered-250m-run-third-term-11226316
https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-880539
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/us/politics/miriam-adelson-trump-donors.html
nanowiz