"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.

#Trump #Iran #war
/2

https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/trump-started-another-middle-east

"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

#Trump #Iran #war
/3

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/knives-out-for-the-ice-queen-kristi-noem-trump-dhs-ice-senate-republicans-funding-iran-attack-hormuz-oil-shipping-war

"'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…."

#Trump #Iran #war
/4

"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

"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

#Trump #Iran #war
/6

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3mg6alhgje52a

"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

#Trump #Iran #war
/7

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mg6aj7bnss2s

"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

#Trump #JDVance #Iran #war
/8

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

#Trump #Iran #war
/10

https://substack.com/home/post/p-189865700

"However, the Trump administration is comprised of idiots, fools, being cautious, the injudicious, and the greedy. They see this as an opportunity to make money on the deaths of our soldiers and the backs of our allies."

#Trump #Iran #war
/11

"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

#Trump #Iran #war
/12

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/reality-sets-in-on-trumps-new-war

"The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia has been hit by two drone strikes. Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha and the U.S. consulate in Dubai have also been hit."

#Trump #Iran #war
/13

"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

#Trump #Iran #war
/14

https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/a-good-night-for-democrats-as-the