The US-Iran War Has Begun

[Innula Zenovka]

Trump defends his ego in any way he can. He's trying to convince himself as much anyone else.

I wonder what's going through the minds of the sailors and marines en route to the Gulf at the moment, knowing they're likely to be sent to their deaths by someone you wouldn't trust to water your plants or feed the goldfish.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Simon Rosenberg (@simonwdc.bsky.social)

Is it possible Trump has just imagined these talks and he just did a super TACO? Iran denies they are happening. [contains quote post or other embedded content]

bsky.app

Oh, Trump is absolutely TACOing out! I think he's realized he's bitten off way more than he can chew, and is manufacturing fake talks with the Iranians in an attempt to deescalate and save face.

The only thing I can't figure out is why TACO Trump threatened to blow up Iran's electrical infrastructure in the first place. The only logical conclusion I can reach is that Trump is truly, madly, deeply insane.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I wonder what's going through the minds of the sailors and marines en route to the Gulf at the moment, knowing they're likely to be sent to their deaths by someone you wouldn't trust to water your plants or feed the goldfish.

Keeping in mind that our military is a microcosm of American society in general, I suspect half of those on their way there are chomping at the bit for a piece of the action, and the other half are shitting themselves.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Keeping in mind that our military is a microcosm of American society in general, I suspect half of those on their way there are chomping at the bit for a piece of the action, and the other half are shitting themselves.

Considering Iran has been planning, practicing, arming, tunneling, and fortifying against an invading land force since 1979, the non-chomping folks have a pretty good point.

 

[Free]

The big guy starting to look for the fall guy.

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Trump blames Hegseth for the war: "Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up. You said, 'Let's do it.'"

bsky.app

 

[Beebo Brink]

The big guy starting to look for the fall guy.

Yup. If the war was going well, Trump would claim all the credit and say Hegseth had argued against it. "Totally my idea. I knew best, and he admits that now, right Pete?"

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The only thing I can't figure out is why TACO Trump threatened to blow up Iran's electrical infrastructure in the first place. The only logical conclusion I can reach is that Trump is truly, madly, deeply insane.

This is something which makes quite much sense actually. I was a decade ago or so in Kuwait, and we talked with an employee of the German Embassy back then.

Turned out that embassies are actually running security evaluations on how the host country could be conquered quick and easy. For Kuwait the idea was simple sabotaging power plants. In the opinion back then Kuwait would last approx. 2-3 days, then people will start to flee.

Why? Because without power there's no air conditioning working, which is a must to live there, especially in summer. Also without power the desalination plants would stop to work, as well as the gas stations. And many other things.

So cutting off power is there way more devastating to the population then let's say in Ireland.

 

[Noodles]

The big guy starting to look for the fall guy.

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Trump blames Hegseth for the war: "Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up. You said, 'Let's do it.'"

bsky.app

Maybe it was Hegseth, but at the end of the day, its Trump's call. As they say, "The buck stops there."

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Economist: What a battle to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would look like (Evernote Link because paywall)

A lot of ships, aircraft and soldiers would have to spend a long time in harm’s way for uncertain results

 

[Casey Pelous]

Maybe it was Hegseth, but at the end of the day, its Trump's call. As they say, "The buck stops there."

Trump Trash: "Come on. You can't expect the President of the United States to know stuff. You must have Trump Derangement Syndrome."

 

[Free]

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)

Trump on Iranian leaders: "They're gonna make a deal. They did something yesterday that was amazing actually. They gave us a present, and it arrived today. It was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. I'm not gonna tell you what that present is but it was very significant prize"

bsky.app

Was it the Iran Peace Prize? I'm betting it was their Peace Prize.

 

[Noodles]

Thats called a bribe dumbass. They bribed you.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Thats called a bribe dumbass. They bribed you.

The State department has rules for how to accept large gifts like that. They are supposed to be given to the State department. ....obviously Trump won't follow those rules...

 

[Cristiano]

This is a really satisfying explanation of the Game of Thrones level shit going where both Hegseth and Miller are simultaneously thrown under the bus:

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Financial Times Trump’s Armageddon-Taco shuffle (Evernote link because paywall)

“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies,” said Winston Churchill. The truth inside Donald Trump’s tornado of piffle is that he wants to get out of the mess he created. All the other reasons he gives — from regime overthrow to regime alteration — are noise. At this point, were Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for being allowed to develop nuclear weapons, nobody could be sure Trump would turn it down. If Iran made him the inaugural winner of the Cyrus the Great peace prize, those odds would improve.

 

[Free]

Stay away from the Armageddon Taco. It can take days to recover from having just one. And the required bathroom renovations due to it can bankrupt you!

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Midweek Update #3: For Now, This Looks Like Obama-Minus (And Trump Minus-Minus)

The Risks Of Seizing Kharg; The Worst Threat In US Military History

phillipspobrien.substack.com

 

[Veritable Quandry]

And while I do not buy the narrative that Israel pushed the US into this war (Netanyahu did indeed flatter Trump into it, but that's a personal level of manipulation) it is now at a point where Israel has a significant influence on when the war will end. We struck Iran jointly, and they have responded by attacking American targets and the countries that host American assets. It is not clear that a US pause will stop that as long as Israel is still bombing Iran.

Ya gotta dance with them that brung ya.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

And while I do not buy the narrative that Israel pushed the US into this war (Netanyahu did indeed flatter Trump into it, but that's a personal level of manipulation) it is now at a point where Israel has a significant influence on when the war will end. We struck Iran jointly, and they have responded by attacking American targets and the countries that host American assets. It is not clear that a US pause will stop that as long as Israel is still bombing Iran.

Ya gotta dance with them that brung ya.

Trump can certainly, if he chooses to, tell Netanyahu to join in any US-agreed ceasefire.

 

[Cristiano]

Trump can certainly, if he chooses to, tell Netanyahu to join in any US-agreed ceasefire.

That will go super well.



‘There’s no ceasefire’: Gaza paramedic and father of two killed as civilian death toll since October passes 650