Tag Archives: Iran war

International news

Clown show has gotten serious

Well, kids … the Donald John Trump clown show has crossed a key threshold that separates the ridiculous from the tragic.

American service personnel have died because the commander in chief decided to launch a war seemingly for no apparent reason. Families have been wounded permanently with a hole in their hearts that cannot be repaired and yet the POTUS still calls their mission an “excursion” that he’s conducting “for the fun of it.”

Iran has hit back hard against the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes aimed at military targets. The Iranians are firing rockets and drones at U.S. bases and Israeli neighborhoods. Trump says he’ll know when to stop bombing when he feels it “in my bones.” What the hell … ?

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to demonstrate an appalling lack of sobriety when talking to us about the war. He keeps yapping and yammering as if he’s still a weekend right-wing TV talk show host, which is what he was doing when Trump tapped him to lead the world’s premier military force.

The two of them, Trump and Hegseth, keep bellowing about the success of our military operation. Make no mistake, our warriors have performed magnificently. I join the POTUS and the defense boss in praising their work. However, the cost of success is becoming more grave every day. Men and women are dying. Families are grieving. The public has no stomach for this war, which Trump vowed he never would pursue were he elected POTUS in 2024.

Joe Kent once led the nation’s counterterrorism effort until he quit this week, citing the absence of any “imminent treat” from Iran. Trump’s response was to dismiss Kent as an afterthought. Good grief! Trump appointed this fellow to the critical office.

Here we are: We’ve gone to war against a sworn enemy of the United States; we have no stated reason for it; we have heard of no exit strategy; we don’t know what will happen when we stop the bombardment; and men and women have died while carrying out a mission with no end in sight.

Do you feel safer today than we were before we started this war? Neither do I.

national security

Iran posed ‘no threat to U.S.,’ says top aide

This might be the least surprising news event of the past six months, but it still is worth a closer look.

The head of the U.S. counterterrorism effort, Joe Kent, has quit his job, saying that Iran — which U.S. and Israeli warplanes have been pummeling with airstrikes — posed no imminent threat to the United States.

According to Kent, an acknowledged expert on terrorism, Trump went to war for no reason. Yep. No reason. We’ve lost more than a dozen service personnel because of a made-up pretext that Trump concocted to show off his macho nerve.

Never mind that when he was of the age to serve during an earlier war, the young Donald Trump got a doctor to say he suffered bone spurs. He dodged the draft in a shameless afront to the nation’s calling him to duty. Those of us who did answer that call in the 1960s cannot forgive the rich kid using his connections to avoid military service.

But … I digress.

The issue today is the counterterrorism expert telling the world that we have gone to war against a nation that poses no imminent threat to the United States. Trump, again not surprisingly, dismissed the man who has resigned. Never mind that he chose him to perform the duty of advising the president on ways to combat terrorism.

This looks for all the world like one more example of the slap-dash decision making process that has become the two Trump administrations’ modus operandi. What’s worse is that the POTUS has no concern about the lives he jeopardizes while ignoring the details that go into decisions that put young Americans in harm’s way.

national news

Listen to your predecessors, Donald!

Barack H. Obama and Joseph R. Biden have been laying waste to Donald Trump’s performance in the office they once held … and with ample reason.

They both left legacies worth cherishing and emulating. Trump has called them two of the worst presidents in U.S. history. I beg to differ. I consider them both two of the best men to serve as commander in chief and head of state.

Obama has been particularly eloquent in his assessment of Trump. He chastises the POTUS for feigning toughness by being “rude to people” and denigrating others. A third Democratic former president, Bill Clinton, has been a bit quieter than his successors. Clinton did speak about some of the subjects he covered in a closed-door congressional committee hearing. It is clear that Clinton thinks next to nothing about the mess that Donald Trump has concocted.

The fourth living ex-president, George W. Bush, has been relatively quiet. He once told a TV talk show host, Ellen Degeneres, that he wouldn’t “be chirping” his criticism of presidents who follow him. He said that presidents hear enough criticism during the normal flow of business during the work week. He said a president needs to be strong to lead this massive, diverse and sophisticated nation. Criticism only weakens that person.

In a way, I kind of prefer the George Bush method. Sure, he can think ill thoughts of Trump. He needs not express those thoughts out loud. It’s always been understood that presidents walk away not just from the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. They also turn their back on the debates that rage on.

Those who speak out, though, have wisdom to back them up. If only Trump would listen and heed them.

military news

Talk to us, Mr. POTUS

Presidents of the United States have a number of unwritten rules they are expected to follow, even though they aren’t inscribed anywhere.

They serve as national comforters, consolers, cheerleaders. They also are required — in a manner of speaking — to explain complicated policy decisions to the people they are elected to serve.

How does Donald J. Trump do on any of those examples? He’s not worth a crap at any of them! I want to focus briefly on the final example.

Trump needs to explain to the American public, his bosses, why he has sent young Americans into battle against Iran. We’ve lost about seven young people already. They were killed in the first days of this air campaign. Trump did receive some of them when their remains were returned to Dover, Del. He hasn’t offered a reason why they died.

Trump has yet to formulate a policy that makes sense. He also hasn’t taken the time to explain his action to an American public that clearly lacks the stomach for another endless war, the kind of conflict Trump pledged he never would enter were he elected in 2024; that pledge helped him secure the victory.

He has tossed that promise into the shitter. He needs to tell us what the hell he’s doing, why he’s doing it and what he expects the nation will gain from it.

A national TV speech would be well worth the time and effort. Mr. POTUS, I and others are waiting for some answers.

military news

What if this were a boxing match?

Try for a moment to consider the conflict between the United States/Israel and Iran to be a boxing match.

I’d be tempted to call it a heavweight fight, except that would be a misnomer. Iran is nowhere near the same class as the United States, let alone a tag team comprising U.S. and Israeli military forces.

Donald Trump says the fight is just about over. Israeli spokespeople say it isn’t. The Israelis want to keep punching. To be honest, I tend to hope that Trump is correct, that the end of this foolishness might be at hand. Will he call a halt, winning by a TKO over a military force that admittedly is formidable, but which is no match for the massive arsenal being launched daily against targets in Iran?

I hope the POTUS is right on this one. Oh wait. I almost forgot that cannot trust a single word that comes from the mouth of the liar in chief.

I guess Trump posesses a puncher’s chance of landing a knockout blow. I do hope it is sooner rather than later.

military news

No way to wage war

The commander in chief of the world’s mightiest military force appears to be conducting a war operation from the overfed seat of his pants.

Therefore, I will assert that is no way to wage war against a determined, fanatical and hardened regime dedicated to destroying the United States of America.

Donald J. Trump is the commander in chief who launched this war against Iran with no apparent end strategy, no apparent stated reason even for going to war in the first place and with a defense secretary who is more interested in bragging about the technology and expertise of the fighting force than he is about the suffering being inflicted on civilians and on the loss of the personnel who have died at the hands of the Iranians.

Donald Trump said yesterday that the war will “end soon,” but didn’t offer any kind of timetable. He demands “unconditional surrrender” from the Iranians. How in the name of surrrendering does he expect the Iranians to wave the white flag and call a halt to the bloodshed inflicted by the United States of America …. aka the Great Satan?

I applaude Trump already for getting rid of Iran’s ayatollah, killing him in the initial round of bombing strikes. Iran installed Ali Khameini’s son as the new imam in chief. The younger Khameini is thought to be even more militant than Daddy Ayatollah!

I just can’t figure out what the hell is going on here. I want the bombing to stop. I strongly oppose sending troops to fight the Iranians on the ground. Trump promised to end the “endless wars.” This conflict could take on the appearace of another endless war if the POTUS isn’t careful.

And we know already about the stunning lack of care and thought Trump puts into any decision he makes.

national news

Trump: madman at work

The longer we remain at war with a nation that poses no direct threat to this nation, the more convinced I become that the man who started this war is a certifiable madman.

OK, so that’s not a huge flash to many of you who read this blog regularly. I have stated already my loathing for the POTUS and for most of the policy decisions he makes. What troubles me beyond all that is reasonable in this war with Iran is that the decision came seemingly in the dead of night, with no one next to the POTUS to caution him of the terrible risk he is taking.

What’s more, Donald Trump took this action without seeming to comprehend fully the enormous responsbility he bears when he sends young Americans into harm’s way ostensibly to protect our national interests.

Which interest is Trump protecting with this foolish and feckless act?

Iran’s leadership needed to be wiped out. The initial strike took care of the Ayatollah Ali Khameini. What follows remains anyone’s guess. Will the new ayatollah be any better? Will he assume power with his hand out in a gesture of peace? I can’t continue down this path because I will be laughing too hard derisively at such a notion.

Trump won the 2024 election vowing to end our involvement in “needless war,” only to break that promise and immediately put thousands of young Americans at risk of death or injury.

Yep. Make no mistake that Donald John Trump is out of control. He wants to seize Greenland from Denmark, wants to annex Canada as the 51st state in the U.S.A., wants to run Venezuela as if it’s a casino and now — and this is totally rich — is considering whether to take control of Cuba.

Oh, and let’s not forget reports that the POTUS is giving serious thought to sending ground troops into Iran.

He’s out of what passes for his mind.