It's not a war based on manipulated intelligence, it's a war based on lies started by a guy with no intelligence, a very fragile ego and a never satisfied need for attention who saw his hold on the country going to shit and thought that a nice little war would rally support. He's wrong. Trump has fucked up bigly. How do we know? His surrogates are already blaming Biden for the inevitable bad shit that's coming.
Israel likely is manipulating the intelligence, but I agree that with Trump there is no need to do so because of the reasons you so clearly state. Now that Vance, Rubio, etc. have jumped on board, the manipulated intelligence is to try to bring along the MAGA base.
Netanyahu has been lying about Iran's nuclear capabilities for decades just as he lied about Iraq before that. Sad that US politicians are so afraid of AIPAC that they swallow those lies whole...
Great summary, Judd. We must pressure Congress to stop Trump's illegal, unconstitutional war. Everyone reading this should contact your representative and your 2 senators and tell them to support the War Powers resolutions.
If Trump "bought them off in 2015," they must have come cheap. This goes back at least to the rise of Newt Gingrich in the early '90s, and a case could be made that the handwriting appeared on the wall when the white Southern Democrats flooded into the GOP in the late '60s and early '70s.
Charlie, yes to always contacting our Senators and Reps. But don't think that Trump "bought them off" means the rest of us should ever say, "It's no use."
I tried to respond to this, which i agree with fully, however, i got exhausted trying to decide which manipulated intelligence should i cite. Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan?
Thank you so much for this concise summary of events and of the Trump lies leading up to this past weekend's bombing of Iran by Trump, who as Commander in Chief of the military apparently can direct our armed forces to do whatever he feels like doing without any guardrails in place. I hope very much that I will be proven wrong but I think we the people will look back on Trump's bombing of Iran as the trigger that sets off future terrorist activity in our country.
Unfortunately I believe this may happen because of information outlined in several Propublica articles published over the past year, since FFOTUS and his cronies have gutted the national security agencies and diverted their budgets away from preventing domestic terrorism and towards "anti-immigration activities" aka enabling anonymous masked armed men acting as ICE agents to freely terrorize the hardworking people of color in our communities. This will not end well for us.
NOT inspiring confidence is who is now in charge of preventing domestic terrorism - a 22 year old fresh out of college with no experience.
"A year after graduation, the 22-year-old with no apparent national security expertise is now a Department of Homeland Security official overseeing the government’s main hub for terrorism prevention, including an $18 million grant program intended to help communities combat violent extremism."
This 22 year old overseer is part of the broader dismantling of government being effected by tRump and his cronies. We should not lose sight of the nefarious purpose of DOGE and Project 2025 slowly, surreptitiously, and methodically controlling us.
JCPOA in place might have kept a war Netanyahu desperately wanted from happening.
I absolutely believe Israel has the right to exist. A two state solution seems the only plausible peaceful path. Netanyahu is a war criminal&Trump a petty, jealous man who destroyed a peace treaty&his slavish devotion to strong men. In this case open Gaza to high end real estate.
But it's not just that Netanyahu is a war criminal (and evidently a criminal in general); it's that he's got a very strong element in his cabinet that are even worse racists and belligerents. Israel only has a right to exist because there is a post-WW2 framework of international law, including the UN, and yet Israel defies every element of that law. The U.S. and Israel are engaged in a criminal conspiracy to ethnically cleanse and harm the Palestinian people. How can that be changed?
My first thought was Netanyahu once again successfully played the Felon and got him to do his bidding. But then I thought of another possibility - the Felon's ICE Gestapo raids have not been going over very well with the American public, so perhaps he was looking for something that would kick that coverage off the front page. Who knows? When you have a moron surrounded by a clown-car cabinet I suppose anything is possible.
One more thing of note. The Congress is due an intelligence briefing on Tuesday. This was scheduled before 47 attacked Iran.
If there's new intelligence, they could have briefed Congress first. No need to have rushed it. 47 could have called Congress to come back early if there was a reason to hurry.
the International Courts will be coming after the U.S. and Israel for crimes against humanity. It would be justified, and for the sake of peace in this world, necessary.
Iran’s foreign minister announced today he was on his way to Moscow for urgent talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote this afternoon that “A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.” from Heather Cox Richardson.
Let’s remember another feature of cooked up wars by American presidents: they wield enormous unchecked power. After the first terrorist attack comes, do you think this regime will not use it to complete the total destruction of constitutional democracy?
To keep from repeating the same mistakes over and over it would help if the media would stop burying those past mistakes. Almost no one knows that the first Bush administration lied us into the first Gulf War by pretending we hadn’t given Saddam a green light to invade Kuwait on several occasions. The first was when Saddam went out of his way to ask if we had a problem with him going after Kuwait and our ambassador April Glaspie was instructed to tell him we had no position on that dispute. The Bush administration later tried to pretend Glaspie had misinterpreted her instructions but the cable she was sent was made public by Wikileaks proving that she had done exactly as instructed. Then the Bush administration hired the tobacco and oil company propaganda firm Hill & Knowlton to help them sell the war to a reluctant public. They had a young Kuwait woman give heart wrenching testimony to Congress about witnessing Iraqi soldiers invading hospitals, ripping babies from incubators and leaving them to die. Turned out that young woman was lying. She was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and had been in DC the whole time. The media let Poppy Bush — whom they admired as a man of great principle — get away with those lies and most people have no idea we were bamboozled into a war.
Oh Judd, I remember 20 years ago being horrified by Barbara Clark's (or Cook's, or Cooper's ??) lying on page one of the New York Times. Turns out she was in cahoots with Scooter Libby.
So, yes, doubt any media report that elicits deep suspicion as a reaction, and investigate and speak up.
It's not a war based on manipulated intelligence, it's a war based on lies started by a guy with no intelligence, a very fragile ego and a never satisfied need for attention who saw his hold on the country going to shit and thought that a nice little war would rally support. He's wrong. Trump has fucked up bigly. How do we know? His surrogates are already blaming Biden for the inevitable bad shit that's coming.
Israel likely is manipulating the intelligence, but I agree that with Trump there is no need to do so because of the reasons you so clearly state. Now that Vance, Rubio, etc. have jumped on board, the manipulated intelligence is to try to bring along the MAGA base.
Netanyahu has been lying about Iran's nuclear capabilities for decades just as he lied about Iraq before that. Sad that US politicians are so afraid of AIPAC that they swallow those lies whole...
Well-stated!
You, and everyone, support Terry Moran's brave and bold statement along this line. (He was summarily fired.)
Great summary, Judd. We must pressure Congress to stop Trump's illegal, unconstitutional war. Everyone reading this should contact your representative and your 2 senators and tell them to support the War Powers resolutions.
Congress pressuring trump? Trump bought them off in 2015. Nothing will change
If Trump "bought them off in 2015," they must have come cheap. This goes back at least to the rise of Newt Gingrich in the early '90s, and a case could be made that the handwriting appeared on the wall when the white Southern Democrats flooded into the GOP in the late '60s and early '70s.
We have seen that the Voices of the People has had an impact on the Representatives they've elected (e.g., Town Halls, demonstrations).
Charlie, yes to always contacting our Senators and Reps. But don't think that Trump "bought them off" means the rest of us should ever say, "It's no use."
Are you suggesting some other action or what???
I tried to respond to this, which i agree with fully, however, i got exhausted trying to decide which manipulated intelligence should i cite. Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan?
Iraq War II: This Time, It's an Even Flimsier Pretext
Thank you so much for this concise summary of events and of the Trump lies leading up to this past weekend's bombing of Iran by Trump, who as Commander in Chief of the military apparently can direct our armed forces to do whatever he feels like doing without any guardrails in place. I hope very much that I will be proven wrong but I think we the people will look back on Trump's bombing of Iran as the trigger that sets off future terrorist activity in our country.
Unfortunately I believe this may happen because of information outlined in several Propublica articles published over the past year, since FFOTUS and his cronies have gutted the national security agencies and diverted their budgets away from preventing domestic terrorism and towards "anti-immigration activities" aka enabling anonymous masked armed men acting as ICE agents to freely terrorize the hardworking people of color in our communities. This will not end well for us.
NOT inspiring confidence is who is now in charge of preventing domestic terrorism - a 22 year old fresh out of college with no experience.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-thomas-fugate-cp3-terrorism-prevention
"A year after graduation, the 22-year-old with no apparent national security expertise is now a Department of Homeland Security official overseeing the government’s main hub for terrorism prevention, including an $18 million grant program intended to help communities combat violent extremism."
And added to the list of those who may want to do us harm are those once peaceful immigrants who feel betrayed, hurt, scared, and angry.
This 22 year old overseer is part of the broader dismantling of government being effected by tRump and his cronies. We should not lose sight of the nefarious purpose of DOGE and Project 2025 slowly, surreptitiously, and methodically controlling us.
Propublica has always been a powerfully reliable source of the truth.
JCPOA in place might have kept a war Netanyahu desperately wanted from happening.
I absolutely believe Israel has the right to exist. A two state solution seems the only plausible peaceful path. Netanyahu is a war criminal&Trump a petty, jealous man who destroyed a peace treaty&his slavish devotion to strong men. In this case open Gaza to high end real estate.
But it's not just that Netanyahu is a war criminal (and evidently a criminal in general); it's that he's got a very strong element in his cabinet that are even worse racists and belligerents. Israel only has a right to exist because there is a post-WW2 framework of international law, including the UN, and yet Israel defies every element of that law. The U.S. and Israel are engaged in a criminal conspiracy to ethnically cleanse and harm the Palestinian people. How can that be changed?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
My first thought was Netanyahu once again successfully played the Felon and got him to do his bidding. But then I thought of another possibility - the Felon's ICE Gestapo raids have not been going over very well with the American public, so perhaps he was looking for something that would kick that coverage off the front page. Who knows? When you have a moron surrounded by a clown-car cabinet I suppose anything is possible.
Why not both? Bibi playing the fool for a fool + low ratings for the fool at home call for some decisive and presidential moves, right?
Good point. I hadn't considered a "both" possibility.
Also, this Iran action takes attention away from his very unpopular budget bill.
Excellent point especially since the guard rails usually provided by the courts, including the Supreme Court, have been removed.
The Felon also needs a war to declare elections must be put aside.
Excellent point especially since the guard rails previously provided by the courts, including the Supreme Court have been destroyed or removed.
One more thing of note. The Congress is due an intelligence briefing on Tuesday. This was scheduled before 47 attacked Iran.
If there's new intelligence, they could have briefed Congress first. No need to have rushed it. 47 could have called Congress to come back early if there was a reason to hurry.
Clearly this is about regime change.
This is about Trump's tiny penis.
Absolutely! We now know that everything our President and his team say is not the case, will reveal itself AS THE CASE!
the International Courts will be coming after the U.S. and Israel for crimes against humanity. It would be justified, and for the sake of peace in this world, necessary.
Unfortunately yes. Lay down with dogs, etc.
This is a concise, well-documented article. Superb job! Thank you PI!!!
So if all the intelligence said "Iran had no bomb," why did Trump drop the big ones?
1) Bibi asked him to. Bibi needs a war to stay out of prison.
2) The last person to whisper in Trump's ear said "Bomb Iraq" so he did.
3) Folks skipped the birthday parade for the No Kings protest and Trump feels slighted
4) Trump's ratings are sliding and nothing rallies the base like a war (Or maybe nothing splits the base like a war. We may see)
5) Starting a war is the first step to martial law in the US, allowing Trump to cancel the midterms and make him president for life.
6) He needed a distraction from his Beautiful Bill devastating Medicaid et al.
I wonder how puppet master Putin is taking this?
Oh yes...and if everything goes pear-shaped, he can blame it on Biden.
That is the default position, similar to TACO's default to Putin. It's a-u-t-o-matic!
Putin? cooly observing from a distance of not caring about the well-being of anyone, just his own overall ambition.
Iran’s foreign minister announced today he was on his way to Moscow for urgent talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote this afternoon that “A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.” from Heather Cox Richardson.
The combination of incompetence and corruption is stunning.
That was my observation and before Nov24, I would have thought that combination would be distasteful to the majority.
The Four Fools of the Apocalypse?
There's no rationale being presented. They simultaneously say it's about nukes and that there is no intelligence to show Iran has nukes
So... what is the real reason? What are they getting out of this?
My take is Trump did what Israel wanted so he could get his waterfront property formerly known as Gaza.
Very likely reasoning--he's a simple guy, remember?
Netanyahu has convinced Trump that they can both get a boost in the polls by going to war with Iran.
"More likes?"
Let’s remember another feature of cooked up wars by American presidents: they wield enormous unchecked power. After the first terrorist attack comes, do you think this regime will not use it to complete the total destruction of constitutional democracy?
To keep from repeating the same mistakes over and over it would help if the media would stop burying those past mistakes. Almost no one knows that the first Bush administration lied us into the first Gulf War by pretending we hadn’t given Saddam a green light to invade Kuwait on several occasions. The first was when Saddam went out of his way to ask if we had a problem with him going after Kuwait and our ambassador April Glaspie was instructed to tell him we had no position on that dispute. The Bush administration later tried to pretend Glaspie had misinterpreted her instructions but the cable she was sent was made public by Wikileaks proving that she had done exactly as instructed. Then the Bush administration hired the tobacco and oil company propaganda firm Hill & Knowlton to help them sell the war to a reluctant public. They had a young Kuwait woman give heart wrenching testimony to Congress about witnessing Iraqi soldiers invading hospitals, ripping babies from incubators and leaving them to die. Turned out that young woman was lying. She was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and had been in DC the whole time. The media let Poppy Bush — whom they admired as a man of great principle — get away with those lies and most people have no idea we were bamboozled into a war.
Oh Judd, I remember 20 years ago being horrified by Barbara Clark's (or Cook's, or Cooper's ??) lying on page one of the New York Times. Turns out she was in cahoots with Scooter Libby.
So, yes, doubt any media report that elicits deep suspicion as a reaction, and investigate and speak up.