Paul T. Levin

So, two US objectives with its war/NOT-war against Iran are:

1) Re-obliterate Iran's nuclear weapons program (again).
2) Strike to preempt Iranian retaliation (to the strike aimed at preempting Iranian retaliation to the strike...♾️).

Groundhog Day strategy and/or Back to the Future strategy?

Literally.

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

So, to the smörgåsbord of possible US objectives of this war (re-obliterating Iran's nuclear program, degrading Iran's missile capabilities, regime change, & personal revenge), we should add causing Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

a black and white drawing of a skull with a red eye ALT: a black and white drawing of a skull with a red eye

That's so unfair. When the government wants to conduct AI-governed domestic mass surveillance and create fully autonomous killer robots, the media should of course harshly question... (checks notes)... those who want some safeguards.

YouTube video by CBS News Full interview: Anthropic CEO responds to Trump order, Pentagon clash

I'm no expert on AI, but #Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei comes across as downright heroic in this interview. They are basically being designated a "supply chain risk" (!) because they are telling the US government they're not willing to go full Skynet/Terminator. Also, what the heck is CBS News doing??

Not to mention formerly non aligned Sweden, once champion of the global arms control movement.

Ironically, if Donald had given Ukraine Tomahawks they could've wiped out the Shahed drone factory we built. Now Iran can get replacements from us when they run low.

I feel like I may need to pin this skeet for ease of reference.

Instead, Trump used federal regulators to pressure CNN’s owners to sell to an oligarch loyal to Trump. My apologies.

bsky.app/profile/ande...

Bezos is a precursor What the US can learn from an already autocratized Turkey

I admit it: I was wrong. In October 2024, I warned that Trump could use federal regulators to pressure CNN’s owners. That is not at all what is happening.+

Jag håller mig i alla fall till tidens tema: Kör Call of War på mobilen.

The sophistication of US intelligence & destructive capabilities matched with the ignorance & carelessness of the political leadership is literally a deadly combination. I hope this ends well for the Iranian people, but there are clowns in charge of their fates.

The long-term implications of relying on a US security umbrella will be something to watch though. If all they get for their trouble is shot at, what's the point?

Corrective: It appears that MBS privately urged Israel and the U.S. to strike quickly at the Iranian regime, so add the Saudis to the UAE exception in my skeet above.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed, senior Israeli official says Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who turned the country into a powerful anti-U.S. force and extended its military influence across the Middle East while crushing repeated domestic unrest, was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on Saturday.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei killed, senior Israeli official says reut.rs/4rLPrBs

You can have this policy or the maximalist policy that you will depose the regime. You probably cannot have both of them at once.

So much peace.

God, I hope he’ll be safe. His face is fully visible.

Again, it is hard to know how representative these clips are, but there are clearly many in 🇮🇷 who are hoping that these strikes will get rid of the regime. Swedish Radio JUST broadcast this interview with someone in 🇮🇷. Also again, acknowledging this doesn’t mean you have to support illegal strikes.

Då var det dessutom VPK som hade hemliga kopplingar till Moskva. Idag är det ytterkantshögern.

Lite så här reagerar jag varje gång jag hör Centerledare tala om att man inte vill samarbeta med ytterkantspartier varken till höger eller vänster. Under Kalla Kriget kanske det var en rimlig hållning, men det systematiska hotet mot demokratin i världen idag kommer inte från vänsterpartier.

Or this, with subtitles for those of us who don’t understand Farsi.

Definitely. And we can go back to the Iraq war before that one and what befell the Kurds who heeded Bush The Elder’s call in 1991 to rise up. The Trump strategy of throwing some bombs and encouraging people to revolt is deeply irresponsible, regardless of what happens.

Tulsi Gabbard has some merch to sell you

This may give too much credit to Trump’s ability to formulate plans (outside of how he can squeeze people on money), but otherwise it is probably broadly accurate.

That’s probably the right assessment.

But reality is messy. I think these strikes are a bad idea, but I‘m also struck by how several videos from Iran appear to show people who are positively giddy about the strikes against the regime. See the video of people literally dancing in the streets in the above post and clips like this.

If you are this different on the two cases, you are neither coherently rules based, peace oriented, nor against rogue states.

Maybe. I find that hard to tell. But I was specifically writing about oppositional forces.

The world is usually more complex than we would like it to be.