Paul T. Levin

😂

I’m with Marc on this. Lots of risks for the region and for the Kurds.

It’s apparently being reported by Barak Ravid on Axios and by FOX News. @amberinzaman.bsky.social published this piece just today, which predicted an incursion. So it seems more likely that this is actually happening.

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I would still caution that there are such things as misinformation in wars, but this is now coming from several places. It would be nice to have links to the sources.

If there is something akin to an actual front being opened from Iraqi Kurdistan, that would also put Trump’s recent call to the two Kurdish leaders there in perspective. But I am speculating. Let’s wait and see if this is confirmed.

New Front to be Opened in Kurdish areas of Iran - Middle East Transparent The Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MeK) tried to attack the Headquarters of the Iranian Supreme Leader (Beit-e Rahbari) located in the Motahari Complex in Tehran on Monday 23 February but were not successful in ...

Source.
middleeasttransparent.com/new-front-to...

This is unverified, but does fit a recent pattern with IRGC striking at Kurdish villages in the West and Kurdish groups striking back. There are also reports of US SOF in Iraqi Kurdistan, who could be helping guide such an incursion.+

Kan kurderna hota Irans regim? Poddavsnitt · Kvartal Idag · 4 mars · 8 min

Jag pratade med Kvartals podd om uppgifterna att CIA vill ge kurdiska styrkor i Iran vapen för att göra revolt mot regimen. En osäker strategi med stora risker för framför allt Irans kurder.

But unclear, it seems.

I haven’t seen any information about the likely target, but it was shot down over Dörtyol, Hatay, and just looking at the map, it definitely seems like that could be in the flight path of a missile from Iran traveling towards Adana.

😄 That’s on me. I might have to add sarcasm disclaimers in the future because it keeps happening!

Yes! It’s quite striking. European leaders have not quite caught up to how much the Israeli strategy flies in the face of their interests. Look what a “destabilized” Syria meant for Europe in 2015. Iran is 4x the size…

Also, there’s a Turkish saying for every occasion.

Just to be perfectly clear, this is my interpretation, not Aslı’s.

Great @turkeyrecap.bsky.social conversation with @hurcanasliaksoy.bsky.social about Turkey-Israel relations. She doesn’t say it, but the conversation illustrates that Israel is now behaving much like a revisionist regional power that seeks to weaken neighbors & destabilize the region.

Merz:Russia is playing for time,but today, "the Russian giant stands on feet of clay"

"After 4yrs of war,the Russian economy is visibly weakened.The Russian military has paid an unimaginable toll in blood.That is why we want to find solutions here,but also solutions that involve Europeans," he said

Video of the wreckage of the missile being salvaged.

An Iranian ballistic missile was shot down by NATO air defences over the Hatay province in Turkey's Southeast. The Turkish government says that all hostile acts will be dealt with in accordance with international law and that allies will be consulted. Unclear if this means invoking Article 4.

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

We’re in agreement. (I was being sarcastic.) In fact, I wrote about this very risk back in October 2024.

Ankara is worried about instability resulting from a defeated Iranian regime; in particular potential refugee flows and economic impact. They will certainly also be concerned about this.

Trump’s three-day Very Special Military Operation.

Hate it when they conflagrate.

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.

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