Trump Vs Iran

[Colonel Sanders]

No one's giving nukes to Iran.

Nobody with nukes wants more crazies with nukes. But if there is economic or political utility to propping up a threat of more crazies with nukes, then it will be done.

Realistically, what country would give nukes to Iran, thereby unnecessarily exposing itself to grave consequences? It's just not going to happen.

Even conventional weapons will be a problem to supply Iran with, let alone nukes. Russia is in no position to help Iran, China won't do it for obvious reasons, and neither will any other Arab states. Pakistan may be a possibility, but they're not official allies and their relations are strained.

In short, Iran stands almost wholly alone.

I agree that the U.S.'s military strike was stupid and will have predictable fallout, but in terms of nukes and military capability Iran doesn't inspire much fear.

Good post. I agree. As an aside, why does Iran have to be at war with Israel anyway? What is the root of their wanting war? I actually understand why a country would want nuclear weapons. But why do they want war?

IMO, the it's a forest through the trees thing. Fundamental religiosity is the why. The not-batshit media is afraid to touch it with an 11 foot pole, but that's par for the course. They've been effective at dick and worse, they've aided the right wing with their silence under the guise of objectivity.

Anyway, Iran's brand of religion is no different than Christianity, they're just more willing to actively make The End happen. It's a reverse parent type of thing. That is, they're willing to die for their god in the same way that most parents would die to save their children.

All the gingerbread is is just that; it's a faux (or at least grossly misguided) excuse making for the Iranian government's religious authoritarianism.

Iran could've had peace with western nations decades ago, but instead uses its resources to arm others to do their dirty work for them.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

I saw that, but have not seen it independently confirmed. Since we know Trump habitually lies, the default assumption at this point is that this is another lie.

Can't argue with that. The only time it's worth taking him at his word is when he's threatening to end rights for Americans.

There are reports of ICE all over SoCal. Many of them are exaggerated if not outright made up, but Trump's words and subsequent actions have created an atmosphere of paranoia and fear.

Bah. Whatever. Every non-idiot knew who he was and what the potential and even likely consequences were when he came to power in 2016. Now we're all just wondering if the alarm bell on the Titanic is a test or if we should be fleeing to the lifeboats.

 

[steve_bank]

In the words of Trump over the quick breaking of the ceasefire, they have been fighting so long 'they don't know 'what the fuck they are doing'.

I think Trump finally got something right. They have been feuding so long the reason may not matter, the fight has become endemic. They would not know what to do without it. Its like an old western TV story about families feuding and killing each other for germinations.

 

[crazyfingers]

An early assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency says that the strike on Iran's nuke facility only set Iran back a couple months and did not hit the key components underground.

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it.

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

But the White House disagrees based on.... nothing?

And may I say that Karoline Leavitt is a piece-o-shit?

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

Can we hope that Trump's head explodes?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites

 

[bilby]

An early assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency says that the strike on Iran's nuke facility only set Iran back a couple months and did not hit the key components underground.

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it.

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

But the White House disagrees based on.... nothing?

And may I say that Karoline Leavitt is a piece-o-shit?

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong

"alleged"? I am fairly certain it's an actual assessment, even if it is wrong.

and was classified as ‘top secret’

Why? If it was wrong, why classify it 'top secret'?

but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community.

If the leaker is anonymous, how do you know what level they are at? (Or that they are a "loser" for that matter?) It could be Pete Hegseth for all you know. He has form. And would confirm the "loser" allegation.

The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump,

He is self demeaning, so such effort would be wasted.

and discredit the brave fighter pilots

Why were fighter pilots flying bombers??

who conducted a perfectly executed mission

Execution is not at issue. Effectiveness is.

to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program.

Which (allegedly) it failed to do.

Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets

Really? I doubt that. Modelling the effects of explosions is a highly technical and skilled job, and the effects are often very counterintuitive.

: total obliteration.”

Of a deeply buried facility designed to withstand such an attack? Seems implausible to me.

Can we hope that Trump's head explodes?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites

We can always hope for that.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

US downed an Iranian jumbo jet.

I thinj it is interesting the US is cozying up with the folks connected to 9/11.

 

[Copernicus]

An early assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency says that the strike on Iran's nuke facility only set Iran back a couple months and did not hit the key components underground.

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it.

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

But the White House disagrees based on.... nothing?

It was based on a need to justify a very expensive failed mission. Otherwise, Donald Trump's Saturday night victory speech gets "completely and totally obliterated."

And may I say that Karoline Leavitt is a piece-o-shit?

“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community. The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”

Can we hope that Trump's head explodes?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites

The report was classified top secret, but this is the Trump administration. They have new standards for handling classified materials. There are a lot of bathrooms around Washington DC where they store such documents, and some bathrooms leak. Leavitt was just pointing out that it would be disrespectful to the pilots of those stealth bombers to question the success of the mission. At long last, have you no respect?

DOGE should look into firing the analysts at the Defense Intelligence Agency. What do we need experts for if everyone knows what 30,000 pound bombs can do? I'm sure that they can find smart young people just out of high school who could do a better job.

 

[Patooka]

Apparantly, this passes for Statesmanship these days...

 

[pood]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

Let me guess. You picked up this nugget of total nonsense from the right-wing Washington Times, right?

 

[TomC]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

Let me guess. You picked up this nugget of total nonsense from the right-wing Washington Times, right?

That was the common thing, back in the day. That poor innocent civilians in the USA embassy were attacked by the Iranians.

It's a complete lie, the people in the embassy were there to fight the Iranian people, by whatever means necessary, to keep the US puppet shah Pahlavi in power to protect American interests.

Nearly all the news of the day followed the narrative of the Americans being attacked, though.

Tom

 

[crazyfingers]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

War Powers Act and the US Constitution

Trump's Iran Air Strikes and the Constitution

The strikes violate both the Constitution and the 1973 War Powers Act. Whether they are good policy is a more difficult question. This could turn out to be a rare instance where one of Trump's illegal actions has beneficial results.

reason.com

 

[Artemus]

The U.S. has illegally and unconstitutionally attacked Iran.

Illegally?

Iran attacked the US in 1979. No peace has happened since. Thus we have technically always been at war with them.

If we're playing firsties, the US overturned the Iranian government in 1953 and installed the Shah, all because they wanted to control their own oil fields. That's when the war began.

 

[ZiprHead]

Colonel Wilkerson said last week those bombs wouldn't work, that the Iranian labs were dug far deeper than those bombs could go.

 

[crazyfingers]

Colonel Wilkerson said last week those bombs wouldn't work, that the Iranian labs were dug far deeper than those bombs could go.

I had read last week that for the bombs to do the job one bomb after another would have to go down the same hole. The satellite photos I saw showed three holes side by side.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Colonel Wilkerson said last week those bombs wouldn't work, that the Iranian labs were dug far deeper than those bombs could go.

I had read last week that for the bombs to do the job one bomb after another would have to go down the same hole. The satellite photos I saw showed three holes side by side.

With fourteen MOP bombs dropped on that particular facility.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Tgis fucker know oil embargoes are a thing?

Oil embargoes by whom? We already do not buy from Iran. Saudis and other Gulf Arabs don't like Iran either, except Qatar (and they are more of a natural gas power).

If they don't sell oil to the world the price goes way up.

 

[pood]

Colonel Wilkerson said last week those bombs wouldn't work, that the Iranian labs were dug far deeper than those bombs could go.

Right, I linked to a pre-bombing report that said only tactical nukes could take out those facilities. The leaked report of the total U.S. failure of course has enraged Trump. This whole thing is a total flop, evidently. But Trump, to save his face, will continue to insist that the intel is false and everything was obliterated by his big Ká-BOOM! And this will leave Netanyahu absolutely fuming, since even though he’s evil he ain't’ stupid and he will know the intel leak is to be trusted over Trump.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I'm not gifting the linked article as I'm just about out of my articles to share, but I have to share a few lines from it as more evidence of Trump's insanity, as if we didn't know!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/us/politics/trump-iran-maga-rift-isolationists-hawks.html

“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” he told the world in a brief news conference from the White House. “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.”

It was a remarkable about-face for someone who as a candidate mercilessly criticized the Bush administration over the Iraq war, called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and once pledged to end the “era of endless wars.” But even as he announced the military operation, he appeared to be rapidly trying to get himself back to the middle by insisting that the strike was a one-off and that he continues to seek peace.

There is no evidence that the facilities have been totally obliterated and in fact, there is some possibility that Iran has other facilities that are not known to the US.

While I think the only times he's right he's being a stopped clock that doesn't mean that we should simply sit back and wait for the mushroom cloud. We've already kicked the can way too much with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It seems too early to say if the bombings were effective. I suspect that even U.S. intelligence is still analyzing the situation.

won’t the intelligence agencies just say whatever Trump wants them to say anyway?

It appears not, at least for now. The intel showed Iran was not close to building a bomb. Trump disregarded it.

Listen again. They were weaseling.

The thing is, building the bomb is the easy part. The hard part is the materials. It doesn't matter if they're building a bomb or not, what's important is if they have the weapons grade U-235. They have no civilian use for such, it's extremely expensive to produce, thus it's only for a bomb. Nor do you bury a civilian facility that deeply. It's unquestionably a bomb program.