All about bad tactics, not about bad morals. Shipping matters, but so does killing innocent people.
It's good to know they should have known better, or perhaps even did, but continued on this path anyway. Nevertheless, honest criticism ought to deal with the fact that this war should never have happened, not because the tactics weren't properly thought out, but because it was, and still is, the wrong thing to do.
This article simply laid out all the pragmatic reasons — known by experts for years —for not going to war with Iran. Ethics, morality, etc. was beyond its scope. That discussion is for another article. The central question becomes: was Trump really uninformed of the likely consequences of war or is he lying about not being told because he won’t take
responsibility for this disaster? He won’t listen to anyone on any topic anyway (eg, tariffs), so my guess is he’s lying, as usual.
Thank you so much, for presenting the entire picture, world wide. We tend to focus only on our country and we miss the forest for the trees. We are part of the world and for so long our size fooled us into a sense of false security. AND an excuse to not look at this country in context.
I appreciate Zeteo for the world wide understanding that what we do, affects the entire world
No forests anymore, even the biggest ones are shaved down and on log trucks now. There's just a few trees left. So, no worries about that!
The US gov has been working on destroying Iran for at least 80 years--remember all the time prior to 1953 it took Kermit Roosevelt and his gang to covertly infiltrate Iran and ultimately oust the very popular,democratically-elected, pro-secular Mossadeq. Then, ongoing meddling by the US gov led to the installation of the Shah, after further infiltration and destruction of Iran's nascent revolutionary leadership in the late 1970's.
The US gov is reaping what it's sown. Too bad for all of us who are trying to survive through this cupidity and hubris.
"There are no real winners in such a war – except, perhaps, Vladimir Putin." Really? Cant think of any other country or leader that is getting exactly what it has been wanting for decades, eh? I suppose this is how one rises in the Dem foreign policy establishment in DC.
A good article. We are now in what Robert Pape calls an Escalation Trap. I doubt Trump didn't listen to any experts, since he has surrounded himself with sycophants. It is clear that Netanyahu and Lindsay Graham led Trump by the nose to this war. This war, while terrible for us, is extremely good for Israel because the world's attention is away from Gaza and the West Bank. Israel's regional rivals are all weakened and are mistrustful of each other.
It is remarkable how the mainstream media is playing down Israel's role in leading us to this war (and the Iraq war for that matter). They are working overtime to discredit Joe Kent's account. We didn't need Kent's letter and we don't even need to speculate because in a rare moment of candor, Netanyahu admitted that he had been dreaming about this moment and finally found a president that would do it. There are video clips going back at least to 1995 with Netanyahu claiming that Iran was at the threshold of having a nuclear weapon. Rubio and Johnson even admitted that this war was Israel's call.
Decades ago I saw a photo in Life magazine of a lovely looking Iranian woman on her balcony armed with a rifle. I immediately got the picture, go for tea, not for war with Iran. Who am I with insight that has lasted so long? I am Ms. Nobody and I know this. You do not have to be a military advisor to know this. I also know from a lifetime and the knowledge of people involved in liberation struggles, from childhood and against Imperialist rulers, that she will use that gun against those who mean her nation harm. Cowardly bombing by USA from the air and sea can cease but you will never get past that woman on the balcony ( you will be looking at her granddaughter shooting)
Great image. It's almost they're like an ancient civilization who's survived since, I dunnno, the 7th c. BCE or something, the Greeks, the Macedonians, the Arabs, the Mongols, etc. etc.
It's never made sense to try to go to war Iran, a civilization that stretches back to Pericles. Piketty showed one way that gross inequality was shattered was by cataclysmic world war. Will all sides bombing so much key fossil fuel infrastructure also accelerate the transition to a decarbonized world economy?
The Be Careful of What You Wish For file is getting fuller every day: Putin's war causing NATO to expand, Trump's moves that're leading to greater European/Canadian leadership and autonomy, and now perhaps setting the middle east aflame is the new best motivation to move to renewables.
Trump is the most stupid, corrupt, criminal in US President history. There is no argument about that. He has been enabled primarily by Fox not news. Imagine this: If the dems had a leader besides Chuck Shumer who is horrible, they would have probably primaried Biden and Josh Shapiro or some other more youthful middle aged prominent politician would have run, won the primary, and beaten Trump.
Shapiro is a hard core, unapologetic Zionist. He’s much smarter than tRump (so is a hamster). The Dems never would primary an elected president. The last elected president to lose his party’s primary was Pierce in 1856. It’s not just a Schumer thing.
I'm just a regular civilian if a certain age..and even I knew samned well better than to attack k Iran. Trump is severely lacking in knowledge, judgement, sanity, ethics...I could go on...
The zionists are the elephant in the room. Western media doesn't refer to their role in starting this, or elaborate on the battering Tel Aviv is getting. They don't report the elimination of their leaders. And they don't dare tell the world about their murderous bombing of civilian areas in Iran.
And we also don't want to talk about what it is that is being rocketed in the Gulf states by Iran. And let's ignore that it is Iran reacting and defending themselves from being attacked by Israel and USA.
Whatever we do, don't talk about it being all about oil and gas, US bases, and zionist expansion dreams.
When President Trump chose to escalate against Iran, did his team fully consider the far-reaching, unintended consequences for the Indo-Pacific? Evidence suggests that concentrating U.S. forces and attention in one region creates dangerous gaps elsewhere - gaps that peer adversaries can and will exploit.
Are we prepared for a true two-theater war, especially one where the loss of Taiwan could fundamentally alter the global balance of power? The answer, for now, is deeply uncertain. U.S. force structure, munitions stockpiles, alliance trust, and rapid decision-making are all under strain - vulnerabilities that Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow are watching closely.
And what if Russia, seeing America stretched and distracted, decides to further intimidate or even destabilize Europe? This is no longer a hypothetical; it is a real possibility in a world where crises are increasingly linked, and adversaries coordinate to maximize U.S. vulnerability.
These questions are not academic. They demand urgent debate, renewed investment in readiness, and a sober reassessment of U.S. security strategy for an era in which “business as usual” is no longer an option.
Big Money And Jewish Political Influence And Fear Of The Antisemitic Label
AIPAC is in the background of primarying 2 incumbent Democrats Bowman in NYC and Bush in St Louis due to their opposition to Israeli defense spending against Palestinians Now AIPAC is clearly behind the right's attack on Muslim pacifist NY mayor Mamdani making this now a Middle East war carried to a religious culture war here in America
It's not totally clear how many of the American Jewish diaspora support Netanyahu's fascist regime and his "holy war" against Palestinian’s genocide and the Iranian war but one thing is becoming obvious: AIPAC leads the way with $$$ influence in promoting American Jewish interests D's need to get out of AIPAC's pocket and go it alone taking advantage of the political winds of dissent against fascist regimes, Israeli and American Is it antisemitic to raise questions about big money Jewish American influence? I think not(https://www.trackaipac.com/congress) D’s supported by AIPAC should stop getting $$$ from this perverted lobbying organization like AOC . Sanders, Balint, Welch, Jayapal, Lee, Velasquez, Omar, Tlaib, Pressley, van Hollan, Carson. Garcia, Ramirez, Frost, Simon, Grijalva, Pocan, Casar, and Merkley have done(20) Notice most recipients are Nazi Republicans in high Jewish and red state population centers
A prominent Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg is a classic example of knowing which side of the bread is getting buttered When pushed about his opinion of Palestinian genocide Rosenberg is quick to point out that the Palestinians deserve the inhumane Israeli behavior due to the terrorist organization Hamas This same reasoning is used for the Iranian invasion I think Rosenberg is perversely but perfectly aligned with AIPAC and he's one of the primary movers in Democratic policy at the DNC which is why I have stopped donating to the organization and why the DNC could not be against the Palestinian genocide which lost them the Muslim vote in 2024 Muslims and Hispanic immigrants are the new boogeymen
“When pushed about his opinion of Palestinian genocide Rosenberg is quick to point out that the Palestinians deserve the inhumane Israeli behavior due to the terrorist organization Hamas”
Have you seen this elsewhere? Or did I miss it somewhere in this article? I completely agree with you about donating to the DNC. I even go so far as to donate to progressive primary challengers running against DNC supported, corporate democrats.
When I was subscribed to his Hopium Chronicles substack channel he constantly monitored the comment section to be sure it cultivated his talking points But there came a time when my comment about Palestinian genocide pushed him over the edge
It was a response to a woman's question about whether he could put in a good word to those he influenced about the Palestinian plight that he literally derided her comment and said she was out of line At that point I made a comment that the genocide was inhumane and that it was indefensible He then angrily responded that the Palestinians deserved the Jewish wrath for all the years of terrorism that they had brought to bear on the Jewish people However he failed to mention the egregious Israeli military oppression that Palestinians face in the West Bank on a daily basis He then refunded my subscription fee and I gladly left
He then quickly erased all of the comments so he could deny anything about the virtual encounter Rosenberg has a far right agenda that aligns with Netanyahu and he silently manipulates the DNC I will remain a thorn in Rosenberg's side to expose him for what he really is
Unfortunately I didn't screenshot his comments before he erased the interaction
Re contributions one has to double check information because of the disinformation that PAC's are spreading about candidates
Thank you for clarifying this, I had no idea. I’ve never heard of him before. Another reason not to help fund the DNC. Many thanks, the behavior you described is reprehensible. Posters like that are why I dumped the Substack App almost immediately after I downloaded it.
All about bad tactics, not about bad morals. Shipping matters, but so does killing innocent people.
It's good to know they should have known better, or perhaps even did, but continued on this path anyway. Nevertheless, honest criticism ought to deal with the fact that this war should never have happened, not because the tactics weren't properly thought out, but because it was, and still is, the wrong thing to do.
This article simply laid out all the pragmatic reasons — known by experts for years —for not going to war with Iran. Ethics, morality, etc. was beyond its scope. That discussion is for another article. The central question becomes: was Trump really uninformed of the likely consequences of war or is he lying about not being told because he won’t take
responsibility for this disaster? He won’t listen to anyone on any topic anyway (eg, tariffs), so my guess is he’s lying, as usual.
Thank you so much, for presenting the entire picture, world wide. We tend to focus only on our country and we miss the forest for the trees. We are part of the world and for so long our size fooled us into a sense of false security. AND an excuse to not look at this country in context.
I appreciate Zeteo for the world wide understanding that what we do, affects the entire world
No forests anymore, even the biggest ones are shaved down and on log trucks now. There's just a few trees left. So, no worries about that!
The US gov has been working on destroying Iran for at least 80 years--remember all the time prior to 1953 it took Kermit Roosevelt and his gang to covertly infiltrate Iran and ultimately oust the very popular,democratically-elected, pro-secular Mossadeq. Then, ongoing meddling by the US gov led to the installation of the Shah, after further infiltration and destruction of Iran's nascent revolutionary leadership in the late 1970's.
The US gov is reaping what it's sown. Too bad for all of us who are trying to survive through this cupidity and hubris.
Yes..me too!
"There are no real winners in such a war – except, perhaps, Vladimir Putin." Really? Cant think of any other country or leader that is getting exactly what it has been wanting for decades, eh? I suppose this is how one rises in the Dem foreign policy establishment in DC.
Yup.
A good article. We are now in what Robert Pape calls an Escalation Trap. I doubt Trump didn't listen to any experts, since he has surrounded himself with sycophants. It is clear that Netanyahu and Lindsay Graham led Trump by the nose to this war. This war, while terrible for us, is extremely good for Israel because the world's attention is away from Gaza and the West Bank. Israel's regional rivals are all weakened and are mistrustful of each other.
It is remarkable how the mainstream media is playing down Israel's role in leading us to this war (and the Iraq war for that matter). They are working overtime to discredit Joe Kent's account. We didn't need Kent's letter and we don't even need to speculate because in a rare moment of candor, Netanyahu admitted that he had been dreaming about this moment and finally found a president that would do it. There are video clips going back at least to 1995 with Netanyahu claiming that Iran was at the threshold of having a nuclear weapon. Rubio and Johnson even admitted that this war was Israel's call.
Decades ago I saw a photo in Life magazine of a lovely looking Iranian woman on her balcony armed with a rifle. I immediately got the picture, go for tea, not for war with Iran. Who am I with insight that has lasted so long? I am Ms. Nobody and I know this. You do not have to be a military advisor to know this. I also know from a lifetime and the knowledge of people involved in liberation struggles, from childhood and against Imperialist rulers, that she will use that gun against those who mean her nation harm. Cowardly bombing by USA from the air and sea can cease but you will never get past that woman on the balcony ( you will be looking at her granddaughter shooting)
Great image. It's almost they're like an ancient civilization who's survived since, I dunnno, the 7th c. BCE or something, the Greeks, the Macedonians, the Arabs, the Mongols, etc. etc.
Honestly, I don't think you needed to be an expert, just a person with a functioning brain!
And... the seething hatred for the UGLY AMERICANS will have grown exponentially.
A win for Netan-the-yahoo.
It's never made sense to try to go to war Iran, a civilization that stretches back to Pericles. Piketty showed one way that gross inequality was shattered was by cataclysmic world war. Will all sides bombing so much key fossil fuel infrastructure also accelerate the transition to a decarbonized world economy?
The Be Careful of What You Wish For file is getting fuller every day: Putin's war causing NATO to expand, Trump's moves that're leading to greater European/Canadian leadership and autonomy, and now perhaps setting the middle east aflame is the new best motivation to move to renewables.
Trump is the most stupid, corrupt, criminal in US President history. There is no argument about that. He has been enabled primarily by Fox not news. Imagine this: If the dems had a leader besides Chuck Shumer who is horrible, they would have probably primaried Biden and Josh Shapiro or some other more youthful middle aged prominent politician would have run, won the primary, and beaten Trump.
Shapiro is a hard core, unapologetic Zionist. He’s much smarter than tRump (so is a hamster). The Dems never would primary an elected president. The last elected president to lose his party’s primary was Pierce in 1856. It’s not just a Schumer thing.
Shapiro’s fanatical Zionism is so unpopular he’ll drop out before the first Primary.
I'm just a regular civilian if a certain age..and even I knew samned well better than to attack k Iran. Trump is severely lacking in knowledge, judgement, sanity, ethics...I could go on...
Excellent analysis, thank you for sharing your expertise.
The zionists are the elephant in the room. Western media doesn't refer to their role in starting this, or elaborate on the battering Tel Aviv is getting. They don't report the elimination of their leaders. And they don't dare tell the world about their murderous bombing of civilian areas in Iran.
And we also don't want to talk about what it is that is being rocketed in the Gulf states by Iran. And let's ignore that it is Iran reacting and defending themselves from being attacked by Israel and USA.
Whatever we do, don't talk about it being all about oil and gas, US bases, and zionist expansion dreams.
When President Trump chose to escalate against Iran, did his team fully consider the far-reaching, unintended consequences for the Indo-Pacific? Evidence suggests that concentrating U.S. forces and attention in one region creates dangerous gaps elsewhere - gaps that peer adversaries can and will exploit.
Are we prepared for a true two-theater war, especially one where the loss of Taiwan could fundamentally alter the global balance of power? The answer, for now, is deeply uncertain. U.S. force structure, munitions stockpiles, alliance trust, and rapid decision-making are all under strain - vulnerabilities that Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow are watching closely.
And what if Russia, seeing America stretched and distracted, decides to further intimidate or even destabilize Europe? This is no longer a hypothetical; it is a real possibility in a world where crises are increasingly linked, and adversaries coordinate to maximize U.S. vulnerability.
These questions are not academic. They demand urgent debate, renewed investment in readiness, and a sober reassessment of U.S. security strategy for an era in which “business as usual” is no longer an option.
Did everyone else notice the revolving door between the national security apparatus at the federal government and the Zionist lobbying groups?
Big Money And Jewish Political Influence And Fear Of The Antisemitic Label
AIPAC is in the background of primarying 2 incumbent Democrats Bowman in NYC and Bush in St Louis due to their opposition to Israeli defense spending against Palestinians Now AIPAC is clearly behind the right's attack on Muslim pacifist NY mayor Mamdani making this now a Middle East war carried to a religious culture war here in America
It's not totally clear how many of the American Jewish diaspora support Netanyahu's fascist regime and his "holy war" against Palestinian’s genocide and the Iranian war but one thing is becoming obvious: AIPAC leads the way with $$$ influence in promoting American Jewish interests D's need to get out of AIPAC's pocket and go it alone taking advantage of the political winds of dissent against fascist regimes, Israeli and American Is it antisemitic to raise questions about big money Jewish American influence? I think not(https://www.trackaipac.com/congress) D’s supported by AIPAC should stop getting $$$ from this perverted lobbying organization like AOC . Sanders, Balint, Welch, Jayapal, Lee, Velasquez, Omar, Tlaib, Pressley, van Hollan, Carson. Garcia, Ramirez, Frost, Simon, Grijalva, Pocan, Casar, and Merkley have done(20) Notice most recipients are Nazi Republicans in high Jewish and red state population centers
A prominent Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg is a classic example of knowing which side of the bread is getting buttered When pushed about his opinion of Palestinian genocide Rosenberg is quick to point out that the Palestinians deserve the inhumane Israeli behavior due to the terrorist organization Hamas This same reasoning is used for the Iranian invasion I think Rosenberg is perversely but perfectly aligned with AIPAC and he's one of the primary movers in Democratic policy at the DNC which is why I have stopped donating to the organization and why the DNC could not be against the Palestinian genocide which lost them the Muslim vote in 2024 Muslims and Hispanic immigrants are the new boogeymen
“When pushed about his opinion of Palestinian genocide Rosenberg is quick to point out that the Palestinians deserve the inhumane Israeli behavior due to the terrorist organization Hamas”
Have you seen this elsewhere? Or did I miss it somewhere in this article? I completely agree with you about donating to the DNC. I even go so far as to donate to progressive primary challengers running against DNC supported, corporate democrats.
When I was subscribed to his Hopium Chronicles substack channel he constantly monitored the comment section to be sure it cultivated his talking points But there came a time when my comment about Palestinian genocide pushed him over the edge
It was a response to a woman's question about whether he could put in a good word to those he influenced about the Palestinian plight that he literally derided her comment and said she was out of line At that point I made a comment that the genocide was inhumane and that it was indefensible He then angrily responded that the Palestinians deserved the Jewish wrath for all the years of terrorism that they had brought to bear on the Jewish people However he failed to mention the egregious Israeli military oppression that Palestinians face in the West Bank on a daily basis He then refunded my subscription fee and I gladly left
He then quickly erased all of the comments so he could deny anything about the virtual encounter Rosenberg has a far right agenda that aligns with Netanyahu and he silently manipulates the DNC I will remain a thorn in Rosenberg's side to expose him for what he really is
Unfortunately I didn't screenshot his comments before he erased the interaction
Re contributions one has to double check information because of the disinformation that PAC's are spreading about candidates
Thank you for clarifying this, I had no idea. I’ve never heard of him before. Another reason not to help fund the DNC. Many thanks, the behavior you described is reprehensible. Posters like that are why I dumped the Substack App almost immediately after I downloaded it.
Easy to understand. As others have said, leaves out the morality and legality issues. Also, for some reason, forgot to mention:
Israel always wins.