I want to call your attention to a new piece by Judd Legum at Popular Information, The money behind the new Iran War.
In private calls over the last several weeks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) reportedly urged President Trump to attack Iran. Iran is a top regional rival of Saudi Arabia, and MBS had become concerned about Iran’s growing military capabilities.
The lobbying campaign achieved success on Saturday, when Trump announced he had begun “major combat operations in Iran.” Trump launched a war even though U.S. intelligence assessed that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States. In June 2025, Trump publicly declared that more limited strikes “completely obliterated Iran’s nuclear capability.”
MBS’s influence with Trump has grown as the Saudi government has invested billions in projects that personally enrich Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Despite the glaring conflicts-of-interest, Trump installed Kushner as a top negotiator with Iranian officials. Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff participated in a mediation session with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva on Thursday, billed as a last-ditch effort to avoid war.
Wall Street Journal reports that Trump changes his mind about the “mission” in Iran every few hours.
On Sunday alone, President Trump and his allies offered at least two separate objectives for the assault on Iran, muddying Washington’s intentions for ending a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East and killed three American service members.
Early Sunday morning, close Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said reducing the nuclear and missile threat from Iran was the intention, not regime change. The White House later reiterated that point in a statement.
Elaborating in an interview with the Atlantic, Trump said he was open to discussions with Iran’s current leadership that could end the war if U.S. demands were met.
But hours later, Trump swung back to one of his original goals from the beginning of the air assault on Saturday. In a video, he urged Iranians to “take back your country” from the regime, vowing the U.S. will “be there to help.”
The timeframe for military action has also changed. On Saturday, he posted on social media that the assault will last a week or more. A day later, he told the Daily Mail the fighting has “always been a four-week process.”
It’s likely MBS and Netanyahu both persuaded Trump that attacking Iran was a good idea and that some brilliant result would easily be achieved. Trump has a long history of grasping at simplistic ideas that he thinks will be quick and easy fixes to long-festering, complicated problems. It’s his most consistent trait, along with being hateful and corrupt. After the tactical success of his strike in Venezuela, he probably considers himself a military genius.
This is from today’s New York Post.
President Trump told The Post Monday that he’s not ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran “if they were necessary” — adding that Operation Epic Fury was “way ahead of schedule” by taking out dozens of Tehran’s top officials.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump said after launching strikes Saturday to decapitate Iran’s military and political leadership. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”
Trump told the Daily Mail on Sunday that he estimated the war would last “four weeks or so,” but hinted to The Post Monday that that timeframe could be shortened.
“It’s going to go pretty quickly,” he said. “We’re right on schedule, way ahead of schedule in terms of leadership — 49 killed — and that was, you know, going to take, we figured, at least four weeks, and we did it in one day.”
As I wrote yesterday, he’s given several estimates of how long the Iran project will take. The earliest estimate I saw was that he expected to conclude the project this week sometime. But now it’s four weeks. And the conflict appears to be spreading. Overnight Israel attacked Hezbollah-controlled areas in Lebanon. And Iran launched a drone strike against a Saudi oil refinery. Kuwait “mistakenly” shot down three U.S. F-15 fighter jets on Sunday; the crews all ejected safely.
Oh, goodie. I just noticed a new headline at the New York Times.
Brilliant. Trump is now speaking to reporters in the East Room of the White House. I am not listening, but if it’s reported he says anything noteworthy, I’ll add it.
Update: An Iranian drone struck a British military base in Cyprus.
How much is this war going to cost the Treasury is the big question.
I am sure the Mango Mussolini will make plenty of money off of this war, tax free, but what is the price tag on this show is, again, my big question.
Another trillion-dollar war paid for with tax cuts?
An F-15 Strike Eagle costs $90 million to $97 million per unit and three just got shot down.
What is the return on investment for that nearly $300 million?
Ok, the trusty NY Post reported that they are $31 million a copy. Looks like the affordability issue was a hoax after all.
"Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) reportedly urged President Trump to attack Iran"
Well then it makes perfect sense to send the son-in-law what got two billion from MBS in 2020 to negotiate with Iran. I mean the implication that maybe Jared was doing MBS's bidding in the negotiations is preposterous. I doubt the two billion payment was even considered! I read over at Breitbart that diaper don didn't start a new war he is just ending one that has raged for forty seven years, that sounds about right I guess?
New York Times:
"The president said he understood the risks of an attack, but he conveyed to Mr. Carlson that he had no choice but to join a strike that Israel would launch."
https://bsky.app/profile/donmoyn.bsky.social/post/3mg3x4pwi2s2u
“War is when your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when you figure it out yourself”.- Napoleon Bonaparte
Just asking a question: Do we have moles from foreign adversaries all over our government? I'm just wondering about the fact that we have so many incompetent people firing experienced career people in public service agencies.
Yes, but that might not be the reason for the purge. Whiskey Pete has a plan and it is even scarier than you can imagine:
https://jonathanlarsen.substack.com/p/us-troops-were-told-iran-war-is-for
Eschatology you say. The greatest Satan kills with abandon at the bidding of Thanatos. Quite plausible. A war seeking casus belli.
As far as wingnuttery goes, the US religious zealots think they are totally playing the Israelis by leading them into Armageddon and Mossad is laughing at the rubes from Arkansas and leading by the nose to where bee bee is the de-facto emperor of the US empire. Meanwhile, the religious fanatics in Israel need a mercenary to suppy manpower, weapons, and money to rebuild their religious kingdom. Then, there is fanatical Islam in the mix as a useful foil and a barrier to Greater Israel.
The real election fraud is that we did not get to vote down the political and warfare plans of the Israelis.
Thanks for the link. That is some article, ol' whiskey pete seems to fancy himself as king of the crusades! Scary stuff, but I don't doubt a word of it. The military is full of low IQ miscreants, it was forty some years ago when I was in and I'd wager not much has changed. The end of that article had one hilarious comment:
"I guess when you have a tiny dick, all you have is balls."
Hahahaha… you are welcome 🙂
Good heavens, that Larsen piece is downright terrifying. Of all the horrible mess concepts that I had about the snake pit that is our current administration, it has never occurred to me that the force that controls the orangutan could be the completely whack-job end-times christian fundamentalists.
I'm not religious, but my first thought was heaven help us. I suppose the answer to the question about what force controls the orangutan is that it varies from day to day, depending on the orangutan's mood at the moment. I don't find that reassuring.
Wary Tale – Yes ("we have moles from foreign adversaries all over our government"); they're known as NeoCons, and they've been burrowing into various US Gov't Departments for decades. They got their start in the Reagan Admin (See: Iran-Contra, starring John Bolton & Elliott Abrams), but the infiltration really kicked into high gear during the Cheney-Bush regime.
At the State Dept, that process included intentional removal of long-term personnel who really understood Middle Eastern governments and cultures (often derided as "Arabists" when they described – accurately – how US [pro-Israel] policies damaged our relations with those countries).
At the Treasury Dept, they've captured the controls of the USA's vast Sanctions machine.
IMO, they have actually had less success at the Pentagon, because military leaders have to rise through the ranks. At civilian Depts, Cabinet Secretaries can assign outsiders (typically Think-Tank ideologues) as top managers; but SecDef (/SecWar) can't just give Stars to non-mil types.
Follow the money:
https://www.trackaipac.com/congress
Sure do – Trump has been a Russian asset since the 80s.
I've been looking for reliable news to follow what's going on. I don't trust US reporting. BBC starts to insist upon a subscription. Al Jazeera (as you'd expect) looks pretty thorough. What are other folks looking at?
Oof, I am watching a lot of Youtube and trying to avoid slop (don't read the comments, full of bots).
Good question to post, though, others, please chime in!
I look at AP and Reuters? I stopped looking at BBC when they went full on pro trump after the election. Though almost all of the mainstream media in this country is very biased against all of Israel's perceived enemies.
Lil Marco on the justification for War: "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties."
This fucking stooge is the Secretary of fucking State? These are the democrats that voted to confirm this idiot: Oh wait every single democrat voted for this fucking stooge.
https://www.democrats.senate.gov/about-senate-dems/our-caucus
TheOnion headline:
Netanyahu Calls Iran Strikes Necessary To Prevent War He Just Started
Will the idiot in chief put boots on the ground? If he does, there will be more dead GIs and then we're trapped. If he just boms for a few weeks and pulls out, we've further consolidated Arab opposition. This is polling at 20 percent for. It will drive prices up.
I listened to Marco Rubio push the justification "we had to get them before they got us" and, "it's entirely legal". This was before his "briefing" to the eviscerated Senate. Nice of him to include the body that's supposed to initiate war, not a body to be "briefed" after the fact.
The psychics I follow say the war will last for several months. It won't be WW3, but will include a number of countries (this is exactly what has happened). The US has vastly underestimated Iran, and has kicked over a large wasp nest. They have a huge stockpile of conventional weapons. They sat and watched, for years, as their neighbors were invaded, and have been planning for this for a long time.
The other thing that's been underestimated is the fury driving these people. I can't think of anything more enraging than to kick off a war by bombing an elementary school, killing 168 people, many of them young girls. What do they have to lose?
Gas prices will rise, and the stock market will tank. There will be terrorist attacks even within the US. Cyber attacks, rolling blackouts and the like. This will be Trump's Waterloo. Many of the psychics I follow say he will flee to the Middle East, probably to MBS' arms.
Iran has Epstein data, which will be forwarded to the Democrats. They'll likely sit on it, waiting for the right time.
The war is a political gift I'd rather not have. To repeat myself, the pro-war faction polls at 21 percent. Typically, US intervention polls well at first, and support declines. If we put soldiers on the ground, we will find out how inventive the Iranians can be. There won't be a pro-US faction there. In a sane world, you could bet that the war will be a temporary distraction and the simpleton will get bored and draw down.
Bibi and MBS seem to have the greatest influence over the bag of shit in the Oval Office. The war will cost them dearly if the US leaves and terrorism and sabotage are the weapons they have left. My read is that the counties that will bear the brunt of a prolonged religious war are betting we will stay. Otherwise, they are in a war they can't afford.
Do Middle East tyrants have control over DJT to the degree that Bibi and MBS can keep the US in a war that Congress pulled the plug on? When full body bags become the only US import without a tariff, the GOP members of Congress will see November handwriting on the wall. Congress will pull the plug. The Pentagon is 100 percent Trump loyalists. Who has the power to enforce a vote by Congress that directs the military to draw down.
This will be Trump's Waterloo, but I'm not jumping for joy. I see the potential for something worse than Iraq and Afghanistan. Bibi has nukes, and if/when the US won't back him in the war he started, it's his last play.
Very good analysis. My main fear, though, is that Maga's superpower is like the Mango Man calling fecal matter good as, or better than, chocolate and then Fox news et al declares how delicious sewage is as the rubes gobble it down… while the perfumed princes eat $30 Dubai bars.
Call yourself Wellington and Waterloo becomes a victory.
Quagmire achieved!
2 THAAD radars were reportedly destroyed and there were only 6 in the world to begin with. Apparently $1.1 Billion a copy, but we will see what the Post has to say.
According to Little Marco's logic, there was such an imminent threat that we had to sacrifice Medicaid so that we could expend our resources so BiBi could achieve his 40-year goal of stopping Iran from building a bomb within two weeks. Now that is an achievement!
Dr Russ Razzaque explains why Trump bombed Iran. Remember that plane the Qataris gifted Trump? Or the millions "invested" in his crypto fund? Or the sweetheart deals Jared Kushner received? These were bribes.
This is why Iran has been bombing its neighbors. They've been feuding for ages. Iran's neighbors with Israel ganged up on Iran, and got their puppet, our President to attack.
Just follow the money.
James Talarico beat Jasmine Crockett by 7 points in Texas, to go against Cornyn in the fall. Love them both, but I view Talarico's run as strategically important to give voice to progressive Christianity in a fundie stronghold. Crockett has many options, and we'll be seeing more of her, but Talarico was cut out specfically for this slot.
Operation AIPAC Fury
The inconsistency of the Trump Admin's justifications for attacking Iran would be comical if we weren't talking about another tragic, immoral, and stupid war. It's almost like their *trying* to tell us that all those reason as pure BS, but they're not clever enough to do that on purpose.
OTOH, Rubio's explanation – that we attacked Iran because Israel was going to -implies that Trump & Co allowed Israel to dictate our policy and actions, and that part actually rings true. This isn't the first time that Israel has driven US policy in the Middle East, but it is a particularly blatant – and dangerous – example.