The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, is not that the U.S. destroyed Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Tulsi Gabbard reported to Trump what was and is the collective assessment of our and other intelligence agencies and communities - that Iran was not even close to developing a nuclear weapon, as opposed to nuclear energy for their domestic use.
The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, is not how brilliant our Air Force and other armed services were in effecting this attack upon Iran, given that the Israeli's had achieved total control of the skies, knocked out a good deal of Iran's defensive capabilities and the leadership of their armed forces, and practically reduced Iran to total submission.
What Israel didn't have though, which the U.S. does have, is a bunker-busting bomb and the capability to accurately deliver it.
So this is where Donald Trump comes in.
Let's put this all in context. At the time that Israel was wiping out Iran's defenses and military leadership, Trump was hosting what he expected to be the military parade to end all military parades, in which hardly anyone showed up for this and his birthday celebration and which turned into a humiliating disaster for which Trump was openly ridiculed around the world, including during his presence at the G7 conference in Canada, which he suddenly left.
So in the midst of Israel's defeat of Iran's capability to make war, for which Trump demanded that Iran "unconditionally surrender", Trump seized the opportunity to convert the world's opinion of him from being a pathetic clown to being the hero of the free world. And all he had to do, to portray himself as the heroic warrior, was to drop our bunker-busting bombs on the designated sites for which Israel had already cleared the way.
And it worked.
So what IS the big takeaway?
It's not the sleight of hand pulled off by Trump, nor is it our successful attack on what may or may not be Iran's nuclear bomb capability.
In my opinion, the big takeaway is that Donald Trump went solo on us.
In summarily rejecting the collective judgment of our intelligence agencies as communicated by our Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump cavalierly dismissed with a "She's wrong!", and without either a Congressional declaration of war or even a consultation with Congress, Trump unilaterally decided to take the United States of America to war for whatever visceral, instinctive, political or calculating impulse he personally had.
Regardless of the takeaways that people may have as to the military merits of the results of the attack, for me the biggest takeaway is that Donald Trump, totally on his own, decided to take the United States of America to war. The age of knee-jerk warfare has begun.
The power of one person to commit our country to war, which Trump has personally vested in himself, does not bode well for our future.
Donald Trump is notorious for deploying his favorite weapon - the boomerang. We can now expect Russia, China and probably North Korea to cite Trump's unilateral preemptive strike against Iran to support their actions against Ukraine, Taiwan and South Korea, respectively. When the power to make war is exclusively usurped by a single mentally handicapped man who extolls the merits of knee-jerk warfare, our country is in big trouble.
I’m staying quiet on this for now, though I did write a short Substack note yesterday. If I do engage further, I’ll probably focus less on the geopolitical power dynamics and more on the consequences people will feel here at home. Rising costs, economic instability, and a government acting without a plan or debate and how that hurts Americans.
Not a critique of what you are recommending, just a different lane. I appreciate all the work y’all are doing to keep everyone informed.
What is the Biggest Takeaway?
The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, is not that the U.S. destroyed Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Tulsi Gabbard reported to Trump what was and is the collective assessment of our and other intelligence agencies and communities - that Iran was not even close to developing a nuclear weapon, as opposed to nuclear energy for their domestic use.
The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, is not how brilliant our Air Force and other armed services were in effecting this attack upon Iran, given that the Israeli's had achieved total control of the skies, knocked out a good deal of Iran's defensive capabilities and the leadership of their armed forces, and practically reduced Iran to total submission.
What Israel didn't have though, which the U.S. does have, is a bunker-busting bomb and the capability to accurately deliver it.
So this is where Donald Trump comes in.
Let's put this all in context. At the time that Israel was wiping out Iran's defenses and military leadership, Trump was hosting what he expected to be the military parade to end all military parades, in which hardly anyone showed up for this and his birthday celebration and which turned into a humiliating disaster for which Trump was openly ridiculed around the world, including during his presence at the G7 conference in Canada, which he suddenly left.
So in the midst of Israel's defeat of Iran's capability to make war, for which Trump demanded that Iran "unconditionally surrender", Trump seized the opportunity to convert the world's opinion of him from being a pathetic clown to being the hero of the free world. And all he had to do, to portray himself as the heroic warrior, was to drop our bunker-busting bombs on the designated sites for which Israel had already cleared the way.
And it worked.
So what IS the big takeaway?
It's not the sleight of hand pulled off by Trump, nor is it our successful attack on what may or may not be Iran's nuclear bomb capability.
In my opinion, the big takeaway is that Donald Trump went solo on us.
In summarily rejecting the collective judgment of our intelligence agencies as communicated by our Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump cavalierly dismissed with a "She's wrong!", and without either a Congressional declaration of war or even a consultation with Congress, Trump unilaterally decided to take the United States of America to war for whatever visceral, instinctive, political or calculating impulse he personally had.
Regardless of the takeaways that people may have as to the military merits of the results of the attack, for me the biggest takeaway is that Donald Trump, totally on his own, decided to take the United States of America to war. The age of knee-jerk warfare has begun.
The power of one person to commit our country to war, which Trump has personally vested in himself, does not bode well for our future.
We need to make it abundantly clear that the citizens of the US do not support war with Iran.
Donald Trump is notorious for deploying his favorite weapon - the boomerang. We can now expect Russia, China and probably North Korea to cite Trump's unilateral preemptive strike against Iran to support their actions against Ukraine, Taiwan and South Korea, respectively. When the power to make war is exclusively usurped by a single mentally handicapped man who extolls the merits of knee-jerk warfare, our country is in big trouble.
It will be decades before the world stage trusts us again.
I’m staying quiet on this for now, though I did write a short Substack note yesterday. If I do engage further, I’ll probably focus less on the geopolitical power dynamics and more on the consequences people will feel here at home. Rising costs, economic instability, and a government acting without a plan or debate and how that hurts Americans.
Not a critique of what you are recommending, just a different lane. I appreciate all the work y’all are doing to keep everyone informed.