It’s ON now…
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have launched a sweeping strike on Iran following months of attempted, and seemingly failed, nuclear negotiations between the Trump administration and Tehran, but according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the U.S. was not involved in the strikes.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran,” Rubio said in a statement Thursday night. “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region.
“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” he added.
Full article, HERE from Fox News.
It’s apparent that Israel had had enough, they thought there was a clear and present danger to Israel’s survival. They were, as of last night, going after the IRGC leadership and Iran’s nuke infrastructure.
Now we’ll have to see what happens next…
Personally, I think it was both justified and the minimum required to get the mission done.
What say you???
Should have been done years ago
Yup, ’bout time. Ok I get plausible deniability for Trump, but I hope we keep the IDF well supplied. Dems of course, will loose their poo. Thank God Trump isn’t president auto-pen.
X2
And it’s not like Israel hasn’t done this before. They did it to Iraq in 1981.
I agree, it was evident that Iran was using the negotiations as a delaying tactic to bye time to construct nuclear warheads . As much as I hate to say this the Iranians were playing Trump and he, in his hope for a deal, did not see it. The Iranians are led by a clerical dictator who never had any intention of agreeing to a deal with the US that would stop their push for nuclear weapons.
I don’t agree Iran was Playing Trump. Trump gave Iran 60 days to come to an agreement. On day 61 Israel struck.
I honestly think Trump wanted a deal, but keeping the talks going in the face of Iranian intransigence could also be seen as part of the ongoing deception against the regime.
Obama’s Iran legacy just blowed up !!!
I say Israel correctly has thought that Iran presents a clear and present danger to them for years, but they finally got the OK from the US to do what needed to be done.
US officials can say they acted “unilaterally” all they want, it is absolutely clear that they wouldn’t have done so without Trump saying OK.
Not that that’s a bad thing. Personally I think we should be visibly involved. Trump keeps talking tough but failing to follow through. If he keeps it up, no one’s going to take him seriously in the future.
I’m not talking about Tariffs, that’s a negotiating tactic and a good one. The problem is that he uses that “start high and compromise down to what you want” in everything, not just negotiations.
Before he took office, he said that Hamas needed to release all the hostages before he took office or there’d be hell to pay. Last I checked Hamas still has hostages and Trump’s been less than supportive of Israel’s continued offensive.
Yes, some of the hostages were released, so you could say that Trumps negotiation tactic worked…he started high and then got some of what he demanded…but when dealing with criminal thugs, you don’t negotiate or they will take advantage of your weakness.
You give them an ultimatum and if they don’t fulfill your demands, you follow through on your threats.
Business negotiation tactics don’t translate to war. In war, you either win or you lose…and if you compromise, you lost.
We’ve lost every war since 1945 not because our military lost…they’ve won the vast majority of the battles they’ve fought…but because the politicians didn’t have the will to seek or attain victory. Heck, they haven’t even had the will to declare war…they’ve just “authorized action” as if that’s something more respectable.
But I digress. The point is that Trump talked big talk at the beginning. If he doesn’t start backing up that big talk with action, his talk is going to be ignored moving forward. It’s one thing to be ignored by pissants like Hamas and Iraq. It’s quite another if China and Russia believe (as I’m pretty sure they’re well on the way to) he’s all hat and no cattle. It could get ugly quick.
You don’t get bullies to back down by talking big. You get bullies to back down by punching them in the nose.
I have been a strong supporter of Israel my entire life. They have gotten to the point in their existence where if they want to continue as a nation, they must no longer do just the bare minimum damage, to keep the world from being angry with them. They must finish the job, both in Iran and also against Hamas in Gaza.
Half measures worked for awhile, but the time for that is long past. And no doubt Trump was both aware and in approval of the strikes. He is much smarter than many people think and he knew that the so called talks with Iran were leading nowhere, just like the ones that Obama did that supposedly guaranteed that Iran would not get nukes.
In my view the Israelis have shown admirable patience with the West — not just the US, but all of Europe as well.
There is a limit to that… carry on.
When your very existence depends on decent relationships with your benefactors it pays to be patient.
Israel struck Iran with US made aircraft delivering US made bombs supported by US supplied intelligence. Israel has great HUMINT, but has nothing like the ELINT and ISR capabilities of the US.
Israel makes some cool defense kit, but in the big picture it’s small beans. If the US stop supporting Israel, Israel ceases to exist.
This is why Trump is having US military pulled from area.
Not the military, their dependents (families).
Based nothing but my SWAG, I think it’s long overdue. Iran has a policy of deflect and delay while they push forward to achieve their goals. Sadly, their goals are not compatible with humanity past 4th or 5th century living conditions.
John, I’d be careful assuming what Trump did or did not know, and whether he was being played or not. War is diplomacy by other means, and it hurts nothing to continue with diplomacy right up until the second that you don’t. “Be nice until it’s time to not be nice” means that you don’t telegraph your intentions. Perhaps you get a breakthrough in the meantime, but if you are sitting at the table they won’t expect the punch.
Trump knows that the Iranians were stalling so they could continue their enrichment program. He knows they were bot negotiating in good faith.
Now negotiations are over. Iran FA, now its FO.
Trump likes to make deals, because it is generally more economical and more effective to make acceptable compromises than to take direct, hostile action.
Iran will return to negotiations at a much weaker position.
OldNFO,
I’m going to be in the San Antonio area for about three weeks, leaving on Monday to drive down, staying just NW of SA. No particular reason except to spend more time in the area. Any book events going on that any of you might be at? I’m happy to travel, just kicking around.
Thanks.
It’s comforting to see how elements in the West have re-discovered their ability to act. In the US, the courts dither while Trump does. In the Middle East, Israel reads the signs and concludes that the time has come. It’s a genuine relief to see us “do,” rather than be “done to.”
I’m not a lawyer (sometimes a caveat, sometimes a badge of honor) but ever since the wrongful and warped hostility to Gitmo, I’ve tried to see everything through a law of war perspective.
I have no doubt the IDF dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s. From a human rights perspective, that’s the most anyone can be asking of them now.
How much another Summer of Love would affect the USA’s ability to project power around the world is a question Israel’s planners have to consider. So is what Congress looks like after the midterms is; what the White House looks like in the future is another.
Combine those things with this:
A usually reliable source writes:
“The IDF says the Iranians have developed a plan to destroy the State of Israel, by using widespread and precise fire from the entire Iranian axis, a ground invasion using pickup trucks from all borders, and undermining the regimes in Jordan and Egypt. ‘We are in a strategic window of opportunity. We have reached a point of no return, there is no choice but to act now.'”
The status quo ante was to expect Iran’s nuclear breakout by fall. I admire Israeli restraint.
I wouldn’t relish the thoughts Israeli commanders have on their duty. On one hand, they’re destroying those that are most dangerous to their survival. On the other hand, they know how those they seek will hide among civilians, and force those unwilling to be shields.
Iran has financed terrorism on Israel for a long time, and payback will not be pretty. Israel is too small to survive a nuclear attack, so removing immediate threats is a step for survival.
One of these times in the cycle of Iran building up nuclear capability and Israel going in to destroy it, Iran’s going to get smart and build secondary and tertiary facilities deep underground, and might actually be able to maintain OPSEC regarding them.
Then, after an instance of Israel taking care of the problem (once again), everyone relaxes thinking we have 10 to 20 years before we have to go through all of this again.
And then a year later, surprise canned-sunshine gets opened, and the world is left asking, “Where the heck did THAT come from?”
I’m no fan of the regime in Iran, and do not see we have any basis for an understnading with them. Attack seems wholly justified to me.
There’s a joke in pretendign to be wetting my pants for fear of escalation and nuclear warfare.
It is center of gravity-y for ISrael.
I’m not sure it is center of gravity-y for the USA. The USA has a lot of problems, threat actors, and adversaries. I’m not sure any foreign actors are very heavily weighted for us, compared to domestic actors or potentially domestic actors.
We shall see.
All- Thanks for the comments, and no disagreement. LONG overdue!
Hereso- Sadly, no. A lot of the folks are off next week to LibertyCon in Chattanooga. The next thing ‘we’ have is P-Con Sept 19-21, 2025 in Dallas.
They should of taken a dozen or so mullahs out.
When you absolutely, positively need something done in the Middle East; the Israelis are the ones to do it.
I remember thinking after the Desert One failure that we should have contracted that operation to the Israelis. But then Carter might have won a 2nd term.
Negotiating with a Muslim is (generally) a waste of time.
They cannot be trusted (generally) to keep their word (this is true of Indians and most Orientals as well).
Only force, or the credible threat of it, will keep them in line and make them stay to the agreement.
Iran has been playing the West and Israel for years, all the while violating the agreements.
In comments to a blog elsewhere, I saw a claim that France and UK have joined Russia and China in complaining seriously about the strike. If true, leaves me the suspicion that current governments of France and UK are clients of the PRC.
I was sorta expecting that in the case of Starmer and UK, but to a less strong degree.