Khamenei, One of Most Evil People in History, is Dead

POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 05:42
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SECOND

Thursday, May 21, 2026 10:48 PM

Trump ignored warnings from defense experts [that Netanyahu was lying about nuclear bombs]

By Alex Henderson | May 20, 2026 07:37AM ET

https://www.alternet.org/trump-iran-robert-gates

. . . "Interviewed by CBS, he said that Netanyahu had told him, in July 2009, all the same things he had told Trump in the Situation Room in February. Gates said he had pushed back during that 'no-punches-pulled discussion' of Iran, telling Netanyahu he was underestimating the resilience of the Iranian regime. 'He was saying, in 2009: the regime is fragile, it'll crumble at the first attack, and they won't have time to do anything else.… I told him then, he was dead wrong.'"

Wood adds, "Netanyahu has — almost comically — been warning that Iran is weeks or months away from getting a nuclear bomb for decades."

Trump, Wood notes, "did not have to take Netanyahu's word" about Iran moving closer to developing a nuclear bomb."

"His own intelligence services contradicted the alarming claims," according to Wood. "Before last year's bombing, the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told a Senate committee that the U.S. intelligence community 'continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.' At the time, Trump declared, 'I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.'"

Wood points out that CIA Director John Ratcliff dismissed Netanyahu's nuclear bomb claims as "farcical," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called them "b– –."

"Carlson said he warned Trump that a war with Iran would destroy his presidency," Wood observes. "If it does, he has only himself to blame…. So far, in less than 18 months of his second term, Trump has bombed not only Iran, but also Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria and Venezuela. He has threatened to attack Cuba, Panama, Greenland and even Canada. Though Netanyahu may have manipulated Trump, he was only feeding Trump's deep desires. Whatever regrets he might have, Trump owns this war."

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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SECOND

Friday, May 22, 2026 5:49 PM

U.S. bears brunt of Israel’s missile defense, Pentagon assessments show

May 21, 2026

https://attentiontotheunseen.com/2026/05/21/u-s-bears-brunt-of-israels
-missile-defense-pentagon-assessments-show/

The Washington Post reports:

The U.S. military has depleted much of its inventory of advanced missile-defense interceptors after expending far more high-end munitions defending Israel amid hostilities with Iran than Israeli forces used themselves, according to Defense Department assessments described to The Washington Post.

The imbalance, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, underscores the extent to which Washington has shouldered the burden of countering Iranian ballistic missile strikes during Operation Epic Fury, and raises questions about U.S. military readiness and security commitments around the world.

The United States launched more than 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in defense of Israel — roughly half of the Pentagon’s total inventory — along with more than 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors fired from naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean, said the U.S. officials, who, like others in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters. By contrast, Israel fired fewer than 100 of its Arrow interceptors and around 90 David’s Sling interceptors, some of which were used against less sophisticated projectiles fired by Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Lebanon.

Military analysts said the data described to The Post offers a rare window into how the United States and Israel work together.

“The numbers are striking,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center. “The United States absorbed most of the missile defense mission while Israel conserved its own magazines. Even if the operational logic was sound, the United States is left with roughly 200 THAAD interceptors and a production line that can’t keep pace with demand.”

The shortage of U.S. interceptors has alarmed U.S. allies in Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea, which rely on the United States as a deterrent to potential threats from North Korea and China. “That bill risks coming due in theaters that have nothing to do with Iran,” said Grieco.

U.S. and Israeli officials routinely tout their close cooperation and the strength of Israel’s multilayered air-defense system. But the Defense Department assessments suggest a more lopsided dynamic.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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SECOND

Friday, May 22, 2026 5:59 PM

Trump’s Endgame Is Surrender

He seems to hope to slip away without Americans noticing the magnitude of this defeat.

By Robert Kagan | May 21, 2026, 4 PM ET

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/05/trump-surrender-iran
-endgame/687252/

The outlines of President Trump’s endgame in the Iran war are now emerging. In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, Trump reportedly explained that the United States was negotiating a “letter of intent” with Iran that would “formally end the war and launch a 30-day period of negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The purpose and effect of such an agreement should be clear: The United States is walking away from the crisis. Trump may launch another limited strike to look tough and satisfy the demands of the war’s supporters, but it would be a performative gesture. Endgame in this case is a euphemism for “surrender.”

Trump has blinked many times in the confrontation with Iran—ever since March 18, when Israel attacked the Pars gas field and Iran retaliated with a strike against Qatar’s most important natural-gas-production facility. Trump then called for a halt on U.S. and Israeli targeting of Iran’s energy infrastructure, and the war effectively ended.

Trump’s repeated threats to resume attacks since then have proved to be bluffs. The leaders in Tehran have been calculating for two months that Trump would not launch another attack, and for this reason they have made no concessions despite the damage they suffered from 37 days of relentless strikes. On the contrary, their terms for a settlement are those of a victor: They demand war reparations, no limits on uranium enrichment, recognized control of the strait, and an end to sanctions.

For Trump to respond to this defiance by now calling for another 30 days of cease-fire and talks is a tacit admission of defeat. If he does launch a performative attack in the next few days, the Iranians will understand it for what it is. No one believes that he is going to resume a full-scale war a month from now. Among other reasons, with 30 more days to heal, rearm, and fill its coffers with tolls, Iran will be a more formidable adversary.

In 30 days, moreover, the new Iranian strait regime may already be firmly in place. As the Institute for the Study of War reports, Iran has been using the cease-fire period to “normalize” its control over the strait by “compelling oil-importing countries” to establish transit agreements with Tehran and charging fees on vessels from nations without such deals. According to Iranian officials, the new strait regime will give Iran’s strategic partners, such as Russia and China, priority and allow nations friendly to Iran, such as India and Pakistan, to negotiate their own transit agreements. Vessels associated with nations that Iran regards as an adversary will be denied access to the strait entirely.

Several nations, including South Korea, Turkey, and Iraq, are reportedly already negotiating at least temporary transit agreements. Now that Trump has made clear he has no intention of fighting to reopen the strait, the stampede to get good terms with Tehran will begin. All nations heavily dependent on energy from the Persian Gulf will want to cut their deal quickly to get the oil and gas and other commodities flowing and rescue their battered economy. Those nations currently allied with the United States and friendly to Israel will feel pressure to distance themselves and make their peace with Iran. The international sanctions against Iran will collapse, and even more money will pour into the country’s accounts as its newly central role in the global economy becomes normalized. By the end of 30 days, most of the world will have a stake in the new arrangement and will oppose any resumption of hostilities, even in the unlikely event that Trump wanted to go back to war.

Trump no doubt hopes that he can slip away without Americans noticing the magnitude of this defeat. The financial markets may st