IRAN: Trump's war?
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 16:14
VIEWED: 23215
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Trump’s Vagueness on Iran Is Not Strategic
By Fred Kaplan | June 20, 2025 11:00 AM
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/donald-trump-iran-war-isra
el-two-weeks.html
What is Donald Trump up to? What is he trying to accomplish? Asked by reporters on Tuesday whether he’ll join Israel in its attacks on Iran, the president replied, “I may do it, I may not do it,” adding, “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Sometimes a remark like this can be useful; it can prod an adversary into behaving with caution. Trump’s supporters have lauded him for his mastery of “strategic ambiguity” — a term coined by scholars of international relations to describe policies designed to deter aggression without quite spelling out the consequences.
But that’s not what’s going on here. In order for this ambiguity to be effective, leaders should have an idea of what they would do if war came — of how they would like to see the conflict play out.
Yet it’s clear, from all evidence, that Trump himself is among those who don’t know what he’s going to do. His contradictions breed only confusion; they might rein in Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but they might also spur him to take gigantic risks, believing (or hoping) that the threats are just bluffs. In any case, Trump has lost control of the narrative — the opposite of what any leader, much less a superpower, should do while playing this game.
Trump has gone back and forth on the question of whether to join Israel’s attacks on Iran, but in the past few days his words and deeds seemed to indicate that U.S. intervention was imminent. He warned residents of Tehran — a city of 9 million people, in a country of 90 million — to evacuate immediately. He said he’d given Iran an “ultimatum.” He said that when his emissary started negotiations with Iranians to get them to give up their nuclear program, he gave them a 60-day deadline — and “today is 61, right?” He said he was demanding “unconditional surrender.” He said he knew where “the so-called Supreme Leader” was hiding, though he wasn’t going to kill him — “not now,” anyway, suggesting that he might do so later (something that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu definitely would like to see happen).
Then came his “To be, or not to be” act — maybe he’ll attack, maybe he won’t, “nobody knows what I’m going to do.” Now Trump says he’ll decide what to do within the next two weeks.
This is not strategic ambiguity; it is, at best, ambivalence. In any case, a leader should not utter the rather definitive statements that Trump has uttered the past few days if he still hadn’t made up his mind, or if his mind was whirring like a strobe light.
Given Trump’s consistent record of inconsistency — his frequent threats, followed by reversals (and sometimes reversals of reversals), whether on tariffs, foreign conquests (cf. Greenland, Panama, Canada), or deporting migrants — Khamenei could reasonably conclude that the threats of recent days are more of the same and that, therefore, he needn’t back down. This, of course, could lead to catastrophe, especially if Trump decided to follow through this time — and Khamenei followed through on his own threats to unleash hundreds of missiles against Israel and U.S. bases throughout the Middle East if Trump intervenes.
Whatever happens, world leaders — all of whom are closely watching these events — are learning that nothing this president says should be taken seriously. Again, this is not strategic ambiguity. It’s merely the rantings of an overconfident president who thinks that acting tough gets results but doesn’t know what results he wants.
The best thing Trump could have done, when reporters asked him what he might do or not do in Iran, was to say nothing. Yes, he should have publicly noted that Iran’s pace of uranium enrichment is concerning, that he is considering a range of options. It was also a good idea, in and of itself, to move military assets, especially cargo-transport planes and aircraft carrier groups, into the region — whether as a deterrent or prepara
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Who will bleed and spend more?
Israel
25 killed
2,345 injuries
Iran
224 killed
1,277 injured
Cheer leading US President Donald Trump has supported Israel's attacks
big loss of economics and property damage on both sides, Iran can maybe shoot more scuds, Iranians have more drones maybe...however Israel can stop some stuff but Iranian hits are getting through, Israel seems to be hitting more Iranian military equipment slowing its ability to fight somewhat
psychological damage 3,800+ Israelis displaced, 5,000+ Israelis homeless
Iran F-14 Tomcats its prized antique planes finally destroyed, tv stations backed, thousands displaced, its possible millions might try flee as refugees
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They aren't coming here.
We'll shoot them in the face if they try it. 
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"I don't find this stuff amusing anymore." ~Paul Simon
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Actually, a million ISRAELIS fled. Zionists have also fled their west bank and northern settlements. They're really brave about killing helpless civilians ... 55,000 at last count ... but when someone fights back they shit their pants.
Betcha dollars to donuts we let those sick m'fuckers in, no problem. Bc we loves us them Zionists.
The current thought is that like the Houthis, most of Iran's missiles are underground and that they have thousands left. Iran has a population of 90 million. Israel used to be 10 million, by now maybe 9 million. Israel's industry is densely concentrated and lacks depth, and is calculated to run out of air defense missiles in 10 days or so. It can't replace what it's lost.
What Iran has done... some say ... is instead of saturating Israel with all of its missiles all at once, Iran has stretched this out into ... wait for it ... attritional warfare.
Trump will probably bomb Iran. He's gone too far down the military path. Too many resources committed, too many bases and outposts evacuated. Those itching for war will tell him that since he's already spent so much moving aircraft carriers into position and made such a big deal about Iran SURRENDERING! etc etc he needs to finish what he started or once again be accused of being the TACO President. Damn, but he REALLY paints himself into corners with his stupid posts.
And even tho THGR poo-pooed the idea of us using a tactical nuke on Fordow (as Scott Ritter discussed) that is EXACTLY what is being discussed.
"Nobody would use a nuke on a country that has no nukes"?
Why not, THGR? WE did!
Russia and China are dividing up areas of responsibility for Iran. Russia's and Iran's history is an unhappy one, as Russia tried, and at times succeeded, in taking over parts of Iran as recently as 1946. So even tho Russia and Iran signed some sort of security agreement, it didn't include air defenses or a mutual defense pact. Possibly Iran will accept help from China more willingly.
Many moving parts.
Trump may do what he did in Syria in his first term: huff and puff, then send some PR strikes into Iran, aimed at nothing important, dust his hands: "Mission accomplished". If that's all that happens, we'll be lucky.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
AMERICANS SUPPORT AMERICA
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one of the biggest splits in Maga since the cutting of Musk and firing and abolish some of that science and NASA research funding
this one for Evangelicals ranting about boots on ground in Iran is going to be bigger
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wake-people-dave-smiths-plea-ma
ga-iran
the Shah
and again, Shah
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Anybody who wants us to fight Israel's war for them isn't MAGA.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
AMERICANS SUPPORT AMERICA
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Actually, a million ISRAELIS fled. Zionists have also fled their west bank and northern settlements. They're really brave about killing helpless civilians ... 55,000 at last count ... but when someone fights back they shit their pants.
Betcha dollars to donuts we let those sick m'fuckers in, no problem. Bc we loves us them Zionists.
The current thought is that like the Houthis, most of Iran's missiles are underground and that they have thousands left. Iran has a population of 90 million. Israel used to be 10 million, by now maybe 9 million. Israel's industry is densely concentrated and lacks depth, and is calculated to run out of air defense missiles in 10 days or so. It can't replace what it's lost.
What Iran has done... some say ... is instead of saturating Israel with all of its missiles all at once, Iran has stretched this out into ... wait for it ... attritional warfare.
Trump will probably bomb Iran. He's gone too far down the military path. Too many resources committed, too many bases and outposts evacuated. Those itching for war will tell him that since he's already spent so much moving aircraft carriers into position and made such a big deal about Iran SURRENDERING! etc etc he needs to finish what he started or once again be accused of being the TACO President. Damn, but he REALLY paints himself into corners with his stupid posts.
And even tho THGR poo-pooed the idea of us using a tactical nuke on Fordow (as Scott Ritter discussed) that is EXACTLY what is being discussed.
"Nobody would use a nuke on a country that has no nukes"?
Why not, THGR? WE did!
Russia and China are dividing up areas of responsibility for Iran. Russia's and Iran's history is an unhappy one, as Russia tried, and at times succeeded, in taking over parts of Iran as recently as 1946. So even tho Russia and Iran signed some sort of security agreement, it didn't include air defenses or a mutual defense pact. Possibly Iran will accept help from China more willingly.
Many moving parts.
Trump may do what he did in Syria in his first term: huff and puff, then send some PR strikes into Iran, aimed at nothing important, dust his hands: "Mission accomplished". If that's all that happens, we'll be lucky.
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
AMERICANS SUPPORT AMERICA
Hoo boy...
Dem Jewz really pushed the limit of Fatigue over the years too, huh?
I never thought I'd see the day where both the right and the left and everyone in between (outside of NeoLibs and NeoCons) was calling out their chronic, awful behavior.
Mayhap Isreal is as jittery and trigger happy as the Democratic Party here is with their chronic low-level activist lawsuits desperately flying out every other day?
Because after decades of being able to be White whenever that suited them, but then throw out the "Jewish Shield" whenever they step way out of line on something, it doesn't appear that is flying in 2025 any more than Democratic Party race/sex cards and emotional blackmail has typically worked for them all of my life.
I don't even know what my opinion on that is. I just find it extremely interesting where the Jewish community finds itself in 2025 vs only 5 years ago, or certainly as far back as 9/11 and the decades before then.
Did hanging WWII ovens around everyone's neck for 80 years finally get old?
Maybe somebody should do a remake of Schindler's List right now and see what the public perception is and whether it ends up being a flop or not.
I'd certainly love to see the results of that experiment.
(*Wow... I thought we could do it in time to make the 30th anniversary of the original release, but I just checked and Schindler's List came out 32 years ago. God I'm old!)[
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"I don't find this stuff amusing anymore." ~Paul Simon
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Must have been performed for NYC Jews. Who are more parochial than Buffalo Polish Catholics.
-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
AMERICANS SUPPORT AMERICA
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Must have been performed for NYC Jews. Who are more parochial than Buffalo Polish Catholics.
You never heard that one before, huh? That was huge back when I was in high school.
We all liked to have a good time back in the 90's. It's good to remember that every once in a while.
"OJ Simpson... Not a jew!"
Here's one from the same album that Adam did about every car I've ever owned in my life.
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"I don't find this stuff amusing anymore." ~Paul Simon
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