King Donald's War, Part 5. After 13/15 U.S. deaths, Hundreds of Iranian deaths, $50B spent fighting it, and a massive increase in the price of oil, King Donny surrenders to the Iranians. The "If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied" edition.

April 8,2026

What MAGA wizard King Donny said at the start of the war:

What the befuddled demented agreed to as an a starting point now:

The MAGA's I know and read about are already bragging this up as another example of Trump brilliance.  This demonstrates how completely brainwashed MAGA really is.  There is a Trump Derangement Syndrome alright.  It's what allows people who voted for no more overseas wars, lower prices, a return to (Calvinist) Christianity, and a deep belief in a conspiracy to keep the Epstein files hidden vote for a man who has now waged two wars, surrendered to a Muslim theocracy, caused higher prices, while hiding the Epstein files and living a life contrary to the Gospels to be worshipped no matter what he does.

We lost this war, completely.  We not only lost it for us, we lost it for Israel too.  Israel, which duped Donny into the war, deserved it.  The American people did not.

Thirteen American servicemen died for nothing whatsoever, other than an attempt at the greater glory of Trump.  Their lives were wasted. Their deaths didn't serve the nation, but one man.  Six were Army National Guardsmen.  Six were members of the USAF.

No Trumps or Musks, or the children of the rich, died.  If you visited Epstein Island, your family wasn't fighting.

And by the way, the oligarchs grew richer during the war, due to timely made trades and a rise in the price of oil, which made regular Americans poorer.

Trump once claimed that veterans were suckers.  The veterans of this war are.  But more than that, those who voted for Trump were proven to be.  There was no excuse to support him in the last election and there's no excuse not to remove him now.  

Before the war Iran was a theocracy.  It still is.

Before the war the Iranian people wanted freedom. They still do, and still lack it.

Before the war Iran could launch missiles and drones at their enemies. They still can.

Before the war Iran had 1000 pounds of uranium.  It still does.

Before the war the Strait of Hormuz was open.  Now Iran gets to charge a toll for its passage.

During the war Iran shipped more oil at a higher price than it did before the war.

The names of the thirteen known men and women who gave their lives, not for their country but for Donald Trump, are:

CWO Robert Marzan

SFC Nicole Amor

SFC Noah Tietjens

Sgt Declan Coady

Maj. Jeffrey O'Brien

Cpt. Cody Khork

Sgt. Benjamin Pennington

Maj. John "Alex" Klinner

Cpt. Ariana Savino

TSgt. Ashley Pruitt

Cpt. Seth Koval

Ct. Curtis Angst

TSgt. Tyler Simmons

Only some of the names of the 170 some Iranian girls the U.S. killed during the war are known.  Those names, including a few of the names of their teachers, are:

1. Hana Dehqani, eight years old

2. Fatemeh Salari, 34 years old

3. Reza Habashian, seven years old

4. Arya Bahadori, nine years old

5. Ali Asghar Zaeri, eight years old

6. Zahra Bahrami, seven years old 

7. Ahmad Soltani, eight years old

8. Hamed Par-ashegh-nezhad, seven years old

9. Fatemeh Yazdan-panah, young girl, age unknown

10. Mahdis Nazari, seven years old

11. Athena Chamani-nezhad, six years old

12. Amirghasem Zaeri, seven years old

13. Fatemeh Dorazehi, 10 years old

14. Arad Ahmadizadeh, eight years old 

15. Saman Karimzadeh, seven years old

16. Fatemeh Shahdadi, age unknown

17. Nadia Shahmiri, nine years old

18. Parham Ranjbari, nine years old

19. Mahmoud Gholamyani, 35 years old

20. Fatemeh Rahdar, 10 years old 

21. Amir-Hassan Rasouli, eight years old

22. Zahra Behrouzi, eight years old

23. Mohammadhatam Raisi, 10 years old

24. Asna Raisi, 12 years old 

25. Benyamin Jangjou, eight years old

26. Mohammad-Sadra Zarei, eight years old 

27. Maryam Pazark, 10 years old

28. Liana Mohammadi, seven years old

29. Mandana Salari, 29 years old

30. Sara Shayesteh, five years old

31. Zoha Pasand, eight years old

32. Esra Zakeri, nine years old

33. Salma Zakeri, six years old

34. Fatemeh Taherifard, 29 years old

35. Zahra Ansari, seven years old

36. Fatemeh Fadavi, 10 years old 

37. Mahna Zarei, two months old

38. Athareh Zarei, 10 years old

39. Alireza Zarei, nine years old

40. Mohammadreza Shahsavari, eight years old

41. Samira Basarde, 38 years old

42. Ehsan Saleminia, six years old

43. Fatemeh Zahra Karimi, seven years old

44. Zeynab Bahrami, 10 years old

45. Mohammad Shah-dousti, eight years old

46. Reza Barani, seven years old

47. Athena Ahmadzadeh, 10 years old

48. Khadijeh Darvishi, nine years old

49. Roqayyeh Karimi, 42 years old

50. Reza Ranjbar, six years old 

51. Marzieh Bashiri-far, 38 years old

52. Mohammad-Mehdi Chegini, 10 years old

53. Mohammadian Bahrami, 17 years old

54. Ali-Akbar Karyani Pak, eight years old

55. Hananeh Mehdikhah, seven years old

56. Fereshteh Sangarzadeh, 44 years old 

57. Mohammad-Ali Karyani Pak, seven years old

58. Parsa Mokhtari-nasab, 12 years old

59. Arina Arab-Kish, eight years old

60. Makan Nasiri, 12 years old

61. Esra Farahi-Zadeh, young girl, age unknown

About half of the American lives were due to a mid air accident, but they're just as dead as they would be had they died fighting.  All of the Iranian lives lost that are listed are due to a targeting accident.

What the death toll for anybody in Lebanon, which opened up as a theatre of war while this was going on, we don't probably really know.

May the perpetual light shine upon them.

If any question why we died, 

Tell them, because our fathers lied.

None of these people had a choice in the offering of their lives for Trump's desperate attempt to have a legacy.  American voters do have a choice on allowing him to continue to kill in an attempt to gain one, however.  They'll have that choice in November, and through their members of Congress, they have a sort of choice now.  The second it becomes clear to Republican members of Congress that their phony jobs are in danger by supporting a madman, they'll suddenly have never supported him. 

April 9, 2026

Nothing is going through the Straits of Hormuz yet. . . a sign that shippers doubt the ceasefire will hold.

And it hasn't in Lebanon, where Israel continues to conduct operations arguing, logically enough, that it doesn't apply there anyway.

April 13, 2026

Well negotiations are going badly so now King Donny is threatening to blockade Iranian ports.

The world's worst dealmaker screws up the Iran negotiations

Forget the "Art of the Deal” myth.

April 17, 2026

There apparently is an agreement for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

April 18, 2026

A suspicious package caused a lockdown on parts of F. E. Warren yesterday.

Related?  I don't know, but then, I don't know.

The Straits of Hormoz were announced open yesterday, and then Iran announced that they are under strict Iranian control today.

April 20, 2026

The United States announced a second round of talks in Pakistan and even discussed the delegation, with Trump claiming the parties were close to a deal.

Iran said nope, it wasn't going to any talks.

April 21, 2026

Some reporters are indicating that the US and Iran were close to a deal to end the war and that it was blown up by Trump's tweeting.

April 22, 2026

Trump was going to rain down destruction if things weren't moving yesterday, yadda yadda, yadda. . .

On other matters related to Mad King Donald's War, there are persistent rumors that recently he asked for the nuclear codes and was denied them by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Did that happen?  We just don't know.  If it did, we are way past the point where the 25th Amendment needs to be invoked.  But again, we don't know.

April 23, 2026

More head's rolling in the DoD:

Navy Secretary leaving role ‘effective immediately,’ Pentagon announces

Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as the Navy’s acting secretary amid John Phelan’s sudden departure.

It's well known that Hegseth has the Secretary of the Army in his sights but hasn't been able to pull that off yet.

Interesting . . . 

In other news, Iran is reporting that its Revolutionary Guards seized to vessels. Granted, that's not the Iranian Navy, but it does show that Iranian forces are more resilient than the US claims.

April 24, 2026

Trump's war on the global food supply

Just the latest moral and logistical atrocity.

April 25, 2026

Talks that were supposed to start today, aren't.

Last edition:

King Donald's War, Part 4. The Raving Madman threatens to resort to mass war crimes.

Labels: Catholic, Christianity, Donald Trump, King Donald's War, religion, The Madness of King Donald, United States and Israel v. Iran, War Crimes

Monday, December 3, 1945. A Walk In The Sun.

A Walk In The Sun was released.  I'm personally not a great fan of the movie, but many regard it as one of the greatest World War Two, and indeed war, films ever.

3 December 1945

3 December 1945: The first landing and takeoff aboard an aircraft carrier by a jet-powered aircraft were made by Lieutenant-Commander Eric Melrose Brown, M.B.E., D.S.C., R.N.V.R., Chief Naval Test Pilot at RAE Farnborough, while flying a de Havilland DH.100 Sea Vampire Mk.10, LZ551/G. The ship was the Royal Navy Colossus-class light aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean (R68), under the command of Captain Casper John, R.N.

The Arab League voted to boycott all goods from Jewish Palestine.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided International Shoe Co. v. Washington holding that held that a party may be subject to the jurisdiction of a state court if it has "minimum contacts" with that state.

This ad appeared in Sheridan's newspaper:

Last edition:

Friday, November 30, 1945. Executing Germans for ordering the killing of civilian sailors and for directly killing downed airmen.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Cartoons, German Kriegsmarine, History repeating itself or at least rhyming, Home Front, It was because of World War Two, Nuclear power, Nuremberg Trials, War Crimes, Weapons, World War Two

Monday, November 26, 1945. Now's the Time, Wolves and War Brides, Questionable claim about Goering, Test tube babies in Virgin hospitals, Japanese social insurance, ties for Christmas.

Recorded on this day in 1945:

 The Sheridan Press reported on wolves and war brides.

The story on the big wolf is ironic in a contemporary context.  Wolves were wiped out in Colorado, probably and in Wyoming, probably, until the major reintroduction effort of the 2000s began.  It's been a huge success in Wyoming, for which I'm glad, in spite of my initial skepticism.  An ongoing effort is occuring in Colorado, which is meeting a lot of opposition in the anti nature Freedom Caucus era.

The Rocky Mountain News, which I remember from the 70s, 80s and 90s, when it was the best, in my view, of the two Denver papers, was a bit sensationalist at the time, which I've only recently come to appreciate.  It was always a "tabloid", with that sort of paper format for some reason having a reputation of that type.  I've never heard of the story related by the headline here:

A little digging finds that this claim was flat out untrue.

The News also reported on, oddly enough, test tube babies, something that is way earlier than I'd have ever supposed.

The first "test tube" baby was born in 1978.  That person Louise Brown, is still with us.  The first example of IVF in a mammal did not occur until 1959.  Apparently the proponent of this suggestion was well ahead of her time in terms of scientific knowledge.

It's notable that the suggestion had a strong eugenics characteristic.  That drive is also now very much coming into fruition, with designer babies now becoming a thing.

On the underlying concern, the explosion in births and the drop in the average age for a woman to first give birth that commenced at this time shows the concern was misplaced.  As a Catholic, of course, I regard IVF as both unnatural and immoral.  The bizarrely pro natalist Trump administration is all in on it.

The News also reported on Japanese social insurance, something being brought in by the progressive and distributist MacArthur occupation.

The cartoons of the day.

A classic gift was suggested.

British troops swept the Sharon plain in reaction to a prior days terrorist attack.

Ezra Pound was indicted for a second time on 19 counts of treason.

Last edition:

Sunday, November 25, 1945. Taxing war profits.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Austria, Christian Democrats, Douglas MacArthur, Japan, Occupation of Japan, Taxes

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 7. The snatching victory edition.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

I don't speak Russian, and I have no idea what's being said, but I'm sure that the Russian soldiers being shown in the photos are dead.  Russian casualties are massive.

All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.

Voltaire

Here's something to consider about the war between Russia and Ukraine as the juvenile demented Putin fanboy King Donny, who declared himself a war hero yesterday, attempts to bring the war to an end.

Ukraine may very well be winning this war.

Russian casualties are massive.  According to one report, the Russians sustained 20,000 combat deaths last month, and have sustained 1,000,000 casualties so far in the war.  Russia is only still able to be in the war at this point as it's not a democracy.  A democratic regime could not sustain this rate of attrition.  The U.S. Army became combat ineffective in Vietnam after 50,000 deaths. . . for the entire war.

Which is not to say that the Russian Army has been terribly effective.  It hasn't.  Putin isn't holding back in the war, he can't ramp it up any more than this.  He's even brought in foreign mercenaries in the form of North Korean troops, who also proved to be ineffective.

Today is the anniversary of Czar Nicholas II taking command of the Imperial Russian Army in 1915 as it slid towards being combat ineffective.  In 1917 the Russian Army simply disintegrated.  On July 17, 1918, the entire imperial household was murdered.

The Czar was a decent man.  Vladimir Putin is not.  He was a member of the KGB.  He is also a student of Russian history and seeks to revive what the USSR lost, which itself sought to restore what had fallen apart in the Russian Revolution, a Russian Empire.  

He needs Ukraine for that.

The collapse of the Imperial Russian Army was somewhat sudden.  As late as 1917 it was able to launch a massive summer offensive that gained ground. Then it stopped. Then it collapsed.

At this rate, the end is coming for Putin.  The Russian Army continues to gain a little ground, but just a little.  If it stops, and is pushed back a bit, the end of Putin's rule may come pretty quickly.

Putin likely knows that, which is why he flew to Alaska, knowing that he could depend on his loyal little lap dog to piss all over the floor in joy when he saw him, and do his bidding.

What should occur now is this.

The secondary tariff bill directed on countries that receive Russian oil should pass Congress.

US arms supplies, and European ones (which have actually amounted to more than American ones) should resume.

Contacts should be made within the Russian military and government who can facilitate the change in regime, many of whom are likely afraid right now of being pushed out of five story window.

Personally, I'd go further than this, although I know its unlikely to happen right now.  I feel NATO forces should be deployed to those Ukrainian provinces which have not seen Russian incursions on a "do not enter" basis.  I'd also encourage the raising of Western units that would be equipped in a Western fashion, made up of men who are veterans of Western armies, along the lines of the American Volunteer Group and Spanish Blue Division (and yes, I know that this is an unfortunate example) of World War Two.  I'm pretty sure that substantial numbers of good Western troops could join the fight in that manner, but I also know that this won't occur.

At any rate, Trump ought to just go back to the golf course and leave the serious world alone.  The serious world ought to back Ukraine, which may very well be winning the war.

August 21, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Major Russian refinery  hit last night.

August 22, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

The UN had declared that a famine is occuring in Gaza.

Russo Ukrainian War

The Russians hit a US owned factory in Ukraine last night.

The Ukrainians hit a fuel train in Crimea.

US v. ISIL

U.S. forces killed an  ISIS ‘key financier’ in Syrian  raid on Aug. 19.

August 25, 2025

Middle East

Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital yesterday.

August 29, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine took out 4.7% of Russia's refining capacity last night.

August 30, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Israel declared an area within Gaza a "combat zone".

September 3, 2025

United States v. Drug Cartels

The US sank a drug transporting ship belonging to the Tren de Aragua through an illegal use of the U.S. military.

September 8, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Over the weekend the Russians launched largest drone attack of the war.

Guess Putin doesn't really care much about Donald "Col. Kilgore" Trump's two week deadlines.

Middle East War

A Houthi drone hit an Israeli airport.

Hmmm. . . . doesn't seem like that war ended either.

September 10, 2025

Middle East War

Israel hit Hamas' political headquarters in Qatar in an airstrike.

Qatar hosts a significant US military mission.

Russo Ukrainian War

Poland shot down Russian drones that entered Polish airspace en route to Ukraine.

September 14, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump called on all NATO countries to boycott Russian oil and to impose tariffs on Russia and China.

Trump's thought on this, as with so much else, are based on his business experience.  A country willing to sustain the loss rates that Russia is, isn't going to be cowed by the loss of oil sales.

Domestic Use of the Armed Forces

And then there's this ongoing stupidity:

National Guard deploying to Memphis next, Trump says

September 16, 2025

Israel in Gaza

Israel had launched a new ground offensive apparently to take Gaza City.

Domestic Use of the Armed Forces

Trump has signed an order to deploy National Guardsmen to Memphis.

United States v. Drug Cartels

The US sank a second Venezuelan civilian boat yesterday.

September 23, 2025

Middle East War

A wave of countries has recognized a Palestinian state as the US influence over the globe has decreased under the Trump administration and as support for Israel has diminished due to the ongoing situation in Gaza.

Palestinian statehood was already recognized by the majority of the globe's nations, but now over half of Europe's nations do and only the US and Panama do not in the Americas.

September 24, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Hmmm. . . while I'm grateful that Trump is suddenly supporting Ukraine, sort of, why the change in view?

Chances are high that Trump thinks his yapping achieves something.  Now, he probably suspects, Vlad Putin will be shaking in his boots.

He won't be.

September 26, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Donald Trump claims that he won't allow Israel to annex more of the West Bank.  

Said Mahmoud Abbas, whose party governs the West Bank, expressly rejected the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and stated that Hamas needs to turn its weapons over to the Palestinian Authority, which is very rapidly achieving recognition as the Palestinian sovereign.

United States goings ons

Secretary of Defense Hegseth ordered all flag rank officer to report to him next week, an extraordinary move.  No reason has been given for it.

October 2, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

Israel ordered all remaining Palestinians to leave Gaza City  and that anyone who stayed would be considered a militant supporter and face the “full force” of Israel’s latest offensive.

This is a war crime.

October 3, 2025

United States v. drug cartels

Trump designated drug cartels as unlawful combatants in what is in fact an unlawful use of U.S. military power.

October 6, 2025

United States goings ons

Donald Trump has deployed units of the California National Guard into Oregon illegally.

update:

The judge which earlier ruled that the Oregon National  Guard could not be deployed for this purpose has extended the order to California and Texas National Guardsmen as well.

October 12, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

A Trump Administration brokered ceasefire which is designed to stop the fighting, secure the release of hostages, and lead to an eventual new Gazan (Palestinian Authority) government seems to be holdings.  Gazans are returning to their wrecked homes.

United States goings ons

While the rulings are interlocutory in nature, the Federal Court and Federal Appeals Court with jurisdiction in Illinois have blocked the illegal deployment of National Guardsmen in the state.

October 14, 2025

Gaza

Hamas is back in the streets in Gaza and killed at least 33 people for what it terms crime.

October 17, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Senile real estate developer Donald Trump will be meeting with Vlad Putin in Hungary.

The illegitimate Second Trump Administration pulled tomahawk missiles it had previously promised to Ukraine back.

Ukrainian President Zelensky will meet with senile real estate developer today.

Gaza

The senile real estate developer threated Hamas with death if violence continues inside of Gaza.

United States v. Drug Cartels

US Southern Command’s top officer to step down after a year on the job

No reason was given, but it's likely that his conscience wouldn't allow for what is going on in that command.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 6. The Don't Know Much About History Edition.

Labels: 2020s, 2025, Alaska, Diplomacy, Donald Trump, Russia, Russo Ukrainian War, Satire, Treaty of Portsmouth, Ukraine, United States, Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Zelinsky, War, Wars and rumors of wars, Yeoman's Fifth Law of History

Marjorie Taylor Greene sounding like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. . . something's going on.

Something is going on.

Recent comments by Marjorie Taylor Greene:

I've been in the Capitol, and there are two things I couldn't find this week: I couldn't find anywhere the Epstein files, and I also couldn't find the Republican plan to fix the health insurance industry.

____________ 

"Prices have not come down at all. The job market is extremely difficult. Wages have not gone up. Health insurance is going up. Home insurance goes up. Rent is going up. Young people have no hope of buying a home."

_____________ 

“Health care crisis? Ignored.

Wages? Flat.

Bills? Sky high.

And you think this wins midterms?”

______________ 

“I’d never speak on behalf of the president, but I don’t think he’s always getting the best advice.”

_______________

I'm talking to major manufacturing companies and they are saying we're having a problem with these tariffs... 

Has regular people's stress come off? No. That should be the focus. It shouldn't be helping your crypto donors. The focus should be the people that showed up at the rallies. I don't think those people are being served.

____________________

I'm not going to... keep talking the talking points, when my own adult children can hardly afford health insurance premiums.

______________________

I’m not some sort of blind slave to the president, and I don’t think anyone should be.

I serve in Congress. We’re a separate branch of the government, and I’m not elected by the president.

___________________

Have regular people's bank accounts been helped? No, that has not happened, and that needs to be the focus — it shouldn't be about helping your crypto donors.

___________________

I'm going to read you a little list... A Hollywood producer, a royal prince, a high-profile individual in the music industry, a very prominent banker, a high-profile government official, one former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician, half a dozen billionaires, including one from Canada.

(This one riffs of of Massie, whom she is quoting). 

Something is going on.  Greene, who has typically sounded like a bombastic idiot, suddenly doesn't.  It's not just what she's saying, which is shocking given her prior servitude to the far right, it's the way she's saying it.

She's actually not dumb.

This means something. She's saying things that if they came from a Democrat would cause Mike Johnson to put on his little smirk and discount it.  

And then there's this:

They’re not Hamas. They’re literally women and children. And you can’t unsee the amount of pictures and videos of children that have been blown to pieces and are they’re finding them dead in the rubble. That isn’t—those aren’t actors, that isn’t fake war propaganda. It’s very real.

Usually MAGA supports anything Israel does.

This is interesting.  If it starts repeating with other far right figures we'll know that the political winds are shifting.

On rising discontent:

You better start obeying the Constitution. It's going to get real ugly if you don't follow the laws and obey the Constitution like you swore an oath to do.

National Federation of Federal Employees President Randy Erwin puts Trump on notice

A small business owner on Twitter, whose small business depends on Chinese imports, reported "hating" Trump.

Sunday, October 4, 1925. Fawzi al-Qawuqji attacks Hama.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji lead an assault on French security installations in the city of Hama, Syria.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji had started his military career as an Ottoman officer, and then under King Faisal.  He thereafter served in the Syrian Legion for the French, before deserting in the Great Syrian Revolt.  He served the Saudis after that, and then the Palestinian Cause against the British in the 1930s.  He was wounded in the Palestinian uprising and ultimately took refuge in Germany, where he joined the German Army, ending up a prisoner of war of the Soviets.  Released in 1947, he made his way back to the Middle East and was appointed the Arab League field commander of the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) in the 1948 Palestine War.   His forces ultimately lost control of territory that was to have been Palestinian.  He retired to Syria thereafter and died in 1977.

Al-Qawuqui is one of those rare military refigures who had a track record of serving in uniformly losing causes and who not only survived them, but inexplicably continued to receive further commands.

Fawzi al-Qawuqji in May, 1948.

The Soviet Union gave up on restricting the alcohol content of beverages.

Ty Cobb, who was normally a centerfielder, pitched against the St. Louis Browns for one inning.  The Browns had George Sisler first baseman pitch for two innings against the Tigers.  Non pitchers in the pitching role would not happen again for another 92 years.

The Finnish torpedo boat S2 sank in a storm with the loss of all 53 hands.

Last edition:

Saturday, October 3, 1925. The launch of the USS Lexington.

Labels: 1920s, 1925, 1940s, 1942, Art, Birds, boats and ships, Food, football, Highways, Pan American Highway, Sports, Transportation, U.S. Navy

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 4. The GBU-57A/B MOP Edition.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

GBU-57A/B MOP

You can't say civilization don't advance... in every war they kill you in a new way. 

Will Rogers.

We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.

Donald Trump.

We find ourselves with another predictive entry.

Yesterday, June 17, was an extremely odd day.  Trump left the G7 meeting austensibly to deal with the war between Israel and Iran, but notably before the topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine came up.

Trump, of course, had promised to end the war between Ukraine and Russia upon being nominated to the Oval Office.

He lied.

Since that time, he's been an enthusiastic supporter if Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and, as of yesterday, was indicating that the US saved the life of Iran's Supreme Leader, but the US may decide to kill the de facto Iranian head of state itself, something that nations generally do not do and which frankly would make Trump fair game in the eyes of Iranian radicals.  Trump might finally get a first hand taste of being the enemy the way he did not in the 1960s.

Threatening to murder, and that's exactly what it would be, the head of a state of a foreign country is moronic, as well as deeply immoral.

It appears that Mike Huckabee, whom Trump stupidly appointed as the American Ambassador to Israel, has Trump's ear, which is dangerous.  Huckabee sent a weird missive to Trump yesterday or the day before which Trump praised and reposted.  Huckabee is a Christian Zionist/Millennialist Restorationist who seeks to help bring about the Second Coming by advancing the cause of Israel.  A minority branch of Protestantism, which itself is a minority of Christians, there's likely nothing Israel could do that Huckabee won't back. He's basically backing the United States entering the war against Iran.

The reason that Israel would want that to occur is depicted above.  Israel is attempting to end the Iranian nuclear program, and perhaps achieve much more, from the air.  By now it's probably clear that it can't do that without use of a GBU-57A/B MOP, assuming that could even do it.  The GBU-57A/B MOP is the worlds' largest deep penetration bunker buster bomb, and it might, but only might, be able to destroy Iran's underground nuclear facilities.

Only one airplane in the world right now can carry the GBU-57A/B MOP, that being the B-2 bomber.  The B-52 can also carry then, but none are currently set up to do so. The B-2 can carry two.

And it's highly probable that they've asked the US to deploy them for this purpose.

And fairly probable the US will do so.

June 18, 2025

Israel v. Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel claimed Tuesday to have killed a top Iranian general as it traded more strikes with its longtime foe, and U.S. President Donald Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate while demanding that Iran surrender without conditions.

From the AP.

On the above, there's a pretty good chance that Trump feels that acting like he's going to attack Iran is going to convince Iran to enter some sort of bargain.  Iran is pretty hard to intimidate.

Also, there's a good chance that Trump will TACO the moment and suddenly declare he achieved something, once he thinks over the consequences of attacking Iran, or once clearer heads than Mike Huckabee's get to him.  Not that I want him to attack Iran.  I think that would be stupid.

If the latter occurs, Trump's loyal fans will claim that he was the master negotiator, but I doubt Israel will quit pounding Iran, and that Iran will quit responding.  Israel has the upper hand right now, but it's extremely difficult to win a war only through the air, and Israel has no ability to deploy ground forces against Iran. For that matter, Iran's neighbors likely wouldn't tolerate that.  It's an impossibility, however.  Air wars degrade over time as targets reduce or become less vulnerable, and Israel is unlikely to be able to protect itself from missile strikes indefinitely.

June 19, 2025

Israel v. Iran

Iran hit Israel with a ballistic missile carrying a cluster munition warhead hitting, amongst other things the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.

Donald Trump is weirdly claiming that he'll take two weeks to decide if the US will enter the war, which a competent leader would not announce, even if contemplating it.

Legally entering the war would require a Declaration of War, which won't be occurring and a bare minimum the War Powers Act should come into play.

June 22, 2025

The United States and Israel v Iran

The US hit Iranian nuclear targets yesterday.  Trump's speech on the same:

Thank you very much.

A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive, precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime. Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise.

Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not. Future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.

For 40 years, Iran has been saying. Death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East, and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate in particular. So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue.

I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we've gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they've done. And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight, and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.

Hopefully, we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that's so. I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan 'Razin' Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack.

With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There's no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.

 And I want to just thank everybody. And, in particular, God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East. God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.

The legality of this is really questionable, as is the wisdom, and effectiveness, of it.  And the development of the US openly taking a part in a Middle Eastern War, started by Israel, on behalf of Israel, is a dangerous development.  The US has never done that before.

As war is an extension of politics by other means, and all politics is local:

Wyoming Delegation Praises Trump’s Decision To Bomb Iran's Nuke Sites

June 23, 2025

The United States and Israel v Iran

Since the US B-2 missions (which were impressively flown out of Missouri in the longest bombing mission of all time), there have global reactions to the strike, some of which praised it.  It's clear that European nations generally support them.

Russia issued a statement in which it condemned them and indicated that now other nations may transfer nuclear weapons to Iran.  How much Russia can be trusted in regard to anything it states is a clearly open question, but being concerned about this possibility, particularly as Pakistan is nearby, is perhaps merited.  Likewise, being concerned about what rogue state North Korea may do is also warranted.

Iran itself has indicated that it will close the Straits of Hormuz and that it will otherwise retaliate.

The morality of this action is debatable and interesting.  It's clearly an act of war with no clear exist strategy based on the hope of Iranian concession.  However, the argument can be made that waiting until Iran had a nuclear weapon, which they are clearly working on, would put the world in an untenable position.  

That it is an act of war was interestingly noted when a Congressman on This Week said Iran could "sue for peace".  You only sue for peace in a declared war, which this is not.

A group of Congressmen have put together a war powers resolution seeking to limit further US action.  It's all Democrats save for one Republican.  If history is our guide, politically most Americans will support action against Iran, at least at first.  If things drag on, they'll be discontented.  In the short term condemning the strike is probably a bad political move, but in the long term it might not be.  If Iran is not cowed into submission, and perhaps its regime can't afford to be, we'll either have to materially support an ongoing Iranian air war indefinitely or become more involved in it.  People repeatedly are noting that there will not be "boots on the ground", and there very likely won't be on a largescale, but on a small scale there may very well be.  If Iran closes the Straits of Hormuz the U.S. Navy will have to reopen them, and that will be a major task.

cont:

Yeoman's Fourth Law of History at work, and Donald Trump demonstrating that he doesn't know how economies work.

June 24, 2025

The United States and Israel v Iran

On the Iranian retaliation, which was muted:

Update Video: Iran “Retaliates.” It appears to be over.

Apparently a cease fire has been agreed to, although there may have been some post agreement fighting.

A ceasefire isn't a peace agreement. What's going on, and what was achieved, are the real questions.

And of course, Trump is acting weird.

And this:

We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.

Donald Trump.

June 24, 2024

United States and Israel v. Iran.

An early assessment holds that Iran's nuclear facilities were not destroyed, only damages, and they're merely set back in the production of an atomic weapon a few months.

Can't say I'm surprised.

So the US attack may have simply reinforced the Iranian desire for a nuclear weapon.

cont:

A report by an expert on NPR Politics holds that there's no way that Iran's nuclear program was destroyed.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 3. The peace didn't break out on day one edition.

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