Glimpses through the fog of war in Iran
Many of those who criticize Trump for the attack on Iran – and there are plenty who do, of course – say some version of “of course the mullahs are evil and need to be destroyed, but what Trump did was wrong.” But they have no suggestions as to what else might have worked, because virtually everything has been tried and nothing has ever worked.
Meanwhile, Trump has shown remarkable courage, as has Netanyahu. We still don’t know whether their courage will pay off in establishing a new and better Iran, less bent on terrorism and destroying (or taking over) its neighbors, and less oppressive of its citizenry. How could we know? But there’s a chance those good things will result, and if the attack hadn’t been tried, Iran would almost certainly have continued on a terrible trajectory that would not only have been destructive to its own people but potentially destructive to the entire world, particularly Israel and the US but also much of the Middle East and the Western nations.
Now for some news of what’s happened there already.
(1) The report is that Khameini and forty other Iranian leaders are dead. But the death of the Supreme Leader isn’t just a rumor. It has been confirmed by Iranian state media:
The Iranian government announced 40 days of public mourning following the “martyrdom” of the 86-year-old ayatollah, who had ruled Iran for over 36 years.
Khameini was part of the original revolutionary crew of mullahs back in 1979, ruling with a repressive and iron hand.
Aarabi also warned that “eliminating Khamenei in isolation on its own is not enough,” calling for a broader strategy aimed at the wider apparatus surrounding the supreme leader.
“You have to dismantle this extensive apparatus that he has created,” he said.
I am sure that Israel and the US are well aware of that, and are trying to manage it. The question is whether they will succeed. But they are on their way. The IDF says that forty Iranian leaders were killed, and Trump says “a large number.” But this is just the first day; more needs to be done, and much remains to be seen.
Among the officials killed were Iran’s Minister of Defense, Head of Intelligence, and the Supreme Leader’s Advisor for Security Affairs and Secretary of the Defense Council.
“The world is a better place without them,” The IDF wrote on X.
(2) Six people have been killed in retaliatory strikes by Iran in nine countries. I am very sorry about those six people, but considering the efforts Iran has made, the number could have been far greater. Most of the Iranian strikes were stopped by air defense systems.
(3) The UN Secretary-General Gutteres condemned the strikes, saying they were “a grave threat to international peace and security.” Of course he did.
(4) Iranians are dancing in the streets – not just in the US, but in Iran:
Iranians were seen dancing and chanting in the streets Saturday morning in video circulating online after “Operation Epic Fury,” which unleashed strikes targeting Iranian leadership.
“I love Trump!” one student shouted as smoke arose from a nearby building, according to a clip shared on X and reported by The Telegraph.
Other footage showed people dancing in the middle of the road — an act of joy that has been criminalized by the Islamic regime since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Women smiled and twirled as music played and onlookers clapped …
I would assume the great majority of people are staying behind closed doors. But I would also guess that the majority of them are celebrating, too.
(5) Will Iranian terror agents strike in US? They certainly will try, if they can. But there wasn’t much activity after US/Israel strikes in Iran last summer. Let’s hope that they don’t succed at retaliating now.
(6) Mamdani says exactly what you might think he would say, showing he’s both a knave and fool (but you already knew that):
“Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.”
As though Iran hasn’t been at war with us for forty-seven years. As though we are carpet-bombing Tehran, a la WWII. I wonder what he considers “sensitive locations” in New York, in need of protection. I bet they’re not synagogues. And the Iranian New Yorkers he says he will protect are probably beside the themselves with joy right now at Khameini’s fall.
I liked this reaction:
https://xcancel.com/planefag/status/2027675360381239585
Among many other good reasons for attacking the Iranian regime is preventing deployment of a “dirty bomb” in the US, which would likely have affected New York. Mamdani’s idiotic statement pretends that Iranian New Yorkers are threatened; we’re more likely to see Jewish New Yorkers and their businesses and worship sites attacked, alas. As you point out, Neo, that’s probably not where Mamdani is focusing “protection,” if in fact he has ordered any protection of any kind.
Four questions/points:
1) What was the most recent act of war perpetrated by Iran in this 47-year war that you say it has been waging against the U.S.? You say, “there wasn’t much activity after US/Israel strikes in Iran last summer.” There was no “activity” at all, so far as I am aware, against the U.S.
2) Compared to the U.S., Iran is a military and geopolitical pipsqueak an ocean and continent away from us. It does not even pretend to possess any military capability that would enable it to inflict the slightest amount of harm upon the U.S. mainland. Yet you are not merely sanguine, but exultant, about our country’s military raining explosives down upon this completely overmatched adversary from the air. Why? Because the adversary’s leaders – or, it now appears, late leaders – are (or were) bad people? The world is full of bad people in positions of political leadership; I’m certain you don’t advocate bombing all of them. If you’ll forgive what I strongly suspect you’ll write off to my “anti-semitism,” name a country that Israel doesn’t want us to bomb that you would advocate our bombing because the world would, generally speaking, be better off if its current leadership were bombed into oblivion.
3) If your justification for our bombing Iran involves some cant phrase about “stability in the region,” what American interest is implicated in the “stability” of a region – again, an ocean and continent away from us – that has been in fairly continuous conflict for longer than anyone alive can remember?
4) Finally, the image of Iranian street mobs expressing approval of U.S. bombing of their country seems to appeal to you. Like me, you’re old enough to remember (and should keep in mind while apparently cheering the descent of Iran into at least temporary anarchy) that it was Iranian street mobs that helped bring to power the regime whose demise you’re now rejoicing and overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran, imprisoning and abusing our fellow citizens for over a year.
Frontpage Mag says 869 Americans have been killed by Iran or proxies.
They have been provoking us since I was in England in 1979. Have no issues with this military operation
JDinPA hasn’t comprehended in more than 25 years that geography doesn’t protect the USA from Muslims wanting to destroy this country.
Sad to be as stupid as he.
This just in:
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Is still dead.
JDINpa, that was a lot of sarcasm, right? Or, just plain stupidity. Sorry Neo, for being so blunt.
I am 79, had rough 2 yrs. I am done with playing nice nice.
Israeli meme:
The Iranian leadership is now 3 Mossad agents who don’t know about each other, so they continue to play along….
Ben David
That’s hilarious!
JDinPA:
Shia Twelver Iranian regime calls for ” Death to America” for decades.
Shia Twelver Iranian regime continues working towards acquisition of Nuclear Bomb.
The Iranian people have been showing a great deal of displeasure with the regime . This was an opportunity to act.
The US and Israel both have leaders willing to act.
They took it.
This was far more justified, far more clearcut in my mind than the 2003 Iraq War.
Four questions/points:
==
If Iran wished to be left in peace, they’d have conducted themselves very differently the last 47 years. A number of countries in the Near East and North Africa have been ruled by men addled with revanchist notions and asinine ambitions. There’s been a great deal of FA by the Iranian regime. You’re objecting to the FO.
And then there is the bonus round that the Iranian regime was friends with Russia and has a history of weapons trading. Including Iran having supplied Russia with drones that they used in Ukraine, though the Russians have been building the Iranian designed drones themselves.
Bloomberg reporting three U.S. servicemen have been killed in action. Can’t navigate the paywall.
Having heard these guys call for ” Death to America” since I was a kid watching the News – this is far, far more justified to me than much of the US foreign policy in my lifetime!
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/3-american-soldiers-killed-5-seriously-injured-in-war-with-iran-us-military/
To follow up Mike Plaiss’ report above about 3 US servicemen’s deaths, though very little detail is given, for easily understood operational security reasons.
The excellent Call Me Back podcast had 30 min with David Petraeus last night.
https://www.podbean.com/ea/dir-rerw5-2b8815bb
Once again the UN
is putting on a
circus in which they treat with courtesy and respect representatives – “distinguished delegates” – of murderous dictators; in this case the UN rep. of Iran.
Why the USA participates in this stupid and disgusting charade and chooses to maintain membership in such a joke of an international organization truly escapes me.
The US should toss out the UN from US soil and immediately cease giving this hypocritical organization one penny of US taxpayer money.
JDinPA,
The Iranian regime has been working on nuclear weapons and ICBMs, while chanting “Death to America.” Put one and one together. Not to mention holding our diplomats hostage for over a year. They declared war on us 47 years ago. Wars last as long as they do. 30 Yers War, 100 Years War.
CFRsalamander on substack Sunday Midrats podcast (free) should be very good today.
Operation Epic Fury Free for All…on Midrats
an hour of more than just monitoring the situation
CDR Salamander
Mar 01, 2026
On behalf of the sentient population here in Pennsylvania, allow me to apologize for the stupidity of “JDinPA.” Of course, it is possible that the “PA” in his/her/its handle refers to “Palestine”, so my apology should be considered conditional, at best, pending geographical clarification. Meanwhile, I am mentally conjuring America on December 8, 1941. Was there a single person who thought, “Well yes, what those Japanese did with their sneak attack was really icky, but it’s hardly enough to start a war! I mean, we need to deescalate, not retaliate. Diplomacy should be our response. Think of the innocent Japanese civilians who might be harmed if we shoot back. After all, we’re the ones who really started it with our terrible embargos on oil and steel. The Japanese were totally justified in bombing Pearl Harbor, which America unlawfully colonized and stole from the indiginous peoples who were peacefully living there.” I couldn’t find anybody who thought like that in my imaginary trip down memory lane, but today, if I swung a dead cat I’d hit a couple dozen of them. How far we have fallen.
If the people in Iran who want to be rid of the Mullahs, and to set up their own alternative–hopefully a lot more democratic and free, non-religious government– are to prevail, I presume that they will probably get the help (whether they want it or not) of a lot of CIA (and Israeli) operatives–on the ground–who I also presume are already there, and at work.
I would imagine that a lot of the Mullah’s remaining leaders and henchmen have “gone to ground,” and locating them, and yanking them out of wherever they have holed up, and co-opting or “eliminating ” them will be an absolute necessity.
Where the former Shah and his family might fit into this, I have no idea.
JohnTaylor
Offhand, our permanent membership and veto on the UN Security Council is enough, as is the ability to be a spoiler on the inside or to try and reform it from the inside, or at least prevent anyone else from reforming it in ways that are not to our fancy. It is a dismal thing right now and will remain so for the foreseeable future, but a UN without the US would be even worse and become a natural rallying point and a shell to turn into some coalition against us. I believe our stance should be that if we can’t have the UN, nobody else can either.
@Steve (Retired/recovering lawyer)
Offhand, Rep Jeanette Rankin (R-MN) would describe something close to that and I know there were a few others. So they existed, even if they were not taken very seriously.
Of the responses, of sorts, to my earlier (8:23 am) comment, by far my favorite is this excerpt from the comment by “Jon baker” (at 9:57 am): “This [the ongoing attack by the U.S. against Iran] was far more justified, far more clearcut in my mind than the 2003 Iraq War.” If there’s a better example of damning with faint praise, I’ve not seen it.
And by the way, thank you, commenter “rbj1” (at 11:48 am), for the history lesson on the lengths of the “30 Yers [sic] War, 100 Years War.” Who knew?
It should be remembered that Mamdani’s version of Islam, via his father, is Twelver Shia, the same ideology as the Iranian mullahs.
Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, a nightclub shooting in which three were killed and many other injured is now thought to be a possible act of Islamist terror.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15603763/Austin-Texas-shooting-bar-buford-gunman-killed.html
Even the gender bender of the ‘80s, Boy George, weighed in with “I hate war. But this is liberation.”
Instapundit has posted up a very choice selection of X.com posts to enjoy:
https://instapundit.com/779539/#disqus_thread
DataRepublican on X.com:
These are all Communists. Not “people who are to my left are commies.” Actual Communists. Just search for CUNY Internationalist Clubs and the other names on those signs.
[Images in Original]
Communism is a cult without a God. It demands your entire life in service to them. You’re seeing that there are a lot of Communists out there who are dedicated to destroying the country.”
Including feminist and clean energy icon Jane Fonda, who is all-in to mourn the oil-rich mullahs: [video in Original]
Kurt Schlichter nailed the irony on display:
“It will never not be hilarious that the same retarded, SSRI-gobbling weirdos who walked around dressed as handmaidens are now collectively wetting themselves because Donald Trump killed the guy who literally made women walk around dressed as handmaidens.”
AweSome!
@JDINpa
I probably shouldn’t take people like you as seriously as I’m going to, but for the audience at home and any others, I will.
I don’t know and I can all but guarantee you and the rest of the public doesn’t because it is almost certainly classified and will be for decades to come. I also find it will be unduly hard for me to try and parse out what of the literally dozens of thousands of such crimes is the latest.
But among the LATEST (even if not THE very latest) of said acts of aggression that ARE accessible to the Public is the support of the Houthis in their attacks on not just Israel but also international shipping and the Saudis in support of the genocidal Hamas/BIJ/PFLB attack on Israel. This is worth emphasizing for a few reasons.
Firstly: The unprovoked, unjustified, and unjustifiable nature of this, as it was a large scale attack on civilians in a time of peace for the express purpose of murder based on who they were. Contrary to some sleazeballs I’ve seen on the likes of Itch.io, the IRGC and Houthis did not do this to stop a genocide but to commit one, and while Israel was the primary target it did wantonly target American nationals.
Secondly: The vast scale of attacking foreign shipping in one of the world’s major trade bottlenecks, including contra some other claims ships without Israeli or American interest. This is literally piratical and textbook terrorism.
Thirdly: without direct Iranian regime technical and intelligence support the Houthis would have a fraction of the capabilities they possess.
And i could go on. Maybe this isn’t the very latest of the acts of aggression Iran has committed, but it is one of them and of a scale and recency that shows this was a very ongoing concern.
But of more proximate cause was that the Iranian Regime gave assurances to the US that it would moderate its treatment of domestic opposition in Iran and the protestors there, much as the PSUV dictatorship in Venezuela did. But while I have my own feelings and doubts about the PSUV’s conduct in Venezuela since the Special Maduro Operation and the blockade, there can be no honest doubt whatsoever that the Iranian regime broke its pledge to President Trump on that count in extravagant and brutal fashion, murdering thousands of its own people in cruel and criminal fashion. This not only created a humanitarian impetus, it also underlined that this regime is a perfidious and untrustworthy actor that could not be held likely to hold up its end of any bargain, as we know it did not many times over like in the previous Iran Deal, as befitting a scumbag terrorist dictatorship that inaugurated its existence by purging many of its domestic former allies, framing the former Shah’s admittedly unlovely SAVAK for the Cinema Rex fire in spite of the express confession of the perpetrator, and breaking one of the cardinal rules of diplomacy by seizing and holding American Diplomats hostage for 444 days.
There was, you’re just not very aware for the reasons we’ll mention. It’s also worth emphasizing that there is much I and other learned intel whisperers in OPINT aren’t aware of, and that means there’s DEFINITELY a lot you aren’t aware of.
And what relevance is this to anyone?
Firstly: Compared to the might of the British Empire in 1763, the Dey of Algiers was a “military and geopolitical pipsqueak an ocean and continent away.” This did not prevent the Algerians from waging large scale maritime piracy and slavery upon the British Empire, and others.
Compared to just about every country on earth, Daesh, the Islamic State of the Levant, was a military and geopolitical pipsqueak. This did not prevent them from conducting terrorist operations worldwide while trying to carve out a caliphate starting in West Asia.
Shall I go on, or do even you understand the point? The idea that criminal, terroristic, evil behavior targeting the US should get a pass because the side doing so is some kind of poor outgunned oppressed victim is repulsive bull.
Complete and total horseshit.
Iran not only DOES “pretend” to possess such military capability to inflict more than the slightest harm on the US mainland (as if inflicting harm on outlying US territories or allies would be ok in your “mind”?), it does so and has, as a cursory look at the FBI and Secret Service’s breakups of Iranian networks in the US shows.
Moreover, while shills like yourself tend to try and excuse Iranian aggression and attacks on the US at home and abroad with half-baked and usually misremembered references to US misdeeds – real and imagined – going back to the counter-coup against Saint Mossadegh’s coup, this ignores the FACT that the Iranian Regime also attacked Argentina in 1994 with the AMIA Bombing, in spite of Argentina being a world away and even the Mullahs not being able to claim with any credibility that Argentina had aggressed upon them.
What part of “DEATH TO AMERICA” do you not understand?
It’s a Global World. Moreover, it’s been a global world for centuries. In the 1600s Iranian, Dutch, and English ships fought Portuguese and Spanish ones in the Persian Gulf and Inidan Ocean because of wars happening half the world away. Francis Drake sailed across the Pacific decades earlier harassing Spanish shipping due to the actions of Spain against his liege lord. The Spanish fought the Ottomans in proxy wars from the Atlantic to the Philippines in this era (including importing both Japanese Samurai and Mexica/Aztec Warriors into there). And this was in an era without flight or wireless communications where people, goods, and information moved at the speed of sail or animal. Our own US fought battles in its war of independence in the Pacific and Med and the North Atlantic against the British.
Why would you think that the Iranian regime would have LESS Capacity to attack the US homeland? And even if you did was googling “Iranian spies found US Homeland” really so hard to do?
Firstly: I note that it is not only ourselves and our host that are exultant about our country’s raining military explosives down upon this overmatched adversary, but SO ARE MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY HAVING THE EXPLOSIVES RAINED DOWN UPON IT WHO ARE INDEED COUNTRYMEN OF THE IRANIAN REGIME’S SENIOR LEADERSHIP.
Even a cursory look will show Iranians demonstrating, dancing in the streets, and celebrating the latest strikes leading to the deaths of the Ayatollah and many of his ilk, not just among the expat communities like in LA and Paris but even in Iran itself. Perhaps they “are aware” of something you aren’t?
Secondly: I am exultant about raining down explosives on such an evil and unrepentant outmatched adversary precisely because I do not like American lives and fortunes being stakes in a “fair” fight against non-“completely overmatched” adversaries, because the justifications for this action are so utterly just and fair, and because I see no reason to permit the Iranian Regime to try to become less outmatched as it has publicly expressed the intent to do with things like closing the Strait of Hormuz.
I am also exultant that this resulted in the crippling of an evil, apocalyptic regime’s attempts to gain weapons of mass destruction for the express purpose of destroying the world as it exists in the name of pursuing the emergence of the Final Imam, and has now resulted in the surgical elimination of several very evil monsters who have been among the world’s most premier enemies of the US and sponsors of terrorism in general, responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people from Argentina to Thailand, with none more than in Iran itself.
Your strawmanning is annoying, as is your selective obliviousness. The regime’s late leaders and its not so late ones were not merely bad people and this was not the primary justification for bombing them.
The world is full of VERY Bad people. By any objective standard “President” Dictator Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan is a bad man, but I see no reason to bomb him because he has not offended American interests or rights or that of its allies, and even domestically he is not a Burmese Junta style monster. He does not murder his own people writ large, he does not conduct terrorist attacks on places like Argentina just to murder Jews, and he has not declared holy war on the US.
Similarly with other rogues galleries like the married Malay kleptocrats Mr. Nijab and Mrs. Mansour, who in addition to that are currently in the dock domestically for their many financial crimes and are having justice rendered to them by their own country.
While by any fair or objective measure Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is a bad man, having threatened Israel with allusions to the Holocaust, defended terrorists in the past and present, and greenlit large scale migration into his country while partnering with parties even worse than his own. But he IS the Democratically Elected Head of Government in a NATO Country who has not committed any acts of war against the US or its allies yet, and I believe people and countries have the right to get what they voted for good and hard.
No. The reason I am exultant about the death of the Ayatollah and that the US and Israel continue bombing the Iranian Mullahcracy is because not only were its leaders – and so are its leaders – truly evil people who killed and stole more than the aforementioned put together, but also sworn enemies of the US who have been sponsoring international piracy and other attacks on the US and its allies just weeks ago. In addition to being textbook crybully braggarts alternatively playing the victim or the superman depending on what was more likely to work.
The world is far better without them, and the world will be far better without their regime, and the US is fully justified in doing so given their stated war of aggression and pattern of crimes against the US, other nations, and their own people.
Morally, ethically, and legally? We’d be here all day.
But in terms of pragmatism, as in countries I’d actually advocate bombing? Nigeria if their government does not stop its soft pedaling wink and a nod sanction of Islamist genocide of Christians, animists, and moderate Muslims by the Fulani. Taliban Afghanistan for what I hope are fairly obvious reasons. Burma/Myanmar for its pro-CCP and genocidal junta.
I can go on, but I hope this much is obvious. As it should have been to Jew hating Israel obsessed morons when I supported the Iraq War in 2003 in spite of the explicit and repeated concerns the Israeli Government had over it.
Israel may be an ally and frankly one of the best ones we have right now, but it is not an unlimited ally or one with a complete overlap of our interests, and I am more than content to advocate for policies it would not approve of, just as I acknowledge Israel must pursue interests we would not approve of.
I realize you are incredibly stupid, geopolitically illiterate, historically illiterate, and situationally unaware, but there is plenty.
I could point to the Iranian regime’s stated declaration of war on the US and sponsorship of terrorism against us BOTH WITHIN THE HOMELAND ITSELF and abroad.
I could point to the fact that the US has no interest in allowing a hostile, messianic terrorist regime to gain access to WMD for the express purposes of destroying the world as it is in a wave of apocalyptic violence, in sharp contrast even to the NorK WMD program.
But I will instead point to the rights of trade and navigation. Yes those.
Let me quote some people far above the paygrade of either you or me.
Simply put, the US Merchantman and trader has every right to conduct themself lawfully and peacefully throughout the world without being subject to piracy, terrorism, or other undue attacks, just as American tourists have the freedom to move about the region and conduct themselves lawfully in any country that will have them.
By their attacks on and murders, kidnappings, and attempts to do the former, the Iranian regime and its proxies justify their complete destruction as if they had not already done so already many times over by their treatment of their own people and the US as a whole.
This is not theoretical. The US sent its military an ocean away to strike at multiple Jihadist pirate states less than 20 years after independence was recognized. And unlike the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Deys of Algiers and Tripoli never conspired to radicalize American Muslims or form sleeper cells in order to conduct terrorism into the American heartland.
As such if it was justified to send the USMC and USN to the Shores of Tripoli, it is even more justified to send them to the Shores of Iran.
Why would it not?
Also I note the amnesia. In point 2 you whined about our host being “exultant” about explosives raining down on the country. For some reason you did not deign to mention the stated reasons for said explosive rain, nor did you bother mentioning the joys of the people in Iran to this event until now. Curious, why is that?
I am not old enough, but I have studied the history more than most. And to which I’d point out that outside of the kind of hard core totalitarian regime dedicated to mass mobilization like the current Iranian dictatorship, mobs and people can be fickle and people are fallible. The Shah was a far better man and ruler than current management but he was dictatorial and weak, and there were many valid reasons to criticize him and some of his minions like SAVAK, and indeed several of his own inner circle did criticize. This is why US policy was overwhelmingly focused on trying to reform the Iranian government, with or without the Shah. How we went about this is I believe wrongheaded, given how it helped midwife the first terrorist Ayatollah’s return from exile, but the fundamental concept was admirable.
Moreover, “Iranian Street Mobs” didn’t overrun the US Embassy, the Iranian dictatorship after nearly a year of terrorism, murder of domestic opposition, ideological indoctrination, and so forth did under the veil of a quasi-deniable asset.
I have no reason to believe that everyone celebrating in the streets is our friend or necessarily a good person. After all, the freaking Taliban have at least mouthed support for US and the Israelis(!!!) in striking Iran, and we should know what the Taliban are like (I wonder how Tucker Carlson and his ilk who also have tended to whitewash and downplay the Taliban’s crimes will react). That does not mean that we are not justified in acting against the Mullahcracy.
There is video of IRGC anti-riot forces being droned in the streets. I hope it isn’t AI, and wonder who did it, and how it was done.
JDinPA,
Your innocent butmurdering Theocrats are bent on total world domination. The Ayatollahs tell us so! Commanded by God to do his will.
They cannot be reasoned out of there empowered dogmas. The Koran is enough.
You write “Iran is a military and geopolitical pipsqueak an ocean and continent away from us. It does not even pretend to possess any military capability that would enable it to inflict the slightest amount of harm upon the U.S. mainland.”
EXCEPT for the fact that China depends in large degree on Iranian oil. And likewise, Putin’s Russia relies on Iranian made drines for war against Ukraine.
If that ain’t a LARGE geopolitical US interest, I’ll eat my winter hat!
Finally, about the threats posed by Iran to the “US mainland”? What if among the 13,000 known terrorists coming into the US under Brib’em, there really are terrorist sleeper cells here? What if our Intel apparatus is not lying to us?
“Donald Trump killed the guy who literally made women walk around dressed as handmaidens.”
Are you kidding? Those wanton hussies should dress themselves properly. They are asking for rape, dressing like that! Cover your face!
fresh troll, not really no, the Iranian regime has been tolerated by the international set for far too long, beginning in 1979, when Carter sanctioned the embassy takeover, by many students, educated in the West, one of those Mohammed Chamran was Berkeley educated, some were trained in Arafat’s camps in Beirut,he founded the Revolutionary Guard, which has been the regimes velvet glove the Basij are the iron fist, both have taken heavy pounding,
the proximate cause of the uprising was the fact that a city of 10-12 million people like Tehran, couldn’t supply enough water for itself, this was why the protests had expanded,
so we target military bases, they target hotels like the Fairmont Jumeirah and Airports,
as to this, the EU is mute in their dhimmi ways, as is their wont,
the Cobra doesn’t dissapoint, not because hes a Shia but a leftist
@Turtler
Jeanette Rankin was a representative from Montana, not Minnesota.
@bof
Yah, sorry, I screwed up my state acronyms.
they are really shameless ghouls at the Bezos
https://x.com/BuzzPatterson/status/2027973153381638491
officially he was a guest of Evin Prison,
one of the worst places on the shah’s detention facilities,
there is conjecture otherwise, as to his CV
JDinPA is symbolic of a free-speech democractic society’s flaw. And there are many like him. Mamdani is one, and he was voted into office (by a small sliver of eligible voters, it is true). They willfully ignore and recast truth. And welcome the harm they inspire. Strikes me as bordering on treason by giving (immoral) comfort to the enemy..
Fox is reporting that 3 Gulf States are coordinating with the US for combat operations against Iran..
https://www.foxnews.com/media/keane-warns-iran-strike-becoming-regional-war-says-three-gulf-states-preparing-combat
I asked grok how the IRGC missile launchers are able to evade the US and Israel, Air Force. Here’s the reasonable sounding response.
Iranian missile launchers, particularly those for ballistic missiles, are designed with survivability in mind against advanced air forces like those of the US and Israel, which rely on bombers (e.g., B-2 stealth bombers), fighter jets (e.g., F-35s, F-15s), and precision strikes.
The primary evasion methods focus on passive defense tactics rather than direct confrontation, emphasizing mobility, concealment, deception, and hardening to make targeting difficult.
Key Evasion Tactics
1. High Mobility with Transporter-Erector-Launchers (TELs)?Iran’s ballistic missile force heavily uses road-mobile TELs — truck-mounted launchers that can relocate quickly after setup or firing. Solid-fuel missiles (e.g., in newer systems like Fattah, Kheibar Shekan, or Haj Qassem) allow rapid launch with minimal preparation time, reducing the window for detection and strike by orbiting aircraft or satellites. Liquid-fuel systems are more vulnerable due to longer setup, but mobility still helps. Launchers move frequently, often under cover of night or during gaps in surveillance, to avoid predictable locations.
2. Camouflage and Concealment?Launchers are disguised as civilian trucks or commercial vehicles (e.g., painted to blend in, using rail curtains or other modifications). They employ multi-spectral camouflage nets, thermal blankets, and other measures to reduce signatures detectable by infrared, radar, or visual reconnaissance. Operations often occur in civilian areas or mixed traffic to complicate identification.
3. Deception and Decoys?Iran uses dummy launchers (inflatable, wooden, or fake sites), decoy emitters, and false facilities to mislead intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets like satellites or drones. This forces attackers to waste munitions on non-real targets. “Missile farms” (buried ready-to-launch setups) and fake sites attract strikes away from actual assets.
4. Underground Facilities and Hardening?Many missiles are stored and sometimes launched from vast underground “missile cities” or deeply buried bunkers, which are highly resistant to conventional airstrikes (requiring specialized bunker-busters like those from US B-2s). These facilities protect against preemptive or follow-on attacks, allowing dispersal and quick relocation of mobile units.
5. Operational Tactics
• Dispersal across large areas reduces the chance of mass destruction in one strike.
• Night operations and emissions control minimize detection.
• Rapid salvo launches aim to overwhelm defenses, though this applies more to the missiles themselves than launchers evading bombers.
• In recent conflicts (e.g., 2025 exchanges), some launchers survived initial waves by relocating or hiding, though US/Israeli strikes have hit many exposed or known sites.
These tactics draw from doctrines emphasizing passive defense (mobility + deception + hardening) to ensure second-strike capability, compensating for Iran’s weaker air defenses and air force. However, in escalated scenarios (like recent US/Israeli operations involving hundreds of targets, including launchers), success isn’t guaranteed—many launchers have been destroyed when detected, especially if static or predictable. The combination makes complete elimination challenging without sustained, resource-intensive campaigns.
the Times was not much better, they have a history of hagiography of lesser figures like Hassan Nasrallah, the poobah of Hezbollah, who chose poorly in his location of sanctuary
the radar pinging the reputed target made them a bullseye,
it seems they employed more srones, the shahed series against the kuwait airport, those with some awareness would know kuwait was often targeted because of sunni shia dynamics between the reigning Mubaraks and the population, some of whom composed the Dawaa cells that targeted the American embassy in 1985, members of that cell were part of the ask in the iran contra affair
Kuwait was where Arafat made his early money in the 60s, before ending up appointed to the PLO leadership, not a few members of Hamas like Khalid
Mishaal have roots there as did the whole Baluchi clan that KSN was the head there,
the latter is how they repaid us for our effort to rescue them from the clutches of Saddam Hussein
More input from Grok. I asked how Iran manufactures its missiles. Turns out they manufacture many of them internally. I asked how they produced the machinery used in the factories, and this is the response.
TLDR they get the factory equipment from China
Iran has made strides toward domestic manufacturing of some basic machine tools and reverse-engineering, but high-precision or large-scale items (e.g., planetary mixers for propellant mixing) remain dependent on imports due to sanctions limiting access to advanced Western technology. U.S. Treasury actions (e.g., OFAC designations in 2025–2026) repeatedly target these procurement chains supporting IRGC and MODAFL programs, including for UAVs and ballistic missiles.
In essence, while Iran produces much of its own missiles and components indigenously, the specialized machinery enabling factory operations is largely procured covertly from abroad—with China as the dominant source in recent years—to sustain and rebuild production capacity amid ongoing conflicts and sanctions.
Fog of War(TM)?
Unfortunate…but inevitable.
To counter with some CLARITY, here’s a most impressive and profound dissection of Leftist anti-Western ideology and its seemingly bizarre alliance with radical Islam—IOW an analysis of the Left’s clarity of delusion(?)— though the phenomenon is, alas, not limited to the theological vacuities of the Left….
“Iran: the cradle of Islamo-leftism;
“The anti-Western fervour that fuelled the Iranian Revolution continues to seduce today’s ‘progressives’.”—
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/06/21/iran-the-cradle-of-islamo-leftism/
+ Related Bonus:
How one halcyon “changer”—Norman Podhoretz—charted his own uneven, even tortuous journey…
“After the New Left: Rereading Breaking Ranks”—
https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/after-the-new-left-rereading-breaking-ranks/
he forgot the lesson, not to be seen, also not to have a pager on you at all times,
Bob Wilson:
I was listening to a podcast – don’t remember which one – that said that, until our attacks on Iran this past summer, Iran manufactured it own missiles. However, some of that infrastructure was destroyed by Israel and the US last summer, and Iran filled in the gap with Chinese ones. In addition, the ones Iran used to make were mostly solid fuel missiles, which can be launched quickly. The Chinese ones are liquid fuel, which require more preparation to launch and don’t store as well, plus the Iranians are less familiar with them.
I don’t know if that’s true, but if so it’s interesting.
an illustration of the ‘worst are full of passionate intensity, any coffee clatch that includes angela davis, easily fits into that category, davis was a product of post frankfurt school leftism in Germany, a poisoned chalice of bad thoughts,
of course, one can’t forget France’s part in enabling both the nuclear program, and the khomeinist movement, they seem to generate make a bad thing worse,
a rare success was the use of paras to suppress the Grand Mosque siege, but their welcoming of Khomeini to exile, allowed him wide latitude of action, he couldn’t do in najaf and karvala
Related (FWIW)…
“Dershowitz…: Iran Strikes Constitutional, Critics ‘Dead Wrong’”—
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/alan-dershowitz-iran-trump/2026/03/01/id/1247874/
Key grafs:
Continued…
“Unnecessary War of Choice’? Absolutely Not;
“Democratic talking point, not reality”—
https://freebeacon.substack.com/p/unnecessary-war-of-choice-absolutely
JD in PA:
I could just let some of the commenters deal with your arguments, and for the most part I will. But I also will add that, obviously, the attacks by Iran on the US so far (since 1979) have mostly been terrorist attacks, either by Iran itself or by its proxies. That is how smaller nations operate in order to damage larger ones, in this day and age. And, except for US casualties in the actual wars it has fought in recent years (Afghanistan and Iraq), and the enormous terrorist attack by al Qaeda in 2001, Iran has almost certainly killed (and also tried to kill) more Americans than any other country has.
If you want to see a list of attacks on the US and/or US citizens over the years by Iran – the folks who have constantly screamed “Death to America!” for 47 years – see this. The list is not of every attack, either. Just to take the most recent examples:
Also, from the FBI:
As for Iran’s nuclear ambitions, aside from the obvious goal of destroying Israel, there are other goals that impact the US and its other allies more directly. Once Iran achieves nuclear weapons, it acts as a deterrent for attacking the regime (either by us or anyone else). That will enable a nuclear-armed Iran to increase its support for terrorism in the Western world (or anywhere else it pleases), including the US, Europe, and Middle Eastern countries allied with us.
The belief system of the mullahs provides them with their strong motivation. Here’s how it goes:
It would be lovely if the oceans that surround the US meant that these threats to the US could be ignored. Sadly, they cannot.
Goodness, gracious.
The answer to JD is simple:
Blow me.
Like it or not, we are the world’s policeman. If not us, who? Even if they are not a direct threat to CONUS we still want peace in the world and these shitbags are (or maybe now were) one of the biggest group of troublemakers on the planet.
The whole world combined could not do what we have just done. We are truly a colossus astride the world.
Fighting evil is a good goal, tho the means of killing is not so good. Those against Trump’s use of the US military to kill Iranian leaders are choosing to support the evil Iran has done, and promised to do in the future.
Death to America.
It’s certain that Iran failed to say the secret words for Peace:
We will never get nuclear weapons.
(Never is too long? My lifetime…)
Now much, maybe most of the prior regime leadership decision makers are dead.
Less evil in the world, good.
Thanks, Neo, for great answer to JD in PA; as well as the (too long?) Turtler response.
The #4 issue of his is important — I really do feel good at seeing Iranians dancing in joy as America’s bombs are liberating them.
Joy at being liberated is natural, and good. Liberty is good.
I recall the ’78 protests Death to the Shah, and my mild opposition the Shah and SAVAK and the killing of some political opponents. But I was asking, what would the replacement be like. Similar to the N. Viet takeover in ’75, which had happened only 3 years earlier?
The Islamists, Communists & Democracy supporters all opposed the Shah, and all thought they would take over after. Tho the liberal folk wanting democracy might have been the plurality, they were not willing to kill their opponents in order to win. The Islamists were, and they won.
Those willing to kill usually win power over those unwilling to kill. I’m not a huge fan of the smooth talking son of Shah Raza P., but he likely has a larger plurality of supporters than any other potential non-mullah leader. Hopefully the post-regime change struggle won’t rise to the level of Civil War. But it might.
Even if it does, close to worst case, the decision to kill the evil mullahs remains morally good for me. And I don’t believe the coming struggle will be as bad as the 30,000 murdered protesters against the regime of 2026.
Surber posts a reminder that Trump’s diplomacy from 9 years ago, and the Abraham Accords, have resulted in most ME Muslim countries being against Iran.
https://donsurber.substack.com/p/todays-action-in-iran-was-nearly
Bless Turtler, neo et al. for replying to JDinPA.
I rarely have the patience anymore, since those types are just playing Gotcha! And if they don’t have a reply, aside from the contempt JDinPA has exhibited, they just move on to the next Gotcha!
Perhaps because Iran lost its top levels of authority, Iran is lashing out and attacking other Gulf Arab nations.
Iran has launched ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles across multiple Gulf countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, targeting both U.S. military assets and civilian infrastructure.
Apparently they hope to ignite a regional war and inflame world opinion against the US and Israel. However, it seems they have just pissed off those Arab states and international opinion.
__________________________
Gulf states condemn Iranian retaliatory strikes on their territories following US-Israeli operation
Many Arab nations warn of ‘full right to respond’ after Iran’s retaliatory strikes
https://www.foxnews.com/world/gulf-states-condemn-iranian-retaliatory-strikes-territories-following-us-israeli-operation
__________________________
My read is that while much of the world dislikes the US and Israel, deep down they like Iran even less and they don’t mind the US and Israel stomping on Iran, though they won’t speak so candidly in public.
Chases Eagles’ comment today at 7:53 pm deals well with the idea that “We are not the world’s policeman.”
Tom Grey; huxley:
I think Iran is well aware that the Gulf States aren’t pro-Iran. It’s not just the Abraham Accords, either. I don’t think there ever was much love lost between Iran and the Gulf States (the Shia/Sunni split, for one thing). I think if the Iranian leaders think they’re on the way out anyway, they figure they might as well lob a few missiles in that direction.
Sky News Australia gives us a quick sweeping look 3.5m at media reporting and misreporting on the Trump-Iran story.
“Left wing media forced to report overwhelming support for Trump following attacks on Iran” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBLxDN_bRfc
Sky News Australia:
CNN forced to report.
CBS News mixed, eg, a local TV reporter in Houston dismisses order to not cover Iranian reaction there.
Rachel Maddow on whatever TV is described as keeping on her passive aggression toward Trump.
Other outlets and social media populist pushback is also covered,
Hezbollah has just attacked Israel, and Israel has just attacked Beirut. We’ll see what Hezbollah has left without Iran, I suppose.
Chases Eagles on March 1, 2026 at 7:53 pm:
“The whole world combined could not do what we have just done. We are truly a colossus astride the world.” That is a sobering observation! If we really are going to be the global policemen, that is a good thing.
But it is also concerning that with all of our openness about our form of government, media exposure, etc., such that we are pretty transparent about how, why, and what we do politically, economically, and militarily [up to a point]. So it is still amazing after 250 years of our growth, etc., that our allies or even our non-friends have not made a greater effort to mirror our overall success.
In fact, two examples where something close to the attempt being made occurred in the Pacific:
1) the Japanese Meiji Restoration in the 1868 focused on the industrialization aspect of our success while returning to empire rule.
2) The CCP adoption of their special version of “capitalism” (including IP theft, etc.).
These efforts were of course wide of the mark, but they were paying attention to the visible part of our success. Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, or some of the other countries with populations above 80 million would seem to have the human capital required if they just structured their social and political behavior accordingly.
Tom Grey on March 1, 2026 at 9:01 pm:
” Joy at being liberated is natural, and good. Liberty is good.” This reminded me of this Law and Liberty essay I read recently: https://lawliberty.org/aiming-at-ordered-liberty
Aiming at Ordered Liberty: The true telos of the American republic is the protection of liberty, which is the best way to achieve all goods, be they common or particular.
Jeffrey Bristol January 24, 2023
Summary graf: “While the end of our government is liberty, the end of liberty is the common good. Insofar as our government is built to achieve the good, it does so only by enabling liberty.”
Thank You for a great article. There are a lot of good and informative comments that really explain the current situation in the Middle East.
However, it seems they have just pissed off those Arab states
Syria has said that they support the attack on Iran. Of all the countries in the region, Syria probably suffered most from Iranian meddling, some 600,000+ dead, and many refugees. Crowds celebrated in Homs.
— Turtler
You beat me to it.
Yeah, withdrawing from the UNO while leaving it otherwise functional would be a gift to our rivals and enemies. Absent the U.S. Permanent Veto power, the UNO would be an absolutely superb tool for organizing against us.
(We saw that effect in action in Korea. When the time came for the UNO Security Council to vote on intervention in Korea, the Soviets were boycotting at the time, and their representative was no present to cast a veto vote. A UNO veto wouldn’t necessarily have prevented intervention in Korea, but absent the USSR presence the UNO served as a useful tool for Truman.)
We should stay in the UNO, but ruthlessly use our influence to render it harmless to our interests, and use it to advance out interests when that seems practical.
Hezbullah’s attack on northern Israel yesterday (cf. Nik…@11:22 pm) from a slightly different perspective…
“Lebanese President warns: Hezbollah rocket fire threatens Lebanon’s stability;
“Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemns rocket fire from Lebanese territory and warns against turning the country into a platform for outside wars.”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423214
Apple Betty, thanks much for your concise yet elegant response to the question that, for some, appears to defy understanding…
Not sure, in fact, that it can actually be improved upon…but for those still puzzled or confused, perplexed and/or mystified, here’s an explanation that might help…or maybe not…
“WHY DID TRUMP PULL THE TRIGGER?”—
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/03/why-did-trump-pull-the-trigger.php
In discussions of Iran vis-a-vis the rest of the mideast, remember that there is an ethnic divide along with the sunni/shia split.
The Iranians cling to their heritage as the true “Aryans”. They look down on the Saudis and other ethnic Arabs.
This was always just below the surface. The Iranian Mullahs sent Arabs to wage Jihad and blow themselves up – because they were lesser, hence expendable.
Many of the attacks on neighboring countries are… petulant attempts by the Mullahs to get the people who did their dirty work (Hezbullah et al) to now come to their aid.
Ben David, as a subdivision of that ethnic divide, Saudi and Gulf Arabs treat Egyptians as lesser, and in turn, Egyptian Muslims have disdain for Nubian and other black Muslims. So much for the ummah.
Stay safe.
Evidence this morning that this will be a longer affair as predicted by Trump et al. 3 F15s downed by friendly fire in Kuwait. Iran continuing to lob missiles everywhere,and some statements even by Iranian officials that missile commanders are acting independently without higher authorization. Without actual physical presence, Iran has effectively shut down the Strait through GPS jamming, and other techniques. The two largest shipping companies have put on hold their ships rather than risk going through. The US Navy has to address this soon or the world economy will have a shock.
Fog of war is right. The US public is not accustomed to casualties, and prolonged conflict. I hope Israel and the US can bring this to a close within 2 weeks with a good result (Dailywire has a good article this morning that a military junta could be the next government from the IRGC which would just as bad as the clerics). This will make or break the Trump presidency.
What happened to the good old days when we could knock off a dictator and install a US puppet? In any case, it seems to me that Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is the obvious one to back. He’s got popular support, is saying all the right things, and there’s no clear alternative.
School of War podcast (Aaron Mclean) w/Mike Doran “On the Iran war” (50:47): https://youtu.be/5Yo1219mi84
Don’t go wobbly.
Was pondering that perhaps some motivation for Trump’s actions re: Iran and Venezuela (and maybe Cuba??) are his beliefs that if he did not implement these policies now – before the midterms- , that nobody would in the future; including any future republican president (even if he had a congressional majority).
Iran has been a trouble maker since the mullahs took over in 1979 and prior to Trump, the USA just sent them (thanks Obama) a few billion $$$, cash.
Venezuela’s govt. became a huge drug runner/exporter when Hugo Chavez became dictator in 1999, and US policy was basically to leave them alone.
And of course, Cuba, owned and operated by the Castro’s since 1958 or so. US policy towards them was Obama getting friendly with Raul Castro while taking in a baseball game in Havana (thanks again Obama.) Meanwhile, the Castro’s were loaning out their home grown Stasi to help Venezuela (and ???) keep the peace.
Trump has about two years remaining in his term and his political career will be over. Best to get all this done prior to the midterms where, if history is any guide, the republicans will lose majorities in the house and Senate.
No need to mention those republicans who, par for the course, are breaking ranks with Trump and the majority of Republicans.
My apologies to JDinPA. While I disagree, I was wrong in thinking you a troll.
I thought your post was copy-paste trolling. It wasn’t, according to Grok:
“Based on extensive searches across the web (focusing on unique phrases and phrasing from the provided text, such as “military and geopolitical pipsqueak,” “47-year war,” “name a country that Israel doesn’t want us to bomb,” and “Iranian street mobs expressing approval,” as well as the username “JDinPA”) and the X ecosystem (including user searches for “JDinPA” variants, profile views, and keyword/post searches tied to Iran in the last week), I found no evidence of very similar content posted by JDinPA or anyone else on other conservative blogs or sites in recent days.The phrasing and structure appear unique to the comment on thenewneo.com, with no indications of copy-paste duplication elsewhere. This suggests it’s likely an original post rather than trolling via repetition across platforms.”
JDinPA:
An original (his own) stupidity.
AI has another use after all, troll detection.
Go to it AppleBetty!
JDinPa knows exactly why we are attacking the Islamic Republic. He’s just playing stupid.
it seems to me that Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is the obvious one to back
Maybe as a ceremonial head, and a call back to Persian history. He doesn’t strike me as a fixit guy, and Iran will need a lot of fixing. I have no idea who that guy might be, I expect nobody does. We will need to wait on the vicissitudes of history.
@Chuck:Maybe as a ceremonial head, and a call back to Persian history.
The Pahlavi dynasty was the result of a 1921 coup of the Prime Minister against the old Qajar dynasty, and the first Pahlavi Shah was just some ethnic minority soldier the British were able to work with. It’s not some traditional Persian thing.
“JDinPA” has commented on the blog before and doesn’t appear to be a troll, from previous comments.
The history isn’t as important as the fact that he has genuine support in the population.
This is in today’s WaPo behind a paywall, so I’m linking Althouse:
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2026/03/irans-democratic-opposition-groups.html
Sounds pretty good to me. Could be just talk, but what is the alternative?
Jimmy:he has genuine support in the population.
So he claims. But he would, wouldn’t he? We’re just taking his word for it?
Sounds pretty good to me.
Yes, it’s high time someone put a bell on that cat….
Could be just talk.
It definitely is just talk. Do we remember the name “Ahmed Chalabi”? Dissidents always tell you the whole country is ready to greet you with flowers, aren’t they?
And who was Chalabi in bed with, do we remember?
but what is the alternative?
Something we may not expect, and it’s not in our control to dictate what it is regardless.
miguel cervantes
the Times was not much better, they have a history of hagiography of lesser figures like Hassan Nasrallah, the poobah of Hezbollah, who chose poorly in his location of sanctuary
For further documentation. The NYT’s eulogy of Nasrallah is beyond ridiculous. NYT: Protesters Mourn Nasrallah’s Death Around the World.
Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words
Knowledge of what they are writing about is apparently not a prerequisite for NYT reporters.
“Fog of war is right…”
Actually, thanks to our illustrious GLOBAL Media we also have to deal with—24/7—the “fog of peace”….
Neo.
Yours of Mar 1, 6:46.
A lot of time and effort disprove what the writer knows to be false. Which is the point.
it really is like mining for pyrite, fools gold, when they state things that are not so,
Taranto, in the section that showed too much self awareness for the Journal, so it was discontinued, no one at the Times seems to be aware of their own paper, so their absorbing of narratives from sources like CAIR which is the political wing of Hamas, likewise with Hezbollah,
I admitted couched my commentary, with dry understatement, maybe there is a little too much hope this could end up in a beneficial way, as a fellow whose parents fled the usurpation called the Cuban Revolution, another blind spot that the Times has, see Herbert Matthews,
I think it was Charles Johnson who introduced me to MEMRI, one of the things he regrets,
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