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Trump Is Using Interviews to Brainstorm Next Steps in Iran
Donald Trump declared war against Iran over the weekend, killing dozens of people in the countryâs senior leadership in the process, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yet Trump still doesnât have a clear reason for doing soâor a plan for what to do next.The attack was initially advertised as an attempt at regime change, but the president has reportedly called droves of journalists in the days since in various attempts to revamp his message.âTrump is basically calling up every journalist in his phone to workshop different timelines and goals for his war,â reported The Economistâs Gregg Carlstrom.Carlstrom noted that Trump had offered four remarkably different responses to Americaâs major media companies. He told The Washington Post that the aim of the war would be âfreedom for the peopleâ of Iran. Meanwhile, he told The New York Times that he had âthree very good choicesâ for who could take control of Iran. Then, he told ABC News that the âattack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidatesâ for leadership.âItâs not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead,â Trump told ABCâs Jonathan Karl.Trump also told the Times that the war might end in âfour to five weeks,â though that was way off base from the âtwo or three daysâ estimate he offered Axios.âI can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians: âSee you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],ââ Trump told Axios in a phone interview from Mar-a-Lago, adding that regardless of his decision, it would take the Iranians âseveral yearsâ to recover from the attack.The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump initially stated that the Iranian mission was about âthreat reduction,â then about âgetting a deal,â then about âregime changeâ again. âAnd that was just on Sunday,â reported the paperâs Alex Ward.âHe doesnât sound convinced by any of it. Heâs throwing spaghetti at the wall. Ultimately I suspect he just wants to say he âsolvedâ a problem that has vexed every American president since Jimmy Carter,â wrote Carlstrom. âBut thereâs no clear idea what that looks like and no plan for how to get there. And there are plenty of possible scenarios in which Trump declares victory and leaves the region with an absolute mess.âThe confusion left even the presidentâs staunchest allies confused about the purpose of the war. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham tried to make sense of the mission in an interview with NBC Newsâs Meet the Press, though he did not succeed.âIs hope the plan for the future of Iran?â asked host Kristin Welker on Sunday, quoting one of Trumpâs social media posts.âNo, the future of Iran is going to be determined by the Iranian people. The new Iran, whatever it is ⌠our goal is to make sure it cannot become, again, the largest state sponsored terrorismâthatâs a win for us,â Graham said.âBut is there a plan, senator? Is there a plan to make sure that happens? Is there a planâdoes the president have a plan to make sure that happens?â Welker said.âNo! Itâs not his job or my job to do this,â Graham said, audibly distressed. âHow many times do I have to tell you?âSo far, four Americans have been killed in the Iranian air strikes, according to U.S. military officials, while several U.S. jets were shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire.As of Monday morning, Trump still has yet to address the American people regarding the warâa major departure from his predecessors, who immediately recognized the need to justify the need for military intervention. Woodrow Wilson spoke to the public the same day he asked Congress to declare war against Germany during World War I, while Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a national address hours before the country declared war during World War II.Even Harry Truman, who proceeded with the Korean War without the authorization of Congressâmuch like Trumpâdelivered a radio address to the American public shortly after he ordered U.S. air and naval forces to assist South Korea.
Pentagon Destroys Trumpâs Main Defense on Iran Strikes
Iran was not planning to attack U.S. military personnel or bases in the Persian Gulf unless Israel struck first, sources in the Pentagon told Congress Sunday.The revelation undercuts the White Houseâs claim the day before that Iran was an imminent threat to the U.S. with plans to strike American targets first. Senior Trump administration officials claimed Saturday that Iran was planning to begin attacks against American military bases in the Middle East with many casualties. At the time, CNN reported that this claim had no intelligence basis.Iran has its own missile program and supports groups outside of the country such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and multiple militias in Iraq. White House officials used these factors to back up its claim, but other sources told the news outlet that this still didnât justify the U.S. hitting Iran first.When asked about the Department of Defense contradicting the White House, an administration spokesperson, Dylan Johnson, avoided the question and said that the DOD had âbriefed the bipartisan staffs of several national security committees in both chambers for over 90 minutes on the military action in Iran.âThe briefings only discussed Iranâs allied groups in the region and its missile program, and didnât mention any intelligence about Iran attacking the U.S. first, sources also told Reuters.All of this shows bungled planning by the Trump administration for its military action against Iran. Four U.S. soldiers have been killed thus far and five seriously wounded, with other military personnel suffering minor shrapnel injuries and concussions. By Trumpâs admission, any plans for succession in Iran after its supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was killed on Saturday were dashed because multiple successors were also killed.What happens now? Apparently Trump is workshopping possible plans with outside journalists. Meanwhile, countless Iranian civilians are dead, including at least 165 at an elementary school, and the death toll in the region will only increase as this ill-advised, haphazard war continues.
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Trump Uses Questions on Iran Attack to Hype Up His Latest Renovations
President Donald Trump dodged questions about his illegal war with Iran to praise two new statues in his paved-over Rose Garden. Arriving back at the White House Sunday evening, Trump was peppered with questions from reporters about his illegalâand suddenâaerial bombing campaign in Iran. But Trump declined to answer, and turned his attention instead to some new statues of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in the Rose Garden, CNN reported. âWhat are the objectives for Iran?â asked one reporter. âMr. President, who do you want to lead Iran?â asked another. âUnbelieveable statutes, you see,â Trump mused. âUnbelievable statues.âTrump then wandered away, as the reporters continued to shout questions after him. âMr. President, whatâs your message to the families of the service members who were killed?âNo response came. Trumpâs refusal to answer questions betrays more than a total lack of leadershipâit reveals his complete lack of compassion for the American people, who overwhelmingly disapprove of a war with Iran. Speaking Sunday in a pretaped video about three U.S. soldiers killed in the attack, Trump said, âSadly, there will likely be more before it ends. Thatâs the way it is.â U.S. Central Command confirmed Monday that a fourth service member died due to injuries sustained in the operation.More than 550 people were killed during a series of U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran, including 150 people, many of whom were children, at a girlsâ elementary school.
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Trump's War on Iran Violates International Law & U.S. Constitution: War Crimes Prosecutor Reed Brody
The United States and Israel launched a devastating war against Iran on Saturday without approval by the U.S. Congress or support from the United Nations Security Council, making President Donald Trump’s attack illegal under both domestic and international law, says veteran war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody. “The U.N. Charter is not ambiguous,” says Brody. “President Trump has presumptively committed ⌠the international crime of aggression, as he did in Venezuela and just as Vladimir Putin did in Ukraine.”