NEW: A classified report by the National Intelligence Council, representing the collective wisdom of America's 18 intelligence agencies, found that even a large-scale assault on Iran would be unlikely to oust its entrenched military and clerical establishment 🧵
Seems relevant to the upcoming war powers vote in the House.
Sen. Blumenthal has written a letter to Kristi Noem about her denial that Corey Lewandowski has a role in approving contracts at DHS.
"I demand that you amend your testimony" and "provide the basis for your apparent false statement on the record."
www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
This is the way.
And I hope more EU leaders follow suit. It would be particuarly good for Merz to have a call with Sanchez today and affirm full German solidarity with Spain.
Up is down.
‚Emmanuel Macron has said France has offered to temporarily move nuclear warheads to allied European countries for the first time, as he pledged to increase the size of the country’s arsenal.‘ giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
You can watch Macron’s nuclear speech here:
www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
I spent 6 years of my life writing a PhD about UK policy in Persian Gulf in the 1960s, including the role of the Anglo-American alliance.
Key to the Persian Gulf policy of both countries: AVOID a power vacuum under any circumstances &keep Iran&Saudi Arabia from attacking the smaller Gulf States.
You know who else did medical experiments on prisoners?
Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom Trump is basically calling up every journalist in his phone to workshop different timelines and goals for his war. In the past two days: @washingtonpost : the aim is "freedom for the people" of Iran @axios : maybe we can "end it in two or three days" with a deal @nytimes : might be "four to five weeks", I have "three very good choices" who might take control in Iran @abc : actually, nevermind, we killed those choices He doesn't sound convinced by any of it. He's throwing spaghetti at the wall. Ultimately I suspect he just wants to say he "solved" a problem that has vexed every American president since Jimmy Carter. But there's 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
The Mad and Senile King is just using reporters as a sounding board to see what might sound good in the press.
Trump in 2020: "We've spent $8 trillion in the Middle East. And we're not fixing our roads in this country. How stupid is it? We're not fixing our highways, our tunnels, our bridges, our hospitals, even."
The US rejected such an argument for preventative self-defense in 1981 when Israel bombed Osirak in Iraq.
There were def people in Washington who advised Trump not to do this, basically saying, "hes 90, hes had cancer twice, hes going to die soon anyway. Dont make him a martyr for the cause". He didnt listen.
Wait WHAT?!
Recommend this Military Briefing by the FT about the evolving situation in #Iran .
www.ft.com/content/be65...
I guarantee in some DoD chat or even memo there’s a bullet point defining this war’s aim to “re-obliterate Iran’s nuclear weapons producing capabilities.”
Foreign-backed coups, like Iran in ‘53, Guatemala, Congo, Chile.
This war could end tomorrow and the US and the region will be living with the consequences for many years.
You cannot put what Trump unleashed back in the box.
You can just say things.
Every word of this: “Why Have You Started This War, Mr. President? www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/o...
groups representing roughly 700,000 tech workers within Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, all companies that have their own contracts with the Defence Department, signed an open letter urging the companies they worked for to also "refuse to comply" with the Pentagon's demands.”
"Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind refugee from Burma who Border Patrol agents dropped off at a doughnut shop Thursday and left to find his way home, 5 miles away, has been found dead."
To read the words is to damn all involved, from Trump on down.
If you watch only one thing today.
This is it.
As some who studied @ZelenskyyUa speeches. This one is back to basics. We, the people, together united are what makes Ukraine strong.
Shoring up that state centered civic duty.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=CnAU...
Texting my friends this morning, I found myself writing only: 'may this day somehow pass'. Because with each year, words carry heavier weight. In my comment for The New Statesman, I chose three words that must be used with caution. 1/2
The woman has no criminal record and is unsure what prompted the threat of removal. She fears being deported to Iran given her father's military service and her Christian faith. n.pr/4rB8gap
Couldn't agree more.
This is the most painful irony forced by the war. Ukrainians rose up against Russian aggression in order to protect their democracy — by any measure, one of the most vibrant and robust in the post-Soviet space. But over four years of martial law, military censorship, suspended elections, and mobilization both legal and psychological, Ukraine has become progressively less democratic. This was part of Russia’s goal. In the course of the war, I’ve heard Ukrainians talk less about democracy. It’s understandable: This is a war for independence, and everything else is secondary. But in many ways, Ukrainians have never been less independent from Russia. It’s Russia that determines when and if Ukrainians sleep, whether they can move through their cities and whether they have running water, light and heat.
M Gessen reports from Kyiv on the toll of the Russian invasion after four years of full-scale war. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/o...
The Mexican army killed the leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," in an operation Sunday, a federal official said. n.pr/4s8Mivi
Italy's former prime minister is calling for ‘pragmatic federalism’ to strengthen Europe's decision-making — and to be taken seriously by the US and China. https://bit.ly/4a7jY4Q
