Well, there might be no clear goal to the US attack on Iran, but there is definitely one thing that is not a goal--and that is democracy for Iran. www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/p...
Trump saying it is OK that Russia is helping Iran kill Americans has even the most MAGA-addled unable to respond. They have nowhere to go, except express blind loyalty to their master. If he says it, it must be right.
The White House position is that it is no big deal that Putin is helping Iran try to kill US soldiers.
Always remember rule #1. Putin can do no wrong in Trump’s eyes.
Wonder why that is?
So Trump rolls out the red carpet for Putin, protects Putin, bullies the Ukrainians for Putin, and in return Putin helps Iranians kill Americans.
Trump must act now or the case for him being a Russian asset of some type will be undeniable.
I do fear that grotesque boast that the USA no longer needed to worry about "stupid rules of engagement", will haunt the country for years to come.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/w...
This is very good
This is a real video from the official White House account on a war that is currently killing people. I don’t know how the US is going to come back from this.
The post was “JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY. 🇺🇸 🔥”
Just sent out a free piece to expand on my article in @theatlantic.com yesterday. The signs of rot in US military and diplomatic capabilities are real and even more extensive than I could say in that article. Here are more-and a gift link to the original article. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
And now the USA is desperate for Ukrainian help because the Trump administration is incompetent in defense matters and Ukraine knows what it is doing.
Any chance Trump has the decency to say thanks?
Zelensky highlighting the moral and strategic poverty of the USA under Trump. In the last year Trump has ended all military aid for Ukraine, has undermined Ukrainian air defense, has tried to bully Ukraine in handing over territory, and has rolled out the red carpet for Putin.
"In the third century, after the Roman empire had reached its geographic maximum, literacy began to decline across Roman society. Education levels fell not only among soldiers, but among officers, aristocrats, and even emperors."
Sounding familiar...
Fascinating on how (and maybe why) the US attack on Iran has faltered
Latest in @theatlantic.com . In only a few days, there are small but worrying signs that the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration is affecting US military and diplomatic power. A fish rots from the head down.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
I mean, how else can he make sure to get some really big payoffs.
thehill.com/homenews/adm...
Operation Epic Fury costs nearly $900 million per day, driven by the large expenditure of munitions. Because most of this is not in the budget, the Pentagon will soon need to ask for more money.
Learn more from the CSIS Defense and Security Department: https://bit.ly/4bcz5uF
As per normal, air power is more difficult to use than people often think.
HI All, Just sent out this piece on Iranian air power strategy. It attempts to say what their strategy might be, based on what they are targeting and what systems they are using. As a strategy it is interesting, but is more likely to fail than succeed.
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
"The oil is beginning to flow"
The TrumpAdmin is compromised by foreign intelligence, and belongs behind bars as traitors.
@European leaders: Act accordingly.
Not convinced bc I’m an activist? Well, read this from Kagan👇
@theatlantic.com
For the last few days the President of the USA and the White House communications team have been active agents of Russian influence, spreading the Putin narrative and trying to undermine democracy.
Ah, that well known constitutional amendment that says the USA can go to war for a feeling...
This is what “regime change” means for Trump. No freedom for the Venezuelan, no democratic vote, just leave the old dictatorial system in place with most of the same people.
This whole Iranian misadventure was always going to be good for the Russian oil industry.
Must be a total coincidence, right?
Remember when Trump promised that India would stop buying Russian oil? Well it turns out that Trump's decision to bomb Iran has had the exact opposite effect, leading to a surge of Russian oil being sent to India. www.indiatoday.in/india/story/...
Maybe just maybe the Ukrainian policy of reducing the number of their troops on the front line was the right one and the Russian one of slaughtering their own population the wrong one.
Thankfully the Ukrainians did not listen to the terrible western analytic community on this.
Price of oil is up.
USA is running down stocks of Patriot Missiles.
European states are deploying force outside of Europe.
Yep, the only real winner so far from Trump's decision to bomb Iran is.....Vladimir Putin.
Funny that.
Goed punt!
To put it less kindly, they have it all ass-backwards
The willingness of major European states such as Britain and France to send their military forces to actively defend counties in the Middle East but not to defend Ukraine shows how Europe has a distorted sense of its own interests.
Hi All, Just put together this post. Its mostly a detailed update on what the US and Israel seem to be doing in their air campaign. Destroying things seem to be the easy part. Also an update on US war aims, we have about three new ones in the last 24 hours. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
