Tag: US Troops

“Committed” To “Eliminating”

This illustrates the Israeli mindset perfectly.

AS the war of words continue with Iran BiBi has said (I am sure that Donny agrees) that he is determined to eliminate Iran….

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was “committed” to “eliminating” the Iranian government and that he spoke about the idea in his recent conversation with President Trump.

According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu made the comments at the Tel Hai University in Kiryat Shmona near Israel’s border with Lebanon. “I am committed to finishing the job,” he said, referring to Israel’s war in Lebanon.

“Finishing the job means bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran. It is the head of this poisonous octopus. You cut it off, and it will fall. We will also have peace with Lebanon,” he said. “We must complete the elimination of the Iranian regime — that is the primary objective. I have spoken about this with President Trump more than once, including the day before yesterday.”

A day earlier, Netanyahu released part of a phone call he had with President Trump on Sunday, where he thanked the US leader for endorsing him in the upcoming Israeli elections. In Trump’s endorsement message, he suggested that the US may have to “finish the job” against Iran without the help of Israel if Netanyahu doesn’t remain prime minister.

In his conversation with Trump, Netanyahu said that the US and Israel have a “job to finish,” and his comments on Tuesday suggest that means regime change.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday and met with Netanyahu. The US and Israel have been coordinating closely in the lead-up to the Israeli elections and the US midterm elections, and according to recent reporting from Axios, they have been discussing the possibility of resuming the full-scale bombing campaign against Iran.

(antiwar.com)

This is not something new for BiBi has been lying about Iran for 30 years….if he gets his way who will be next on his ‘hit list’?

Then there is what the soldiers think about this conflict….that is American servicemen….

The poll surveyed 156 people currently serving in the military, 431 veterans, and 144 immediate family members of active-duty service members between September 15 and 28.

Common Defense is a veteran-led group that advocates for progressive policies and endorses Democratic candidates, though a 47% of respondents to their September poll are self-identified Republicans. Nearly 20% identified as “pure independents,” while 35% said they were Democrats.

Though Republicans surveyed in the poll backed Operation Epic Fury at a rate of 77% to 16%, overwhelming opposition among Democrats and independents left respondents opposed to the war overall, 49% to 44%. Veterans were by far the most supportive of the ongoing conflict, with 53% in support and 44% opposing, while active-duty service members opposed it by a 16-point margin and military families by 38 points.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/military-poll-iran-war/

There you have it…..no one but Donny and his throng of babbling morons are the only ones supporting this war.

What will happen after the November election?

Will we return to the stupidity of war or will more logical heads prevail?

Whatcha think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Where’s The Respect?

To Donny it is not a big deal that we have lost so few soldiers in this war with Iran…..and as usual the admin is dissing those families of fallen soldiers.

Since the Iran war began more than six months ago, 18 US service members have been killed and 780 wounded.

“My husband lost his life because we’re in a war – and then I was told that because it’s not technically a war, we lose out on something,” Ms Klinner told the Associated Press. “It all comes down to principle.”

After she expressed her frustration in an online post that went viral, the US air force clarified that his final pay cheque included hazard pay and combat-related tax breaks.

US officials also acknowledged that they had initially provided inaccurate information, and that her husband’s last pay cheque had included – but incorrectly itemised – “combat pay”, which amounts to $225 a month, and was not conditioned on a formal war declaration.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/06/pentagon-refused-payout-soldiers-died-in-iran-war/

May I ask where is the American MSM on this issue?

Is this how we allow our Gold Star families to be treated?

Where the respect for those that died in this stupid war?

They can build a lame ass ballroom and his ego structure known as the Arch but they cannot find the cash to give grieving families their benefits?

To that I say fuck you and the golf cart you rode in on.

If this does not make you mad then you are not the American you pretend to be.

Enough said.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Where Have All The Protesters Gone?

That title would make a great protest song.

We have had many years of constant war and yet there seems to be little pushback on this…..why is that?

As a veteran of the war in Vietnam I have a hard time believing that the American people could care less about the lost of life and the life long injuries that war inflicts upon those that participate.

A recent op-ed tackles this question….

A University of Pennsylvania professor is arguing that if Americans want a louder debate over the war in Iran, they should start by putting their own kids at risk of fighting it. In an essay at the Hill, historian Jonathan Zimmerman contends the near-absence of campus protest—despite more than 750 US casualties and tens of thousands of Iranian ones—has much to do with the end of the draft. Students, he writes, know there’s no chance they’ll be sent, unlike during Vietnam, when the possibility of conscription helped turn colleges into centers of antiwar activism.

By contrast, “I haven’t heard a peep of antiwar sentiment as students return this semester,” writes Zimmerman, who also makes an equity case for a reinstated draft. The Vietnam-era draft was riddled with deferments that favored the affluent and connected, he notes, citing Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton as examples. A genuine, across-the-board draft could fix that. After all, he writes, “In a democracy, the burden of national defense should be shared.”

Read the full essay, which includes a mention of the satirical “Draft Barron Trump” movement.

I agree with this view….any opposition would be good for healthy debate….

I have written a couple of times about this…

War–Invest Your Children

Not long ago the Congress was considering the re-introduction of the draft….it did not go very far…

Conscription Anyone?

On a personal note….I would hate to see the draft again but I also worried about the lack of opposition to our many wars over the years….we cannot blame one party over another for both are guilty of wasting American lives and accomplishing nothing.

There needs to be a real revival of the antiwar opposition protests.

Without them there is no debate and without any debate there will be more American lives ruined by constant wars that no one wants to know about.

If there is another way for these conflicts to come to the forefront then please let us know….I am open to most solutions but solutions must be a priority.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

News From The War

The US mash-up with Iran has all media outlets reporting all aspects of this conflict….the good the bad and the ugly.

I have found very little about the war started by Donny and his Israeli handlers that I can say is good….most of the news is bad and in many ways….then the is the ugly and that is what this post is about….

There are a few situations about this war that get very little coverage and this is one that is seriously lacking in complete coverage….

More than 750 US service members have been wounded since the US launched its war of aggression on Iran on 28 February, according to Defense Department casualty data updated on 19 August.

The update added more than 50 wounded US soldiers to the Pentagon’s war casualty database, bringing the official total to 757 wounded and 18 killed.

Those figures are drawn from two separate entries in the Pentagon’s Defense Casualty Analysis System, combining the totals listed under “Overseas Operations” with those recorded for Operation Epic Fury.

…

The Pentagon has not specified which war the Overseas Operations casualties relate to, nor where or how the personnel were killed or wounded, prompting further questions about the transparency of its reporting.

https://thecradle.co/articles/pentagon-says-over-750-us-troops-wounded-during-war-on-iran

This is a disservice by trying to hide the numbers….these are Americans serving their country and should be treated with more respect.

Is this what society has come to….I thought when we legalized gambling that it would become a frankenstein and so it is….

A small number of gamblers have made $8 million placing military and defense-related bets on the Polymarket prediction site, most placed by about 150 accounts that almost always bet correctly. The researchers say they suspect the accounts are linked to military insiders who could be flagged for law enforcement as “the most likely potential insiders,” researchers said in a new report.

When the most successful of those accounts bet on unlikely military events, researchers found, they won virtually every single time.

“Traders acting on specialized, non-public information possess an edge that is valuable only within a limited set of markets, and that produces win rates difficult to attribute to luck,” researchers with the Anti-Corruption Data Collective said in a new report released Thursday. The researchers studied the small number of bettors who met two criteria: ”The concentration of their betting within less than 100 markets and two topics, and unusual accuracy (over 75%) of their longshot bets.”

The same research group published a report in April that found a high risk of insider trading on military-related Polymarkets after observing that “longshot” bets on military operations won 52% of the time, which was four times more often than other types of markets.

(taskandpurpose.com)

This is getting creepy….we can now bet on cancer patients and now on war….this society is getting sicker by the year.

My stomach is turning….time for a step back….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Women In Danger

This is a post on something I read the other day about women serving in the US Army.

When I was in the Army, 1967-1970, women were clerks, nurses and other non-combatants but in today’s Army they can do anything a man can do.

There is lots of disturbing reports about what goes on in the military between men and women but this report is just plain horrific.

Twenty-three-year-old Sarah Roque had been in the Army for just over four years when a man fatally shot her in the head.

Roque wasn’t in a war zone, and the killer wasn’t an enemy combatant. It was Wooster Rancy, a fellow soldier stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, who had gone to Walmart for trash bags on the last day Roque was seen alive in October 2024. The Army found her body in a dumpster behind the barracks.

“Even now, I still can’t believe it,” her mother, Ana Roque, told The Intercept. “That murderers could exist in one of the supposedly safest places in the country.”

A first-of-its-kind analysis by The Intercept found that in the Army, women are more likely to be killed by their fellow service members than by enemy combatants, in a reversal of the threat soldiers are trained to face. Between 2011 and August 2025, at least 41 women died by homicide in the Army — more than half of them at the hands of other service members or veterans. Using Defense Department manpower data to calculate per capita death rates, The Intercept found that active-duty Army women face a higher risk of homicide than male soldiers, the opposite of national and global trends

In many cases, women in the Army are killed by current or former romantic partners. Over 70 percent of victims had an intimate relationship with the perpetrator at one point, and the rate of homicides among women soldiers from intimate partner violence is at least three times higher than the national average. In others, like Roque’s case, it’s unclear how male soldiers chose their victims.

 

Women in the Army Are More Likely to Be Killed by Fellow Soldiers Than Enemy Combatants

What is it that fuels these acts?

Is it the culture of violence the military brings?

Or is it just a sign of the times?

Please if there are any thoughts  come forth and share.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Only The Best For Our Boys

That disgusting individual in the White House likes to portray himself in some sort of delusional light of patriotism….and he is always going on about that he is doing the absolute best for our troops.

I came across this article about the food being served to our troops off Iran waiting in ships to be deployed…..

Some stellar food prep…..

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with proclaiming that “an army marches on its stomach”.

Yet, the maxim that military success depends on well-fed soldiers seems not to have reached those in charge of American armed forces in the Gulf.

US marines deployed to the Middle East – poised to strike Iran if a fragile ceasefire collapses – are complaining of dwindling rations and inedible food.

One “meal” – photographed on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier – consists of what appears to be a pre-cooked gyros slice, a pile of an unknown brown substance and some boiled carrots.

Another picture, taken on the USS Tripoli, shows a spoonful of shredded meat and a single tortilla on tray.

The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship with 3,500 marines and sailors onboard, has been at sea since leaving its base in Okinawa, Japan, for the Middle East more than a month ago. It is engaged in Donald Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports.

One marine told her father that food was being rationed, the coffee machines were broken, and fresh vegetables and fruit had long disappeared.

Dan, 63, a veteran marine, told USA Today: “We have the strongest military in the world. You shouldn’t be running out of food, and you shouldn’t not be able to get mail on the ship.”

Postal deliveries to serving troops in the Middle East were temporarily suspended after the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28. By April, the service was suspended indefinitely because of what the military called “airspace closures” and “logistical impacts” of the war.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/17/trumps-troops-served-tortilla-spoonful-meat-trays-navy/

The photos in the article are as disgusting as the asshole that is doing this top them.

I mean even MREs or C rats would be better than that plate of puke from Donny.

They say moral is super low among the troops and that could explain this story…..

Bill Galvin has spent much of the past month answering the phone.

“It’s been very, very busy,” he says. Galvin is the counseling director at the Center on Conscience and War, which helps run the 24-hour GI Rights Hotline, set up to inform service members of their options for military discharge.

Most callers are asking how to apply to become a conscientious objector — a difficult, invasive and rarely used process. But they’re also airing their concerns and frustrations, often anonymously, as the hotline allows them a space to do so without repercussions.

Military members are citing myriad reasons for wanting to leave, but the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has been a powerful motivator. In March alone, Galvin’s center took on more than 80 new clients — almost twice as many as it takes on in an average year. The busiest single day saw 12 new clients join, with one person saying four other members of their platoon were also interested.

https://www.alternet.org/conscientious-objector/

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/10/nx-s1-5771612/military-iran-war-trump-conscientious-objector

I say good for you and go for it….if enough stop fighting maybe the old bastards will do the dying…..we could use a few less.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Add A Drum Roll

The talks failed with Iran and then Donny says they will restart in a couple of days and now we know that he is sending more ground troops to the region on stand-by.

The US is sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East and is considering restarting the bombing campaign against Iran or launching ground operations in the country, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials.

The report said that the forces include 6,000 troops aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush and its accompanying warships. Notably, the Bush traveled around southern Africa on its way to the region instead of going through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, the typical route of US warships, signaling the US is concerned the Houthis in Yemen could close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

About 4,200 other US troops, including thousands of Marines, are heading to the region from the Pacific aboard the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group. The Post said they are expected to reach the Middle East by the end of April. Once both forces arrive, the US will have more than 60,000 troops in the region.

The buildup and the US blockade of Iranian ports are framed as an effort to get Iran to agree to US demands for a diplomatic deal. But according to President Trump, the US is continuing to demand that Iran make a commitment to never again enrich uranium for civilian purposes, a condition that’s seen as a non-starter and will likely lead to a renewal of the bombing campaign if the US sticks to it.

The current ceasefire between the US and Iran will expire on April 22 if it’s not extended. Other reports have said that President Trump has considered launching “limited” strikes in Iran to get Tehran to capitulate, but any renewed bombing campaign would mean a return to full-blown war.

Concerning possible ground operations, the Post report said that Trump administration officials have “discussed everything from launching a complex Special Operations mission to extract Iranian nuclear material, to landing Marines on coastal areas and islands to protect the strait, to seizing Kharg Island, an Iranian export facility in the Persian Gulf.”

(antiwar.com)

Is this a bluff?

Will Americans die because of Israel?

Now flash forward to the other side of the world…..a small island nation of Cuba.

Donny and that little idiot Marco have been threatening Cuba for a couple of months and now word comes that there may be more to their jaw slapping than BS….

The Pentagon has increased its preparations for a possible attack on Cuba, according to media reports, as President Trump has made clear that war against the island nation may be his next military intervention.

Zeteo first reported the ramped-up plans for war with Cuba, saying that in recent days, “officials at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the US government were quietly given a new directive that came straight from the Trump White House. The message: ramp up your preparations for possible military operations against Cuba.”

USA Today affirmed the Zeteo scoop, reporting that military planning for war with Cuba has increased in case President Trump orders an attack on the country.

Trump may be eyeing an operation similar to the attack on Venezuela that resulted in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as Zeteo reported that the administration is discussing plans to “attack and kidnap Cuban leaders.”

Since the attack on Venezuela, which killed at least 83 people, including four civilians, the US has been dealing with Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice president, who was sworn in as acting president. The US has eased sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to control its oil industry and oil experts, and has cut off Cuba from Venezuelan oil, part of a ramped-up blockade that’s caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country.

The US has been engaged in some negotiations with Cuba, but it’s unclear what sort of deal would satisfy the US, as the main driver of the policy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would likely not accept an arrangement that keeps the current government in power.

On Monday, President Trump told USA Today that the US “may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with this,” referencing the US-Israeli conflict against Iran. The president has previously said that he wants to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba” and that he feels that he “can do anything I want with it.”

In the face of the pressure and threats from the US, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said he will not step down and has vowed that Cuba is ready to fight.

“An invasion of Cuba would have costs. … It would affect the security of Cuba, the United States and of the region,” Diaz-Canel told NBC News in a recent interview. “If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live.’”

(aqntiwar.com)

This wrinkled old bastard and his idiotic cohorts are determined to set this world on fire.

Are you people happy now?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Donny Is At It Again

Al through this mash-up with Iran Donny has made statement after statement and none have proven to be true…..so far….and as if right on cue another of his BS statements.

President Trump on Monday suggested that peace talks were making progress, but he also threatened to expand bombardment of Iran should those talks collapse. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the US was negotiating with a “new, and more reasonable, regime,” but he warned that a deal must happen quickly and demanded that the Strait of Hormuz be opened immediately, reports NBC News. If not, the US will end its military campaign by “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iran’s electricity plants, oil wells, and the vital energy hub of Kharg Island, he wrote. The US also might hit Iran’s desalination plants, he added.

The nature of the new negotiations was not immediately clear: Pakistan is hosting a forum of regional neighbors, though neither Iran nor the US was participating. A spokesman for the current Iranian regime, meanwhile, made clear that Tehran has had “no direct negotiations with the US,” reports the BBC. Esmail Baghaei also accused the US of “constantly” shifting its public positions. “I do not know how many in the United States take the claim of American diplomacy seriously,” he said. Still, Trump’s comments on progress have boosted optimism on Wall Street, notes CNBC, with Dow futures up more than 300 points. On Sunday, Trump also said Tehran agreed to let an additional 20 ships traverse the strait as a “sign of respect” to the US, per the New York Times.

And the markets love his statement….of course they.

But if these talks are going so well why is there a massive troop build up?

The US troop presence in the Middle East has quietly swelled to a level not seen in decades, now hovering above 50,000. The latest additions: 2,500 Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and 2,500 sailors, plus about 2,000 paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, all moving into position as President Trump weighs his next moves in his month-old war in Iran, per the New York Times. Typically, about 40,000 US personnel are spread across bases and ships in countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar, and the UAE. The buildup comes as Washington considers more aggressive steps to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil shipments that has been largely shut by Iranian retaliation.

The Pentagon is gearing up for weeks of ground operations in the country should Trump approve, per the Washington Post. Options reportedly include seizing territory such as Kharg Island, Iran’s key oil export hub. While analysts note that 50,000 troops would be far too few for a large-scale ground campaign in a country the size and population of Iran, special operations raids are possible, officials tell the Post. This would mark a new phase of the war, one “significantly more dangerous to US troops than the first four weeks,” per the outlet. More than 13 US service members have already been killed, with more than 300 wounded, including at least 15 injured in a Friday attack on a Saudi air base, reports PBS. A recent AP-NORC poll finds 62% of respondents strongly opposed to the use of ground troops in Iran, with only 12% in favor.

The mix of BS and troops leads me to believe that he is just waiting to strike.

Then Donny makes a statement that smacks of a war crime to me….

President Trump on Monday added Iran’s desalination plants to the list of infrastructure he may “blow up” if a deal isn’t reached to end the war, threatening attacks on the country’s water supply, a clear war crime under international law.

“The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social, though Iran continues to deny negotiations are taking place.

“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,’” Trump added.

(antiwar.com)

The Straight….

President Trump is signaling to aides he’s ready to declare victory over Iran without fully reopening one of the world’s most critical oil routes, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal. Administration officials tell reporters Trump has privately said he’s prepared to wind down the US campaign within four to six weeks after degrading Iran’s navy and missile arsenal, even if the Strait of Hormuz remains only partially usable. That would effectively leave Iran with significant leverage over a passageway that carries about a fifth of global oil and gas, already driving up energy prices and squeezing industries worldwide. The White House says restoring normal traffic isn’t a core military goal for now, with Trump hoping diplomacy—or later, a coalition led by US allies—will eventually secure the waterway, sources say.

Sounds like he is looking for a way out.

This will be a devastating conflict when Donny makes up his mind….and you and I will be paying for his stupidity for years to come even if the conflict was to end soon.

Makes me ill.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Boots Are Made For Walking

The Iranian thing has been going on for 4 weeks or so and from what I see here on IST there is little interest on what Donny and his buddies in Israel are doing to the Middle East.

Awhile back Donny ordered 3000 Marines to the region and to be a stand-by and now he had ordered the 82nd Airborne, about 1000 troops, to be ready….

Approximately 1,000 US soldiers with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are expecting to deploy in coming days to the Middle East, according to two sources familiar with the matter, adding to the growing military firepower in the region as the Trump administration says it is in talks with Iran to end the conflict.

The contingent includes Maj. Gen. Brandon Tegtmeier, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, and division staff, as well as a battalion of the 1st Brigade Combat Team which is currently acting as the division’s Immediate Response Force (IRF), the sources said. The initial elements of the division staff and battalion are expected to begin deploying within a week, one of the sources familiar said; other elements within the brigade are also expecting to deploy at a later date, though those expectations could change as the situation develops.

US officials approved written deployment orders late Tuesday, the second source familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday.

The brigade will be the “ready unit” in the Middle East, prepared to be called upon if needed, the source said. The 82nd Airborne Division made a similar movement in 2020 after the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/24/politics/us-army-sending-troops-middle-east-iran

And few people noticed.

Is this the beginning of an escalation?

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/american-boots-on-ground-imminent-in-iran-huge-deployment-arrives-in-middle-east-as-bloody-battle-looms/

What does it take to get Americans off their collective butts and care about what is being done?

Will the deaths of more American soldiers impress them enough to care?

These are the same people that feel it necessary to wish vets, ‘Thanks for your service’ whenever they are around.

When most of these people mean ‘glad it was you and not me’…..this saying is getting as offensive as the usual ‘thoughts and prayers’ after massive shooting.

I know that gas is expensive, food is expensive of Hell everything is expensive but that will not change even when Americans start dying…..it make things worse….but that matters not to some.

Everyday year I get a little more disappointed in my fellow Americans.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Does Donny Want A Full Blown Invasion?

The initial strikes of the war have begun and this will continue until a sufficient amount of damage has been inflicted and then the second phase will be instigated.

Second phase?  Ground troops…..how long will this last?

The US military is preparing for the possibility that the US-Israeli war against Iran lasts until September of this year, according to a report from POLITICO, far beyond President Trump’s initial four-week timeline.

The report said that US Central Command is asking the Pentagon to send more intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days, but likely through September.

The news of the Pentagon preparing for a long war comes as US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said that the US is sending more forces to the Middle East and will be escalating its bombing campaign.

(antiwar.com)

But what about the ground troops?

Senate Democrats said after receiving a classified briefing from the Trump administration on Tuesday that they’re increasingly concerned about the US-Israeli war on Iran dragging on “forever”—and involving American troops in a ground invasion.

“I am more fearful than ever, after this briefing, that we may be putting boots on the ground,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters, criticizing the Trump administration for not providing the American public with information that was given to senators behind closed doors.

(commondreams.org)

But what about the prez….what does he want?

President Trump has been talking privately about putting a limited number of US troops on the ground in Iran, multiple current and former US officials tell NBC News. According to those sources, Trump has floated deploying a small, targeted contingent rather than launching a large-scale ground invasion. The discussions, said to have been held with aides and Republican allies outside the White House, reportedly have centered on scenarios such as securing Iran’s uranium stockpiles and helping to set up a post-war government friendly to US interests, including cooperation on oil production similar to the US-Venezuela relationship after Nicolas Maduro’s capture.

NBC’s sources say no decisions have been made and no orders issued. Publicly, Trump has kept the option open without endorsing it. “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” he told the New York Post earlier this week, saying he “probably” wouldn’t need them but could use them “if they were necessary.” The White House also said on Wednesday that ground troops in Iran are “not part of the plan … at this time,” per PBS. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC its report was based on “assumptions from anonymous sources” outside the president’s national security team and insisted that Trump “always, wisely keeps all options open.”

Is that a good sign?  No it is not…..

The Army just yanked the headquarters staff of elite paratrooper unit out of a major training drill, and it’s setting off alarms about what might come next in the widening conflict with Iran. The 82nd Airborne Division’s headquarters, which oversees rapid deployments of its 4,000- to 5,000-strong Immediate Response Force, was told to remain at Fort Bragg instead of heading to a planned exercise in Louisiana, officials tell the Washington Post reports. No orders have been issued, and the Pentagon insists it won’t discuss potential movements, but one official summed up the mood as “preparing for something—just in case.”

Analysts say any land operation could include seizing Kharg Island, a key oil hub. Michael Rubin at the conservative American Enterprise Institute tells the Post that securing the Persian Gulf island would be a “no-brainer.” Rubin says it appears that the administration is “coming around to the idea that Iran is a much greater problem set than perhaps they went in thinking.” Any such operation, however, would expose US forces and deepen political risks for Trump, who faces broad public opposition to a ground war.

Donny has seen that this is unpopular now that war dead are returning home and he has to have an out to prevent as mass opposition to this war…..and what would that be?

Donny and his band of idiots are trying to con the Kurds into being the spear tip on the ground…..

President Trump is leaning on the Kurds as he weighs whether to send US troops into Iran. Trump has phoned key Kurdish leaders in Iran and Iraq in recent days, offering “extensive US aircover” and other assistance if Iranian Kurdish opposition groups move to seize territory in western Iran, the Washington Post reports, citing US and Kurdish sources. Sources tell CNN that the CIA has been working to arm Kurdish groups in an effort that began months before the war.

  • In a Sunday call, Trump told Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Bafel Talabani that the Kurds must pick a side—”either with America and Israel or with Iran,” a senior PUK official said. Masoud Barzani of the Kurdish Democratic Party received a similar pitch, with US officials described as seeking Iraqi Kurds’ permission and logistical help, not their direct participation.
  • Trump also spoke with Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, part of a new coalition of six Iranian Kurdish parties that has urged Iranian troops, especially in Kurdish regions, to stop backing Tehran’s security forces, the Post reports.
  • The outreach comes as Israel has been targeting police and Revolutionary Guard facilities in Iran’s Kurdish areas, in what analysts describe as a deliberate effort to weaken Tehran’s grip there while US strikes focus on military assets in other parts of the country.
  • The gambit carries substantial risks. Iraqi Kurds have long hosted Iranian Kurdish groups on the condition they do not launch attacks into Iran and have pledged not to let their territory be used as a staging ground. Kurdish leaders, wary of past US reversals and fearing Iranian retaliation if any uprising falters, are signaling caution. Ankara could also balk if Washington moves to arm Iranian Kurdish factions linked to the PKK, which is in a fragile peace process with Turkey.
  • “We are in a very delicate position,” a PUK official tells the Post. If a Kurdish offensive fails, “we do not know what Iran’s reaction against the Kurdistan region of Iraq would be,” the official says. “At the same time, we cannot simply reject Trump’s request—especially when he personally calls and asks for it.”
  • Asked Wednesday about reports of plans to arm Kurdish groups, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump spoke to Kurdish leaders “with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq,” but denied that any specific plan was agreed to, the AP reports.

Will the Kurds fall for this con job?

My guess is yes they will.

I hope that if and when the ground forces start that the killed in action will get more respect from Donny than he showed those that just returned over the weekend.

But that is too much to ask I fear.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”