Bored Of Peace? Welcome To OPERATION EPIC FURY

What now?

Guess the US is at war with Iran now, following the commencement of the joint OPERATION EPIC FURY with Israel to surprise-attack Iran, taking out leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, many other top officials, and at least 201 others (and climbing) in Iran, including reportedly 150 schoolchildren, during Ramadan.

Iran has struck back at US military and civilian targets across Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, killing dozens of people. Three US service members were killed and five were injured too, so far, that we know of.

Donald Trump says to expect more US casualties. Thank you, President Bone Spurs, sir!

Now the UK is involved, too, because they have a defense agreement with Qatar, which Iran bombed, and also thousands of citizens now stranded in the Middle East. This big, giant, deadly clusterfuck has now thrown the entire region into violent chaos.

There is always a tweet, or a dozen, or an entire campaign platform, plus op-eds and multiple speeches and media appearances. Wasn’t Barack Obama the one who was going to start a war with Iran? Or Kamala Harris, if she got PMS or something?

MAGA, you done been had, again. Conned by the adjudicated conman and fraud, who could’ve seen it coming? And once again, this is right out of the pages of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership, which opines the US’s newly theocratic government should “press harder” to get rid of the Iran’s theocratic government, and also the most war-hawkish and Zionist corners of the party’s longtime wettest dreams. Lindsey Graham went on the morning shows practically with the vapors from glee.

But please stop asking MAGA politicians for actual justifications, they have no clue outside of vibes:

Trump’s reasoning for attacking Iran last June and the US’s intended level of commitment have shifted more than the sands of Lut. When Trump attacked then, you’ll recall, he claimed Iran’s entire nuclear capabilities were obliterated and destroyed.

Last week Trump threatened to attack because Iran was cracking down on pro-democracy protestors; irony already got shot 10 times in the back. Now he’s saying he wants an entire Regime Change, but we guess it’s a lazy kind of one where we go smash up everything, blow up their military capabilities and reportedly kill schoolchildren, and then the people of Iran will overthrow all of the systems of their 47-years-old Islamic Republic and elect a new leader who loves Trump, the US and Israel? (But not any of the ones they previously had in mind, Trump says they accidentally killed everybody on the list of possibilities. Back to the war planning drawing board, we guess.)

The steps between A and B, they are all a bit vague.

Iran’s mullahs are massive dicks, do not get us wrong. But after decades of threats they have also been preparing for eventualities like this, and the US is going to have to take out a whole lot of them before they find someone who is willing to be the US and Israel’s puppet. Or, Iran is going to have to have a civil war about it. In the meantime, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and another official from the country’s legal council are already overseeing a transition to a new leader, according to state television, which cited Mohammad Mokhber, one of Khamenei’s advisors.

Will Iran strike back with terrorism in the US? Rest easy, Trump picked a Heritage Foundation intern who graduated college in 2023 to head counterterrorism, we will be fine.

What is this really about? Not the nukes!

You’ll recall in 2015, then-president Barack Hussein Obama and the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany signed a nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in which Iran would reduce its enriched uranium stockpile by 98 percent; stop enrichment and destroy any uranium it had enriched to more than 3.67 percent (weapons-grade level is 90 percent and above); and agree to regular inspections. In exchange, Iran would have sanctions lifted. But theeeennn, President Donald John Trump was elected, and in 2018 withdrew the US from that agreement. And Iran said aight, bet, and though other partners to the deal tried to hold them to it, the country accelerated its enrichment, and began limiting some inspector activity.

Iran is still very far from getting to weapons-grade enrichment, though, and wouldn’t even need to domestically enrich it anyway, since they could just buy it from Pakistan, Russia or China.

Meanwhile, the strait of Hormuz is effectively closed because no insurance company will let a ship go through it.

And how is this new war even intended to end? Are there even frameworks of concepts of a plan between Iranians thanking Trump and Israel with tears in their eyes and Viceroy Marco Rubio and a Trump Taj Mahal Casino and Spa Tehran and/or Armageddon? Who knows. Congress is expected to vote this week on resolutions to require Trump to seek congressional approval to use military force, a day late and a dollar short.

Americans do not want this, literally only 21 percent approve of it. For whatever that is worth anymore.

So what is this really about? Seizing voting machines? Epstein distraction? Appeasing the far right? How long will it last and how many will die? Speculate away.

[Arms Control Center / Ashark Al-Awsat]