Bombs drop in Iran

Trump demands "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER."

Notice that President Trump said "we." We are at war.

Trump wrote on Truth Social:

We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured “stuff.” Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.

Trump is already celebrating, and why not? It's going to be easy. This is a golf "gimme." Trump is already imagining being magnanimous and merciful in victory:

We know exactly where the so-called “Supreme Leader” is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Trump warned residents of Tehran --  a city of some nine million people -- to evacuate immediately. 

Our relationship to Israel's actions in the Middle East just moved another notch closer to full partner in war, now one with a second front. The pretense is over that we are a "helper" of Israel. We are in this. The war against Palestinians isn't very popular. We see the casualties on TV and question Israel's tactics and goal. They are bombing civilians and starving children, and to what end? What plan does Israel have for Palestinians other than exile or death?

The war against Iran will be more popular with the U.S. public and the world if it is very short and if it achieves its goal, an Iran without nuclear weapons. A big if.

The events of September 11, 2001 remind us that war is not solely misery we inflict on someone else. There are a thousand ways for Iran to hit back at us, and it may happen, now or later, when we least expect it. Iran has national pride. Iran is a place that will persist. It has resilience. Iran embodies a civilization, a group tied by blood, language, and culture that has occupied the place between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf for 4,000 years. Their civilization survived Alexander. It survived Genghis Khan. They cannot realistically be occupied. Hostilities will never end with war; only by consent of Iran. 

Diplomacy would be more effective if the U.S. had credibility as a country that dealt predictably and wisely on the world stage. Trump damaged that credibility. He breaks treaties. He switches sides. He imposed tariffs and then changed them.

Unconditional surrender is a hopeless goal, but a non-nuclear Iran is not. Iran has made trouble for its Arab neighbors for decades. The U.S. -- and Israel, even -- would not be friendless as we attempt to disarm Iran of its nuclear weapons. The world understands that Iran is dangerous.

As humans living our lives, we are in those long, long days of early summer. How pleasant. Enjoy the lives we have. But we are something else now, too. We are citizens in a country that has gone to war. Wars start amid thoughts that it might be short, a "splendid little war" as our secretary of state described the Spanish-American War. That is how they start, amid optimism and overconfidence. 

Five days ago I wrote that the world had gotten more dangerous and that our future was in the hands of President Trump, a "stable genius."

Now it's even more dangerous. 

Diplomacy would be more effective if the U.S. had credibility as a country that dealt predictably and wisely on the world stage. Trump damaged that credibility. He breaks treaties. He switches sides. He imposed tariffs and then changed them.

Unconditional surrender is a hopeless goal, but a non-nuclear Iran is not. Iran has made trouble for its Arab neighbors for decades. The U.S. -- and Israel, even -- would not be friendless as we attempt to disarm Iran of its nuclear weapons. The world understands that Iran is dangerous.

As humans living our lives, we are in those long, long days of early summer. How pleasant. Enjoy the lives we have. But we are something else now, too. We are citizens in a country that has gone to war. Wars start amid thoughts that it might be short, a "splendid little war" as our secretary of state described the Spanish-American War. That is how they start, amid optimism and overconfidence. 

Five days ago I wrote that the world had gotten more dangerous and that our future was in the hands of President Trump, a "stable genius."

Now it's even more dangerous. 

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