What a violent and bloody start to 2026. Clearly, Trump has abandoned his goal of becoming the president of peace and opted for the presidency of death, corruption, and recklessness. I dread to think what the rest of the year will bring.
I wouldn't trust Trump with the responsibility of using a TV remote, let alone the position of US president. Sadly, people voted for him, and he's repaid his citizens with continuous lies and corruption. He has no conscience and takes zero accountability for his erratic behaviour and irresponsible decisions, putting innocent lives in precarious situations; his narcissism is boundless and sickening.
Free the Iranians? From hell? From the hell the US constructed? How will we do that? By creating more hellfire, murdering Iranians and casting them into utter darkness? When and how will we free ourselves from the hell we've cast ourselves into?
Aaron, I am a multi year subscriber and in many cases, especially Ukraine and anti neo con issues I am with you.
But not on this one. When you say - "what ever one thinks of the Iranian government" you lose me. How can anyone with a conscious not despise the zealots who run Iran and oppress and murder their people. Yes the world always has evil rulers and we can't go around and wave a magic wand to eliminate them.
But I am all in on doing whatever we must do to free the Iranians from the hell that they have endured for 47 years. And that emanates from the religious zealots who stole that country. Not from our tariffs other sanctions.
Dear Eric, you've been misinformed. My ex-military father was very nearly executed in the first days after Khomeini took over in 1979, and as a lifelong atheist I don't favor theocracy. But like it or not, driving a wedge between the mullahs and their mass base is difficult even after all the Western destabilization projects over the years. Here's a thorough analysis by a renowned heavyweight among Iran scholars explaining that cruelty is not why the Islamic Republic is still standing.
Fyi the author comes from the country's Christian minority.
Also, there's a reason a majority in Iran do not wish the Ayatollah to act with restraint against the mobs burning ambulances, mosques and policemen as I write. The CIA was able to overthrow Iran's moderate, democracy-minded (and revered) prime minister in 1953 because he did not impose press restrictions or jail his opponents even knowing the UK and the US were plotting against him. Declassified US archives and political memoirs are proof the CIA took advantage to mobilize corrupt journalists, parliamentarians and army officers to put an end to his progressive FDR-style agenda. His refusal to get tough with street mobs of his time not only cost him his political career, it left the entire nation exposed to a quarter century of brutal rule by the re-installed Shah, whose dreaded counterintelligence apparatus my father served. Iran is facing precisely the same situation today, and it would be dereliction of duty for the Ayatollah to go soft on the armed street mobs. Thanks for reading.
What a violent and bloody start to 2026. Clearly, Trump has abandoned his goal of becoming the president of peace and opted for the presidency of death, corruption, and recklessness. I dread to think what the rest of the year will bring.
I wouldn't trust Trump with the responsibility of using a TV remote, let alone the position of US president. Sadly, people voted for him, and he's repaid his citizens with continuous lies and corruption. He has no conscience and takes zero accountability for his erratic behaviour and irresponsible decisions, putting innocent lives in precarious situations; his narcissism is boundless and sickening.
Excellent piece, Aaron. Thank you.
Free the Iranians? From hell? From the hell the US constructed? How will we do that? By creating more hellfire, murdering Iranians and casting them into utter darkness? When and how will we free ourselves from the hell we've cast ourselves into?
Aaron, I am a multi year subscriber and in many cases, especially Ukraine and anti neo con issues I am with you.
But not on this one. When you say - "what ever one thinks of the Iranian government" you lose me. How can anyone with a conscious not despise the zealots who run Iran and oppress and murder their people. Yes the world always has evil rulers and we can't go around and wave a magic wand to eliminate them.
But I am all in on doing whatever we must do to free the Iranians from the hell that they have endured for 47 years. And that emanates from the religious zealots who stole that country. Not from our tariffs other sanctions.
Still love you but not on this one.
Dear Eric, you've been misinformed. My ex-military father was very nearly executed in the first days after Khomeini took over in 1979, and as a lifelong atheist I don't favor theocracy. But like it or not, driving a wedge between the mullahs and their mass base is difficult even after all the Western destabilization projects over the years. Here's a thorough analysis by a renowned heavyweight among Iran scholars explaining that cruelty is not why the Islamic Republic is still standing.
https://www.merip.org/2009/03/why-the-islamic-republic-has-survived .
Fyi the author comes from the country's Christian minority.
Also, there's a reason a majority in Iran do not wish the Ayatollah to act with restraint against the mobs burning ambulances, mosques and policemen as I write. The CIA was able to overthrow Iran's moderate, democracy-minded (and revered) prime minister in 1953 because he did not impose press restrictions or jail his opponents even knowing the UK and the US were plotting against him. Declassified US archives and political memoirs are proof the CIA took advantage to mobilize corrupt journalists, parliamentarians and army officers to put an end to his progressive FDR-style agenda. His refusal to get tough with street mobs of his time not only cost him his political career, it left the entire nation exposed to a quarter century of brutal rule by the re-installed Shah, whose dreaded counterintelligence apparatus my father served. Iran is facing precisely the same situation today, and it would be dereliction of duty for the Ayatollah to go soft on the armed street mobs. Thanks for reading.