It just beggars belief.

I’ve watched my feeds over the past few days with my jaw on the floor. Does no one remember how we let our politicians talk us into Iraq and Afghanistan not 25 years ago?

"80% of the populace would reject these theological thugs." - Bibi Netanyahu (June 15, 2025)

“Today it’s Tel Aviv, tomorrow it’s New York. I understand America First but I don't understand America dead. That's what these people want. They chant ‘death to America.’” - Bibi Netanyahu (June 16, 2025)

“Iran was very close to developing a nuclear weapon.” - President Trump (June 17, 2025)

Now, let’s go back in time…

“We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.” - Dick Cheney (March 16, 2003)

“If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region. And I think that people sitting right next door in Iran, young people, and many others, will say the time of such regimes, of such despots, is gone. There is a new age, something new is happening.” - Bibi Netanyahu (September 12, 2002, in testimony to the U.S. Congress!)

“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” - Dick Cheney (August 26, 2002)

“Iraq has these weapons.” - Donald Rumsfeld (September 18, 2002)

“We found the weapons of mass destruction.” - Dubya (May 29, 2003)

“What we’re giving you are facts… Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons.” - Colin Powell (Feb 5, 2003)

In Goldeneye, James Bond said, “Governments change, but the lies stay the same.”

Yes, 007, you’re right.

Except Bibi remains the same. He’s lied to Congress so many times, so egregiously, I can’t believe anyone takes seriously anything he says.

And yet, American Congressmen and Senators do. Why is that? Because they were convinced of the case for invading Iran long before Bibi opened his mouth.

We’ll get back to Bibi later, but first, let’s talk about why I’m so antiwar in general, and against this war in particular.

Colin Powell Made Me a Libertarian

The public will never forget, and perhaps never forgive, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for that ridiculous speech he gave at the UN in 2003.

Upon his death, I read an editorial in The Wall Street Journal, where they apologized for him. The editors allege that he acted honorably and used the best intelligence the CIA could provide at the time.

Powell himself knew the intelligence was bullshit, and he said it himself before the speech. That tidbit was discovered three months after his infamous speech.

I recall sitting at my trading desk in London, gazing up at the screen as I watched it.

The volume was on: it was one of those special moments.

You could tell he had no conviction in his voice, that it was a pack of lies. I had never been so disappointed in a politician in my life.

At that moment, I knew he was just an apparatchik in an administration that had already lost its way.

My respect for him plummeted.

Later, Powell was asked to resign by the very men he was loyal to because he constantly fought with Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon.

Powell knew far more about defense than Rumsfeld ever did.

Powell called that speech a blot on his career, but it was the beginning of the end of his career.

And it was the beginning of my utter distrust of anything that comes out of a politician’s mouth. If Colin Powell could lie, any politician could lie… and usually does.

Colin Powell and his bald-faced lies at the UN are why I’m antiwar in general. Now, let’s get to why I’m so against the idea of war in this particular case.

Unknown Unknowns

With all the above said, how does “Hey, this will be cakewalk!” sound?

Because we went from “Israel doesn’t need any help” to “We need to stop Iran building a nuclear weapon” to “We should take down the mullahs” at breakneck speed.

For all of Donald Rumsfeld’s faults, the one thing he said that made the most sense was the one thing the idiots in the legacy media roasted him for.

There are known knowns — there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

The King In Waiting

If you watched Tucker Carlson embarrass Harvard-educated Ted Cruz yesterday, going to war should terrify you. Senator Cruz couldn’t recall either the population or the ethnic makeup of Iran.

Iran has 95 million people. It’s enormous. And its ethnic mix is not homogenously Persian.

With this in mind, look at this map:

If the U.S. decides to bomb, and then invade, Iran, it better form a new Iranian government immediately.

Yes, Iran was ancient Persia. But today’s Iran is a multicultural melting pot of Middle Eastern and Central Asian peoples. We know, just by seeing the current state of politics in America, how hard governing can be.

But doesn’t Iran have a king in waiting?

Sure, but Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince, is the eldest son of the last Shah. David Stockman posted this on X:

No thanks! You are just as bad---the Pahlavi's plundered Iran's wealth and tyrannized its people. That's why you got the Ayatollahs in 1979. Stay in your obscure and irrelevant "exile", if that's what you are pleased to call it!

I wrote about the CIA overthrowing Mosaddegh on Monday and what a disaster the Shah’s rule was. His plundering of the country led directly to the mullahs taking over in 1979.

The Iron Fence

Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome looks more like an Iron Fence. Of course, not all of Iran’s missiles are getting through. But Tel Aviv and other places are taking a heck of a whooping.

Credit: @MaxBlumenthal

Before you call this fake news, Blumenthal’s post references a Washington Post article citing U.S. and Israeli intelligence, which suggests that Israel's missile defense capabilities may only last another 10 to 12 days due to the high cost and frequency of the attacks.

Each night of defense costs $285 million, largely funded by the U.S. taxpayer.

WaPo has since pulled the link… awfully suspicious… it actually makes me believe that news even more.

Little wonder why Bibi is screaming for escalation and U.S. involvement. Who knows how long the Iron Dome will last?

I Don’t Blame Bibi

First, Benjamin Netanyahu, the man, deserves respect. He’s served his country, been shot for his country, and lost his brother when his brother was in action for his country.

He’s not a chickenhawk like Lindsay Graham. And that’s why he’s so bewildering to me. You’d think a man who’s seen that much bloodshed would be working for peace, rather than trying to build a dime store empire sitting on sand with no oil under it.

But I don’t blame him. If I were him, I’d be using the U.S. the way he is. As a cash cow. As a wedge-breaker.

And that’s why he manipulates the U.S. right wing better than anyone in history. He owns Trump now. And it’s embarrassing. Just get a look, through Jon Stewart’s comical take, at how long he’s been telling us Iran is close to building a nuclear weapon. His track record is on par with Al Gore’s climate change predictions.

Credit: @hippyygoat

Like I said, I don’t blame him. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And the USG constantly gives him stuff.

Credit: @realdavidonline

Trump, Ever the Opportunist

What happened to the man who once said going into the Middle East was a disaster for America?

Here’s a short timeline: Early this year, The Donald pursued nuclear negotiations with Iran, pressing for a deal and opposing Israeli military action. As talks stalled and tensions rose, Israel launched their airstrikes, and Iran retaliated.

At first, President Trump limited U.S. involvement to defensive support for Israel, but as the conflict escalated, he shifted to strongly backing Israel’s campaign—despite earlier frustrations—while still avoiding direct U.S. military engagement unless Americans were attacked.

Bibi punked him.

So for The Donald to look like he was in control, DJT alleged he always knew what was going on.

Then he told the world he thought Tulsi Gabbard was wrong about Iran not having nukes. I expect her to resign shortly.

Now he’s fully onboard with a war whose consequences haven’t manifested yet.

This was always stupid, as the unintended consequences have already started to roll in: Reuters reported China will speed up the Power of Siberia 2 negotiations with Russia to import 50 bcm more Russian gas.

China previously resisted this pipeline but has now changed its stance because China is assuming a secondary objective of Iranian regime change is to deprive China of oil.

Good job, USG!

Wrap Up

That’s a lot to chew on. I’ll leave you with this.

Let’s get out of this idiocy, and stay out of it.