Team Trump needs to start lifting the fog of the Iran war for the US public

 https://nypost.com/2026/03/11/opinion/team-trump-needs-to-start-lifting-the-fog-of-the-iran-war-for-the-us-public/

Somewhere between the White House and the Pentagon, the nation’s leaders need to start giving the public a regular, clear, concrete sense of how Operation Epic Fury is proceeding.

Right now, regular Americans and experts “closely monitoring the situation” have good reason to feel confused.

That includes the hundreds of thousands of people with friends and loved ones doing the fighting.

Team Trump provided solid briefings in the first weekend of the war, but then dropped the ball.

Beyond the occasional in-depth presentation by Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it’s as if the administration expects the public to think the occasional high gloss social-media video is enough.

Iran war complicates the economic pivot GOP badly wants to see from Trump

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/11/politics/trump-republicans-iran-war-economic-pivot

Was the conflagration a war, a reporter asked, or merely an “excursion,” as the president had just described it.

“Well, it’s both,” he explained.

“It’s an excursion that will keep us out of a war, and the war is going to be, I mean for them — it’s a war. For us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought,” he continued.

For Americans eager for clarity on where, exactly, this is headed, it wasn’t much.

And for a president looking to present his best case on a conflict that has roiled markets and polls poorly, it was a window into a difficult political moment.

And Republicans by and large support Trump’s military action, though many voices within Trump’s MAGA movement have either voiced deep skepticism or outright rejected the premise on which the conflict was launched.

US intelligence says Iranian regime not at risk of collapse

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/423793

US intelligence assessments indicate that Iran’s leadership remains largely intact and is not at risk of collapse following nearly two weeks of sustained US and Israeli bombardment, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the findings.

One of the sources said a “multitude" of intelligence reports provide “consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger" of collapse and “retains control of the Iranian public." The sources spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss classified intelligence assessments.

The most recent report was completed within the last few days, the source said.

Donald Trump Says ‘We Won’ Iran War

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-claims-victory-iran-war-we-won-kentucky-speech-11663426

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the war with Iran had already been decided in America's favor.

He added, “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job."

Americans are divided along party lines on U.S. military action against Iran, according to polls conducted since the war began, with most polls showing opposition is higher than support.

Trump and other administration officials have said in recent days that Iran was weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, arguments they have used to justify renewed strikes, even as they maintain that the summer’s attacks destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Iran’s response to the Israeli and American bombardment that began nearly two weeks ago has disrupted key trade routes, constrained shipments of fuel and fertilizer from the Gulf and raised risks of air travel through one of the world’s busiest corridors. With neither side signaling a retreat, both appear determined to outlast the other.

Joe Rogan keeps highlighting Trump’s biggest liabilities

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/11/politics/joe-rogan-trump-support-epstein-iran

If there’s one figure who epitomized President Donald Trump’s ability to cobble together a winning coalition in 2024, it might have been Joe Rogan — the influential podcaster who made big news by endorsing Trump on the eve of the election after interviewing him.

Sixteen months later, Rogan epitomizes Trump’s problems in holding that coalition together.

Rogan has broken with Trump on several major issues since mid-2025. And polling shows the issues he’s picked happen to be some of Trump’s biggest political liabilities – including the war with Iran, the Jeffrey Epstein files and immigration enforcement.

After initially voicing support, Trump says he doesn’t want Kurds to enter Iran war

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-initially-voicing-support-trump-says-he-doesnt-want-kurds-to-enter-iran-war/

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he didn’t want Kurdish fighters from Iraq to join the war against Iran, after previously expressing support for the idea.

“I don’t want the Kurds to go into Iran… They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them I don’t want them to go in… The war is complicated enough as it is… We don’t want to see the Kurds get hurt or killed,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, after attending the return of the bodies of the six American soldiers killed in the conflict with Iran.

On Thursday, Trump had said he’d welcome Kurdish involvement, saying: “I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that, I’d be all for it.” He was also reported to have discussed the possibility with Kurdish leaders.

It was not clear what brought about the change in the president’s position.

After Khamenei, What Now?

 Ihttps://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/03/iran-war-khamenei-trump/686208/

Iranians want democracy. Trump wants a brief conflict. Neither seems likely.

What seems to provoke the most poetic language from Trump is the prospect of the Iranian people rising up to take power from their despotic leaders. “Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach,” he said when he announced the strikes, and on Sunday repeated his hope: “That is going to happen,” he told The Atlantic. “You are seeing that, and I think it’s gonna happen.”

But Iran currently lacks a major organized democratic opposition. And that’s the key issue, according to the pro-democracy Iranian writer and Atlantic contributor Arash Azizi. There is no credible ready alternative to the current regime.

Like yesterday, he suggested that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should surrender their weapons to the people. And when he announced the war, he said, Now is time to seize control of your destiny. What do you make of all that?

And it’s the same question about the people should take over. I mean, okay, the people should take over, but what should they do? They’re still facing more than a million people under arms who are defending the regime. There’s still a part of the population—I heard an estimate of about 20 percent; maybe it’s lower—who support the regime, and we saw some of them came out and demonstrated today, as well. So the mechanisms by which this should be done aren’t clear. And I mean, there are people outside the country who have plans. There’s the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has described himself as a potential leader and a potential unifier.

Now, as for the president, he has said very different things over the last 24 hours. So yes, he said he had three candidates. Then he said in another interview that he had a few candidates, but they had all been killed. At some point, he said a Venezuela-style transition would be the best thing, which suggests he doesn’t really want to change the regime.

Will Iranians Rise Up? Here Are the Odds.

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/03/01/iran-uprising-trump-khamenei-regime-change-00806179

According to Donald Trump, Iranians have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he declared, as U.S. and Israeli warplanes pounded Iranian cities and the compound of the country’s supreme leader. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”

The country’s population, after all, is clearly fed up with the Islamic Republic. Over the last decade, Iranians have repeatedly staged mass demonstrations against the regime. Those protests typically only go away after the government responds with horrific force. In December and January, for example, hundreds of thousands of Iranians spent weeks demonstrating — until Iranian security officials shot and killed thousands of them. But now, American and Israeli warplanes are attacking Iran’s military and security apparatus and destroying other government institutions. They have killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and many other top officials. The Trump administration seems to be betting that the Iranian people will soon take over the regime change process, resume protesting and successfully remove a greatly weakened government.

Iranians, of course, do desperately want a better future, and they have been willing to protest under very difficult conditions. For an autocracy, the country has high levels of civic engagement. It is therefore possible that Iranians will succeed where other populations haven’t. But history suggests most of the country’s people will not heed Trump’s call, and that even if they do, they will have a hard time winning.

“Never,” Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago who studies air power and regime change, replied when I asked whether what Washington was doing in Iran had succeeded elsewhere. “Bombings have never led people to take to the streets and topple their leader.”“In order to save the pro-democracy protesters, you’ve got to be right there,” Pape told me. “You have to have troops on the ground.”

Iranians Say Trump’s Intervention Brought Destruction, Not Liberation

 https://time.com/article/2026/03/10/iran-war-trump-us-israel-regime/

After nearly two weeks of U.S.-Isreali airstrikes, Iranians describe a country exhausted and uncertain. Bombing campaigns that targeted military sites and security infrastructure have also damaged police stations, fuel depots and power facilities.

Residents who cheered the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28 in the first wave of strikes, say they are confounded by Trump’s suggestions that the assault may end with his regime still in place. 

"Trump either didn't have a clear strategy to begin with, or it was based on wrong data," said Mahmood, the CEO of an IT company in Tehran. "None of what he has done has helped the people of Iran. Our situation isn't any better.”

Despite the scale of the bombardment, the Islamic Republic’s core institutions appear to have held firm. At night, its security forces and loyalists fill the streets of major cities, first to mourn the “martyrdom” of the elder Khamenei, then to laud the appointment of his son, Mojtaba, whose ascension to Supreme Leader was announced Monday.

Trump’s war in Iran fractures MAGA media

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5777711-maga-media-trump-iran-conflict/

President Trump’s war in Iran has sparked a heated fight in conservative circles, pitting some of Trump’s most ardent supporters in the media against GOP lawmakers who are backing what critics argue is a conflict pushed by Israel but unpopular with the American people. 

Popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump before the 2024 election and has since criticized the president over a host of issues, pushed back on arguments coming from the likes of Graham and Cruz, calling them “insane.”

“I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on ‘no more wars, end these stupid, senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it,” Rogan said this week. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me, unless we’re acting on someone else’s interests, like particularly Israel’s interests.”

Lindsey Graham Draws MAGA Anger Over Israel Comments

 https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-draws-maga-anger-over-israel-comments-11651141

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has sparked fierce backlash from big MAGA names after he professed his loyalty to Israel and said he was asking Americans to send their sons and daughters to the war in the Middle East.

Graham said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity in Monday’s episode of Hannity: "To our friends in Israel, God bless you I’m with you in every way. To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists, forget it. I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day. They’re the best ally we could hope for."

Several MAGA supporters have spoken out against Graham and his comments, and others he has made recently, with one calling him "traitorous" and conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly calling him a "homicidal maniac."

Rand Paul: Midterms will be ‘disastrous’ for Republicans

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5776845-rand-paul-warns-midterm-disaster/?tbref=hp

Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) warned Tuesday that the midterms could be “disastrous” for his party if the war in Iran continues. 

“Already, we are behind the eight ball as far as the electoral process,” Paul told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria.”

“I think if you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action — people don’t want to call it war — if there’s still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think you’re going to see a disastrous election,” the libertarian senator added.

Idolatry even at Sinai

 Tehilim (78:36-37) 36. Nevertheless they flattered him with their mouth, and they lied to him with their tongues. 37. For their heart was not constant with him, nor were they faithful in his covenant.

Shemos Rabbah (42:8):Even while they were standing at Sinai itself - proclaiming “We will do and obey” - their hearts were intent on idol worship.: They spoke fraudulently with their mouths and lied to Him with their tongues …

Shir HaShirim Rabbah (07:08) Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: In two places, Israel acted deceitfully with G-d. At Sinai, they acted with their mouths but did not act with their heart, as it is stated: “But they beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue…their heart was not steadfast toward Him”. In Babylon, they acted with their heart but did not act with their mouth, as it is stated: “For He does not afflict willingly”, as it is stated: “A man who is an adversary and an enemy. This wicked Haman”, and made their wound more painful.

Meiri (Avos Introduction): There is a strong emphasis and constant warning in the Torah to stay far away from idol worship since there has always been a strong attachment to it generation after generation. An intelligent person would naturally ask why this error of idol worship has repeated itself generation after generation? The answer is that the average person more readily believes that which he can perceive and comprehend that which is intangible and abstract. Therefore, a person’s nature draws him to idol worship.

Meshech Chochma (Shemos 12:21): It is said about the Jews that they are believers the descendants of believers. However Taanis (5b) notes that non Jews have stronger religious beliefs than Jews - even when their religion is utter nonsense. “The Kittites worship fire and the Kedarites worship water, and even though they know that water can put out fire they have not yet changed their gods but My people hath changed their G d for that which doth not profit.” And even if you want to answer that the faith that is being praised, is believing in things that will happen in the future such as the resurrection of the dead - non Jews also have strong faith in events that will happen in the future. To explain the distinction between Jewish and non Jewish faith, one must note that the appreciation of things such as love, beauty and power are all inherent in a person. The ancient peoples sanctified all these natural powers and placed high value on them and described them as resulting from specific gods. Thus they had a god of beauty, a god of power and a god of love as is well known. A person who personified one of these natural attributes was described as a godly person. Even today, the peoples of the world make images and sanctify these tangible - directly experienced characteristics. Even the Moslems have sanctified the grave of their savior in Mecca and done other things. Consequently, we see that the emotions and senses directly support their faith which is built upon experience and imagery. Thus, non Jewish religious faith is essentially just an extension of natural emotion. That is not how G d conceives religious faith…. In fact, all tangible existence is totally separate from the one Creator. All this is such pure abstract intellectual awareness that Chovas HaLevavos (1:2 Shaar HaYichud) asserts that true service of G d is for either the philosopher or prophet. Nevertheless, all Jews - even without reaching the levels of prophets or even philosophers - truly believe in these pure abstract thoughts of His existence and His unity and they scoff at all that which is entirely based upon natural emotional experience. They understand that faith based entirely on innate human feelings and thoughts is worthless and transient representing only conjecture –G d in the image of man. This is why Chazal state, “How did the Jews merit to recite the Shema which extols the unitary of G d? Because they were descendants of Abraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov.” Because of this knowledge gained from their forefathers - Jews understand this profound abstract philosophical issue and scorn emotion based faith...

US-Israel conflict with Iran turning into war of attrition