It's pretty clear that Trump is in effect a 10 year old, stuck in the mid-1950s, who is playing war with his friends and with toy soldiers. He seems incapable of comprehending that these are real people, and that American soldiers/sailors/air crews/marines are risking their lives, and dying, and that real civilians are suffering and many are being killed. In his mind, it's all a game-- an abstraction. He also doesn't comprehend that wars rarely end cleanly, and that there will be a significant mess to clean up when things are over. There will also be permanent damages, and likely, the seeds of the next war will have been planted
Trump learned nothing from our "exercises" in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. No surprise, learning is not something that he values - it goes against his unrealistic vision of reality.
I suspect that Trump is something of an object lesson in why it's not necessarily a good idea for the frustrated parents of an out of control boy to enroll him in a military academy (as Trump was) in the hope that he will learn discipline and self-control. Young Donnie appears instead to have developed a taste for glory, gold leaf and the type of dominance one can gain by being tall, sly and backed up by a pile of money.
Amendment 25 please. And pray that whoever is holding the nuclear "football" codes and those under that person know better than to press the trigger. That doesn't take care of Hegseth, who who also needs to be impeached ASAP., as he is on what he feels is a holy mission to bring about the Rapture, and second coming of Christ.
Congress would have to appoint a new panel that would invoke the 25th Amendment. But there's as strong a prospect of that as there is of Vance and Trump's Cabinet doing so... zero.
MAGA is devoting enormous, panicky energy to rigging the midterm elections because retaining GOP control of Congress is Trump's only institutional protection against our nation's popular will. We can't let them win.
Congress would also have to be present and working. They are on vacation. Even warmonger Lindsey Graham was spotted at Disney World this week. You'd think he'd want to be at Trump's right hand during all this excitement; must have been forced out by Hegseth and Trump, who is only in love with military men these days. Current ones.
Do they? What might be the right time then, a nuclear weapon dropped on Iran?
I distrust those stories of "Republican colleagues tell me privately...." or maybe I just feel disgust. I'd want to reply, "Say it when and where it could mean something or keep your trap shut." No, they're all too sceered of the big, bad bully.
Do you know who wasn't scared? My state senator, who wrote the MI Republican legislature report about our 2020 election, after he investigated all the allegations for 8 months. He said our election was free, fair, and accurate and even added that those saying otherwise were doing so for "personal gain".
Naturally, this came to Trump's attention and he screeched, "You're primaried". And he was, which didn't matter in the primary or the election; Mr. Ed McBroom was re-elected. More than once.
This Democrat probably hasn't agreed with him on any other single thing, but I respect him for having integrity on this important issue, and standing up to pressure. It's a pity that there are so few other Republicans who do so.
I wish people (and I was until recently one of them) would stop imagining that the 25th amendment will ever be enacted. I've learned that this very difficult for a number of reasons. For one, the corrupt grifters and ideologues in the cabinet (all of them?) will never act to remove him, and for another the 25th was written to protect national functioning from a president who was, basically, comatose or similarly impaired--not a crazy one. And I give you Woodrow Wilson as a prime example of how it doesn't even work then if the cabinet is determined to preserve the status quo. IMPEACHMENT is the only remedy available. Write your senators and congressmen.
Do not expect miracles re: invoking the 25th Amendment. The cabinet secretaries are charged with this action, and as they are loyalist toadies, they will not act againt the leader. We're faced with another unlikely scenario, that the MAGApublicans will impeach.
Unpopular question: What were those jet fighters doing there? Had they just bombed another school or hospital? Maybe some residences? Maybe they were about to?
And yes, the action movie coverage of the rescue has been nauseating...even NPR was practically breathless recounting the story.
Ok, glad they were rescued. Now back to the thousands of Iranian men, women and children already killed, and more killed every day by the US/Israel alliance...the tens of thousands of destroyed homes...the massive environmental damage....the tens of thousands wounded...
Yes, I am glad the airman was rescued, and at the same time I am sick knowing that this war is unnecessary and that our nation has committed acts of destruction and murder for no reason.
20+ years ago, I read a book I've been unable to forget, "War Is The Force That Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges, a former NYT war correspondent. From a summary:
Chris Hedges argues that the media acts as a component of the "machinery" of war by promoting nationalist myths and presenting sanitized, antiseptic coverage of conflict. Hedges contends that journalists often succumb to the allure of conflict and become complicit in state propaganda, replacing the "sensory reality" of war's brutality with a manufactured, heroic narrative.
That was one of the themes from the book that really stuck with me, and I have been noticing it ever since.
Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This is a vivid example of that truism. If you read the writings from those who lived through WWI in Europe, in particular, you hear this recognition, disenchantment, bitterness and deep sense of betrayal. The government and the media conspired--very deliberately, as far as I can see in those earlier wars--to mislead young men into thinking they were going to have a grand adventure. The war killed a huge swath of a generation of males, left a population of damaged men, and an older generation mourning and deprived of their loved ones. But, as is amply clear, we as a culture, especially in the manosphere, have turned our backs on learning from history and are freshly susceptible to these lies. My own generation (early boomers) suffered from this same amnesia, until the endless, fruitless war in Viet Nam woke us up.
There are so many examples that prove this. The 'embedded' journalists of the Iraq War(s), the video game style video coverage we first saw in Iraq War 1....
We still keep the myth that somehow the US is some benevolent force in the world...not a dominating aggressive power that has bombed, invaded and subverted too many countries to list here...and certainly, mainstream journalists have done their part with nonstop hagiography and dramatic, jingoistic coverage that so often fails to ask why were are doing these things at all..
Of course, one of those journalists during the Obama era was the founder of this outlet...I really think Contrarian readers would be downright shocked to read some of her pieces from then.
I appreciated the following observation from HCH (below) in her April 6 letter. Her last point is crystal clear to an ever-increasing number of us regular citizen observers while the NYT continues to sane-wash, trapped in a journalistic world that apparently dictates that the noteworthy story isn’t newsworthy.
From HCR
“It’s really difficult to cover him in a way that conveys how unhinged he is,” journalist Aaron Rupar of Public Notice told George Grylls of The Times about President Donald J. Trump. Rupar explained that political journalists are trained to think, “‘OK, what did he say that was newsworthy?’ So you…convey that to your audience. But in reality, when you actually watch his rallies, you see that they’re full of hatred, he’s lying constantly, and a lot of it is incoherent.”
Rupar spends as much as eighty hours a week watching Trump and members of his administration, clipping videos of their noteworthy statements into a few minutes at a time. His work is indispensable for translating Trump’s long, meandering speeches to people who need shorter versions of them. In this quotation, he nails the real problem of this moment in which the president of the United States is threatening “obliteration” if another nation doesn’t do as he demands: the noteworthy story is not what the president says; the story is the president himself and his obvious mental deterioration.
My commentary—The Times is incapable of breaking with its legacy media practices even while the Trump regime manipulates those practices to make headlines that create the appearance that Trump is a functioning president. I knew from listening to less than 15 seconds of Trump in yesterday’s news conference that the purpose of the event was to trot him out to show he’s still alive and can engage with the world. What an awfully low bar for presidential performance. As I learned from personal experience, someone who has dementia like Alzheimer’s can interact with people, if they had that skill before, and appear okay to others not paying much attention. But that same person can’t be trusted to manage their bills or find their wallet, much less run a country. We’re being duped by our government and the legacy media is in on it, even if unintentionally. To the Times, I say, “Democracy is not neutral and the gap between your reporting and citizens’ perceptions is becoming enormous.” Something is breaking and the Times should care about what that is. It needs to adapt, as the rest of us are.
Thank you, Ms. Rubin, for that full and scathing list of lies that resulted in two of our aircraft being shot down, two other aircraft damaged, and a (thankfully successful) horribly dangerous rescue mission THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NECESSARY if we had grown-ups in charge at the pentagon.
Hegseth better be grilled to a crisp on the 29th when he testifies to congress. The fact that he put these service members at risk by lying about "uncontested air space and complete control" should result in his resignation or firing.
Trump and his minions are like the Bourbons: "They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing." Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown us that asymmetrical warfare using drones, which are very cheap and can be manufactured anywhere, can allow a smaller, nominally weaker country to hang on indefinitely and inflict considerable damage on the aggressors. This war is good only for Putin, who has had sanctions on Russian oil lifted (temporarily?) and who can sell it at prices undreamed of even two months ago.
“dim-witted defense secretary…”. LOVE it! So true! Great description, Jennifer! That might explain why he was “the smartest kid in 3rd grade for 5 years in a row”!
If I had to create a bigger, more ignorant, more arrogant asshole on my own from stick figures, I couldn't come anywhere near the one-dimensional shallowness of Pete Kegsbreath. "We have complete control of the skies -- they can't do anything about it." This snide, revolting performative 12-year-old clearly hasn't bothered to read a single history book or understood air campaigns. By March 1945, the US had complete control of the skies over Japan, but "victory" wasn't a part of the reality then at all. Okinawa awaited. China awaited. Borneo had yet to be won. The Battle of Tokyo Bay had not yet been fought.
Are we being groomed for six more months of fire-bombing before a nuclear "device" gets used? Or is that too long for these jerks to wait?
i care and worry about what netanyahu has inflicted on Israel and the consequences for the day after when it comes. but at least he is not mad! the "most powerful country in the world" is run by a lunatic... what next ????
I don't see much difference between what Netanyahu is doing in Lebanon and what Putin is doing in Ukraine, as this is an invasion and war for territory with plenty of civilian targets. Israel posts to X and drops leaflets telling people they have a certain amount of time and where they should go, e.g., "north of the Litani River". Oh, wait, that was weeks ago. Now they have to go farther north of the Zarani river, as Israeli forces keep pushing north, and blow up homes and bridges over the Litani river along the way.
One family of six didn't have a car and had to wait for a friend to pick them up. He was a little late; they were all killed. Imagine being that pilot or drone operator. Did he convince himself that the children were Hezbollah? This kind of shit is happening every day! (I read Al Jazeerah)
Over a million people are now displaced. They flee to southern Beirut and then get blown up there, too. No one seems to care. France sent "humanitarian aid" as if this was a natural - not entirely MAN made disaster.
Putin at least has an enemy that's fit to respond. Netanyahoo's "enemies" are a people he has already flattened to death. And he fancies hehimselfs a hero.
Good point. Ukraine also had a world outcry, and help was sent their way. I can't figure out what the deal is with Lebanon. Yes, Hezbollah has rained rockets down on Israel and apparently Israel feels the Lebanon gov't hasn't done enough to curtail them, but does that give them the right to level the country and then declare that the territory you now occupy is "greater Israel"?
The UN has spoken out, of course, not least of which because Lebanon now has 1.1 million refugees. People were sleeping in their cars after grabbing whatever they could before those deadlines. They're living in tents, inside and outside of buildings. Meanwhile, the IDF was ordered to destroy their vacated houses. Whole villages!
Pure savage barbarism. This by a nation that is supposedly living by the tenets of Judaism. Every Jew anywhere in the world should be opposing Israel's ever-expanding holocaust.
During the so-called 'ceasefire' between Lebanon and Israel starting in Nov 2024, and ending with the Iran War, Israel killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, displaced tens of thousands, and destroyed homes and infrastructure across southern Lebanon. Israel started constructing a wall crossing into Lebanese territory that makes 4,000 square meters inaccessible to the population.
As of Feb 2026, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese government reported more than 15,400 ceasefire violations by Israeli forces. Israel issued at least 13 evacuation orders in this time period. For Israel, a 'ceasefire' is an entirely one-way agreement, in Gaza as in Lebanon.
I am not 100% sure, but in that time, I don't know of a single attack that resulted in deaths of IDF soldiers of Israeli citizens by Hezbollah. But even if there were...does Lebanon not have the right to 'defend itself' as Israel and its apologists constantly claims it has?
Hezbollah's attacks only began again after the Iran War started, after 15 months of open, brazen 'ceasefire' violations by Israel.
And now, as you say, Israel is very much working to fully and permanently annex southern Lebanon....this has been a goal of Israel for decades, along with annexing parts of Syria as it has also done, and of course, entirely eliminating Palestinian society from the Occupied Territories.
Thank you, Jen, for calling out the Trump administration's "misrepresentations" about US air superiority over Iran. That the U.S. committed 155 planes to one airman's rescue is, ultimately, a reminder about Trump's war's stupidity and profligacy.
On another note, I was delighted to see Dana Milbank's NYT column about Trump's debasement of J.D. Vance this morning. It was good to see another one of your former Washington Post colleagues abandoning the Bezos Post for NOTUS.
It's too bad that Mr. Milbank couldn't have been lured to The Contrarian staff. When allowed by the editors at the Washington Post, he presented excellent reporting. He also did his research.
I think you have the right tone. Thank you. I wonder when Iran will purchase some fighters from China or North Korea and shoot down some of those lumbering b-52’s.
Ignorance is not always bliss. Trump has access to people with deep knowledge of the complexities inherent in Iranian history and culture, as well as generals with the ability to think strategically without succumbing to cheerleading about things that go boom. But does he take advantage of this? No. He appears to be incapable of listening to anyone who is not acting as an echo chamber and amplifier of his ignorant views.
Vance is a lot of things, most of them awful, but he's not a malignant narcissist with probable dementia. Vance is said to have been opposed to this war initially, which, if true, suggests he would be looking for a way out, and Trump being out of the picture could enable that.
Moot point anyway, as it won't happen. Not with this spineless group of Republicans.
It's pretty clear that Trump is in effect a 10 year old, stuck in the mid-1950s, who is playing war with his friends and with toy soldiers. He seems incapable of comprehending that these are real people, and that American soldiers/sailors/air crews/marines are risking their lives, and dying, and that real civilians are suffering and many are being killed. In his mind, it's all a game-- an abstraction. He also doesn't comprehend that wars rarely end cleanly, and that there will be a significant mess to clean up when things are over. There will also be permanent damages, and likely, the seeds of the next war will have been planted
Like in Spaceballs. "no sir, I didn't see you playing with your dolls sir"
Trump learned nothing from our "exercises" in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. No surprise, learning is not something that he values - it goes against his unrealistic vision of reality.
They are giant fools and liars who got into a mess from which they can't extricate themselves.
I suspect that Trump is something of an object lesson in why it's not necessarily a good idea for the frustrated parents of an out of control boy to enroll him in a military academy (as Trump was) in the hope that he will learn discipline and self-control. Young Donnie appears instead to have developed a taste for glory, gold leaf and the type of dominance one can gain by being tall, sly and backed up by a pile of money.
He is not incapable of comprehending. He does not care. Any human being other than himself, is expendable.
Lies and more lies.
Amendment 25 please. And pray that whoever is holding the nuclear "football" codes and those under that person know better than to press the trigger. That doesn't take care of Hegseth, who who also needs to be impeached ASAP., as he is on what he feels is a holy mission to bring about the Rapture, and second coming of Christ.
Congress would have to appoint a new panel that would invoke the 25th Amendment. But there's as strong a prospect of that as there is of Vance and Trump's Cabinet doing so... zero.
MAGA is devoting enormous, panicky energy to rigging the midterm elections because retaining GOP control of Congress is Trump's only institutional protection against our nation's popular will. We can't let them win.
Congress would also have to be present and working. They are on vacation. Even warmonger Lindsey Graham was spotted at Disney World this week. You'd think he'd want to be at Trump's right hand during all this excitement; must have been forced out by Hegseth and Trump, who is only in love with military men these days. Current ones.
A lot of Congressional Dems say Republicans privately are waiting for the right moment to bolt.
We need to pressure/convince Republicans.
IMHO the fatal flaw is Epstein. Nobody wants to be associated with, identified with child predators.
Do they? What might be the right time then, a nuclear weapon dropped on Iran?
I distrust those stories of "Republican colleagues tell me privately...." or maybe I just feel disgust. I'd want to reply, "Say it when and where it could mean something or keep your trap shut." No, they're all too sceered of the big, bad bully.
Do you know who wasn't scared? My state senator, who wrote the MI Republican legislature report about our 2020 election, after he investigated all the allegations for 8 months. He said our election was free, fair, and accurate and even added that those saying otherwise were doing so for "personal gain".
Naturally, this came to Trump's attention and he screeched, "You're primaried". And he was, which didn't matter in the primary or the election; Mr. Ed McBroom was re-elected. More than once.
This Democrat probably hasn't agreed with him on any other single thing, but I respect him for having integrity on this important issue, and standing up to pressure. It's a pity that there are so few other Republicans who do so.
So... you're telling people NOT to pressure Congressional Republicans?
I wish people (and I was until recently one of them) would stop imagining that the 25th amendment will ever be enacted. I've learned that this very difficult for a number of reasons. For one, the corrupt grifters and ideologues in the cabinet (all of them?) will never act to remove him, and for another the 25th was written to protect national functioning from a president who was, basically, comatose or similarly impaired--not a crazy one. And I give you Woodrow Wilson as a prime example of how it doesn't even work then if the cabinet is determined to preserve the status quo. IMPEACHMENT is the only remedy available. Write your senators and congressmen.
Do not expect miracles re: invoking the 25th Amendment. The cabinet secretaries are charged with this action, and as they are loyalist toadies, they will not act againt the leader. We're faced with another unlikely scenario, that the MAGApublicans will impeach.
The New York Times coverage has been quite disappointing, writing about the rescue mission as if it was an episode of "Mission Impossible".
The legacy media 's treatment of Trump as if he bears ANY resemblance to a sane, functioning human being is a grave disservice to the world.
Unpopular question: What were those jet fighters doing there? Had they just bombed another school or hospital? Maybe some residences? Maybe they were about to?
And yes, the action movie coverage of the rescue has been nauseating...even NPR was practically breathless recounting the story.
Ok, glad they were rescued. Now back to the thousands of Iranian men, women and children already killed, and more killed every day by the US/Israel alliance...the tens of thousands of destroyed homes...the massive environmental damage....the tens of thousands wounded...
Yes, I am glad the airman was rescued, and at the same time I am sick knowing that this war is unnecessary and that our nation has committed acts of destruction and murder for no reason.
I would like to see every single US military person over there 'rescued' by bringing them all home now.
(and of course, this would in turn 'rescue' countless Iranian lives....)
20+ years ago, I read a book I've been unable to forget, "War Is The Force That Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges, a former NYT war correspondent. From a summary:
Chris Hedges argues that the media acts as a component of the "machinery" of war by promoting nationalist myths and presenting sanitized, antiseptic coverage of conflict. Hedges contends that journalists often succumb to the allure of conflict and become complicit in state propaganda, replacing the "sensory reality" of war's brutality with a manufactured, heroic narrative.
That was one of the themes from the book that really stuck with me, and I have been noticing it ever since.
Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with the aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” while British statesman Winston Churchill wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This is a vivid example of that truism. If you read the writings from those who lived through WWI in Europe, in particular, you hear this recognition, disenchantment, bitterness and deep sense of betrayal. The government and the media conspired--very deliberately, as far as I can see in those earlier wars--to mislead young men into thinking they were going to have a grand adventure. The war killed a huge swath of a generation of males, left a population of damaged men, and an older generation mourning and deprived of their loved ones. But, as is amply clear, we as a culture, especially in the manosphere, have turned our backs on learning from history and are freshly susceptible to these lies. My own generation (early boomers) suffered from this same amnesia, until the endless, fruitless war in Viet Nam woke us up.
There are so many examples that prove this. The 'embedded' journalists of the Iraq War(s), the video game style video coverage we first saw in Iraq War 1....
We still keep the myth that somehow the US is some benevolent force in the world...not a dominating aggressive power that has bombed, invaded and subverted too many countries to list here...and certainly, mainstream journalists have done their part with nonstop hagiography and dramatic, jingoistic coverage that so often fails to ask why were are doing these things at all..
Of course, one of those journalists during the Obama era was the founder of this outlet...I really think Contrarian readers would be downright shocked to read some of her pieces from then.
I appreciated the following observation from HCH (below) in her April 6 letter. Her last point is crystal clear to an ever-increasing number of us regular citizen observers while the NYT continues to sane-wash, trapped in a journalistic world that apparently dictates that the noteworthy story isn’t newsworthy.
From HCR
“It’s really difficult to cover him in a way that conveys how unhinged he is,” journalist Aaron Rupar of Public Notice told George Grylls of The Times about President Donald J. Trump. Rupar explained that political journalists are trained to think, “‘OK, what did he say that was newsworthy?’ So you…convey that to your audience. But in reality, when you actually watch his rallies, you see that they’re full of hatred, he’s lying constantly, and a lot of it is incoherent.”
Rupar spends as much as eighty hours a week watching Trump and members of his administration, clipping videos of their noteworthy statements into a few minutes at a time. His work is indispensable for translating Trump’s long, meandering speeches to people who need shorter versions of them. In this quotation, he nails the real problem of this moment in which the president of the United States is threatening “obliteration” if another nation doesn’t do as he demands: the noteworthy story is not what the president says; the story is the president himself and his obvious mental deterioration.
My commentary—The Times is incapable of breaking with its legacy media practices even while the Trump regime manipulates those practices to make headlines that create the appearance that Trump is a functioning president. I knew from listening to less than 15 seconds of Trump in yesterday’s news conference that the purpose of the event was to trot him out to show he’s still alive and can engage with the world. What an awfully low bar for presidential performance. As I learned from personal experience, someone who has dementia like Alzheimer’s can interact with people, if they had that skill before, and appear okay to others not paying much attention. But that same person can’t be trusted to manage their bills or find their wallet, much less run a country. We’re being duped by our government and the legacy media is in on it, even if unintentionally. To the Times, I say, “Democracy is not neutral and the gap between your reporting and citizens’ perceptions is becoming enormous.” Something is breaking and the Times should care about what that is. It needs to adapt, as the rest of us are.
Thank you, Ms. Rubin, for that full and scathing list of lies that resulted in two of our aircraft being shot down, two other aircraft damaged, and a (thankfully successful) horribly dangerous rescue mission THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NECESSARY if we had grown-ups in charge at the pentagon.
Hegseth better be grilled to a crisp on the 29th when he testifies to congress. The fact that he put these service members at risk by lying about "uncontested air space and complete control" should result in his resignation or firing.
yeah, should
Trump and his minions are like the Bourbons: "They have learned nothing, and forgotten nothing." Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown us that asymmetrical warfare using drones, which are very cheap and can be manufactured anywhere, can allow a smaller, nominally weaker country to hang on indefinitely and inflict considerable damage on the aggressors. This war is good only for Putin, who has had sanctions on Russian oil lifted (temporarily?) and who can sell it at prices undreamed of even two months ago.
Anne Piece, I wonder how much is trump's cut on Russia lifesaver lifted sanctions and all the money they are making? 10% maybe?
more than that...he wants to sit at the right hand of putin...
“dim-witted defense secretary…”. LOVE it! So true! Great description, Jennifer! That might explain why he was “the smartest kid in 3rd grade for 5 years in a row”!
If I had to create a bigger, more ignorant, more arrogant asshole on my own from stick figures, I couldn't come anywhere near the one-dimensional shallowness of Pete Kegsbreath. "We have complete control of the skies -- they can't do anything about it." This snide, revolting performative 12-year-old clearly hasn't bothered to read a single history book or understood air campaigns. By March 1945, the US had complete control of the skies over Japan, but "victory" wasn't a part of the reality then at all. Okinawa awaited. China awaited. Borneo had yet to be won. The Battle of Tokyo Bay had not yet been fought.
Are we being groomed for six more months of fire-bombing before a nuclear "device" gets used? Or is that too long for these jerks to wait?
As long as this spoiled teenagers don't have to risk their own lives, 6 months is too long to wait ICTT. They want immediate satisfaction.
i care and worry about what netanyahu has inflicted on Israel and the consequences for the day after when it comes. but at least he is not mad! the "most powerful country in the world" is run by a lunatic... what next ????
Yes, Netanyahoo is not insane, but he is pure cruelty.
I don't see much difference between what Netanyahu is doing in Lebanon and what Putin is doing in Ukraine, as this is an invasion and war for territory with plenty of civilian targets. Israel posts to X and drops leaflets telling people they have a certain amount of time and where they should go, e.g., "north of the Litani River". Oh, wait, that was weeks ago. Now they have to go farther north of the Zarani river, as Israeli forces keep pushing north, and blow up homes and bridges over the Litani river along the way.
One family of six didn't have a car and had to wait for a friend to pick them up. He was a little late; they were all killed. Imagine being that pilot or drone operator. Did he convince himself that the children were Hezbollah? This kind of shit is happening every day! (I read Al Jazeerah)
Over a million people are now displaced. They flee to southern Beirut and then get blown up there, too. No one seems to care. France sent "humanitarian aid" as if this was a natural - not entirely MAN made disaster.
Putin at least has an enemy that's fit to respond. Netanyahoo's "enemies" are a people he has already flattened to death. And he fancies hehimselfs a hero.
Good point. Ukraine also had a world outcry, and help was sent their way. I can't figure out what the deal is with Lebanon. Yes, Hezbollah has rained rockets down on Israel and apparently Israel feels the Lebanon gov't hasn't done enough to curtail them, but does that give them the right to level the country and then declare that the territory you now occupy is "greater Israel"?
The UN has spoken out, of course, not least of which because Lebanon now has 1.1 million refugees. People were sleeping in their cars after grabbing whatever they could before those deadlines. They're living in tents, inside and outside of buildings. Meanwhile, the IDF was ordered to destroy their vacated houses. Whole villages!
Pure savage barbarism. This by a nation that is supposedly living by the tenets of Judaism. Every Jew anywhere in the world should be opposing Israel's ever-expanding holocaust.
During the so-called 'ceasefire' between Lebanon and Israel starting in Nov 2024, and ending with the Iran War, Israel killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, displaced tens of thousands, and destroyed homes and infrastructure across southern Lebanon. Israel started constructing a wall crossing into Lebanese territory that makes 4,000 square meters inaccessible to the population.
As of Feb 2026, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese government reported more than 15,400 ceasefire violations by Israeli forces. Israel issued at least 13 evacuation orders in this time period. For Israel, a 'ceasefire' is an entirely one-way agreement, in Gaza as in Lebanon.
I am not 100% sure, but in that time, I don't know of a single attack that resulted in deaths of IDF soldiers of Israeli citizens by Hezbollah. But even if there were...does Lebanon not have the right to 'defend itself' as Israel and its apologists constantly claims it has?
Hezbollah's attacks only began again after the Iran War started, after 15 months of open, brazen 'ceasefire' violations by Israel.
And now, as you say, Israel is very much working to fully and permanently annex southern Lebanon....this has been a goal of Israel for decades, along with annexing parts of Syria as it has also done, and of course, entirely eliminating Palestinian society from the Occupied Territories.
Have you seen even a single mention of Lebanon in The Contrarian since this latest war started? I haven't.
JD Vance is next Tamar. Isn't it a nightmare?
Thank you, Jen, for calling out the Trump administration's "misrepresentations" about US air superiority over Iran. That the U.S. committed 155 planes to one airman's rescue is, ultimately, a reminder about Trump's war's stupidity and profligacy.
On another note, I was delighted to see Dana Milbank's NYT column about Trump's debasement of J.D. Vance this morning. It was good to see another one of your former Washington Post colleagues abandoning the Bezos Post for NOTUS.
It's too bad that Mr. Milbank couldn't have been lured to The Contrarian staff. When allowed by the editors at the Washington Post, he presented excellent reporting. He also did his research.
I think you have the right tone. Thank you. I wonder when Iran will purchase some fighters from China or North Korea and shoot down some of those lumbering b-52’s.
Ignorance is not always bliss. Trump has access to people with deep knowledge of the complexities inherent in Iranian history and culture, as well as generals with the ability to think strategically without succumbing to cheerleading about things that go boom. But does he take advantage of this? No. He appears to be incapable of listening to anyone who is not acting as an echo chamber and amplifier of his ignorant views.
How can you control the skies when you can't control yourself?
James, that's why they scumbag president is using diapers. He can control himself.
This war is surreal. Until Putin invaded Ukraine, I was a pacifist but still never thought I’d ever take Iran’s side.
If Trump is removed using the 25th amendment we will get Vance who is now in Hungry supporting their dictator.
Vance is a lot of things, most of them awful, but he's not a malignant narcissist with probable dementia. Vance is said to have been opposed to this war initially, which, if true, suggests he would be looking for a way out, and Trump being out of the picture could enable that.
Moot point anyway, as it won't happen. Not with this spineless group of Republicans.
JL, the only thing Vance is not is demented, yet.
Trump will not be removed by any invocation of the 25th amendment. It is pure fantasy.
Trump and Hegseth should be treated like the rabid dogs they are.
Since they clearly don't behave, maybe Krist Noem should "teach" them.
Oh, yeah, I like that idea!
All of this is, shamefully, true.