Welcome to Sunday, March 8, 2026: the Sabbath for goyische cats. It’s also Daylight Savings Time, so make sure you’ve reset your clocks an hour forward (those with iPhones get it automatically, but don’t forget the microwave clock and other antiquated timepieces). Stanford University finds that these time changes, by disrupting our circadian rhythms, can be harmful to our health. Watch this: time changes make us fat and have strokes! Seriously, we need a system where the time never changes:
It’s also International Women’s Day, Check your Batteries Day, and National Peanut Cluster Day.
There’s a new Google Doodle today, and, well, I’ll let you figure it out, and then click on it to see where it goes:
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the March 2 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
*War update from the NYT: Trump is vowing to hit Iran even harder, as the Islamic Republic apologized to its neighboring states (save Israel, of course) for firing missiles and drones at them.
President Trump vowed in a Saturday morning social media post that Iran would soon be “hit very hard” and that the week-old Israeli-American aerial onslaught would expand to target new “areas and groups of people.”
Earlier, the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said in a televised address that Mr. Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender was “a dream that our enemies will take to the grave.” Shortly after Mr. Pezeshkian’s speech, air-raid sirens rang out in Bahrain and Qatar, a sign Iran’s retaliatory attacks were still continuing.
Mr. Pezeshkian, apparently seeking to blunt anger at Iran in the Arab world, also apologized to Persian Gulf nations for launching strikes into their territories. That comment appeared to prompt Mr. Trump to claim Iran had “surrendered to its Middle East neighbors.”
But the Iranian president said later on social media that Iran would keep trying to damage American bases in the Gulf. “We have not attacked our friendly and neighboring countries,” he said. “Rather, we have targeted U.S. military bases, facilities, and installations in the region.”
The details of American attacks on Iran on Saturday remained unclear. Senior U.S. officials last briefed the public on the fighting two days ago. On Friday, the U.S. military released a statement saying that U.S. forces had struck at least 3,000 targets since the war began last weekend, up sharply from 2,000 strikes earlier this week, but provided few details.
Israeli attacks hit Mehrabad Airport in Tehran overnight, the military said, setting it ablaze. The targets were planes affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the military said. Tehran residents described massive balls of fire and smoke billowing into the air.
In an interview with NBC News two nights ago, Iran’s foreign minister denied a lot of allegations, including that Iran has created an internet blackout, which it clearly has. The Islamic Republic is digging in, and this means, given Trump’s demands for “unconditional surrender” (which he may not mean), the war is going to drag on. Meanwhile, more and more people on the Left are demonstrating and crying, “Hands off Iran.” If you subscribe to the NYT, look at the front page this morning; it’s all about how bad this war is and so on. They make no pretense now about not being biased: they are criticizing and not reporting (I’m talking about the news itself; the op-eds are even more slanted).
*Speaking of the war, Andrew Sullivan continues to get my dander up with his continued demonizing of Israel. His latest Weekly Dish column is called, “The war he’s always wanted,” with the subtitle, “A moment of triumph for Benjamin Netanyahu; and of democratic collapse in the US.” What he means is that the Constitution mandates that only Congress can declare war, but Trump is flouting that. (So did earlier Presidents, including Clinton and Obama). Some excerpts:
We had a functioning liberal democracy then, a constitutional system that was imperfectly but actually followed, a responsible president, and international law on our side.
Today, we have precisely none of the above.
We’ve had no debate; we’ve had no search for international support or allies; we’ve ignored the UN entirely; the Congress didn’t debate, let alone vote, in advance; and the American people were told about the war after it had already begun. All of this renders this war illegal and unconstitutional and outrageous, and the fact that most people have just accepted it is proof, if we still needed it, that the extinction-level event I predicted in 2016 is now well in the rearview mirror.
In plain English, this is what is in front of our nose: a corrupt, deranged monarch pursuing an illegal and immoral war primarily to benefit a foreign country. This war makes us a textbook case of how democracies stagger into tyranny and endless war.
And how they rot from within. I watched this week as the secretary of defense did his Rumsfeld-On-Meth routine. But Rumsfeld would never express the following indecency:
This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.
That’s how fascists describe war, not Americans. It’s the mark of barbarians, not Christians. . .
. . . .How then did this almost incredible thing, the one thing we swore we’d never do again — another regime-change war in the Middle East — happen before most Americans had even heard of it, let alone debated it? It’s stupefying that so many have already moved on from this foundational question.
One answer is that liberal democracy was deliberately crippled — because if we’d actually followed the Constitution, we wouldn’t be at war right now. The public is opposed by a big margin; the House vote on whether to suspend support just narrowly failed 212-219. (If all the Dems had voted for it, it would have won.) A real debate — with Gaza fresh in the minds of Dems and with MAGA deeply divided — and this war would never have started. If it was to happen, it had to be sprung on us.
The other answer, provided by the administration, is that Israel bounced us into it. They did so by deciding to assassinate the entire Iranian leadership (an act that violates all international law and sets a truly terrifying precedent for leaders of all countries, including our own). That Israeli decision instantly guaranteed America’s entry into the war, regardless of the will of the American people
Sullivan really doesn’t like Israel, and this column is, to me, over the top. If we conduct a secret strike, we don’t debate it before Congress, as leaks are almost certain. And Israel has been in an existential crisis with respect to Iran for years and years. Sullivan doesn’t think that: he thinks that Israel is just fine and Jewish Americans are just doing their thing when they lobby the Administration. Perhaps if Sullivan lived in Israel he’d have a different take. Yes, he may be right about the futility of this war, like the futility of other Middle Eastern conflicts, but even our European allies wish for the death of the Iranian theocracy. I’m getting tired of his rants.
*Even more on the war: the WSJ (and other sources) report that it was likely the U.S. who struck a girls school in Iran, killing over 150 people (the number of children isn’t yet known, but surely many were killed).
U.S. military investigators think American forces likely were responsible for a strike that killed dozens of children at a girls elementary school in Iran, a U.S. official said. The investigation hasn’t reached a final conclusion, the official said.
Shajarah Tayyebeh Girls’ School, in the town of Minab near the Strait of Hormuz, was hit Saturday on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli air campaign in what appears to be the deadliest strike of the war. Iran said more than 160 people were killed, including many children, a figure that couldn’t be independently verified.
The school is located on the edge of a compound linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite branch of Iran’s armed forces, according to an analysis of images by The Wall Street Journal. There are indications the school building had previously been used as an IRGC headquarters, the official said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that the U.S. is investigating the strike. The U.S. official cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages. A U.S. Central Command spokesperson declined to comment on the incident.
Reuters first reported that U.S. officials believed the U.S. military was likely responsible for the incident at the school.
The U.S. hasn’t publicly acknowledged that its forces struck the compound. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that the U.S. carried out strikes along the southern coast of Iran to degrade its naval and missile capabilities before bringing its offensive further inland.
Iran has blamed both the U.S. and Israel for the strike. While the U.S. and Israel are coordinating their actions in Iran, they are largely operating in different geographical areas. An Israeli military official said the military was looking into the school incident but wasn’t aware of an Israeli strike in that area.
It’s not certain yet who did this, and if Israel or the U.S. did, it’s a black mark on the American attacks. Granted, the school abutted a military target, and so this could be considered “collateral damage”, but think of the lives of all those girls, and of the grief of their parents. So far both Israel and the U.S. seem to have been careful to take out only military targets, and this is a sad error (no Western country would try to destroy a school for girls). But it’s not a reason to end military action in Iran.
*We have freedom of speech in the U.S., so you can say whatever you want so long as it doesn’t fall under the exceptions to the First Amendment. You can, for example, applaud Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. ‘And that in fact is what the wife of Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of NYC did. The NYT has the story (frankly, I’m surprised the Israel-hating NYT printed it!).
Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Friday sought to create a wall between his leadership of New York City and the private views of his wife, Rama Duwaji, after being asked about her social media activity surrounding the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Ms. Duwaji liked posts on Instagram that were supportive of the Palestinian cause immediately after the attacks, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, according to the Israeli authorities. Israeli military forces responded with military action in Gaza that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The mayor said his wife’s views should not be subject to broad public scrutiny. They were not married when she liked the posts; the couple wed in early 2025, and he did not enter the Democratic primary for mayor until October 2024.
“My wife is the love of my life and she’s also a private person who has held no formal position on my campaign or in my City Hall,” Mr. Mamdani said during an unrelated news conference Friday morning. “I, however, was elected to represent all eight and a half million people in this city, and I believe that it’s my responsibility, because of that role, to answer any questions about my thoughts and my policies and my decisions.”
Mr. Mamdani was responding to a Jewish Insider article that highlighted a handful of instances in which Ms. Duwaji had liked Instagram posts supportive of the Palestinian cause immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks.
One post, shared by an account called The Slow Factory, a social justice nonprofit, on the day of the Hamas attack, showed a bulldozer that appeared to breach the barrier between Israel and Gaza. The caption read, “Breaking the walls of apartheid and military occupation” with the date of the attack beneath.
Ms. Duwaji, who is Syrian-American, liked the post. She did not comment for the Jewish Insider article. A City Hall spokeswoman on Friday told The New York Times that Ms. Duwaji had no comment.
In another example, she liked an Instagram post that showed people celebrating atop what appeared to be an Israeli military vehicle with the words “Free Palestine” beneath it. The article also included posts she liked that described resistance as an act of “self-defense” and a “human right” for people under occupation.
Mr. Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor and a democratic socialist, has long criticized Israel and defended Palestinians — an issue that inspired him to get into politics. He has described the war in Gaza as genocide and has said he does not believe Israel should be a Jewish state.
Here’s a tweet about the NYT’s hypocrisy on the issue (h/t Luana):
The @nytimes just showed its hand.
When Mamdani’s wife likes posts supporting the Oct. 7 massacre, it’s framed as “support for the Palestinian cause.”
With a nice photo of the couple together.
But when a Jewish congressman’s wife posts about Israel?
He’s surrounded by… pic.twitter.com/Z2SsuA147E
— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) March 7, 2026
And the NYT has changed its headline from the original (h/t Orli). Here’s the latest headline:
and here’s (at bottom) is the original headline. I’m not sure why they made the change, but I don’t agree that his wife’s views are “no one’s business.” Of course she can have and promulgate such views if she wants, but she can also be detested for them. And knowing Mamdani, I would bet that he actually shares her views but keeps quiet about it. After all, if she really “likes” the October 7 attacks, how can he eat dinner with, or get into bed with, someone who approved of this butchery? I see Mamdani as an Islamist and antisemite, but others of course disagree. What puzzles me is why so many Jewish people voted for him.
*From the AP: a marble bust of Christ in a Roman basilica has now been attributed (by one researcher) to Michelangelo. Who knows—she may be right! Excerpts:
An independent researcher claimed on Wednesday that a marble bust of Christ in a Roman church is by Michelangelo, the latest purported attribution to the Renaissance genius who is one of the most imitated artists in the world.
The unverified claims by Valentina Salerno has unsettled Renaissance scholars, especially since a recent sketch of a foot that was attributed to Michelangelo, but disputed by some as a copy, recently fetched $27.2 million at a Christie’s auction.
Given the stakes — and Salerno’s suggestion that several other works can now be attributed to Michelangelo based on her documentary research — many leading experts have declined to comment.
Salerno has published her theory on the commercial website academia.edu, a non-peer reviewed social networking site academics use, and announced the first “rediscovery” at a news conference Wednesday.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, who lived from 1475-1564, created some of the most spectacular works of the Renaissance: the imposing statue of David in Florence and the delicate Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel ceiling and “The Last Judgment” fresco behind the chapel’s altar. Salerno now says she has located another — a bust of Christ in the Basilica of Sant’Agnese Fuori le Mura, listed by Italy’s Culture Ministry as anonymous from the Roman school of the 16th century.
She is not the first to claim it. In 1996, Michelangelo expert William Wallace wrote an article in ArtNews about the well-documented history of wrongly attributing works to Michelangelo. It quoted the 19th century French author Stendhal as writing that at the Sant’Agnese church, “we noticed a head of the savior which I should swear is by Michelangelo.”
. . . Salerno suggests that several documents in the first few hundred years after Michelangelo’s death correctly attribute the work to the artist but that in 1984 a scholar debunked it, erroneously in her view, and it has remained wrongly attributed ever since.
Here’s a video that shows you what the bust looks like. It’s certainly beautiful and of Michelangelo’s style and quality, but stay tuned. You don’t need to understand the Italian.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is asking Big Questions again:
Hili: What is eternity?
Andrzej: Difficult to explain, a sort of self-renewing present, with no beginning and no end.
In Polish:
Hili: Co to jest wieczność?
Ja: Trudno wyjaśnić, rodzaj samoodnawialnej teraźniejszości, bez początku i końca.
*******************
From Puns:
From Now That’s Wild:
From Cats Doing Cat Stuff:
Masih’s pinned tweet in which she talks to Bill Maher about how Amercans ignore the plight of Iranians:
Where is the left now?
Where are the “pro-Palestinian” and “anti war” activists when the Islamic Republic is killing innocent Iranians?
At least 20 people got killed in 10 days protests including 4 children….
Same story, my friends, the same story I once told @billmaher. pic.twitter.com/pwKEdZAKEc— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 6, 2026
Van Jones echoes Masih; he’s getting more “politically incorrect” all the time, and he works for CNN!
Something strange is happening in the information war.
Young Americans defending regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran that jail protesters, strip women of rights and execute people for being gay.
Self-described patriots on the right suddenly echoing narratives that benefit… pic.twitter.com/yfQ2S4Qov4
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) March 5, 2026
Emma always puts some humor in her posts:
Meanwhile, flatty women are quietly smug about barely needing a sports bra, while the be-boobed are wondering how on earth to get a barbell over them without putting your back out.
I studied for my PhD alongside an engineer (male) of sports bras. They are not fashion. This is… https://t.co/zg6GA1znXh
— Emma Hilton (@FondOfBeetles) March 5, 2026
Two from my feed. If you mock accordion music, think twice:
He sat with an accordion and played one of Vivaldi’s hardest pieces alone, sounding like a full orchestra in his hands 🎶 pic.twitter.com/KL8UqtQWzi
— Tansu Yegen (@TansuYegen) March 6, 2026
Three-handed spontaneous boogie-woogie duet:
Public piano. Fluent fingers.
Pure energy right in the middle of the train station. pic.twitter.com/OON2wSCOsD— 💜Music is Love💜 (@Hoainguyen888) March 7, 2026
One I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:
This French Jewish girl was gassed to death as soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was 13 years old. https://t.co/zcWSyxn7UL
— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) March 8, 2026
And two from Dr. Cobb. The first one’s from The New Republic, and the guy is horrible!:
Conservative MAGA ideologue Matt Schlapp has attempted to justify the killing of more than 100 young girls at an elementary school in southern Iran, by claiming they were saved from religious extremism.
— Bruce Little (@brucedlittle.bsky.social) 2026-03-06T22:14:16.334Z
. . . and Matthew’s own Lived Experience. Oy!
I was at London Zoo years ago and the vicuna made a noise at me. Feeling clever, I repeated it back; it said the same thing, so I said again. Then it spat me right in the eyes.* It was saying “You lookin’ at me?” and I was unwittingly saying that back. * An unnoticed sign said “this animal spits”.
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb.bsky.social) 2026-03-07T15:04:05.162Z
St Pancras boogie woogie for three hands is terrific! Both the sound and the joy of the musicians are contagious and a wonderful wake-up on this otherwise dark first morning of U.S. daylight savings time.
Dr K. is always entertaining! The curious can find his channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrKBoogieWoogie
Great playing, but I’m a little sceptical about the claim that it was unplanned, not least because he says her name at the end and there are other similar videos where he arrives with young pianists before joining in once they’ve started playing.
Yes Jez, I noticed that too….but I did not care because that is just a footnote to such a very entertaining performance.
It would take an essay to dismantle Andrew’s polemical and mostly oversimplified points, so I’ll refrain here, as I have addressed several of them in earlier comments. Perhaps history will repeat itself and a future level-headed Andrew will refute the emotional Andrew that couldn’t see a war’s beginning with any strategic or moral clarity. Same Andrew. Just pointed in the opposite direction this time.
The accordion clip was superb—the full performance even better. Thanks!
I don’t agree with Andrew either but be warned: large numbers of people do, probably the majority if polls I’ve seen are accurate.
If we had slavishly followed public opinion before initiating armed conflict, then opposition and indifference would have snuffed our nascent Revolution; we would likely now recognize a sovereign country just south of our Mason-Dixon line; Americans would have continued watching from a distance as French and British boys died in trenches; and, barring Japan’s foolish attack at Pearl Harbor, the UK would have almost certainly fallen to Hitler. We then wouldn’t need to reflect on the meaning of 1948 and developments thereafter.
On the other hand, if hindsight and moral judgment mirrored public enthusiasm for bloodshed and hostilities at the onset of combat, then the Mexican-American War, the Indian Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan would all rank as solid to towering successes.
And to save anyone the trouble, I will grant that the Ayatollah wasn’t Hitler—at least while he didn’t have nuclear weapons and if you didn’t have long, black hair; feminine grace; and want to be free. But to my American friends, the Ayatollah was at least on par with Putin, was he not? That same Putin so, so many wish to fight.
There will always be a tension within a democratic republic between “representing” that public essentially via algorithm and leading the nation. Moreover, simply because something is the “right thing to do” doesn’t mean it can be achieved. I long ago internalized that lesson, and I know of no man or woman who has worn a nation’s uniform yet remained unaware that doing the right thing can cost one dearly.
Curiously, both parties have fully mastered the art of defying the public and fighting unfavorable political battles when culture wars are what’s waged. Their stances on “public opinion” all depend on what those elite slivers of society most value. The Iranian women on the streets of Tehran, the people of Israel, the ghosts of Khobar towers and their many shades of brethren can rightly question the courage, the wisdom, and the morality we now see on display.
I was only warning you about public opinion.
A second-term President of the United States is pretty much immune to public opinion, especially (but not necessarily) if he has majorities in at least one chamber of Congress. Even if he loses both chambers in the mid-terms, there is little even a hostile Congress can do to rein in a President who has won a war and thereby got public opinion behind him …and reciprocally against the carping, caviling legislators who are largely reviled even by the dullards who elected them.
As regular commenters here are fond of pointing out ad nauseam, public opinion is fickle and largely uninformed to the point of stupidity, best ignored as much as possible. A President in the first two years of his second term is in that sweet spot where he can do whatever he likes. Bombs away.
Regarding daylight savings time:
Back in the 90s, I had an amusing conversation about daylight savings time with a lady from Indiana. I don’t know what the state of Indiana does now, but back then the state was a mishmash of different conventions. Some counties used Central Standard Time with daylight savings, some used CST without daylight savings, and some counties used Eastern Standard Time with daylight savings. She lived in the most annoying location in the state. She said that within walking distance of her home there were THREE different systems of reckoning time. Even just to make a dinner date with a friend you couldn’t just say “Let’s meet at 7:00.” without adding a clarifier to specify which 7:00. People would say things like “7:00 Chicago time” to make it clear.
Wow, I never realised that the situation is so complicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Indiana
Here in BC, the premier just announced that we will stay on Daylight Savings and will not change back this fall. It will be dark until 8:30 to 9 am for two months of winter. Some people will never see daylight before work. That will mess up their circadian clocks and they will not be happy. Last time they tried it in the US, the measure was rolled back because of protests. The ironic thing is that we do it to stay in sync with California, where the measure is being pushed by golf course owners. They want it for an extra hour of business in winter. For Californians it doesn’t really matter because the sun never raises that late. So when the BC government did a survey about this plan, they did not even ask if perhaps we would prefer permanent STANDARD time. They asked a leading question: time change or permanent DST. I say there will be protests next winter.
Apparently our BC leaders got tired of waiting for the three coastal states to make the switch, because they have apparently needed (for the last seven years) to wait for permission from the feds. But I guess we have “states rights” for changing the clocks and American states don’t.
But we are now synchronized with Yukon, a slightly smaller trading partner, where the sun now rises at about 10 am in mid-December. And the premier of Alberta, to the east of us, is jealous and wants year-round daylight time too. And all of the scientists who study this kind of thing say that year-round standard time is cheaper and safer and generally better, but they are outvoted by the golf course owners.
In the Yukon, winter sunrise is past the rush hour in either time zone. In California, it is before the rush hour either way. It is in the area between that people will notice the difference.
“If we conduct a secret strike, we don’t debate it before Congress, as leaks are almost certain.” There are several Committees of the House and Senate that regularly deal with highly classified and sensitive materials, Intelligence Oversight for example, that do not result in leaks. Consultation with Congress does not mean there will be leaks. That Congress has been ceding war-making power to the Executive is certainly true. Not many seem to care when it is their guy, but does such repetition make it right?
I read a few days ago that Congressional leaders had been notified by the strike, but not the full Congress. Indeed, here’s what chatGPT says. I doubt that the leaders were given veto power, but they were told:
“Gang of Eight” Notification: House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that the “Gang of Eight”—a bipartisan group of top congressional leaders—was notified shortly before the strikes were launched.
Bipartisan “Courtesy Calls”: The White House reported making “bipartisan courtesy calls” to congressional leadership, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, approximately one hour before the operation began.
It’s simply naive (or disingenuous) for a politician, especially one with the visibility of Mamdani, to think that what their spouse says and does won’t reflect on them.
Agree. It’s clear where Mamdani stands. He’s just deflecting.
AAaand that’s why I don’t subscribe to the Times anymore AND why I wrote an article about Mandami (though didn’t have time to mention his TERRIBLE parents and, apparently, wife). To wit: https://democracychronicles.org/forgetabaht-it/
Mehabad Airport (stunning mid-century architecture, that bit not bombed) is the former main Tehran airport until Iman Khomeini Airport was built further out (a common phenom in airports and the 20th Century). It is also a large hub for the IRGC AF and Mahan Air, your friendly drone delivery service to Russia/Yemen/Syria, etc.
It is absolutely a military target.
D.A.
NYC
Many Americans, when faced with the ballot choice of either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, realized they were in a pickle. They had thought of themselves as Democrats or Republicans–but this choice was not satisfying at all to tired left- or right centrists. 1-1/2 years later, they see their reticence was justified. What made them uncomfortable has gotten only more painful. Neither the NYT nor Fox News seem like sensible and serious media. Perhaps these people in the silent majority should now consider themselves independents.
I have a rare disagreement with Emma. Anything can be marketed as fashion, even sports bras. As for Savage x, they specialize in lingerie (very nice stuff, actually), and the only reason they call that bra a ‘sports’ bra is because it is less embellished than the rest of their stuff. Women who are interested in athletics won’t be fooled.
And as for Musk’s trans daughter, I can’t resist making the catty observation that she has a muffin top.
S/He looks like s/he’s modeling a training bra. The whole ad is so oversexualized and gross, frankly.
Definitely a he as humans can’t change sex.
I’m no military expert, but in a war don’t you try to punch an enemy when he’s down in order to get him surrender? Isn’t that pretty standard? A quick and decisive victory ultimately saves lives.
In swashbucklers the hero will sometimes kick an opponent’s dropped sword back to him so that he can “honorably” win a fair fight against a properly armed villain, but that’s in the movies. And it’s not war.
Judging from the excerpts you cite, Andrew Sullivan’s column really does seem to go over the top. Does he sincerely think that a different Israeli leader would sit idly by as Iran prepared quite explicitly to destroy the country? Loathe that many are to admit it, Netanyahu has been right about Iran for many years. He was right to oppose the JCPOA and he was right to call out—consistently and repeatedly—the risk that Iran poses to Israel, to the U.S., and to the world. Many seem to deride Netanyahu as a convenient way to mask their hatred for Israel, just as many deride Israel to mask their hatred for the Jews.
A large segment of the Israeli population opposes Netanyahu. However, the country overwhelmingly favors this war. We have been living with the Iranian threat for decades: a country openly proclaiming that they wish to destroy us,, racing toward arms that further that aim, and arming their proxies to help them do so. A very large portion of the country has been living with rocket fire over many years: sometimes more, and sometimes less. Every Israeli political leader understands that for us, this is not a war of choice, but rather, one that we would have to fight sooner or later.
And we are only the front line in this war: Iran has exported n terror against the West in every way possible for them. Allowing them to further develop their capabilities is foolish.
I would neither be surprised nor astonished to learn that that an IRGC HQ with all the attributes of a prime target had quietly been converted to a girls’ school, with the expectation that it would be an early target, in the expectation that once hit there would be so much contrition that attacks would cease, with the thought that the cost would be insignificant since they were merely girls.
And Hili – Eternity, as many have discovered, is two people with a ham.
Also, Time does change everything.
AI tells me that the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) operates 160+ schools on or near U.S. military bases worldwide.
In light of recent events, perhaps it would be prudent of the U.S. not to have such schools on or near U.S. military bases. (That likely would increase recruitment and retention.) After all, one should not reasonably expect any U.S. enemy to meet the high U.S. military standards of target evaluation and identification.
No doubt, it was imprudent for Venezuela to allow its citizens to reside so closely to government facilities during the recent “law enforcement action” there.
Correction/clarification: during peace having the schools on or near said bases would increase recruitment and retention. Having the schools on base during attacks would not.
The contrast between the Iran’ military’s attacks on UAE non-military targets, and Iran President Pezeshkian’s statement minimizing or apologizing for precisely these actions, implies a significant division between zealots and pragmatists within the Islamic Republic establishment. Presumably, the Trump admin is counting on the pragmatists to get Iran to back down on key nuclear, missile production, and proxy terror-group issues. No one knows how likely or unlikely this is. The IRGC’s large, corrupt position in Iran’s economy might weigh toward a “pragmatist” tendency, in the Delcy Rodriguez manner.