This is the point. It’s not about principles or strategy, it’s about the acceleration of Trump and his cronies use of government as leverage for financial gain.
I have been watching coverage of the war with former intelligence officers Malcolm Nance (US) and Jacob Kaarsbo (Denmark) on Nance's Substack Podcast at Black Man Spy. The reiterated some points that Ruth Ben-Ghiat's expert guest last night said. Which is that the US can decide when to start a war, but not when it ends. Both have said that there is no plan for afterwards if they overthrow the regime, which not everyone is convinced of. Since Nance did Intel for the US military and both were in the region as agents for a long time, he can really tell you what he sees the US doing and what he thinks Iran is doing. And, all say, this is not going to be like Venezuela or the 45 minute strikes on the Iranian "Nuclear facilities."
Snyder’s right about corruption and domestic authoritarianism, but there’s a third framework: systematic institutional doctrine. The November 2025 NSS explicitly outlined this…spheres of influence, regional champions (Israel/Gulf states as enforcers), regime change as policy. This wasn’t improvised for personal gain, it was planned months in advance and documented in official strategy.
The behavioral mechanism: Venezuela got narcoterrorism pretext, Iran gets nuclear proliferation, same playbook. Maximalist demands designed to fail, negotiations as positioning theater, predetermined military action announced via social media. Trump held talks with Iran one day before strikes while assembling largest air power since 2003 Iraq. The diplomacy wasn’t meant to succeed.
What makes this constitutional collapse: Congress learned about war from TV, senators had zero briefings, one man launched operations killing Americans without authorization. The corruption and authoritarianism Snyder identifies are real, but they’re operating through machinery explicitly built for this…NSS framework normalizing executive war-making, complicit institutions, regional champions executing U.S. objectives. This war was doctrine made operational.
Yes. It has been planned for a long time, and everyone said Trump wanted Israel to strike first so he could justify going in as helping Israel, while Israel wanted Trump to strike first. Now we see the compromise, which means both sides were antsy enough to go in together.
I am in Germany, and really hope that European countries do not feel compelled to help Trump as a NATO ally. Look at the mess Bush got everyone into and Trump called them all cowards. Do you think that was him setting up to have them join him in this scenario? I hope they don't take the bait.
It is already going a regional war. Malcolm Nance says Al Jazeera is the best source for news on the war, and the US media is not going to give much good information. Here is from Al Jazeera.
I have no faith in the European countries since they have demonstrated a complete lack of concern about the murder of tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza by the Israeli government. The Western world order established after 1945 has been completely destroyed. The consequences of that will be horrible for everyone in the Global North.
Ron, Many European people have concern just like many US people. Germany has more muslims than the US, even though it is a much smaller country, so you can bet there is concern. I see demonstrations all the time in my city in Germany. It is the German government that is held by the balls by Israel. The official German policy is misguided but the leadership of Israel gets to determine what is antisemitism and what is not, and they have decreed that any criticism of Israel is Antisemitic, and that not supporting the Israeli leadership is antisemitic. People on the streets either buy that, or don't. I don't. I have brown skin and am it has taught me not to subscribe to official policies that don't make sense. I am currently in the process of organizing a No Kings Rally in my city in Germany, and we will be protesting not just Gaza, but also Iran and Venezuela, not just ICE.
For selfish reasons Europe cares too. For one thing, when people start fleeing Iran, they will not be fleeing to the US, they will be fleeing here. It is going to give the AfD more agency. So, of course no one who does not support the AfD wants to see a more fragile and precarious position politically from taking in more and more refugees.
My husband is furious that Germany is allowing US bases to exist here and he has seen a lot of air traffic from Germany to the area where there is now war. I feel the same way. The moment that Donald Trump threatened European sovereignty the EU should have given US bases the Heave-ho so that the theater that is provided by being located in Europe is gone. What? Russia is not going to let the US use their country as a staging ground.
I am a brown-skinned German-American and right now, the US is coming across as less caring than Europe. I am at a demonstration at least once a month, and sometimes every week, or more than once a week. There is always a contingent protesting Gaza. Germany has not been able to shut down this protesting either. I am a member of Indivisible Abroad and know there is regular protesting in France, Italy and England as well because I talk to people in those countries all the time.
This is the fourth American war war in my lifetime begun for the wrong reasons in the wrong places. The first three utterly failed to achieve even the minimum of what it was claimed they would and cost the lives of tens of thousands of American and millions of natives of the countries where we fought them.
The first one tore this country apart. The next two, because they did not require a military draft, were fought largely in foreign shadows, ignored by most Americans except for those who lost fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, other family members, and friends.
The first one begat the greatest outpouring of anti-war sentiment since WWI, but the next two produced nothing like that.
A war that does not involve the whole people with their willing assent and sacrifice, and for a cause well defined and well understood will not accomplish its goals, but will instead exacerbate internal division, cost needless slaughter of innocents, and result only in recrimination.
On top of all that, a war begun by an amoral, utterly corrupt leader for his own personal reasons or enrichmen and/or in evocation of his own inner distortion of masculinity is the very definition of mental imbalance and of evil.
I’m afraid subverting democracy and enriching Trump and the other oligarchs plus the bonus of changing the subject away from Epstein files are exactly the reasons for this latest catastrophic move. Good god😞💔🇺🇸
Kelly, just what I’m thinking. Dire larder’s so terrified of light touching what he actually did to the young victims that he’s started this war, plus threatening Cuba.
Meanwhile, buying warehouses with our tax $$ across the USA like WWII concentration camps. We’re meant to be distracted by all this… He’s too stupid and dead inside to realize
The Iran War: A war is a time when we will be told not to ask questions. But a war is actually when questions must be asked. And they must be asked in light of what we already know. The presumption created by the surrounding evidence is that this war could very well be about (1) subverting US democracy, (2) enriching the president and (3) "stopping the Epstein investigation….especially about a 13 yr old rape victim." These are presumptions, not proof….but they provide the solid lines of inquiry as we learn more about the Iran war and why it’s happening now.
Your scepticism is definitely justified, particularly since we've heard the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ before, and it is so timely as a distraction from rising issues over Epstein, ICE, lack of support for Ukraine, and corruption linked to the business deals of Trump and his ‘special envoy’ real estate agents. Your thoughts on the rationale tied to corruption is very credible and needs to be on the table. Thanks - brilliant.
Very briefly for now, several comments. First of all, I was obviously wrong when I commented on Steve Schmidt's Substack that I thought the Iran-threats-and-build-up by Trump were merely a bluff. Second, most importantly for the U.S., Trump, the self-syled "President of Peace" has once again clearly violated the Constitution by declaring war, in fact, without obtaining Congressional authorization for doing so. P2025/Unitary-Government (i.e., Fascism) strikes again. Third, I still believe that Trump's motivation for unleashing the whole operation, at this time, comes down to one word: "Epstein." More later.
Greed and Corruption with a little salting of cruelty and you have the trump regime. Oh, and add a side dish of incompetence to make it complete. I doubt that I will ever see the United States that we and the world respected for decades. We weren't perfect, and not everyone liked us, but we were respected. trump claims we are more respected than ever under his regime. We are a pariah that no one trusts. Certainly not our (former) friends and allies. From a different view: what country takes away vaccines, cripples the health care system, and stops research for the sake of enriching billionaires? Would you trust such a government? I don't any more, at least not this one.
I feel certain you are right. I am also grieving this morning over the 50 girls and their teachers who have allegedly died during our strike on Tehran. I lived in Tehran for four years, fifty years ago, pre the Islamic Regime. Even then it was a very crowded city with little open space, homes cheek by jowl and a growing population. And it's grown much, much larger since that time. So it's entirely expectable that innocent civilians would be killed in a strike there. Sorrowful to say that many more might die. The middle and upper-middle classes of Iran are educated enough to have rejected the current autocratic regime and it's excesses. The less enfranchised population is struggling with an extreme lack of water. Why have we not waited for the crumbling of the regime to continue? The timing of this strike stinks to high heaven.
OMG. In a part of the world where one of the most pressing human needs is for half the population, the female half, to be educated and encouraged to become full citizens our first (First!) action kills 70 girls and their teachers. For this alone, Trump should pay.
In addition to subverting democracy (including diversion from Epstein) and corruption, I think that there may be another reason. As Trump's dementia seems to get worse, he is becoming easier to manipulate. No one (except maybe Putin) has been better at it than Bibi. Much of the bombing was done by Israel. There are reports that this has been planned for a long time, making the talks just a diversion.
Trump and Hegseth are acting like mercenary Eric Prince. They are using the U.S. military like Prince used Blackwater, at the behest of Israel once again.
There is no doubt that the current Iranian regime is evil and led by religious fanatics, but there is no doubt that America is mimicking the same behaviour, under Trump's corrupt regime.
It is important to remember that the Iranian regime was supported and armed by the Reagan Administration and the CIA, in a deal that saw American hostages held until Carter could be defeated in the 1980 Presidential election.
It is difficult to believe American politicians, when they try to plant the flag on the moral high ground.
And just what's going to happen when body bags start coming home? So, all it takes is for one or two well targeted missiles to land at one of the US installations in the Mid East to bring dead Americans home. Then what? To be completely political about this, what happens when it's his die hard constituents sons & daughters that come home dead or grievously injured? What are they going to think about their cult leader then? Now he's broken EVERY promise he made to get re-elected. Will his constuents follow him to the grave, or more correctly will they send their loved ones to their deaths in support of their lying chief?
Time for regime change indeed, but here not just in Iran. Time for that Blue Wave 🌊🌊🌊🌊 in November, more than past time!!!!!
In addition to the motivations for war that Dr. Snyder suggests -- presidential corruption and destruction of democracy -- we must remember that war will distract us from the spreading Epstein scandal, the bloated ICE secret police force, the assaults on public health and press freedom, and so many other injuries. In 2018, Steve Bannon urged MAGA to "flood the zone with s**t." The Iran war is the latest, largest wave.
Only possible silver lining for this is that it hurts Putin's supplies of drones, missiles and other tech used against Ukraine. Zelensky sees benefits. Everything else about Trump's motivations stink to high heaven.
This is the point. It’s not about principles or strategy, it’s about the acceleration of Trump and his cronies use of government as leverage for financial gain.
I have been watching coverage of the war with former intelligence officers Malcolm Nance (US) and Jacob Kaarsbo (Denmark) on Nance's Substack Podcast at Black Man Spy. The reiterated some points that Ruth Ben-Ghiat's expert guest last night said. Which is that the US can decide when to start a war, but not when it ends. Both have said that there is no plan for afterwards if they overthrow the regime, which not everyone is convinced of. Since Nance did Intel for the US military and both were in the region as agents for a long time, he can really tell you what he sees the US doing and what he thinks Iran is doing. And, all say, this is not going to be like Venezuela or the 45 minute strikes on the Iranian "Nuclear facilities."
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/
I agree that this war is designed for multiple things.
Is this a distraction from his horrid state of the union message?
An excuse not to hold elections?
A distraction from the Epstein Files?
A means to regain his floundering support?
An excuse to crack down on those who protest this and the Trump administration?
An attempt to distract from ICE?
An attempt to lessen our support for and attention on Ukraine?
Let us hope that all of this fails.
The elections must go on.
The Epstein files must be released in full, and the people implicated should be investigated and if found guilty tried under the law.
Let his support continue to decline,
Let us continue to stand up to the administration even if we are in groups like Indivisible which he calls terrorist,
Let us continue to stand against his use of ICE, and be unwavering in our support for Ukraine,
Let us continue in our stance against Trump's Wars and attacks on other countries without our permission.
Let us prevail.
Exactly!
Excellent points; that’s definitely part of it.
And it must be an authoritarian government rather than a democratic government that is harder to manipulate for the Trump family's enrichment.
Via creation of another "emergency" which is so dire that the Congress cannot possibly be consulted.
And that elections may be suspended or canceled.
Come on mothers throughout the land
Pack your boys off to old Iran
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late
And you can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box
And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is old Iran
And it's five, six, seven
Open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die!
- Apologies to Country Joe and the Fish
Not everyone learned the lessons of Viet Nam.
Your excellent poem puts me in mind of Mark Twain’s “War Prayer.” It’s a bracing and profitable read in times like these.
Snyder’s right about corruption and domestic authoritarianism, but there’s a third framework: systematic institutional doctrine. The November 2025 NSS explicitly outlined this…spheres of influence, regional champions (Israel/Gulf states as enforcers), regime change as policy. This wasn’t improvised for personal gain, it was planned months in advance and documented in official strategy.
The behavioral mechanism: Venezuela got narcoterrorism pretext, Iran gets nuclear proliferation, same playbook. Maximalist demands designed to fail, negotiations as positioning theater, predetermined military action announced via social media. Trump held talks with Iran one day before strikes while assembling largest air power since 2003 Iraq. The diplomacy wasn’t meant to succeed.
What makes this constitutional collapse: Congress learned about war from TV, senators had zero briefings, one man launched operations killing Americans without authorization. The corruption and authoritarianism Snyder identifies are real, but they’re operating through machinery explicitly built for this…NSS framework normalizing executive war-making, complicit institutions, regional champions executing U.S. objectives. This war was doctrine made operational.
—Johan
Yes. It has been planned for a long time, and everyone said Trump wanted Israel to strike first so he could justify going in as helping Israel, while Israel wanted Trump to strike first. Now we see the compromise, which means both sides were antsy enough to go in together.
I am in Germany, and really hope that European countries do not feel compelled to help Trump as a NATO ally. Look at the mess Bush got everyone into and Trump called them all cowards. Do you think that was him setting up to have them join him in this scenario? I hope they don't take the bait.
It is already going a regional war. Malcolm Nance says Al Jazeera is the best source for news on the war, and the US media is not going to give much good information. Here is from Al Jazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/28/airspace-closed-airlines-halt-flights-as-us-israel-attack-iran-responds
As Snyder pointed out Fascist leaders need war. This is Trump fulfilling that plank of a fascist government.
Haaretz has been updating consistently also
Do you think they are trustworthy?
I have no faith in the European countries since they have demonstrated a complete lack of concern about the murder of tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza by the Israeli government. The Western world order established after 1945 has been completely destroyed. The consequences of that will be horrible for everyone in the Global North.
Ron, Many European people have concern just like many US people. Germany has more muslims than the US, even though it is a much smaller country, so you can bet there is concern. I see demonstrations all the time in my city in Germany. It is the German government that is held by the balls by Israel. The official German policy is misguided but the leadership of Israel gets to determine what is antisemitism and what is not, and they have decreed that any criticism of Israel is Antisemitic, and that not supporting the Israeli leadership is antisemitic. People on the streets either buy that, or don't. I don't. I have brown skin and am it has taught me not to subscribe to official policies that don't make sense. I am currently in the process of organizing a No Kings Rally in my city in Germany, and we will be protesting not just Gaza, but also Iran and Venezuela, not just ICE.
For selfish reasons Europe cares too. For one thing, when people start fleeing Iran, they will not be fleeing to the US, they will be fleeing here. It is going to give the AfD more agency. So, of course no one who does not support the AfD wants to see a more fragile and precarious position politically from taking in more and more refugees.
My husband is furious that Germany is allowing US bases to exist here and he has seen a lot of air traffic from Germany to the area where there is now war. I feel the same way. The moment that Donald Trump threatened European sovereignty the EU should have given US bases the Heave-ho so that the theater that is provided by being located in Europe is gone. What? Russia is not going to let the US use their country as a staging ground.
I am a brown-skinned German-American and right now, the US is coming across as less caring than Europe. I am at a demonstration at least once a month, and sometimes every week, or more than once a week. There is always a contingent protesting Gaza. Germany has not been able to shut down this protesting either. I am a member of Indivisible Abroad and know there is regular protesting in France, Italy and England as well because I talk to people in those countries all the time.
This is the fourth American war war in my lifetime begun for the wrong reasons in the wrong places. The first three utterly failed to achieve even the minimum of what it was claimed they would and cost the lives of tens of thousands of American and millions of natives of the countries where we fought them.
The first one tore this country apart. The next two, because they did not require a military draft, were fought largely in foreign shadows, ignored by most Americans except for those who lost fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, other family members, and friends.
The first one begat the greatest outpouring of anti-war sentiment since WWI, but the next two produced nothing like that.
A war that does not involve the whole people with their willing assent and sacrifice, and for a cause well defined and well understood will not accomplish its goals, but will instead exacerbate internal division, cost needless slaughter of innocents, and result only in recrimination.
On top of all that, a war begun by an amoral, utterly corrupt leader for his own personal reasons or enrichmen and/or in evocation of his own inner distortion of masculinity is the very definition of mental imbalance and of evil.
I’m afraid subverting democracy and enriching Trump and the other oligarchs plus the bonus of changing the subject away from Epstein files are exactly the reasons for this latest catastrophic move. Good god😞💔🇺🇸
There’s also Netanyahu pulling strings.
Indeed he is.😞
Kelly, just what I’m thinking. Dire larder’s so terrified of light touching what he actually did to the young victims that he’s started this war, plus threatening Cuba.
Meanwhile, buying warehouses with our tax $$ across the USA like WWII concentration camps. We’re meant to be distracted by all this… He’s too stupid and dead inside to realize
what true intelligence and love are.
Just horrifying😞
The Iran War: A war is a time when we will be told not to ask questions. But a war is actually when questions must be asked. And they must be asked in light of what we already know. The presumption created by the surrounding evidence is that this war could very well be about (1) subverting US democracy, (2) enriching the president and (3) "stopping the Epstein investigation….especially about a 13 yr old rape victim." These are presumptions, not proof….but they provide the solid lines of inquiry as we learn more about the Iran war and why it’s happening now.
Your scepticism is definitely justified, particularly since we've heard the ‘weapons of mass destruction’ before, and it is so timely as a distraction from rising issues over Epstein, ICE, lack of support for Ukraine, and corruption linked to the business deals of Trump and his ‘special envoy’ real estate agents. Your thoughts on the rationale tied to corruption is very credible and needs to be on the table. Thanks - brilliant.
Very briefly for now, several comments. First of all, I was obviously wrong when I commented on Steve Schmidt's Substack that I thought the Iran-threats-and-build-up by Trump were merely a bluff. Second, most importantly for the U.S., Trump, the self-syled "President of Peace" has once again clearly violated the Constitution by declaring war, in fact, without obtaining Congressional authorization for doing so. P2025/Unitary-Government (i.e., Fascism) strikes again. Third, I still believe that Trump's motivation for unleashing the whole operation, at this time, comes down to one word: "Epstein." More later.
Greed and Corruption with a little salting of cruelty and you have the trump regime. Oh, and add a side dish of incompetence to make it complete. I doubt that I will ever see the United States that we and the world respected for decades. We weren't perfect, and not everyone liked us, but we were respected. trump claims we are more respected than ever under his regime. We are a pariah that no one trusts. Certainly not our (former) friends and allies. From a different view: what country takes away vaccines, cripples the health care system, and stops research for the sake of enriching billionaires? Would you trust such a government? I don't any more, at least not this one.
I feel certain you are right. I am also grieving this morning over the 50 girls and their teachers who have allegedly died during our strike on Tehran. I lived in Tehran for four years, fifty years ago, pre the Islamic Regime. Even then it was a very crowded city with little open space, homes cheek by jowl and a growing population. And it's grown much, much larger since that time. So it's entirely expectable that innocent civilians would be killed in a strike there. Sorrowful to say that many more might die. The middle and upper-middle classes of Iran are educated enough to have rejected the current autocratic regime and it's excesses. The less enfranchised population is struggling with an extreme lack of water. Why have we not waited for the crumbling of the regime to continue? The timing of this strike stinks to high heaven.
Now 70 and counting
OMG. In a part of the world where one of the most pressing human needs is for half the population, the female half, to be educated and encouraged to become full citizens our first (First!) action kills 70 girls and their teachers. For this alone, Trump should pay.
In addition to subverting democracy (including diversion from Epstein) and corruption, I think that there may be another reason. As Trump's dementia seems to get worse, he is becoming easier to manipulate. No one (except maybe Putin) has been better at it than Bibi. Much of the bombing was done by Israel. There are reports that this has been planned for a long time, making the talks just a diversion.
I agree. Who is advising Trump? It's so easy at this point to get his attention: give him a gift. A grand scheme to have talks this week with Iran.
Pat, give Trump a gift or a fake award.
Drawn out war - martial law - no midterms.
Trump and Hegseth are acting like mercenary Eric Prince. They are using the U.S. military like Prince used Blackwater, at the behest of Israel once again.
There is no doubt that the current Iranian regime is evil and led by religious fanatics, but there is no doubt that America is mimicking the same behaviour, under Trump's corrupt regime.
It is important to remember that the Iranian regime was supported and armed by the Reagan Administration and the CIA, in a deal that saw American hostages held until Carter could be defeated in the 1980 Presidential election.
It is difficult to believe American politicians, when they try to plant the flag on the moral high ground.
And just what's going to happen when body bags start coming home? So, all it takes is for one or two well targeted missiles to land at one of the US installations in the Mid East to bring dead Americans home. Then what? To be completely political about this, what happens when it's his die hard constituents sons & daughters that come home dead or grievously injured? What are they going to think about their cult leader then? Now he's broken EVERY promise he made to get re-elected. Will his constuents follow him to the grave, or more correctly will they send their loved ones to their deaths in support of their lying chief?
Time for regime change indeed, but here not just in Iran. Time for that Blue Wave 🌊🌊🌊🌊 in November, more than past time!!!!!
Body bags and costs to the US. A strike on one of those big war ships with lots of planes. The cost of war will increase the US budget deficit.
In addition to the motivations for war that Dr. Snyder suggests -- presidential corruption and destruction of democracy -- we must remember that war will distract us from the spreading Epstein scandal, the bloated ICE secret police force, the assaults on public health and press freedom, and so many other injuries. In 2018, Steve Bannon urged MAGA to "flood the zone with s**t." The Iran war is the latest, largest wave.
Only possible silver lining for this is that it hurts Putin's supplies of drones, missiles and other tech used against Ukraine. Zelensky sees benefits. Everything else about Trump's motivations stink to high heaven.