Agreed. Time and again, I've found General Hertling's analysis and commentary precise, without hesitation or half-measures, and demonstrative of an overwhelming display of military knowledge.
I'm not a "military" guy and predominantly a pacifist; however, knowing there are folks like General Hertling (now and in the past) involved in our military has given me a great sense of relief and appreciation for our armed forces. With everything I read, I learn something new.
There needs to be much more coverage of the recent revelation from Tony Blinkin that the Israelis came to Obama and tried to convince him to go to war with Iran, saying that Israel was going to attack Iran and that Iran would hit US facilities so we had to participate. This is exactly what Rubio said before being forced to walk it back after being caught telling the truth in a way that accurately made it appear that Trump was led by the nose by Netanyahu into this crazy catastrophe. This is the reason we went to war. None of the other justifications make any sense once you consider this rationale and know how easily our moronOTUS can be manipulated into doing the bidding of other unscrupulous men.
And what is Bibi doing now? Is he bombing Iran? No. He's ripping up Lebanon! How is Lebanon involved in Iran's nuclear program (if that is the justification we're going for today)? [I know: "Hezbollah blah blah"] Bibi wants the whole region for "Greater Israel".
Ambassador Huckabee suggested Israel would be justified in taking over a vast stretch of the Middle East on Biblical grounds. Couple that with claims from uniformed officers that commanders have painted the current war in Iran as one rooted in Christian biblical prophecy and we might have a modern-day Crusade on our hands.
Gaza was the prototype for what they plan to do to Iran. Grind it down to the ground. However, to implement at that scale, they needed our participation to carry it out. This will be an years long effort of non-stop destruction.
Can't you just hear him? "Mr. President, this is Bibi. We are going to take out the leadership of Ira.; Do you want in on this? It will be easy, just like the west Bank and Venezuela. You'll be a hero!"
And then Trump built up forces in the theater for about a month before actually initiating striking. "The Israelis made us do it" makes absolutely no sense. If their strike was really all that imminent, there wouldn't have been time for the buildup. If it kept being pushed off, the administration would have known they were bluffing about how immediate it is.
Adam - would be helpful to see your observation discussed a little deeper - Gen. Hertling might explain if/how the military perhaps advised enough temperance to slow the speeding War Follies Express. How did Netanyahu create sense of threat but hesitate on the immediacy until he felt he had enough allies to nudge Trump over the finish line? ...Tom Nichols thoughts and Bill Kristol's insights? Can imagine that Trump's impulsiveness allows for sudden shifts in beliefs... not to mention possible cognitive impairments that may be manipulated by those familiar with his functioning - so yesterday's problem on the horizon becomes this moment's immediate SHARK!
True statements are such pesky little devils! It’s also irritating when what we observe with our own eyes is quickly cast aside. DjT admits he’s unclear on our concepts.
Who runs American foreign policy? The Clown Prince of the Apprentice? Little Marco? The great American Oligarchs? The Xenophobic Fever Dreams of Sen. Lindsay Graham? The Criminal Overlord of the once great Nation of Israel? The Book of Revelations?
It quite a mystery. We know who doesn't run it..The Interests of the American People.
Just THIS MORNING, Hegseth stated that TODAY will be the biggest day of ops in the conflict to date. See, Trump wants his TACO and wants to eat it too. It’s the exact definition of not having a clear objective that should put us in a long term quagmire.
I view the actions of this administration as I do my backyard after a new snow and my dog's first walk in it. The path in the snow shows no evidence of a plan because there never was a plan. It is a random walk with only one goal, and that is to shit on something.
I thought you might be going in a different direction. What the back yard looks like after the winter with the dog and the results. That look is the perfect metaphor for what Trump has done to this country.
#1 Po'Boys - we've simultaneously obliterated them like no one's seen before AND if they get cute we'll hit them TWENTY TIME WORSE. As we said in elementary school arguments, 'oh yeah, well you're stupid times infinity... plus one!'
The likelihood of a TACO multiplies when we remember that the only reason military engagements are hard to disengage from is because of concern for the aftermath - political/social instability, humanitarian crisis, tactical weakness, geopolitical consequences, cost, the enemy rebuilding. Trump gives not a single shit for any of these things. He will be quite content to order the carrier groups to turn around and steam away to Cuba or wherever else he wants them whenever he wants as if he's playing with bathtub toys, leaving Iran and the region in whatever state it is.
"... they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far." He sounds like he's 10-years-old, but for his choice of "thus."
Jeff - you are indeed The Original. Reading comments in order of recency, I posted this genius insight before seeing you'd already made the point. Obviously we are both gentlemen & scholars but I bow to your expeditious-osity 😉
Thx. There are a lot of similarly thinking geniuses on this site...you included. It's been dark days for critical thinking people since Trump's arrival on the scene...
Do you think the Whet House has a TrumpGPT that lets you upload ordinary, run-of-the-mill stupid shit and and turns it into the extraordinarily stupid shit that Trump can read off the 'prompter?
'Asked at his presser yesterday why he was the only member of own administration accusing Iran of the strike, Trump replied: “Because I just don’t know enough about it.” Truest thing he’s ever said.'
Is it the truest thing he's ever said? Because when he says it was Iran, it must be a lie if he doesn't know much about it, and I think the actual truth is he's also lying when he says he doesn't know much about it. So he's lying that it was Iran, and he's lying about why he's the only one putting forth that lie. That seems the likeliest state of play to me: lies all the way down, lies to cover for lies. Stay tuned for the next lie.
And I'll add that the lie that he doesn't know enough about it is the ultimate, perpetual copout that he can peddle for as long as he has to to avoid telling the truth about what we did to those young girls. He'll never admit the truth now that he's settled into the GOP go-to "I didn't see that tweet" mode.
Regarding Tomahawk, keep in mind that the State Department has an arms embargo on countries like Iran, North Korea, China, etc., so the only way Iran could get their hands on a Tomahawk is through a third party. Possible? I suppose. Likely? No fuckin' way.
His supporters root for laundry. They wouldn't tolerate dishonesty from those outside their tribe, but from Trump, they look at his mendacity as a virtue.
What Im surprised about is when I read public opinion about this "war" there are so many people who have no opinion about. I know people are busy with their lives, but come on now, people are dying.
We have become a victim of our own success. Demise is coming I suspect. I don't want it, but it just seems like karma for this casualness about killing others.
I haven't read or seen anything that mentions which countries possess Tomahawk missiles. Generally speaking, do we only sell those to our trusted allies? Of course it's got gotten a lot more difficult to know who our allies are these days..
Technically we can sell to whoever isn't on the embargo list, and there's fewer than 10 countries on that. For example, we have sold TPY-2 and PATRIOT to Saudi Arabia in the past, and PATRIOT and NASAMS to Qatar as well. Whether that's prudent or not is another matter entirely.
I said to my husband the other day while reading the news: "It's such a shame that Trump's penis doesn't work." This is so obviously the failing of a lackluster man who's never been able to do anything successful in his life despite all the privilege he was born with. He is the ultimate limp dick, using Patriot missle to make up for his lack of ED meds.
If we did enough digging, we just might find that all wars are started by men who no longer "function". It's up to the women of this world to save us from ourselves.
Bill and Gen. Hertling's writings this morning are ironic for me: when I got up and read the BBC's live updates' multiple quotes from T and Hegseth I instantly felt nauseated. They care about nothing other than feeding their vile, vulgar, cowardly, narcissistic, sociopathic appetites.
What I hear from Hegseth and Rubio and Trump and all the rest (Lindsey Graham, for fuck's sake) is bragging about is how good we are at murdering people. How efficiently we can destroy anything we choose to destroy. How proud we should be that we're "King of the Hill" even as we turn that hill into rubble. We have done this before. We are currently showing the world why we are not to be trusted and why they should all develop nuclear weapons of their own. We are creating a new generation of America-haters and, frankly, who could blame them? Trump could chicken out now. We could stop dropping bombs tomorrow but the hate will last decades. When terrorists respond, we will have only ourselves to blame. Happy Tuesday.
I think we need to recall Miss Lindsey and his clutching pearls into the military. We can commission him a ship and call it the USS Pinafore! It would put on musicals for the entertainment of the troops.
I for one, am sickened by Trump and his war supporters masturbating in public to the rhythms of war. They are not even serious players. When will this country stop their games? How many more deaths are needed? How much more destruction before they are stopped?
It will be hard. I remember, years ago, a coworker of mine watching one of the beheading videos and made the comment that it was like watching a movie. Now I think he was a bit regretful for watching it, but that comment really struck me.
Because we don't see a beheading in our everyday lives our brains cannot grasp it as something real. But our brains watch movies. Most of us understand a movie to be a fiction, as something not real. So when we see something so far outside our everyday lives our brains say it's on a screen so it's like a movie.
Sandra, how do you propose we change the hearts and minds of the millions of MAGA who are getting off on this? They literally do not care that a school was bombed. They do not see people outside of their tribe as worthy of anything other than servitude. That view doesn’t leave with Trump or Republicans losing power. Until we decide how to grapple with the cancerous voter population we are stuck in this loop.
Better education? I think we’re pretty much an illiterate nation. If you don’t have good reading skills, such as reading comprehension, you can’t have good reasoning skills, either. That’s a generational change which I won’t live long enough to see.
One of my many beliefs is that literacy - reading and writing - is the compensation we got for enduring civilization (as vs prehistoric times). Through reading we can "go" just about anywhere, anytime, and learn things otherwise unknowable. So, make early reading in schools interesting, engaging and social, ie." let's talk about what we just read, class."
Then we are fucked. That generational change is dead and never going to happen. Republicans murdered it along with valuing education. Republicans across the country would have to face punishment to see any change.
If Trump TACOs out of Iran, can he really avoid the repercussions? The “he” in that sentence should be “we”. Some number of somebodys out there are undoubtedly already plotting a 9/11 style attack. A wounded animal is most dangerous.
“His role as the adult in the room has been underscored by the increasingly tall pile of jobs and responsibilities the president has heaped on his shoulders.”
Marco the only adult in the room? Because he doesn’t throw feces at the wall and laugh does not make him an adult. He is just as big a liar and sycophant as the rest of them. He should never be allowed near the WH after this monstrous regime is burned to ashes.
"Military officials are reportedly having problems getting the soldiers training for a potential Iranian invasion to stop sarcastically yelling, “For Epstein!” every time they salute each other, and have likened it to the Gen Alpha “6-7” craze."
I hope that's true! I've known some world class smart asses in the Air Force! We had one Sgt that would have us stop what we were doing at the same time on the same day of the week to all stand in line on the ramp to smile and wave at the Soviet satellite taking our picture.
It's so great that General Hertling is such a significant and important contributor to The Bulwark
Indeed!
And I don't think it was his doing to use quotation marks with italicization.
Yep. Great piece.
Agreed. Time and again, I've found General Hertling's analysis and commentary precise, without hesitation or half-measures, and demonstrative of an overwhelming display of military knowledge.
I'm not a "military" guy and predominantly a pacifist; however, knowing there are folks like General Hertling (now and in the past) involved in our military has given me a great sense of relief and appreciation for our armed forces. With everything I read, I learn something new.
There needs to be much more coverage of the recent revelation from Tony Blinkin that the Israelis came to Obama and tried to convince him to go to war with Iran, saying that Israel was going to attack Iran and that Iran would hit US facilities so we had to participate. This is exactly what Rubio said before being forced to walk it back after being caught telling the truth in a way that accurately made it appear that Trump was led by the nose by Netanyahu into this crazy catastrophe. This is the reason we went to war. None of the other justifications make any sense once you consider this rationale and know how easily our moronOTUS can be manipulated into doing the bidding of other unscrupulous men.
And what is Bibi doing now? Is he bombing Iran? No. He's ripping up Lebanon! How is Lebanon involved in Iran's nuclear program (if that is the justification we're going for today)? [I know: "Hezbollah blah blah"] Bibi wants the whole region for "Greater Israel".
Ambassador Huckabee suggested Israel would be justified in taking over a vast stretch of the Middle East on Biblical grounds. Couple that with claims from uniformed officers that commanders have painted the current war in Iran as one rooted in Christian biblical prophecy and we might have a modern-day Crusade on our hands.
These people are nuts ! 🥜🥜🥜
Israel is absolutely still striking Iran.
https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/iran-update-evening-special-report-march-9-2026
Gaza was the prototype for what they plan to do to Iran. Grind it down to the ground. However, to implement at that scale, they needed our participation to carry it out. This will be an years long effort of non-stop destruction.
Can't you just hear him? "Mr. President, this is Bibi. We are going to take out the leadership of Ira.; Do you want in on this? It will be easy, just like the west Bank and Venezuela. You'll be a hero!"
And then Trump built up forces in the theater for about a month before actually initiating striking. "The Israelis made us do it" makes absolutely no sense. If their strike was really all that imminent, there wouldn't have been time for the buildup. If it kept being pushed off, the administration would have known they were bluffing about how immediate it is.
Adam - would be helpful to see your observation discussed a little deeper - Gen. Hertling might explain if/how the military perhaps advised enough temperance to slow the speeding War Follies Express. How did Netanyahu create sense of threat but hesitate on the immediacy until he felt he had enough allies to nudge Trump over the finish line? ...Tom Nichols thoughts and Bill Kristol's insights? Can imagine that Trump's impulsiveness allows for sudden shifts in beliefs... not to mention possible cognitive impairments that may be manipulated by those familiar with his functioning - so yesterday's problem on the horizon becomes this moment's immediate SHARK!
True statements are such pesky little devils! It’s also irritating when what we observe with our own eyes is quickly cast aside. DjT admits he’s unclear on our concepts.
Wait...what!? This is a thing!?
Yeah, of course this is a thing...Trump, more so than any other recent US President WOULD be susceptible to this sort of logic. *#!$@
Who runs American foreign policy? The Clown Prince of the Apprentice? Little Marco? The great American Oligarchs? The Xenophobic Fever Dreams of Sen. Lindsay Graham? The Criminal Overlord of the once great Nation of Israel? The Book of Revelations?
It quite a mystery. We know who doesn't run it..The Interests of the American People.
Kick the bums out!
I'll go with Bibi and Lindsey.
That favorite Trump approval meter, the Dow. Princess Bondage said as much ...
Mister Burns, from _The Simpsons_... or his real-life avatar, Vladimir Putin.
The Federalist Society
Just THIS MORNING, Hegseth stated that TODAY will be the biggest day of ops in the conflict to date. See, Trump wants his TACO and wants to eat it too. It’s the exact definition of not having a clear objective that should put us in a long term quagmire.
I view the actions of this administration as I do my backyard after a new snow and my dog's first walk in it. The path in the snow shows no evidence of a plan because there never was a plan. It is a random walk with only one goal, and that is to shit on something.
This is an A plus post Tupper, and accurate. Had to stop myself from spitting out my coffee
I thought you might be going in a different direction. What the back yard looks like after the winter with the dog and the results. That look is the perfect metaphor for what Trump has done to this country.
This is an amazing comment.
#1 Po'Boys - we've simultaneously obliterated them like no one's seen before AND if they get cute we'll hit them TWENTY TIME WORSE. As we said in elementary school arguments, 'oh yeah, well you're stupid times infinity... plus one!'
The likelihood of a TACO multiplies when we remember that the only reason military engagements are hard to disengage from is because of concern for the aftermath - political/social instability, humanitarian crisis, tactical weakness, geopolitical consequences, cost, the enemy rebuilding. Trump gives not a single shit for any of these things. He will be quite content to order the carrier groups to turn around and steam away to Cuba or wherever else he wants them whenever he wants as if he's playing with bathtub toys, leaving Iran and the region in whatever state it is.
While claiming victory and demanding the Nobel Peace prize.
Exactly! He'll say, "I stopped another war!"
...the more you start, the more you stop. Winning!
I'm tired of so much winning. 🤯
"... they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far." He sounds like he's 10-years-old, but for his choice of "thus."
Next up is "INFINITY TIMES HARDER!!!"
No...even harder......"INFINITY PLUS ONE!"
Are you sure it’s not 600 percent?
Bigly
"INFINITEY TIMES INFINITY!"
That was where I remember things ending as a kid. Infinity times infinity plus one didn't seem to carry any weight.
Yep...just like the "quadruple dog dare ya" never landed quite as well as the preceding dog dares...
Was it Churchill who opined, " I'm rubber, you're glue..." ?
"Triple stamp it, no erase-ies!" -LLoyd Christmas "You can't triple stamp a double stamp, Lloyd, you can't triple stamp a double stamp!" - Harry Dunne
So impressive how Harry rose above those humble beginnings to achieve successful career in law enforcement 🤪
😉 since this thread was already far above the SHARK!
Jeff - you are indeed The Original. Reading comments in order of recency, I posted this genius insight before seeing you'd already made the point. Obviously we are both gentlemen & scholars but I bow to your expeditious-osity 😉
Thx. There are a lot of similarly thinking geniuses on this site...you included. It's been dark days for critical thinking people since Trump's arrival on the scene...
'Thus' is Trump's Word of the Day.
More likely it was suggested by his phone.
Sure, why not. I have my phone now offering me a variety of AI-generated questions and issues to explore.
It probably was someone else’s idea, maybeChatGpt or ChatTrump.
Do you think the Whet House has a TrumpGPT that lets you upload ordinary, run-of-the-mill stupid shit and and turns it into the extraordinarily stupid shit that Trump can read off the 'prompter?
Both him and hegseth sound like the immature, blustering bullies that they are. But their hands won't be bloodied, nor their hair mussed.
Colin Jost has hegseth's character down to a T.
On video games.
'Asked at his presser yesterday why he was the only member of own administration accusing Iran of the strike, Trump replied: “Because I just don’t know enough about it.” Truest thing he’s ever said.'
Is it the truest thing he's ever said? Because when he says it was Iran, it must be a lie if he doesn't know much about it, and I think the actual truth is he's also lying when he says he doesn't know much about it. So he's lying that it was Iran, and he's lying about why he's the only one putting forth that lie. That seems the likeliest state of play to me: lies all the way down, lies to cover for lies. Stay tuned for the next lie.
And I'll add that the lie that he doesn't know enough about it is the ultimate, perpetual copout that he can peddle for as long as he has to to avoid telling the truth about what we did to those young girls. He'll never admit the truth now that he's settled into the GOP go-to "I didn't see that tweet" mode.
He needs a sign on his desk saying: The Buck Does Not Stop Here!
I spend as little time as possible listening to Trump, but has he used his "most stable genius" comment lately?
Regarding Tomahawk, keep in mind that the State Department has an arms embargo on countries like Iran, North Korea, China, etc., so the only way Iran could get their hands on a Tomahawk is through a third party. Possible? I suppose. Likely? No fuckin' way.
When Trump's the only one with the theory...I need no other research to prove it's a lie.
What blows me away is that I'm sure many of his supporters either believe it or don't care that it's a lie. So telling...
His supporters root for laundry. They wouldn't tolerate dishonesty from those outside their tribe, but from Trump, they look at his mendacity as a virtue.
What Im surprised about is when I read public opinion about this "war" there are so many people who have no opinion about. I know people are busy with their lives, but come on now, people are dying.
We have become a victim of our own success. Demise is coming I suspect. I don't want it, but it just seems like karma for this casualness about killing others.
Whatever he says, it is a lie. Full stop.
I haven't read or seen anything that mentions which countries possess Tomahawk missiles. Generally speaking, do we only sell those to our trusted allies? Of course it's got gotten a lot more difficult to know who our allies are these days..
Technically we can sell to whoever isn't on the embargo list, and there's fewer than 10 countries on that. For example, we have sold TPY-2 and PATRIOT to Saudi Arabia in the past, and PATRIOT and NASAMS to Qatar as well. Whether that's prudent or not is another matter entirely.
I thought I'd read that only Great Britain and Australia use the tomahawk, but don't quote me on that
In addition to the US of course
I said to my husband the other day while reading the news: "It's such a shame that Trump's penis doesn't work." This is so obviously the failing of a lackluster man who's never been able to do anything successful in his life despite all the privilege he was born with. He is the ultimate limp dick, using Patriot missle to make up for his lack of ED meds.
I wonder what the world would be like if the sad President and the sad billionaires of America had just been raised by loving fathers.
If we did enough digging, we just might find that all wars are started by men who no longer "function". It's up to the women of this world to save us from ourselves.
It's been a kind of working theory of mine, Mickey, for a long time.
And a correct one, imho.
Bill and Gen. Hertling's writings this morning are ironic for me: when I got up and read the BBC's live updates' multiple quotes from T and Hegseth I instantly felt nauseated. They care about nothing other than feeding their vile, vulgar, cowardly, narcissistic, sociopathic appetites.
What I hear from Hegseth and Rubio and Trump and all the rest (Lindsey Graham, for fuck's sake) is bragging about is how good we are at murdering people. How efficiently we can destroy anything we choose to destroy. How proud we should be that we're "King of the Hill" even as we turn that hill into rubble. We have done this before. We are currently showing the world why we are not to be trusted and why they should all develop nuclear weapons of their own. We are creating a new generation of America-haters and, frankly, who could blame them? Trump could chicken out now. We could stop dropping bombs tomorrow but the hate will last decades. When terrorists respond, we will have only ourselves to blame. Happy Tuesday.
I think we need to recall Miss Lindsey and his clutching pearls into the military. We can commission him a ship and call it the USS Pinafore! It would put on musicals for the entertainment of the troops.
The lady doth protest too much, or?
I for one, am sickened by Trump and his war supporters masturbating in public to the rhythms of war. They are not even serious players. When will this country stop their games? How many more deaths are needed? How much more destruction before they are stopped?
It will be hard. I remember, years ago, a coworker of mine watching one of the beheading videos and made the comment that it was like watching a movie. Now I think he was a bit regretful for watching it, but that comment really struck me.
Because we don't see a beheading in our everyday lives our brains cannot grasp it as something real. But our brains watch movies. Most of us understand a movie to be a fiction, as something not real. So when we see something so far outside our everyday lives our brains say it's on a screen so it's like a movie.
Sandra, how do you propose we change the hearts and minds of the millions of MAGA who are getting off on this? They literally do not care that a school was bombed. They do not see people outside of their tribe as worthy of anything other than servitude. That view doesn’t leave with Trump or Republicans losing power. Until we decide how to grapple with the cancerous voter population we are stuck in this loop.
Better education? I think we’re pretty much an illiterate nation. If you don’t have good reading skills, such as reading comprehension, you can’t have good reasoning skills, either. That’s a generational change which I won’t live long enough to see.
One of my many beliefs is that literacy - reading and writing - is the compensation we got for enduring civilization (as vs prehistoric times). Through reading we can "go" just about anywhere, anytime, and learn things otherwise unknowable. So, make early reading in schools interesting, engaging and social, ie." let's talk about what we just read, class."
Then we are fucked. That generational change is dead and never going to happen. Republicans murdered it along with valuing education. Republicans across the country would have to face punishment to see any change.
A basket of deplorables.
If Trump TACOs out of Iran, can he really avoid the repercussions? The “he” in that sentence should be “we”. Some number of somebodys out there are undoubtedly already plotting a 9/11 style attack. A wounded animal is most dangerous.
“His role as the adult in the room has been underscored by the increasingly tall pile of jobs and responsibilities the president has heaped on his shoulders.”
Marco the only adult in the room? Because he doesn’t throw feces at the wall and laugh does not make him an adult. He is just as big a liar and sycophant as the rest of them. He should never be allowed near the WH after this monstrous regime is burned to ashes.
Does “very soon” from President Man mean “two weeks”?
He'll get back to you on that in a couple of weeks... :-)
How it's going in the barracks:
"Military officials are reportedly having problems getting the soldiers training for a potential Iranian invasion to stop sarcastically yelling, “For Epstein!” every time they salute each other, and have likened it to the Gen Alpha “6-7” craze."
😂
I hope that's true! I've known some world class smart asses in the Air Force! We had one Sgt that would have us stop what we were doing at the same time on the same day of the week to all stand in line on the ramp to smile and wave at the Soviet satellite taking our picture.
Is that real?
I don't get hung up that much trying to figure out if something is real or not anymore.
But, it's from a satire account. 🤫
That's a key fact. Contrast this to the reports of soldiers that their commanders are all in on this...fulfilling Revelations prophecy.
Just checking. 😀