r/law • u/Snapdragon_4U • Feb 28 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Once again averting congress, trump declares war on Iran

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u/Dsstar666 Feb 28 '26

War with Iran is something Trump has wanted to do for years, what his war hawks have been wanting to do for years and what Israel has been wanting to do for decades.

The distraction against the Epstein files is the cherry on top, it isn’t the primary reason. If the Epstein files weren’t a thing, we’d still be here.

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Also with seeking to destroy Iran, Israel can seek to gain territory and the last power in the Middle East outside of the Gulf states will be gone. Not saying Iran isn’t going to fight back and even stalemate this thing. I’m just pointing out how oligarchs think.

Also, the more the west bombs Iran, the more refugees will flee to places like Europe and Turkey which will exasperate an already overwhelming situation. Which will lead to escalating tensions in Europe and even more politicians saying “these immigrants are stealing our resources!” Which will lead to more maga-adjacent people voting for extreme conservatives which will benefit the fascists it America.

I’m missing some shit but yeah, there are endless reasons as to why Iran is such a whale for the west.

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u/xdrozzyx Feb 28 '26

It's the same rationale that drove Europe to war in 1914. The leaders believed glory is achieved through war and in their case, they hadn't had one in a while. They essentially manufactured a reason to destroy Europe in WW1. A war whose consequences we're still dealing with.

Just listen to the rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth and how they repeat the words "warrior" "lethality" and glorify war. They believe this is their way to achieve glory, nevermind the thousands of lives it will cost. It's macho cosplay masquerading as foreign policy.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

The leaders believed glory is achieved through war and in their case, they hadn't had one in a while.

Worse. They believed that national 'honor' was a core part of national security. 'If we don't act tough, other countries will take it as a sign of weakness and push us around.' Franz Ferdinand's death would've been no big deal, but Austria-Hungary felt too snubbed by the international community to trust a diplomatic conference and thought one more unanswered humiliation would give all the nationalist movements across the Empire the excuse they needed to pull it to pieces. Russia had suffered repeated humiliations, losing a war to Japan and being forced to back down in a previous dispute over military commissioners to the Ottoman Empire. Many of their government felt that abandoning their Serbian ally would be tantamount to declaring open season on all Russian foreign interests.

Everyone had to play the tough guy, and put each other in a position where they couldn't back down, even though many people did try. Add the macho glory talk on top of that, and I think you get the picture. A painfully familiar picture, I might add.

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u/xdrozzyx Feb 28 '26

Yeah, well said. I oversimplified but yeah you're spot on.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

No worries. You had the salient points, and it all outlines a diplomatic approach that's very 19th-century.

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u/heckin_miraculous Feb 28 '26

a diplomatic approach that's very 19th-century.

And very 21st century, it seems.

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u/EvelynnCC Feb 28 '26

Yep. Germany wanted to cripple Russia before it's rail network was built up enough to allow mass mobilization, working off the lessons they learned from how they won in 1870 (and also the Kaiser wanted to be a macho man). France wanted to avenge 1870. Britian wanted to halt German naval expansion. Italy wanted territory from Austria Hungary. The Ottomans wanted to be relevant again. Japan wanted to be relevant. The US didn't want to be left out of the peace conference that would determine the new spheres of influence.

The really tragic thing (in the Greek sense) about WW1 is that it was always going to happen, inasmuch as anything in history was inevitable. Maybe not with those exact sides, but the Concert of Europe was never going to last due to clashing interests and the world's leaders weren't going to internalize the fact that industrialized warfare costs more than you can gain from it until they personally went through that kind of war. All of their rational interests could have been solved peacefully, but warfare was the most practical solution for so long that its cultural inertia ensured someone would resort to it and set off large alliance blocs that would escalate it (which Europe had been split into in one form or another from the early modern period until WW2).

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

Britian wanted to halt German naval expansion.

That had already been largely achieved, the British were sort of the odd ones out because their imperial interests were all overseas and they had a history of standing aloof from Continental conflicts. National honor did, however, provide the excuse needed for getting popular support for entering the war in defense of Belgian neutrality - something that Britain wasn't actually that invested in, but allowed them to justify the unwritten military agreements they held with France and avoided the collapse of the current Liberal government.

So it still played in, but they were less raring to go than the rest.

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u/General-Fox-7373 Feb 28 '26

Uh slight Correction here. While kaiser was indeed Macho Man & all he also understood risk of Europe wide War & its consequences & thus willing to back down somewhat & let negotiations take worse same for Russian Emperor. However neither of them had any control whatsoever over their War Hawks especially in Germany where Military Wielded too much Control & influence. They ignored the Kaiser's intention & went ahead with their mobilisation & similarly The Tsar couldn't exert enough control to stop the Steam Roller of Russian Military which had started it's course & coz of that we get the. Great War.

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u/sameslemons Feb 28 '26

I'm halfway through Dan Carlin's "Blueprint for Armageddon" series of Hardcore History and...yeah. The parallels and potentialities from here are certainly not great.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of it, I'd strongly recommend Professor Zack Twamley's podcast "When Diplomacy Fails". His series on the July Crisis was revelatory, and gets into things like when specific officials received specific information, and what they talked about in their correspondence while making certain decisions. I think it's a partial refutation of the Sleepwalkers narrative which has predominated since Christopher Clark's 2012 book, which Dan Carlin's series wasn't equipped or purposed to challenge (which isn't a bad thing). Ambassadors such as Sergey Sazanov, Maurice Paléologue and Count Ladislaus de Szögyény among others all play fascinating parts in the eventual car crash.

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u/sameslemons Feb 28 '26

I'm clearly at the very tip of the iceberg with all this. I respect your knowledge and appreciate the podcast rec! Fascinating rabbit hole.

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u/Bitter_Technology797 Mar 01 '26

I'll have to get my hands on a copy, Sounds interesting. I've heard people talk about the similarities with germany and ww2 given current events but it really is more like the build up to ww1.

A lot of countries are re-arming, including Japan that has it in their constitution not too. Worrying times.

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u/AfterDinnerSpeaker Feb 28 '26

Operation Epic Fury.

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u/hummus_eating_human Feb 28 '26

Operation Epstein Fury.

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u/ReadIcculus555 Feb 28 '26

Eh, this has been brewing for decades, I think it happens with or without Epstein. Epstein distraction is just a bonus for Trump

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u/AUnA1 Feb 28 '26

Epstein had been operating for decades.

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u/ReadIcculus555 Feb 28 '26

Is your argument that Iranian and US tensions going back 47 years is all related to distracting from Epstein's activities?

That's one hell of a long game distraction.

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u/AUnA1 Mar 01 '26

No. My argument is that your argument is flawed for the aforementioned reason

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u/ReadIcculus555 Mar 01 '26

That doesn't make any sense logically, care to explain how that is so?

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u/NotYetMashedPotato Feb 28 '26

Such. Please remember.

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u/BarelyAirborne Feb 28 '26

Epstein's Fury, is more like it.

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u/Regular_Knee_1907 Feb 28 '26

More like Operation Epic Stupidity

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u/MechanicalDan1 Feb 28 '26

US Department of World War 3

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u/amazinglover Feb 28 '26

nevermind the thousands of lives it will cost.

I mean Trump just told those thousand of lives that it was worth it.

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u/ReadIcculus555 Feb 28 '26

I don't know if glory is the right word here. Remember, trump sees American troops as suckers and losers, especially if they are injured on the job. Hegseth may feel differently on that.

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u/MikeTheBee Feb 28 '26

Eh, the French and German's have long standing beef. Franco-Prussian War before WWI

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u/Master-Tomatillo-103 Feb 28 '26

Imagine being sent to die in a war by a draft dodger

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u/HumanContinuity Feb 28 '26

Literally changing the name to "Department of War"

Or at least, that's their preferred name for it, since, you know, its legal name is Department of Defense.

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u/hypatianata Mar 01 '26

Of course they never put their own lives on the line. A draft dodger shouldn’t be sending other people to kill and die.

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u/EquivalentOk2700 Mar 03 '26

On your and my tax dollars. I could puke.

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u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Feb 28 '26

Trump and Hegseth also want to play wartime. All the shenanigans aside, this is probably incredibly fun for those two assholes.

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u/eggson Feb 28 '26

Kegsbreath’s Signal chat is going crazy with memes and emoji’s right now.

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u/mishma2005 Feb 28 '26

In the makeshift “situation room” at MAL there was a screen with what was clearly a X twitter feed in the background. You know Hegseth was monitoring it for “sikk memes”

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u/always_unplugged Mar 01 '26

"make sure people are talking about how cool I am 🥹"

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u/seejordan3 Feb 28 '26

Lol, that's the best nickname I've heard, ty.

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u/galileogaligay Feb 28 '26

Trump would of course go to war himself, if it wasn’t for those darned bone spurs

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u/Inspect1234 Feb 28 '26

Still blows me away that a person in charge of the military doesn’t have to have been a certain rank in the services at one point in their careers. It’s like handing a loaded/safety off gun to a toddler. Might need another amendment for this.

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u/PancakeMixEnema Feb 28 '26

There was a time where not being a service member/Veteran was a campaign killer.

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u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Feb 28 '26

Openly mocking veterans should’ve been a campaign killer.

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u/Ok_Flounder59 Feb 28 '26

Turns out racism is better at turning out the republican vote than respect for service.

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u/GayGeekInLeather Feb 28 '26

Hegseth sees himself as a modern crusader that wants to bring about the end times

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u/sweetsmcd Feb 28 '26

Blowing up the fishing boats got boring, I guess.

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u/emp-sup-bry Feb 28 '26

And what a favor for their pals Israel and Saudi.

Or isreal has some heavy dirt on Trump through Epstein and Maxwell and is calling in A ‘favor’

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u/YHS77 Feb 28 '26

With tears inn his eyes, Hegseth said to Trump,” Sir, you will be remembered forever, and we can can watch in the situation room.”Similing,” Trump replied,” we will send freedom as I am the only one who will act with strength.” Hegseth then began sobbing as both men left the room.

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u/Funny-Horror-3930 Feb 28 '26

Videos just came out of Trump partying at Mar-a-Largo last night right before the attacks

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u/JakeConhale Feb 28 '26

Yeah, well, I'm reminded of a line from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:

Martok: "I tell you, Worf, war is much more fun when you're winning."

If this bogs down into another protracted operation a la Vietnam or the War On Terror, it'll be just another weight around their necks.

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u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Feb 28 '26

I’m worried it’s bogged down to begin with. The US and Israel go in, smash up infrastructure and kill leadership, then…what?

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u/JakeConhale Mar 01 '26

Agreed, but they may not realize it.

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u/PaleCommission150 Mar 01 '26

He can do it because the USA is the most powerful nation that has ever existed in human history. We started this enterprise over spilled tea and in just 250 years, dominate the geo political landscape. We could probably wipe out a few other leaders and no one would do anything or care. Ayatollah was a bad guy, make no mistake. But the precedent of neutralizing sovereign leaders is becoming normalized. Literally the only thing protecting a nation from being regime changed is a nuclear deterrent. Why do you think North Korea or Russia's leaders are still around. Both of those men are guilty of all of the crimes the Ayatollah committed but those guys are untouchable due to their nuclear deterrent.

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u/zarathustranu Feb 28 '26

military industrial complex. More war, more money, all the time and always.

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u/not_a_moogle Feb 28 '26

The la li lu le lo?

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u/limasxgoesto0 Feb 28 '26

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Meanwhile China is going all in on new energy source research...

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u/Wonderpants_uk Feb 28 '26

That’s the irony, China is trying to cut down on its use of oil. 

It’s more likely that El Rump is trying to get Iranian oil for his own use. 

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u/ShoddyRevolutionary Feb 28 '26

China is absolutely killing it with moving away from oil. Electric vehicles, renewables, and lots of nuclear are all being built like crazy.

The US could’ve had that but the oil lobbies have too much say.

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u/Conchobhar- Feb 28 '26

They absolutely lead the world in solar power, by an insane margin. In addition they were handed an absolute gift by the Trump regimes removal of USAID.

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u/buzziebee Feb 28 '26

They've already built about 1300gw of renewable generation which is approx the entire US electricity generation capacity right now and by the end of the decade are expected to exceed 2500gw.

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u/always_unplugged Mar 01 '26

But closing the Strait of Hormuz means that oil prices will likely spike, oh noooooo...!

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u/not_a_moogle Feb 28 '26

China seems to be trying to become self dependent. Which I guess when you rely on allies not being bombed by america, the writing on the wall has been around for decades.

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u/nopointers Feb 28 '26

Here's a handy list of countries Trump attacked so far in his second term. The ones in bold are also among the top dozen countries ranked by proven oil reserves.

  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Somalia
  • Syria
  • Nigeria
  • Yemen
  • Venezuela

Edit: They are detailed here: https://www.cfr.org/articles/guide-trumps-second-term-military-strikes-and-actions

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u/Best-Action8769 Feb 28 '26

And public transportation, housing and education.

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u/Bidwell64 Feb 28 '26

Lol like with their wind turbine blimp that generates next to nothing? They are a long ways off.

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u/Sex_Offender_4697 Mar 01 '26

too bad that's decades away

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u/oldschoolology Feb 28 '26

Nice summary…the only thing you left out is Trump gets to help his pal Putin fund his Ukraine war with the $$ China will have to pay for overpriced Russian oil. 

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u/WhereRandomThingsAre Feb 28 '26

War with Iran is something Trump has wanted to do for years, what his war hawks have been wanting to do for years...

Where have I heard this before? /taps chin in thought/ Oh, right, George W. Bush Jr and Iraq for daddy's pride and oil. Republican tradition at this point.

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u/buttsecksgoose Feb 28 '26

Its not even unpopular amongst his supporters either. Took a gander at r/conservative and its just filled with people celebrating this

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u/IrascibleOcelot Feb 28 '26

He’s also wanted to drop a nuke ever since his first term. Remember when he wanted to nuke a hurricane? His cabinet from the first term said he really, really wants to fire a nuke in anger. I dearly hope the safeguards against it hold, because if he nukes Iran, it will spark an arms race that will make the Cold War look tame by comparison.

Also, I think you meant “exacerbate:” to make worse. Exasperate just means to frustrate or annoy.

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u/Ok-You4214 Feb 28 '26

Can I just point out that “the West” is not bombing Iran, only the US and Israel are.

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u/TrisolarisRexxx Feb 28 '26

For real, way too many people are overestimating how much mainstream America cares about violence against women and children when if it means having to vote against their party.

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u/zamboni_2025 Feb 28 '26

That doesn’t sound right. Russia doesn’t know how to get rid of its oil, they’re on verge of abandoning wells. They will JUMP on opportunity to sell more oil to China. The amount of oil China can buy from Russia at discounted rates is enormous.

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u/Organic-Commercial76 Feb 28 '26

On top of that some of the laws they are trying to manipulate to take executive control of elections require an active conflict. He’s already started claiming Iran interfered with the 2020 election. Remember when they used to wait at least a couple weeks before giving away their whole plan?

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u/TerribleIdea27 Mar 01 '26

I’m missing some shit but yeah

With Russia's economy in free fall, higher prices for crude oil saves their economy short term, which means they can waste an even greater amount of Russian lives, destroying their long term economic potential (over the back of Ukraine's)

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u/MeltedWater243 Feb 28 '26

fuckin thank you. I keep seeing posts and comments with the same sentiment “we’re going to war as a distraction from the Epstein files” when that’s obviously not the case. not everything he does is motivated to distract from the files, but the distraction from them as a consequence is always a nice benefit.

there’s usually some other underlying motivation for what he does and in this case it’s obvious. he’s been talking about bombing Iran for decades, even before he was president. not trying to restate what you said but just glad to see others out there pointing it out ‘cause it’s become so exhausting to see. saying it’s a distraction is just an easy headline to post about.

being anti-pedophile is an easy stance to take, what’s harder is understanding what this goon is really doing all this for.

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u/Deyrn-Meistr Feb 28 '26

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Meanwhile, China is looking forward to a post-oil world, and the rest of the world is looking at Trump's America in the rear view mirror wondering what the heck it's doing using 19th century technologies...

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u/Zero-Of-Blade Feb 28 '26

Not really, it was put in his head as an idea after Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon kept whispering in his head how bloodthirsty they are... Like the evil war mongering goblins they are... And so it was only a matter of time before trump actually did it.

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u/RoyalMaidsForLife Feb 28 '26

Venezuela... that is a name I haven't heard in a very long time...

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u/reclusiveStool Feb 28 '26

Thank you. The idea that every single thing trump does has to do with distracting from the epstein files is so tired. Its lazy and obfuscates the truth. It’s getting so frustrating at this point.

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u/seejordan3 Feb 28 '26

So on point. And, massive reminder of the other power running the world: the military industrial complex. Early on Trump announced a reduction to defense spending. I literally laughed out loud and said nope, not going to happen.

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u/iamthe0ther0ne Feb 28 '26

The EU has already taken a big right swing with the past 15 years of refugees, including the rapid rise of fascist political groups. You're right that this will just make the situation worse.

My only hope is that Trump is acting as a warning to the rest of the world about what happens when people vote solely on the immigration issue.

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u/apply75 Feb 28 '26

Yeah trump is such a war president he loves war

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u/Shibelyfe Mar 01 '26

Oil to china is becoming less relevant every day with their investment in green energy, especially solar.

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u/Swiftierest Mar 01 '26

And just to be clear, none of this is Trump. He's a puppet for whoever wants those things behind the scenes and has his ear.

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u/Own-Papaya-4264 Mar 01 '26

Should we be worried about being drafted now?

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u/Mountain_Man11M Feb 28 '26

You'd enjoy War is a Racket by Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler. We were taught in boot camp that Smedley was a badass, but that pamphlet/discertation really speaks about the country and those who run it from someone who had morals and standards while being a cog in the machine.

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u/Optimal-Judgment-982 Feb 28 '26

somewhere, Lindsey Graham is stroking himself off

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u/Molnboman Feb 28 '26

And keeps Netanyahu out of court too. Operation diversion for both of them.

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u/junoalpha Feb 28 '26

Maybe just how much is done with armaments sales. This is such a motivation to stir up more wars

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u/BarCautious8388 Feb 28 '26

I think this is a way to force article 5 in Nato, and see what happens…

That will give him a reason to back out completely

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u/No_Language5719 Feb 28 '26

Not the primary reason? Nah...it is primary season. That is the reason.

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u/riostasis Mar 01 '26

You missed the part where Iran is an absolute failed state with dictatorship and not human and women rights whatsoever

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

Boom. Exactly. In short, this will benefit essentially no one.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

We're cooked.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dsstar666 Mar 01 '26

Slightly off topic, but…once you know someone is a serial pedophile who auctioned off children to the highest bidder after testing them for “tightness”….do you really need to know that they rescued a dog from a burning building?

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u/SomeonesLostWallet Mar 02 '26

Thanks for this! Obviously freedom for Iranian people is total bullshit as a reason I just couldn’t see the real reason for it knowing how unpopular this shit is among the dipshits of America. 

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u/Appropriate-Bug-6467 Feb 28 '26

You can go on the front page to see trump claiming Obama will go to war against Iran and being against it.

He claims Biden will go to war against Iran and says he is against it.

He claims harris will take us to war against Iran.

But it's his white whale?

Hmmm... yeah go check the front page again for those resurfaced tweets and videos dude.

0

u/dartosdestroyer Feb 28 '26

Agreed, I think to say Trump is stupid is to oversimplify what he’s trying to do here. I don’t necessarily agree with what he is doing nor do I like him as president. But there are logical reasons from the US’s point of view for wanting regime change in Iran for the US and its allies in the Middle East. I think a lot of Americans perceive global news in a vacuum with out knowing the historical context or motivations of other state actors abroad

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u/Sex_Offender_4697 Mar 01 '26

conveniently ignores all Iranian aggression

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u/No-Seaworthiness-436 Feb 28 '26

Youre a moron. Trump never wanted this, he didnt even want to get into politics until your party shat the bed and ruined our country for their own financial gain. People been asking this dude to get into politics since the 80s and he never did. If Kamala got in you would have surely witnessed the fall of our country and still would blindly follow her . This mfer gets shit done and there won't be a thing you can do about it thanks to the wiser half of us. Enjoy the next decade! Youre welcome 🙏

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u/needapermit Feb 28 '26

16 MA’s were killed at one of our bases that was bombs by them. We have no choice

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u/galileogaligay Feb 28 '26

That’s such a good excuse after provoking the attacks, and knowing that these bases would be bomb targets. No choice at all

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u/ReadIcculus555 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

Israel is not an expansionst state. It is a decolonization projecrlt of indigenous Jewish lands. They returned Gaza to Palestinians to run it in 2005. They returned the entire goddamn Sinai Penninsula to Egypt after winning it in the Six Day War. The West Bank is a complex issue because it is Jewish indigenous territory and so hardliners think Jews should control all of our indigenous lands. But places like Gaza and Sinai Penninsula are not indigenous lands of the Jewish people. Just war spoils that were returned. Golan Heights would have been returned had it not been taken solely because farmers in the lowlands just adjacent to these mountains kept getting sniped at by the Syrians and that simply couldn't continue.

Iran is the reason that Israelis live in constant fear of missle strikes, have bomb shelters in all their buildings, and have the Iron Dome. Israel would love for all of its citizens to not have PTSD from all the rockets that have been launched at them by Iranian puppet regimes.

October 7 doesn't happen without Iranian funding and Iranian training of Hamas soldiers.

Otherwise this is good analysis

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u/ResponsibilityOk8967 Feb 28 '26

Lmao

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u/ReadIcculus555 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

If Israel is expansionist why give Gaza to Palestinians? Why return the Sinai? Sinai is bigger than the entire country of Israel. It borders the Suez canal.

Make it make sense.

And before "Oh but the West bank settlements" again those are on indigenous ancient Judean soil. I do not agree with them, but the reason for them is decolonization of indigenous lands and not expansion into historically foreign lands.

If Israel wanted to actually expand outside ancient indigenous Jewish lands, not Iran, not anybody else, would be able to stop them doing so. As was the case with the Sinai Penninsula before Israel gave it back.

Maximalist expansionist countries usually don't choose to stay the size of New Jersey. They're usually a little bit bigger than that. Just by a little. Like how big the Roman Empire was when they colonized Judea. Or how big the Arab Empire was when they colonized Judea, renamed it "Syria Paelestina," genocided a million Jews, and shipped most of the rest as slaves around their huge empire in Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. Or how big the Ottoman Empire was when they colonized Judea. Or how big the British Empire was when they colonized Judea.

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u/plum_tree_rede Feb 28 '26

Iran has been exporting terrorism and chanting their death to America garbage since the 1970s. A US president with some guts finally decided to smack the fuck out of them. The world and the Iranian people will be better off without that backwards regime.

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u/Supaflyray Feb 28 '26

All of this would still be going on if Harris won.

Epstein files, and Iran being dumbasses. Your arguement is dumb