"It’s difficult to think of a day with quite the same anxiety as April 7, 2026.”
The writer was clearly not sitting in front of his or her television on the evening of October 22, 1962 when John Kennedy told the nation about the Russian missiles in Cuba and his order of a blockade. For those of us around the world who then waited over the course of the next 13 days for either resolution or Armageddon, yesterday, for all Trump’s bluster, was a cake walk. .
In addition, if addition were needed, the stark contrast with which Kennedy and his advisors handled that crisis and the way in which Trump and Hegseth have handled this ‘crisis’ bends the mind.
For what it’s worth, I was teaching school in NYC city on 9/11, and I can promise you I did not feel the same level as I did on any of those 13 days in 1962. There was no nuclear concern on 9/11, which made a considerable difference. .
As to Pearl Harbor, I can’t comment, not having been alive.
Kahn has written another distorted column. Here is what a British military expert and an Iranian report say about the war's results so far. The reporter is Iranian Reporter Morad Vaisi.
The British expert is Link to Audio clip by British expert Professor Gwythian Prins, who advised the Defence Ministry and NATO.
1- The United States gained a two-week window to control the oil and gas market and confront the Islamic Republic from a higher and better position.
2- The Islamic Republic lost its card to create a crisis in the oil and gas market.
3- Trump's threat to destroy power plants and bridges elevated the threats from the United States and Israel to the level of threats against the survival of the Islamic Republic, forcing the regime to retreat.
4- This retreat is like the retreat after the final defeats in the war with Iraq, when the regime was forced to accept Resolution 598 to avoid collapse.
5- The retreat under pressure is similar to the acceptance of the JCPOA in 2015 due to fear of economic collapse during that period.
6- Trump intends to include four main conditions in any agreement, which again means the surrender of the Islamic Republic. The four conditions are: halting enrichment, halting the ballistic missile program, cutting support for proxies, and handing over enriched uranium.
7- If the Islamic Republic accepts these conditions, it is surrender; if it does not, the likelihood of war restarting is very high.
8- The Islamic Republic has lost Khamenei and a very large number of its commanders and officials, making this top level of the government structure fragile, while the Islamic Republic has not been able to kill any of the commanders and officials of the United States and Israel.
9- The IRGC Navy commander was killed, and the force itself was severely damaged and cannot be rebuilt anytime soon.
10- The Islamic Republic's air force has been almost completely destroyed, with many bases and aircraft demolished.
11- The country's air defense has been almost completely destroyed and is ineffective.
12- The country's skies are still under the control of the United States and Israel.
13- Most petrochemical industries, as a source of foreign currency revenue, have been destroyed.
14- Many military industries across the country have been destroyed.
15- Many Basij headquarters and bases have been destroyed.
16- Police command centers in the provinces and many police stations have been demolished.
17- The Minister of Intelligence and many of the main managers of this ministry have been killed.
18- The head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization has been killed.
19- The head and deputy of Faraja Intelligence have been killed. Overall, it is a major intelligence failure.
20- The head and deputy of the Basij have been killed.
21- The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces has been killed.
22- Shamkhani, Secretary of the Defense Council, has been killed. The council was unsuccessful in managing the war.
23- The IRGC Commander-in-Chief has been killed.
24- Two heads of the Sepand Organization, responsible for building nuclear weapons for the regime, have been killed.
25- The Minister of Defense has been killed.
26- The Gulf Cooperation Council member states have joined the ranks of the enemies of the Islamic Republic.
27- The route to bypass sanctions through Dubai has been shut down.
28- Friendship with Qatar has been lost and turned into enmity.
29- The country's economy is facing a wave of accumulated demands from the war period and war damages that were deferred during the war and are now flooding the government.
30- The people of Iran, as the most important opposing force against the Islamic Republic, still demand the overthrow of the regime, and after the January massacre, a sea of blood, hatred, and anger has been created between the people and the regime.
31- The ceasefire does not yet mean the end of the war.
32- The Islamic Republic has become even more discredited in the eyes of the people because it abandoned the people and civilians during the war.
33- The Islamic Republic calls these things victory because it hasn't fallen yet.
Spin spin spin spin speroo / There is nothing on earth that a good spin won't do
Look, the point of this war was regime change. That was the strategic objective. If regime change isn't achieved - and it doesn't seem likely - then it's impossible to consider this war a success.
What political leaders in the US and Europe would support an explicit goal of regime change? There is barely any support for creating the conditions for regime change. The question is, are the US and allies more secure after the war than before? Certainly, the war did not achieve everything, but it may not be over. Perfection should not be the enemy of the good.
This war has been an unmitigated disaster, a fiasco. We can all agree that Trump never should have gone into this war, most likely he was bamboozled by neocons and Israel. Trumps crazy rhetoric about wiping out Irans civilization was part of a classic escalation trap. He had to escalate to try to get terms. But lets give the man some credit, at least they have a cease fire and not World War 3. The senile Biden and his team took us into a proxy war with Russia, still going on. The problem seems to be bigger than politics and bigger than personalities.
From the other side of the Atlantic, Trump and his administration have revealed themselves to be the incompetent clowns we always thought they were (almost literally in the case of Rubio and his oversized clown shoes). Why should the Clown in Chief get any credit when he needlessly started a war and now claims a ceasefire when everybody is worse off (particularly the Iranian people) apart from the Iranian regime? He's now even considering helping enrich them with a deal to charge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It's a version of his favourite zero-sum game but in this case he's come out as the loser (along with the rest of us).
As for the war with Russia (daily committing war crimes following their illegal invasion of a democratic and sovereign territory), that could stop tomorrow if the likes of Trump and Vance weren't actively supporting Putin. Remember that, when Tucker Carlson, in his interview with Putin, tried to put the blame on NATO expansion, Putin instead ignored that and gave him a long lecture on Russian history and its right to own territories that were part of its former empire. If even Putin says it's not about NATO, maybe we should believe him.
Putin has frequently said that NATO membership for Ukraine was unacceptable. If you believe that Putins invasion was unprovoked, I dont know what I can say to help you. You are ignoring of 60 years of CIA regime change operations worldwide, including the color revolution in Ukraine. You also missed Victoria Nuland on the record saying that the US would choose the next leader. She testified to congress that the US had bioweapon labs in Ukraine. The USA almost started a nuclear war back when Russia tried to put missiles in Cuba. Why should Russia accept NATO bases on its border? Would the USA accept it in Canada?
Nuland's conversation was with the US ambassador and the only conclusion that can be drawn from that was that they were discussing their opinions. There is no evidence that the US was involved in picking a leader, unless you want to create a conspiracy.
Nuland said nothing about bioweapon labs in Ukraine. There were biological research labs there that had some US support, but unless you have reliable evidence that bioweapons were being developed at that site then, again, it's best to stick with facts not conspiracies.
Can you give an example of where NATO (an association of countries dedicated to defence of each other) have carried out an unprovoked attack on another peaceful country? Given the behaviour of Russia and Putin's clear obsession with rebuilding the former empire, is it any wonder that a country that he has already invaded would want to seek some protection?
Of course he brings up the NATO expansion story from time to time as food for appeasers and useful idiots like Mearsheimer, but listening to Putin's rantings over the last 25 years make it clear what his real intentions are.
"It’s difficult to think of a day with quite the same anxiety as April 7, 2026.”
The writer was clearly not sitting in front of his or her television on the evening of October 22, 1962 when John Kennedy told the nation about the Russian missiles in Cuba and his order of a blockade. For those of us around the world who then waited over the course of the next 13 days for either resolution or Armageddon, yesterday, for all Trump’s bluster, was a cake walk. .
In addition, if addition were needed, the stark contrast with which Kennedy and his advisors handled that crisis and the way in which Trump and Hegseth have handled this ‘crisis’ bends the mind.
I would add that September 11, 2001 were also days of comparable if not worse anxiety
For what it’s worth, I was teaching school in NYC city on 9/11, and I can promise you I did not feel the same level as I did on any of those 13 days in 1962. There was no nuclear concern on 9/11, which made a considerable difference. .
As to Pearl Harbor, I can’t comment, not having been alive.
I meant to add December 7 and 8, 1941 with September 11
Kahn has written another distorted column. Here is what a British military expert and an Iranian report say about the war's results so far. The reporter is Iranian Reporter Morad Vaisi.
The British expert is Link to Audio clip by British expert Professor Gwythian Prins, who advised the Defence Ministry and NATO.
https://x.com/ukj0n/status/2041770270029988008?s=61
Ceasefire
1- The United States gained a two-week window to control the oil and gas market and confront the Islamic Republic from a higher and better position.
2- The Islamic Republic lost its card to create a crisis in the oil and gas market.
3- Trump's threat to destroy power plants and bridges elevated the threats from the United States and Israel to the level of threats against the survival of the Islamic Republic, forcing the regime to retreat.
4- This retreat is like the retreat after the final defeats in the war with Iraq, when the regime was forced to accept Resolution 598 to avoid collapse.
5- The retreat under pressure is similar to the acceptance of the JCPOA in 2015 due to fear of economic collapse during that period.
6- Trump intends to include four main conditions in any agreement, which again means the surrender of the Islamic Republic. The four conditions are: halting enrichment, halting the ballistic missile program, cutting support for proxies, and handing over enriched uranium.
7- If the Islamic Republic accepts these conditions, it is surrender; if it does not, the likelihood of war restarting is very high.
8- The Islamic Republic has lost Khamenei and a very large number of its commanders and officials, making this top level of the government structure fragile, while the Islamic Republic has not been able to kill any of the commanders and officials of the United States and Israel.
9- The IRGC Navy commander was killed, and the force itself was severely damaged and cannot be rebuilt anytime soon.
10- The Islamic Republic's air force has been almost completely destroyed, with many bases and aircraft demolished.
11- The country's air defense has been almost completely destroyed and is ineffective.
12- The country's skies are still under the control of the United States and Israel.
13- Most petrochemical industries, as a source of foreign currency revenue, have been destroyed.
14- Many military industries across the country have been destroyed.
15- Many Basij headquarters and bases have been destroyed.
16- Police command centers in the provinces and many police stations have been demolished.
17- The Minister of Intelligence and many of the main managers of this ministry have been killed.
18- The head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization has been killed.
19- The head and deputy of Faraja Intelligence have been killed. Overall, it is a major intelligence failure.
20- The head and deputy of the Basij have been killed.
21- The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces has been killed.
22- Shamkhani, Secretary of the Defense Council, has been killed. The council was unsuccessful in managing the war.
23- The IRGC Commander-in-Chief has been killed.
24- Two heads of the Sepand Organization, responsible for building nuclear weapons for the regime, have been killed.
25- The Minister of Defense has been killed.
26- The Gulf Cooperation Council member states have joined the ranks of the enemies of the Islamic Republic.
27- The route to bypass sanctions through Dubai has been shut down.
28- Friendship with Qatar has been lost and turned into enmity.
29- The country's economy is facing a wave of accumulated demands from the war period and war damages that were deferred during the war and are now flooding the government.
30- The people of Iran, as the most important opposing force against the Islamic Republic, still demand the overthrow of the regime, and after the January massacre, a sea of blood, hatred, and anger has been created between the people and the regime.
31- The ceasefire does not yet mean the end of the war.
32- The Islamic Republic has become even more discredited in the eyes of the people because it abandoned the people and civilians during the war.
33- The Islamic Republic calls these things victory because it hasn't fallen yet.
Spin spin spin spin speroo / There is nothing on earth that a good spin won't do
Look, the point of this war was regime change. That was the strategic objective. If regime change isn't achieved - and it doesn't seem likely - then it's impossible to consider this war a success.
What political leaders in the US and Europe would support an explicit goal of regime change? There is barely any support for creating the conditions for regime change. The question is, are the US and allies more secure after the war than before? Certainly, the war did not achieve everything, but it may not be over. Perfection should not be the enemy of the good.
This war has been an unmitigated disaster, a fiasco. We can all agree that Trump never should have gone into this war, most likely he was bamboozled by neocons and Israel. Trumps crazy rhetoric about wiping out Irans civilization was part of a classic escalation trap. He had to escalate to try to get terms. But lets give the man some credit, at least they have a cease fire and not World War 3. The senile Biden and his team took us into a proxy war with Russia, still going on. The problem seems to be bigger than politics and bigger than personalities.
From the other side of the Atlantic, Trump and his administration have revealed themselves to be the incompetent clowns we always thought they were (almost literally in the case of Rubio and his oversized clown shoes). Why should the Clown in Chief get any credit when he needlessly started a war and now claims a ceasefire when everybody is worse off (particularly the Iranian people) apart from the Iranian regime? He's now even considering helping enrich them with a deal to charge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It's a version of his favourite zero-sum game but in this case he's come out as the loser (along with the rest of us).
As for the war with Russia (daily committing war crimes following their illegal invasion of a democratic and sovereign territory), that could stop tomorrow if the likes of Trump and Vance weren't actively supporting Putin. Remember that, when Tucker Carlson, in his interview with Putin, tried to put the blame on NATO expansion, Putin instead ignored that and gave him a long lecture on Russian history and its right to own territories that were part of its former empire. If even Putin says it's not about NATO, maybe we should believe him.
Putin has frequently said that NATO membership for Ukraine was unacceptable. If you believe that Putins invasion was unprovoked, I dont know what I can say to help you. You are ignoring of 60 years of CIA regime change operations worldwide, including the color revolution in Ukraine. You also missed Victoria Nuland on the record saying that the US would choose the next leader. She testified to congress that the US had bioweapon labs in Ukraine. The USA almost started a nuclear war back when Russia tried to put missiles in Cuba. Why should Russia accept NATO bases on its border? Would the USA accept it in Canada?
Nuland's conversation was with the US ambassador and the only conclusion that can be drawn from that was that they were discussing their opinions. There is no evidence that the US was involved in picking a leader, unless you want to create a conspiracy.
Nuland said nothing about bioweapon labs in Ukraine. There were biological research labs there that had some US support, but unless you have reliable evidence that bioweapons were being developed at that site then, again, it's best to stick with facts not conspiracies.
Can you give an example of where NATO (an association of countries dedicated to defence of each other) have carried out an unprovoked attack on another peaceful country? Given the behaviour of Russia and Putin's clear obsession with rebuilding the former empire, is it any wonder that a country that he has already invaded would want to seek some protection?
Of course he brings up the NATO expansion story from time to time as food for appeasers and useful idiots like Mearsheimer, but listening to Putin's rantings over the last 25 years make it clear what his real intentions are.