US Attacks Iran 2026

[Valerie]

And never with people in the room who have any background or understanding in the basic issues - nuclear energy, how to monitor uranium production etc., the history and culture of the region, etc. Normally, both sides have large groups of experts who understand the details and can work things through. And time to do it.

Instead, we announce "negotiations", send the same social media stars once more, and are shocked when negotiations take more than 24 hours.

While threatening things like annihilating their civilization or sending them back to the stone age.

How is that negotiating? How would we respond if other countries did that to us?

How well have those rooms full of “experts” worked so far?

Well, how many years ago was it now... under Obama a lot of experts worked out a pretty good deal with Iran; it was working. Then another american came along and 'blew' it all up... suspiciously, possibly mainly for spite and reactive petulance than well-researched, evidence based reasons... I suspect most will someday wish the name who shan't be mentioned here wouldn't have done that...

Funny, I hear most “experts” criticize what Obama did.
The President gets enormous support for his decision from “experts” it seems depending on which experts you are listening to their understanding, experience with this situation etc. in other words the media is “not” the experts but they are influencing people who are not listening to a greater group of men whose expertise & experience with the Iran & the Middle East knows what we were up against- a country the is close to capability of nuclear bombs who have been chanting “Death to America & Death to Israel” for a long time. Obama helped? That’s not what I’ve heard. What do you expect when he appointed Muslim Brotherhood members to his cabinet.

[Szdfan]

Huh.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/21 ... =url-share

President Trump said he was extending a cease-fire with Iran on Tuesday just hours before it was set to expire. The announcement came after Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Pakistan for a second round of peace negotiations was put on hold because, according to a U.S. official, Tehran had failed to respond to American positions.

Mr. Trump, posting on social media, said he had acted after receiving a request from Pakistan, which is trying to mediate an end to the war, to hold off any attacks. He also pointed to what he said were serious fractures in the Iranian government.

The extended cease-fire, he said, will stay in effect until Iran’s “leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”

The first response from Iran came from an adviser to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the influential speaker of the Iranian Parliament — and it was dismissive. “The extension of the cease-fire by Donald Trump has no meaning,” the adviser, Mahdi Mohammadi, wrote on social media.

Mr. Trump’s announcement was a marked departure from his comments earlier in the day, when he told CNBC that if Iran did not agree to U.S. demands, “I expect to be bombing.”

Is this what winning a war looks like?

[JohnH]

Is this what winning a war looks like?

Are you upset about the U.S. government extending a ceasefire?

Do you want to see a resumption of hostilities, or something?

What exactly do you want?

[mike]

NEW: Trump's negotiators worry they may not have anyone in Iran empowered to say yes to a peace deal.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is barely communicating. The IRGC generals and Iran's civilian negotiators are openly at odds over strategy.

[Szdfan]

Is this what winning a war looks like?

Are you upset about the U.S. government extending a ceasefire?

Do you want to see a resumption of hostilities, or something?

What exactly do you want?

I want a President who can pursue a consistent and coherent strategy.

I’m fine with extending the ceasefire, but considering he had just threatened to bomb the country a couple of hours earlier is a sign of weakness.

Trump’s swings between declaring victory and threatening annihilation isn’t strength. It’s incoherent. It’s a sign of someone who has lost control of the situation and is try to reassert dominance.

And we’re here in the first place because Trump scrapped the JCPOA despite Iranian compliance. That removed a functioning framework and replaced it with…this.

So no, I don’t want the war to continue, but I want a policy that doesn’t bounce between escalation and retreat with no clear objective.

[barnhart]

If Iran were to give in to US demands today, what would have been gained that wasn't in place under the earlier treaty?

[mike]

Is this what winning a war looks like?

Are you upset about the U.S. government extending a ceasefire?

Do you want to see a resumption of hostilities, or something?

What exactly do you want?

I want a President who can pursue a consistent and coherent strategy.

I’m fine with extending the ceasefire, but considering he had just threatened to bomb the country a couple of hours earlier is a sign of weakness.

Trump’s swings between declaring victory and threatening annihilation isn’t strength. It’s incoherent. It’s a sign of someone who has lost control of the situation and is try to reassert dominance.

And we’re here in the first place because Trump scrapped the JCPOA despite Iranian compliance. That removed a functioning framework and replaced it with…this.

So no, I don’t want the war to continue, but I want a policy that doesn’t bounce between escalation and retreat with no clear objective.

I suspect that beyond all the noise of Trump's tweets and the online chattering, there actually is a clear strategy of maximum pressure that is much to the detriment of Iran and much to the advancement of the goals of the US and its allies. The US and Israeli militaries are ready to resume hostilities at any time. All Iran can do is take potshots at civilian shipping and declare this and that. It's a threat, but it's the threat of a regime that has no other cards to play. All we know is the online gossip and the propaganda of the US and Iran, and of course the tweeting of the President. The developments that really matter aren't all that transparent. What seems to us like lack of control of the situation might actually reflect something quite different.

[temporal1]

Are you upset about the U.S. government extending a ceasefire?

Do you want to see a resumption of hostilities, or something?

What exactly do you want?

The internet excels at featuring, “BACK SEAT DRIVERS”. Old saying.

back·seat driv·er [ˌbakˌsēt ˈdrīvər]
a passenger in a car who gives the driver unwanted advice:
"I'm a terrible backseat driver"

a person who is eager to give advice about something for which they are not responsible:
"there are still a lot of backseat drivers talking about the power of hindsight"

i think DanZ nailed it, ordinary people expecting autocrats to act in good faith - are likely to “get nowhere” or much worse.
i have ZERO idea why T would want to take this job on (being POTUS) - but, there he is, and elected to be there.

There are shakeups everywhere - much needed.
Certainly it will be a rocky road, profiteers will fight to maintain THEIR interests to the bitter end.

“If you can’t stand the heat - get out of the kitchen!” T is unusual, he stands up to the heat.

2018 DanZ:

I’ve said this before- but I think his aggressive and unpredictable negotiating style may advantage him with dictators and autocrats - like Kim Jong Un, over and against more diplomatic and placating presidents like Obama.

The public never knows in full, esp not IRT. Frequently, not ever.

The backseat drivers slay, tho. They are EVERYWHERE.

Example: i enjoy Ben Shapiro. Major backseat driver.
The way he speaks, he seems confident he knows EXACTLY what T should do next. [really, Ben?]
Ben’s been at it for years - even tho he often supports and agrees with T.

Backseat drivers is an old term i grew up with.
i remember how unnerving backseat drivers could be, esp as a new driver. Well meaning. But, they could cause accidents.
My grdaughter is a new driver. We’ve been out lots of times.

It’s best to be calmer passengers. Esp when you don’t own a car or know how to drive.

Very very few will ever wear POTUS shoes. That’s a tiny number.

Anyway, i’m in the backseat. Praying like crazy.
For best outcomes for all. i don’t drive that car, i don’t have that license.

It’s rough, esp emotionally. In my view, shakeups are overdue. Jesus is here for it.

i do not lose any sleep for fear T will go without questions+criticisms. Not happening. Ever. For 1 nanosecond.
That part’s covered.

[temporal1]

This morning, NYT:

Congressional chaos
The 119th Congress is a mess.
Partisan gridlock strangles both houses even though Republicans hold thin majorities.
Misconduct scandal after misconduct scandal keeps a bad light shining on the Hill. .. ..

Good. At last. ‘Way past due.
Clean it up.

[Szdfan]

Are you upset about the U.S. government extending a ceasefire?

Do you want to see a resumption of hostilities, or something?

What exactly do you want?

I want a President who can pursue a consistent and coherent strategy.

I’m fine with extending the ceasefire, but considering he had just threatened to bomb the country a couple of hours earlier is a sign of weakness.

Trump’s swings between declaring victory and threatening annihilation isn’t strength. It’s incoherent. It’s a sign of someone who has lost control of the situation and is try to reassert dominance.

And we’re here in the first place because Trump scrapped the JCPOA despite Iranian compliance. That removed a functioning framework and replaced it with…this.

So no, I don’t want the war to continue, but I want a policy that doesn’t bounce between escalation and retreat with no clear objective.

I suspect that beyond all the noise of Trump's tweets and the online chattering, there actually is a clear strategy of maximum pressure that is much to the detriment of Iran and much to the advancement of the goals of the US and its allies. The US and Israeli militaries are ready to resume hostilities at any time. All Iran can do is take potshots at civilian shipping and declare this and that. It's a threat, but it's the threat of a regime that has no other cards to play. All we know is the online gossip and the propaganda of the US and Iran, and of course the tweeting of the President. The developments that really matter aren't all that transparent. What seems to us like lack of control of the situation might actually reflect something quite different.

Maybe. It’s clear that the US dominates Iran militarily, but as Vietnam and Afghanistan demonstrated, wars aren’t won on military dominance alone.

We can only evaluate based on what we can see and what we see looks increasingly erratic and incoherent. In international politics, signaling is critical. Both allies and opponents take their cues in real time on how to respond based on what the President says and does.

What a leader says and does matters. Whatever might be happening behind the scenes, Trump’s behavior in public isn’t coherent and it’s undermining his credibility.