Trump's 'Operation Iranian Freedom'

"Alone in the dead of night, a man can fall into bleak thoughts. In the wee, small hours of the morning, he might think about lost loves, mull over great regrets, or wrestle with the inevitability of his own mortality. But Donald Trump, awake and restless in the Florida darkness, apparently consoles himself by imagining a war of liberation in a Middle Eastern nation of 92 million people."

"At 2:58 a.m. EST (according to the time stamp on his Truth Social post), the president of the United States wrote: "If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go." And then, of course: "Thank you for your attention to this matter!""

"A man pushing 80, fighting sleeplessness as older people sometimes do, should be expected now and then to send some weird messages on his Jitterbug. He is also entitled to make some typos, as we all do. But this particular senior citizen is the leader of the most powerful country in the world, and he's implying he'll use force against a country he has attacked once already. At the least, Americans might expect that when threatening military action, the commander in chief would give his post a quick proofread."

At 2:58 a.m. EST the president posted on Truth Social that "If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters...the United States of America will come to their rescue," adding "We are locked and loaded and ready to go." The post contained a notable typo that the official White House account transcribed and repeated. The president is nearing 80 and reportedly experiences sleeplessness that prompts late-night messages. He has used military force in South America, Africa, and the Middle East during his first year in office. Congressional authorization for such actions has been largely bypassed as the GOP-controlled House and Senate align closely with the White House. The administration avoids similar forceful posturing toward China and Russia.

Read at The Atlantic