Actually, it’s way more than enough.
That is, with regard to the question of whether Trump is going to order a significant military attack on Iran.
It might be that Trump knows exactly what he plans to do. But it certainly has seemed that he has continued to waiver and – according to various news sources, which may or may not be reliable – to toy with “moderate” alternatives to a major attack. Maybe a “little” attack to convince the Iranian regime that he means business. Maybe permitting Iran “token” enrichment. Maybe targeting Khamenei (who has actually already arranged for a successor).
At the very same time, he has continued to bring more military equipment into the area.
“Two additional U.S. military refueling aircraft landed Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, bringing the total to four over two days.”
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h1athnjuwl#autoplay
The US is moving F-22 stealth fighters into the Middle East, as well.
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One comment that made the news Saturday night caught my attention. It might help us to understand why Trump has been hesitating to attack: In a Fox interview, Trump’s key envoy, Steve Witkoff, made the following statement (emphasis added):
“[Trump is] curious as to why they haven’t…I don’t want to use the word capitulated, but why they haven’t capitulated.
“…why under this sort of pressure with the amount of naval power that we have over there, why they haven’t come to us and said, ‘We profess that we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do.’ And yet it’s hard to sort of get them to that place.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/422775 (video included)
If Witkoff’s statement was serious (and I am assuming it was), what it tells us is that neither he nor Trump understands the radical Islamist ideology and mindset of the Iranian regime.
Yes, yes…this is hardly a surprise. But Witkoff has made it exceedingly obvious with his comment. If Trump understood, he would not be “confused” by the current behavior of the Iranian regime.
Islamists are implacable. Apparently Trump (and Witkoff) believe they might be able to pressure Iran into a deal – a real deal with safeguards that would render an attack unnecessary. But in fact, the Islamists would rather die, literally, than surrender the means to achieving their goals: They seek, first, destruction of Israel – the presence of which they believe offends Allah. And then, they are after the US and the Western world more broadly. They seek to impose Sharia law throughout the Western world, which would signal the end of Western liberal democracies. And they intend to support satellite Islamist groups which are already present in Europe and the Western hemisphere, as well as in the Mid-East, and which can assist them in achieving their goals.
It’s a point of religious honor with them not to surrender. And if they encounter a setback, they are prepared to be very patient as they move forward again, slowly re-building their strength. These are not people who will throw up their hands and declare they’ve tried their best and it’s time to quit. Isn’t this the very same mental set we are seeing with the Islamist Hamas, which is rebuilding its strength now in Gaza? What is more, they are quite comfortable cheating on a signed agreement and lying about their situation. They do not consider this dishonorable. Rather, it is consistent with advancing their goals. We might look at Yasser Arafat of the PLO, who gladly signed on to Oslo without ever intending to honor its commitments. But we don’t even have to look back that far: the Iranian regime cheated wholesale on the JCPOA, its deal with Obama.
The Islamists are merciless in their actions. We saw this with regard to the 30,000 civilian protestors plus they brutally murdered, just as we saw it with the massacre on October 7 perpetrated by the Iranian proxy Hamas. (It was British commentator Douglas Murray who saw the Hamas attackers as worse than the Nazis, because the Nazis were ashamed of what they were doing while Hamas murderers were proud.)
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It is essential that the US have sufficient military power to deliver a decisive blow to the Iranian regime before an attack is initiated. It is my distinct impression that this is already the case, even as military supplementation continues.
It is also important that defensive military equipment – radar, THAAD systems, etc. – be in place in Gulf states that would be at risk during an Iranian attack, particularly at risk because they host US bases. Defensive shields are being strengthened.
Israel is on highest alert and prepared for any eventuality.
And yet there is delay. Witkoff confesses confusion about this situation, as the Iranian regime stalls.
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At the heart of the matter is the need to recognize that evil exists in this world. And that, as it presents a genuine threat to Western values and Western nations, it must be confronted. A negotiated agreement, even with carefully designed safeguards built in, would not suffice. I don’t know if Trump, who is a transactionalist, understands this.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are preparing to meet with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday in Geneva. According to some sources, a preliminary but detailed draft for a nuclear deal was supposed to be submitted by the Iranians by today (Tuesday); Trump and his advisors were then going to decide if this was a serious enough proposal to merit further talks.
There is no clarity on this as I write. But plans for Thursday seem to be moving ahead.
What particularly unsettles me here is that the preliminary plan the US demanded that the Iranians submit seems focused on a nuclear deal. What happened to the additional demands, as laid out by Prime Minister Netanyahu: reduction of the Iranian ballistic missiles, assistance supplied to Iranian proxies?
https://www.jns.org/us-iran-nuclear-talks-planned-for-thursday-in-geneva/
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Fox News host Mark Levin, cited in the above article, said this (emphasis added):
“The problem is them.
“The West needs to understand what we’re dealing with…That regime needs to be eliminated to save our children and grandchildren from having to deal with it and to save the people of Iran who, as I speak, are being slaughtered.”
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And Senator Lindsey Graham recently said (emphasis added):
“I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East given past entanglements. However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked.” Letting evil go unchecked. As I have noted before, the man gets it.
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The Iranians, for their part, are speaking in glowing terms of what can be achieved with a good deal. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi declared today, in anticipation of the new round of talks on Thursday:
“We are ready to reach an agreement as soon as possible. We will do whatever it takes to make this happen. We will enter the negotiating room in Geneva with complete honesty and good faith.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has told reporters that U.S. President Donald Trump’s “first option is always diplomacy, but as he has shown, he is willing to use the lethal force of the United States military if necessary.
“I’ve seen a lot of sensationalist reporting over the past day that is just completely untrue. And anyone speculating to the media, hiding behind an anonymous source, pretending to know what President Trump is thinking or a decision he will make with respect to action against Iran, has no idea what they’re talking about.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-february-24-2026/
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Here in Israel, we have been marvelously steadfast. But we are weary of the waiting for resolution. No plans are made today without a proviso: “that is, if there are no rockets flying and we can make it.” Thus do we live.
We are keenly mindful of the fact that Purim approaches next week. Purim, during which we celebrate a victory over an evil enemy bent on destroying the Jews. And there is more than a bit of speculation as to whether the Iranian regime, which also seeks to destroy us, might be hit on that day.
For myself – and undoubtedly speaking for many others – I hope for an attack that is mighty and fierce and finishes the regime speedily. I have read one expert’s anticipation of the way in which the attack by US forces would likely proceed: first taking out ballistic missiles and launchers, which present the most immediate danger to US bases and to Israel. Then, installations and infrastructure of the Revolutionary Guards. If the IRGC were to collapse, the regime would likely be finished.
Care would be taken to avoid hitting civilians. And I mention here that protestors are beginning to come out into the streets again.
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Speaking to the Knesset yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that if Iran should attack Israel in response to a US attack, “we will respond with force they cannot even imagine.”
Sounds good to me.
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At this point I will leave off reporting on the US-Iran face-off, until something of significance happens in this regard.
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Please, pray for all of Am Yisrael: for the wisdom and courage of our leaders and the strength of our IDF and all of our people. Pray as well for the leaders of the U.S., that they will have the courage and wisdom to act to bring true peace to our region.
©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
