Trump declines Kurdish offer to participate in Iran war

President Trump told that he didn't want Kurdish militias to take part in the Iran war:

US President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected the idea of the Kurds joining the war against Iran.

Speaking on Air Force One, he said, "We're not looking at the Kurds going into Iran. We're very friendly with the Kurds. We don't want to make the war anymore complex."

"I have ruled it out - I don't want the Kurds going in. They're willing to go in, but I told them not to."

Well there's a valid reason why it's better they don't take part in this war - many Kurds adhere to Islam, and it just wouldn't do to fight a regime already badly battered by the Religion of Peace using other adherents, even as backups, because we can't risk having them plot a takeover that would leave the region unchanged. After all, it's bad enough that the USA government had to recognize Ahmed al-Sharaa as the head of Syria after Bashar Assad was overthrown, and now things are getting worse, and it's unhealthy for Israel too. So for now, the Kurds in the Iranian area may not take part. But somebody has to convince Trump and company it's also bad to recognize al-Sharaa and his cronies as well. After all, what if such a region also tries to follow in Iran's footsteps to building nuclear weapons one day? What may have begun with Iran doesn't stop with them.

California governor Gavin Newsom lets his mask slip on Israel issues

Newsom did a very bad job to date in running California, and now, if foreign affairs matter, he's made clear where he really stands on Israel as well, in ways that could addtionally earn him the nickname "loathsome Newsom" (via Front Page):

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, stated on Tuesday that the United States should reconsider its military support for Israel and described it as “appropriate” for some critics to call the country an “apartheid state,” remarks that have drawn sharp criticism from pro‑Israel advocates.

Speaking at a Los Angeles event promoting his new memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” Newsom was asked about frustration among some Democrats with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and whether it was time to rethink the U.S.–Israel relationship, “especially military support.”

In his response, Newsom noted that Netanyahu faces “domestic issues” ahead of Israel’s next election, including legal troubles, and that hard‑line elements in his coalition want to annex the West Bank. He told event moderators Tommy Vietor and Jon Favreau, hosts of the podcast “Pod Save America,” that those developments have led some observers to describe Israel “appropriately as sort of an apartheid state.”

Asked directly whether the U.S. should reconsider its military aid to Israel, Newsom said, “It breaks my heart because the current leadership in Israel is walking us down that path where I don’t think you have a choice about that consideration.” (JNS sought comment from Newsom’s office.)

The Israeli-American Civic Action Network, which is based in California, stated that referring to Israel as an apartheid state is “a slur, and one that provides rhetorical cover to those who seek Israel’s destruction.”

“California is also home to approximately 250,000 Israelis in the Los Angeles area alone—the largest Israeli diaspora community outside of Israel,” the group wrote. “They deserve a governor who represents them, not one who slanders their homeland on a book tour.”

I think we know of one person's memoir that we needn't finance. Wow, Newsome is sick. Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman was one Democrat who agreed something's horribly wrong with the whole picture:

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said that the Democratic Party has gotten “more and more anti-Israel” while “it’s okay if you have a Nazi tattoo on your chest.” And said that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) characterization of Israel as akin to an apartheid state betrays “moral clarity.”

Fetterman said, “[T]hat’s another truth here about the Democratic Party, we’re [be]coming more and more anti-Israel. Gov. Newsom announced now — he just described Israel as an apartheid state. That’s a talking point of the fringe of my party. And that’s been profoundly disappointing. I was shocked, overall. He’s — he might be more liberal, but I never thought he would actually go that way and would describe our strong, special ally and the only nation in that region that lives the kind of values that they would live like in California. Hey, I’ve been in Israel, Tel Aviv is like [the] San Diego version of Israel. And now you just described that as an apartheid state? That’s a betrayal of the moral clarity.”

Later, he added that Democrats are “increasingly more not allowed to be very proud to support Israel, but it’s okay if you have a Nazi tattoo on your chest.”

Which would just go to show leftists like these were never truly opposed to National Socialism and the repulsive influence it wound up having over the past century. Newsom's explained perfectly why he's a fiasco for California as well, and will be a disaster for foreign relations if he runs for and is elected president.

Iran's missile "cities" get turned into death traps

The underground missile storages Iran's mullahs built up over past decades for plotting world destruction are now caved in, thanks to USA/Israeli military efforts to destroy them:

Iran spent decades building underground bunkers to protect its vast missile arsenal from destruction from the air. Less than a week into the war with its two most powerful adversaries, the strategy is beginning to look like a mistake.

A comprehensive report in The Wall Street Journal said US and Israeli fighter jets and armed drones are circling above dozens of massive bases, striking missile launchers as they emerge to fire. Meanwhile, waves of heavy bombers have dropped munitions on the sites, apparently burying Iranian weapons underground in several locations.

Satellite images taken in recent days show the burning remains of several Iranian missiles and launchers destroyed in US and Israeli airstrikes near the entrances to what Iranian officials call "missile cities," the underground facilities. [...]

Tehran appears to have moved some of its missile launchers and trucks out of the bunkers before the war began, hoping to protect them from attack by dispersing them. Cooper said the US and Israel had destroyed hundreds of missiles and drones. US Central Command, which is overseeing the air campaign, said Wednesday that Iran's missile launches had fallen by 86% in four days.

Hopefully, the USA/Israeli military was able to track many of what rocket launchers and other vehicles the Iranians had and destroy them. And this proves that it's possible to destroy enemy bases built underground, and no matter how deep, it won't prevent lethal arsenals and their evil builders from being destroyed.

Israeli pilot shoots down Iranian-piloted plane

In what's being described as a historic first, an Israeli pilot manning a F35 fighter jet gunned down an Iranian jihadist pilot manning a Russian made Yak130 jet over Tehran:

An Israeli pilot in a U.S. built F-35 stealth fighter took out a manned Russian-made Iranian fighter jet over Tehran early Wednesday, reportedly a historic “world first” during Operation Epic Fury.

An Israeli F-35 ‘Adir’ fighter jet, using the jet’s Hebrew name that translates to “Mighty One,” downed a Russian-made Yak-130 in air-to-air combat, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on X.

“This is the first shootdown in history of a manned fighter aircraft by an F-35 ‘Adir’ fighter jet,” the IDF said.

Until now, in the assault on Iran the F-35 jets, a product of the U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin, have reportedly only downed unmanned military targets, including drones.

It’s also the first time in more than four decades that the Israel Air Force engaged in air-to-air combat with manned aircraft.

“The last time IAF jets shot down a manned enemy aircraft was on November 24, 1985, over Lebanon. In that incident, an IAF F-15 downed two Syrian MiG-23 fighters,” according to the Times of Israel.

This is also informative of how Iran's relying on Russian-made machinery, and it's repugnant but not suprising the neo-communists of Russia would continue to supply the Religion of Peace with weapons.

Tucker Carlson is against rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple

The insufferable pseudo-conservative Carlson continues his anti-Israel tirades with assaults on the right to reclaim sovereignty over the Jerusalem Temple:

Anti-Israel media personality Tucker Carlson sparked controversy after claiming that Israel’s war is allegedly driven by a goal of destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and building the Third Temple in its place.

In an episode of the "Tucker Carlson Show," he asked, "How did all these guys wind up wearing patches suggesting the point of this war was the destruction of one of the holiest places in Islam and the rebuilding of a temple that is totally anathema to Christianity?" [...]

He accused, "Chabad has been pushing in a pretty subtle way, unless you look carefully, for the reconstruction of the Third Temple."

And this is exactly why the Temple Mount, as it's called today, needs to be reclaimed for Judaist worship. Carlson also disgustingly puts words in the mouths of Christians who're realists, and says exactly what the Islamic world wants to hear. And the worst part is that it was undoubtably his full intention to kowtow to the Religion of Peace. He's really being a humiliation lately. What next, will he say women who wear skimpy clothes are criminals? It's sickening to ponder what other awful positions Carlson harbors at the expense of sane societies.

The moral and strategic imperative

Some important points made here as to why Donald Trump's decision to take down Iran's totalitarians was moral and strategic:

For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has waged a calculated, ideological and often merciless campaign against the United States, Israel and the broader Western world. It has done so not only through rhetoric - the ritualistic chants of “Death to America" and “Death to Israel" that echo from Tehran - but through bloodshed. Through proxy militias. Through bombings, hijackings, kidnappings and missile strikes. Through the systematic sponsorship of terror as an instrument of statecraft.

President Donald J. Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s military infrastructure and cripple its path to nuclear weapons was not rash adventurism. It was a long-overdue reckoning.

For decades, American presidents have absorbed the blows of the Islamic Republic while hoping to manage or moderate it. That experiment failed. Iran did not moderate; it metastasized. It expanded its network of terror proxies across Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. It embedded itself as the principal state sponsor of global terrorism. And it moved steadily toward nuclear capability, all while proclaiming its intent to eradicate Israel and challenge American power. [...]

In 1983, Iran-backed terrorists bombed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans. Months later, Hezbollah - created, funded and directed by Tehran - slaughtered 241 U.S. service members in the Marine barracks bombing. It remains one of the deadliest days in American military history. CIA station chief William Buckley was kidnapped and murdered. American diplomats were targeted. Airliners were hijacked, passengers tortured and executed.

Lest we forget, Ronald Reagan ran away by withdrawing virtually all military from Lebanon at the time, and left the murders of the diplomats and soldiers otherwise unavenged. Nor did Reagan make any serious effort on his part to stop Iran's totalitarians before they built up the missile launching horror network Israel and the USA's militaries are now battling to destroy. Now, it can be said that Trump's avenging the victims of Iran's dark minions from that time 4 decades ago.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Iran’s proxies - Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad - unleashed suicide bombings across Israel. Buses exploded in Jerusalem. Shopping centers were turned into charnel houses. University cafeterias became scenes of carnage. Americans were among the dead. [...]

And then came October 7.

Hamas - an Iranian-backed terror proxy armed, trained and financed by Tehran - carried out one of the most barbaric massacres in modern Israeli history. Nearly 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered in southern Israel. Families were butchered in their homes. Young people were gunned down at a music festival. More than 250 people were taken hostage, dragged into Gaza in scenes that horrified the civilized world.

Among the victims were 46 Americans. At least 12 Americans were kidnapped.

Hamas did not act in a vacuum. It is part of the Iranian axis. Its arsenal, its training, its ideological alignment - all trace back to Tehran. The October 7 massacre was not simply a regional skirmish; it was the violent manifestation of Iran’s long-standing strategy to encircle and weaken Israel through proxies while avoiding direct confrontation. [...]

Beyond the strategic dimension lies a moral one. The Iranian people themselves have endured decades of repression under a draconian theocracy. Women have been beaten for defying compulsory dress codes. Protesters have been imprisoned, tortured or executed. Elections are tightly controlled. Journalists are silenced. Religious minorities are persecuted.

Economic mismanagement and corruption have impoverished a population rich in culture, history and potential. Nationwide protests over rising prices and political repression have been crushed with lethal force. Thousands have died in crackdowns.

All the above are serious reasons to bring down Iran's mullahcracy. They funded evil, and even committed evil on their own home turf. And all that part is hopefully coming to an end now, during Trump's administration.

Update: here's also a commentary about how this war is like a variation on defeating Haman, the abominable Persian politician who tried to annihilate Jews, but was defeated by queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai, and all this is why the Purim holiday is celebrated today.

Western governments are literally forfeiting public squares to Islam

Whatever the outcome of the war against Iran's mullacracy, western governments are still enabling Muslim takeovers of the public square, and Dearborn, the city where Henry Ford ran much of his car manufacturing, is one of the leading examples:

In the U.S., the dispute has moved into residential neighborhoods. In Dearborn, noise laws set limits of 70 decibels during the day and 60 at night, and prohibit loudspeakers between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Although within those limits, several mosques broadcast the Islamic call to prayer over outdoor speakers for short periods during the day.

Some residents describe an “invasion of privacy” reaching into their own yards. Andrea Unger has lived in the same house for more than 40 years. She told the city council that the broadcasts carry into her home and that she does not wish to hear prayers amplified into her yard. She described being awakened by early morning calls before 7 a.m., though one mosque later eliminated its early broadcast after complaints.

In 2025, 40 residents signed a petition to the city council to request relief. Instead of defending the residents, the Muslim police chief compared the noise to church bells. The state has chosen to accommodate the loud group over the quiet citizen.

For those objecting, the issue is whether amplified religious sound should project into private homes at all, even when it operates within municipal limits.

Dearborn's become a prominent example of how Islam's conquered a segment of the USA, and anybody who doesn't seek ways to expel the conquerors from Michigan will never see a change in the sad situation they now have there. The same can be said for nearby Hamtramck.

5o percent of Iranian missile launchers destroyed, and let's hope the rest are too

Yaakov Lappin's written about the current results in the war against Iran's tyrants:

The joint Israeli-American military campaign against Iran, now in its third day, has systematically decapitated the Iranian regime’s leadership from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei down, while causing extensive damage to its ballistic missile program.

A military official speaking on Sunday provided a detailed assessment of the severe damage inflicted upon the Iranian weapons industry and missile program during the ongoing operation. According to the official, hundreds of Iranian terror regime missiles were successfully destroyed, and the production of at least 1,500 additional ballistic missiles was entirely prevented in the past two days.

The strikes dismantled approximately 200 ballistic missile launchers and rendered dozens more completely inoperable. The official noted that this meant that 50 percent of the regime’s ballistic missile launchers active at the time were destroyed.

We have to hope all launchers will be smashed, because that's the only way to ensure no more of this. Even the Hezbollah in Lebanon must be stopped for the same reasons. For now, it looks like all possible successors to the now eliminated Khamenei have been wiped out as well, and that's also important.

In related news, 3 USA soldiers were unfortunately murdered by Iranian fire during operations

Three U.S. service members were killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Sunday.

Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty, CENTCOM, which comprises U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central and South Asia, wrote in a statement.

“Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” read the CENTCOM statement, the first about casualties since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint mission against the Iranian regime on Saturday. The U.S. calls the operation “Epic Fury,” Israel titled it “Roaring Lion.”

“The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified,” CENTCOM added.

This is terrible, but was also sadly inevitable that there could be casualties, as happens in many wars to vanquish evil. Condolences to the families of the victims.

That said, if there's something else right Donald Trump is doing now at his end of the spectrum, it's indicating he understands why sending ground troops to Iran is something that may have to be done (also via JNS):

President Trump told The Post Monday that he’s not ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran “if they were necessary” — adding that Operation Epic Fury was “way ahead of schedule” by taking out dozens of Tehran’s top officials.

“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” Trump said after launching strikes Saturday to decapitate Iran’s military and political leadership. “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.'”

Trump told the Daily Mail on Sunday that he estimated the war would last “four weeks or so,” but hinted to The Post Monday that that timeframe could be shortened.

Trump is correct that whether public opinion - especially among conservatives - is surprisingly opposed to taking action against barbarians, it can't be allowed to get in the way of seeking justice and punishing evildoers, both at home and abroad. Because if they don't do so overseas, how can they be expected to prove convincing at home?

That said, it's regrettable if Trump is still sticking by the delusion of recognizing Ahmed al-Sharaa as a legitimate leader of Syria. When here, there's doubtless plenty of Yazidi, Druze and Christian representatives in the area who could prove far better and more rational in the role of leadership. Continuing to marginalize them will only be a bad omen.