Whom Can We Trust To Tell Us The Truth?
We are now at war with Iran — or we aren’t, depending on which part of Donald Trump’s Sunday address to the nation you believe.
Iran may have been days or weeks away from possessing weapons of mass destruction — or it wasn’t, depending on which member of the Trump Administration you believe and when.
The United States is looking for a diplomatic solution to this crisis — or it is looking for unconditional surrender, depending on which part of Trump’s rhetoric you believe.
The United States is not looking for regime change in Iran —or it is, depending on whether you believe what JD Vance said on Meet the Press yesterday or what Donald Trump said on Truth Social yesterday.
Iran’s nuclear program was “completely and totally obliterated” — or it was simply “delayed,” depending on whether you believe what Trump said on Saturday night or what Vance said on Sunday morning.
None of this confusion is happening in a vacuum. Anyone over the age of thirty-five remembers hearing about the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein allegedly possessed in Iraq. In 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney assured the nation that Iraq had “reconstituted nuclear weapons.” In a speech to the United Nations that year, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented satellite photos, intercepted communications, and other intelligence and said, “We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction.” Speaking of Iraq’s alleged nuclear weapons, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice told the nation, “We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.”
None of it was true.
What is a weary nation to think, when our leaders are again assuring us that another Middle Eastern regime is on the cusp of possessing weapons of mass destruction? That very well may be true — or it might not. The president certainly claims it is. His own Director of National Intelligence said it is not — until her job was on the line and she fell in line.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, disputes Trump’s conclusion. He posted on social media:
I was briefed on the intelligence last week.
Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States. Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon. The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success.
Unlike Trump’s lies about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, his claims cannot be easily fact checked, even by enterprising journalists. Yet, getting this right is critical: for our standing in the world, for the safety of our allies and for our own national security.
Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin warning of a heightened threat environment in the United States. The State Department similarly issued a bulletin urging Americans everywhere in the world to “exercise increased caution.” All this is based on Trump’s decision to strike Iran over the weekend, a decision none of us can trust is grounded in any sound reasoning.
Meanwhile, a 22-year-old recent college graduate is currently running the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, the government’s main office of terrorism prevention. On his watch, it has been hollowed out, with states left to pick up the counterterrorism work previously spearheaded by Washington. Needless to say, planes flying into buildings in Lower Manhattan was not just New York’s problem but had the Trump Administration been in charge on 9/11, it would have largely fallen on Albany to prevent.
All this is happening as the president continues to talk tough, even as he and members of his administration continue to talk out of both sides of their mouths.
“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump said ominously after he ordered the strikes on Iran. “Remember, there are many targets left.”
None of this sounds like an administration with any kind of plan. It rushes from one extreme to the next, sometimes in the span of one speech. Its officials are not singing from the same choir book. The only thing they can all publicly agree upon is that whatever Trump says is correct — even if he contradicts himself minute to minute.
Vance, who came to political prominence as an isolationist, embodied this cultish approach when discussing why he flip-flopped on Middle East adventurism. “The difference is that back then, we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America’s national security objectives. So this is not going to be some long, drawn-out thing.”
Feel safer yet?
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Further Reading:
Face the Nation: Trump's address to the nation on U.S. strikes on Iran
New York Post: Trump splits with Gabbard’s assessment that Iran isn’t pursuing a nuke: ‘Don’t care what she said’
The Washington Post: U.S. officials detail Iran bombing raid, noting ‘limited’ attack for now
ABC News: Pres. Trump calls for Iran's 'unconditional surrender'
Reuters: JD Vance says US at war with Iran's nuclear program, not Iran
Times of Israel: Trump, in online post, entertains idea of regime change in Iran: ‘Why wouldn’t there be?’
CBS: U.S. launches strikes on 3 Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump says
The Guardian: JD Vance claims US is at war with Iran’s nuclear program, not Iran
The Economic Times: Tulsi Gabbard makes U-turn, backtracks on Iran nukes, now claims regime could build bomb in a matter of weeks
U.S. Department of Homeland Security: National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin
Department of State: Security Alert, June 22, 2025
ProPublica: “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention
ProPublica: “The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
Just remember the old cliche' "Loose lips, does back flips". The contortions from confusion is how we end up with a Department of Offense instead of Defense.
Amen to everything you said. I believed what our government told us about Iraq. Of course we’d just lived through a major terrorist attack and were a nation on edge and high alert. This situation is very different. Trump is an erratic and incompetent leader. None of the people in his administration have the kind of experience that engenders trust. Who knows why Trump jumped into this strike. His diseased mind isn’t possible to figure out. One thing the media needs to hammer home is had Trump not foolishly ripped up our deal with Iran we wouldn’t be in this situation. I can’t imagine the Iranians, weakened or not, taking this attack lying down. They may wait a long time to do something or not, so all this breathless speculation by the media of what happens in the next few days is meaningless. Iran has sleeper cells in the US. It has proxies. It can wait to strike. This hasty, likely poorly thought out, attack will give Iran more resolve to further develop a nuclear program. That cloud 9 look on Bebee’s face over this attack was way too self satisfied and premature. He and Trump are both rogue, criminal leaders. The Israeli and American people will likely be the ones paying the price for this stupid attack.