Fetterman ‘baffled’ by lack of support for Trump’s Iran strikes and death of ‘evil’ leaders
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., questioned Democrats who voiced opposition to President Donald Trump’s military strikes on Iran, calling the action a “significant development” for regional peace.
“Every single member of the Senate has agreed that we can never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear bomb, and clearly they [Iran] were actually intending to do that. So, are you really committed to that?” Fetterman said Monday on “Hannity.”
U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iranian military and government targets on Feb. 28, unleashing air, sea and missile power in a coordinated operation.
The senator said he was “baffled” that more people aren’t celebrating the death of “one of the most evil men ever” – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – and the crippling of his regime.
“It’s a good thing for the region, it’s a good thing for Israel, it’s good for America, and so, for me, that’s why I stand with the country over perhaps what the base may demand,” Fetterman said.
The mission, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, struck more than 1,000 military, intelligence and government sites across Iran within its first 24 hours, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of senior regime officials were eliminated in the strikes.
DOUG SCHOEN: AS A DEMOCRAT, I BACK TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKE — MY PARTY IS WRONG
Fetterman voiced support for the action. He said tweets and harsh language wouldn’t lead to real peace and emphasized that sanctions and negotiations had failed to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Democrats and some Republicans, however, are calling for a vote to rein in Trump’s war powers, arguing the Constitution requires congressional authorization to declare war.
Fetterman has said he would vote against the resolution.
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“Why can’t we all just say the world is better now after this operation? So I’m proud to stand with the military. I’m proud to stand with the Iranian people now that they have the opportunity to have real peace.”
Former NFL players of Iranian descent speak up for freedom from Islamic regime
Ali Haji-Sheikh and Shar Pourdanesh share the fact they are retired NFL players living beyond the glow of the NFL spotlight. But they also share another distinction tying them to current events: They are part of the Iranian diaspora hoping for the downfall of the Islamic revolution.
They make up part of a small group of men who played in the NFL – along with David Bakhtiari, his brother Eric Bakhtiari and T.J. Housmandzadeh – who are decedents of Iranians.
Haji-Sheikh: Self-Determination For Iranians
Haji-Sheikh, 65, played in the 1980s for the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. He was a first-team All-Pro, made the Pro Bowl and was on the NFL All-Rookie team in 1983 for the Giants and, in his final season, won a Super Bowl XXII ring playing for the Washington Redskins and kicking six extra points in a 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos.
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Now, Haji-Sheikh is the general manager at a Michigan Porsche-Audi dealership and is like the rest of us: Keeping up with world events when time permits.
Except the war the United States is currently waging against the Islamic Republic of Iran is kind of different because Haji-Sheikh’s dad emigrated from Iran to the United States in the 1950s and built a life here.
And his son would like to see freedom come to a country he’s never visited but has a kinship to.
“It’s a world event,” Haji-Sheikh said on Monday. “I am not a big fan of the Islamic revolution because I am not Islamic. I would like to see the people of Iran be able to determine their own future rather than it be determined by a few people. It would be nice to see them having a stable government where the people can actually decide how they want it to go.”
Iranians Celebrating And Americans Protesting
Haji-Sheikh hasn’t taken to the streets of his native Michigan to celebrate a liberation that hasn’t fully manifested mere days after the American and Israeli bombing and elimination of the Ayatollah.
“I’m so far removed from that,” Haji-Sheikh said. “My mom is from Michigan and of Eastern European background. My dad is from Iran. But it’s like, he hasn’t been back since I was in eighth grade, so that’s a long time ago. That was when the Shah was still in power, mid-70s, ‘74 or ’75, because if he ever went back after that he never would have left. They would have held him, so there was no intention of going back.
“But if things change he might want to go, you never know.”
Despite being removed from any activism about what is happening in Iran Haji-Sheikh is an astute observer.
“My favorite thing I’m seeing right now on TV is the Iranians in America celebrating, because there’s a chance, a glimpse, maybe a hope for freedom,” Haji-Sheikh said. “And you have these people in New York protesting. What are you protesting?”
Pourdanesh Thanks America, Israel
Pourdanesh retired from the NFL in 2000 after a seven-year career with the Redskins and Steelers. The six-foot-six and 312-pound offensive tackle was born in Tehran. He proudly tells people he was the NFL’s first Iranian-born player.
Pourdanesh is much more visible and open about his feelings about his country than others. And, bottom line, he loves that President Donald Trump is bombing the Islamic regime.
“This is a great day for all Iranians across the world,” Pourdanesh posted on his Instagram account on Saturday when the war began. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you to the nation of Israel. Thank you for everybody that has been standing up for my people, my brothers and sisters in Iran across the world. This is a great day.
“The infamous dictator is dead – the one person who has contributed to deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians and other people around the world, if not more. So, congratulations to my Iranian brothers and sisters. Now, go and take back the country.”
This message was not a one-off. Pourdanesh has been posting about what has been happening in Iran since January, when people in Iran took to the streets demanding liberty and the government’s thugs began killing them, with some estimates rising to 36,500 deaths.
‘Islam Does Not Represent The Iranian People’
“[The] Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people,” Pourdanesh said in another post. “Islam does not represent the Iranian people. For almost 50 years, the Iranian people and our country of Iran has been taken hostage by a terrorist regime, and it’s time to take that regime down.”
Pourdanesh was not available for comment on Monday. I did speak to a handful of other Iranian-Americans on Monday. They didn’t play in the NFL, but their opinions are no less valuable than those of former NFL players.
And these people, some of them participating in rallies on behalf of a free Iran, do not understand the thinking of some Americans and mainstream media.
One complained that media that reports on reparations for black Americans based on slavery in the 1800s dismisses the Islamic takeover of the American Embassy in 1979 as an old grievance.
Another said his brother lives in England, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately called the American and Israeli attacks on the Ayatollah’s regime “illegal” but, as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, it took years to do the same of Muslim rape (grooming) gangs in the country.
(Starmer announced a national “statutory inquiry” in June 2025).
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Pourdanesh Calls Out NFL Silence
And finally, Pourdanesh put the NFL on blast. He said in yet another post that during his career, the NFL asked him to honor Black history, asked him to stand for women’s rights, asked him to fight for equality for those who cannot defend themselves.
“I did everything they asked, and now I ask the NFL this: Where are you now? Why haven’t we heard a single word out of the NFL? NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell, all the NFL teams out there, all the players who say they stand for social justice, where are you now?
“Why haven’t we heard a single word out of you with regard to the people who have been killed as of today? The very values you claim to espouse are being trampled right now. Why haven’t we heard a single word?”
Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described what he believes is the “best option” for Americans looking to flee Israel amid the ongoing unrest across the Middle East.
Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.
“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”
“The Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to Taba. That crossing is further away, but it’s open 24/7. There are some flights from Taba, but there are also options to get to Cairo, and it’s operating normally except to Middle Eastern countries. To get out, it’s the best option for now,” Huckabee added.
Huckabee also said he does not recommend Americans exit via Jordan at this time, as “Flights are not consistent and access across the Allenby crossing has limited hours.”
“All of our personnel from [the] embassy are sheltering in place, but I realize you may need to get people out and back home and not continue to incur hotel costs,” the ambassador wrote.
NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement early Tuesday morning that it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It also mentioned the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s buses to Taba.
“To be added to the passenger list for a shuttle, you must register via the Ministry’s evacuation form,” it said.
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“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it added.
New satellite images show fires, naval base damage across Iran after US-Israeli strikes
New satellite images offer a stark look at the devastation inside Iran after U.S.-Israeli strikes, while also revealing the damage left behind by Tehran’s retaliatory attacks across the region.
According to U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations across the Middle East, U.S. forces struck more than 1,250 targets during the first two days of Operation Epic Fury.
Planet Labs satellite imagery captured burning ships and damaged facilities at the Konarak base in southern Iran, as well as significant destruction at Iran’s naval headquarters in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, reflecting the scale of the strikes on military infrastructure.
Imagery from Vantor shows the Choqa Balk drone facility in western Iran was hit, along with damage to other key military and strategic sites targeted in the U.S.–Israeli strike campaign.
Radar systems at the Zahedan air base in eastern Iran — near the country’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan — were also struck.
The two facilities are about 800 to 900 miles apart, underscoring the broad reach of the coordinated strikes.
Additionally, satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows thick smoke plumes rising above Tehran, signaling explosions and fires inside the Iranian capital.
The smoke underscores how the conflict has moved beyond isolated military sites and into the heart of Iran’s political center.
TRUMP PLEDGES TO ‘AVENGE’ FALLEN US SERVICE MEMBERS AS TENSIONS WITH IRAN INTENSIFY
Iran responded with missile and drone strikes of its own, expanding the conflict across the region. Satellite images reveal damage to the port city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The city of Sharjah is the third most populous after Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The Jebel Ali Port, the region’s largest maritime hub, was also targeted, underscoring how the retaliation extended beyond military sites to key infrastructure.
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The U.S. has warned that further retaliation could follow, as both sides signal they are prepared for additional rounds of strikes. Pentagon officials said U.S. forces in the region remain on high alert and have publicly cautioned that any new attacks on U.S. citizens would prompt a forceful response.
With damage now visible from western Iran to the Persian Gulf, the coming days could determine whether the confrontation stabilizes — or spirals into a wider regional war.
Trump criticizes Biden for transferring weapons to Ukraine but insists US is ‘stocked’ to win
President Donald Trump on Monday accused former President Joe Biden of failing to replenish U.S. weapons stockpiles, though insisted that the U.S. is still “stocked” to win as Operation Epic Fury continues to devastate Iran.
U.S. munitions at the medium and upper medium grades have “never been higher or better,” Trump said on Monday in a post on his Truth Social platform. He added that “we have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons.”
“Wars can be fought ‘forever,’ and very successfully, using just these supplies (which are better than other countries (sic) finest arms!),” the president’s post read.
But Trump noted that while the U.S. has a “good” supply of the highest munitions grade, it is “not where we want to be.”
“Much additional high grade weaponry is stored for us in outlying countries,” the post read. “Sleepy Joe Biden spent all of his time, and our Country’s money, GIVING everything to P.T. Barnum (Zelenskyy!) of Ukraine – Hundreds of Billions of Dollars worth – And, while he gave so much of the super high end away (FREE!), he didn’t bother to replace it.”
The U.S. delivered billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Biden approving an additional $500 million of military aid in a security package rushed out the door just days before Trump’s second term began.
“Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term, and continue to do so,” Trump added. “The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!!”
“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone,” he wrote later. “They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!'”
HEGSETH LAYS OUT ‘CLEAR’ 3-PART MISSION AGAINST IRAN, SAYS WAR ‘IS NOT ENDLESS’
The U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury on Saturday morning, working with Israel in a joint military campaign that officials say targeted Iranian leadership and key military installations.
Earlier Monday, Trump declared that the operation in Iran is “ahead of schedule,” stating that many of the regime’s military leaders were eliminated in about an hour.
“We have the strongest and most powerful, by far, military in the world, and we will easily prevail,” the president said. “We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections, but whatever the time is, it’s okay. Whatever it takes.”
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Trump said that the operation is projected to last four to five weeks, noting that “we have capability to go far longer than that.”
“We also projected four weeks to terminate the military leadership,” Trump added. “And as you know, that was done in about an hour. So we’re ahead of schedule there by a lot.”
Witkoff warns there was ‘almost no stopping’ Iran from enriching uranium
President Trump’s top Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, revealed that Iran had amassed enough highly enriched uranium for 11 nuclear bombs and could have upgraded some of it to weapons-grade within days — a realization he said underscored the urgency of Operation Epic Fury.
“They have 10,000, roughly, kilograms of fissionable material. That’s broken up into roughly 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, another thousand kilograms of 20% enriched uranium, and the balance is at 3.67,” Witkoff said Monday on “Hannity.”
“They manufacture their own centrifuges to enrich this material, so there’s almost no stopping them. They have an endless supply of it.”
Witkoff said the 60% enriched uranium posed the most immediate threat, warning that it could be brought to weapons-grade, 90% enrichment, in roughly “one week, maybe 10 days at the outside.”
“The 20% can be brought to weapons-grade inside of three to four weeks,” he added.
According to Witkoff, Iranian negotiators did not dispute the figures during talks and instead viewed their nuclear capability as leverage.
“In that first meeting, both of the Iranian negotiators said to us directly, with no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60%, and they were aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs,” Witkoff said.
IRAN PRESIDENT VOWS DEFIANCE AS PROTESTS BUILD AGAINST REGIME AMID US MILITARY BUILD UP
“That was the beginning of their negotiating stance… they were proud of it. They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
The special envoy’s remarks come as the Trump administration defends its recent mission, Operation Epic Fury, which targeted senior figures within Iran’s leadership. Officials argue Tehran left Washington with little choice but to act.
The operation follows years of Trump warning that Iran’s Islamic regime must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon — a red line he has said would endanger U.S. national security and stability across the Middle East.
Witkoff said the administration entered negotiations seeking a diplomatic resolution, including a proposal that would bar Iran from enriching uranium for a decade while allowing the country access to fuel.
“We discussed 10 years of no enrichment whatsoever, and we would pay for the fuel,” Witkoff said.
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“It was flatly rejected.”
That refusal, he said, signaled to U.S. officials that Tehran had no intention of dismantling its nuclear program.
Texas Democratic Senate candidates sidestep Islamic terrorism concerns following deadly Austin attack
Neither of the two frontrunners in the Texas Democratic Senate primary addressed concerns about Islamic terrorism in the wake of a deadly shooting on Sunday morning in Austin that left three dead and more than a dozen others wounded.
Instead, just a day ahead of a competitive Senate primary, James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, focused on the effectiveness of prayer and delivered a warning against stereotyping immigrants.
“I believe in the power of prayer. I believe prayer changes lives. But there is something profoundly cynical in asking God to solve a problem we’re not willing to solve ourselves,” Talarico said in an interview with MS Now.
“We prayed, and God sent lawmakers with commonsense gun safety proposals like universal background checks, red flag laws,” he added, in comments he’s also made on the campaign trail in the wake of the weekend shooting.
Crockett, for her part, warned viewers on TikTok against extrapolating conclusions about the violence to minorities and immigrants.
“Listen, every time there’s some crazy situation like this, black folks sit around and say, ‘Oh, I hope they’re not black,’ because we know that’s going to be an additional target on our backs. We know that the immigrant community was probably holding their breath and saying, ‘Oh, I hope it wasn’t an immigrant.’”
But Crockett and Talarico did not address any mention of Islamic terrorism or whether it might pose an additional risk to Americans in light of recent U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
SHARIA LAW VICTIM WHO FLED SOMALIA ISSUES ENDORSEMENT IN CRITICAL SENATE RACE
Their silence on the topic drew condemnation from at least one GOP observer.
“Absolutely disgusting stuff. James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett are blaming hardworking Texans who go to church and lawfully own guns, instead of the radical Islamic terrorist who committed this heinous act,” Zach Kraft, an RNC spokesman, said.
Ndiaga Diagne, 53, opened fire at a bar scene in Austin while wearing a hoodie with the words “property of Allah” emblazoned on the front. While his specific motives remain unclear, police searching his home with a warrant later discovered an Iranian flag and photos of Islamic leaders.
AUSTIN SHOOTING SUSPECT WORE IRANIAN FLAG SHIRT DURING ATTACK, SOURCES SAY
Diagne was shot dead by local police.
The shooting comes on the heels of strikes carried out by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday that targeted Iran’s military leadership and killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a press event on Monday, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said local police had invited federal authorities to the scene to investigate the attack as a possible act of terrorism.
JASMINE CROCKETT UNDER FIRE AFTER REPORTEDLY HAVING ARMED GUARDS REMOVE ‘WHITE GIRL’ REPORTER FROM RALLY
“We’re looking at the totality of this. We see these indicators, we’re thinking about events and what’s occurring in the country as well. The motives – all of those things, that’s what the investigation is about right now,” Davis said.
Asked how lawmakers could prevent attacks in the future, Crockett said she believes a majority of shooters in the U.S. are White.
“If I was to give you the facts as to who the shooters have been in these mass shootings, I can guarantee you — the vast majority of them have been White, male and homegrown. But we don’t see them taking any action on that,” Crockett said.
BOEBERT JOKES ABOUT ENDORSING CROCKETT IN TEXAS’ SENATE RACE TO GIVE HER DEMOCRATIC RIVAL A BOOST
Crockett did not explain how she would use that insight as a senator to prevent shootings in the future.
“We need to actually do something about guns. Don’t sit there and say that it’s the immigrants. Maybe it’s your lax laws when it comes to guns,” she added.
Talarico said the U.S. should prevent “dangerous people from entering the country.”
“Dangerous people should not be allowed to get guns,” Talarico added, doubling down on his red-flag proposals, policies that aim to screen would-be gun buyers against stiffer background checks.
Neither Talarico’s nor Crockett’s campaign replied to a request for comment.
IT’S SHOWDOWN DAY IN TEXAS AS CONTENTIOUS REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT SENATE PRIMARIES COME TO A HEAD
It’s been a very different take from longtime GOP Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt, the top three candidates in the competitive and combustible Republican Senate primary.
“This is what happened when you had four years of an open border. This is what happens when 20 million people enter your country illegally. You have no idea what they are. This is what happens when you have a derelict of duty at the top of the ticket with leadership. And this is why President Trump, quite frankly, got elected. He got elected because he wanted to fix the immigration system,” Hunt said Monday night in a Fox News Digital interview in suburban Houston.
Hunt, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters in combat and who is a rising MAGA star in his second term in Congress, argued that “we have allowed animals like this man that are arbitrarily murdered my fellow Texans and my fellow Americans. We let them in this country without properly vetting, because we had an open border, and it was a complete utter disaster to fix this problem. That’s exactly what President Trump is actively trying to do, and this is why we have to double down on our policies, but to find these people, deport them and get rid of them.”
Paxton, speaking with Fox News Digital in Waco a couple of hours earlier, said that authorities “have to do a better job vetting people when they come here.”
“There’s no system that’s perfect. If we have immigration, there’s going to be no system that’s perfect. We do need to do a better job of vetting people, and Congress is going to have to figure out how to do that,” Paxton emphasized.
“I think that the burden on the system has been all the illegal immigration, which makes it harder for law enforcement to keep track of everyone,” Paxton said. “We’ve got so many people here that are from other countries. It’s very difficult for law enforcement, with the resources that we have to keep track of everybody.”
TEXAS COLLEGE STUDENT IDENTIFIED AS A VICTIM IN AUSTIN SHOOTING
Asked about the shooting, Cornyn said in a Fox News Digital interview in San Antonio on Sunday, “What it does emphasize to me is the importance of vetting people before they come across the border.”
“Part of the problem is that the Biden administration, for four years, had open border policies and let who knows what into the country,” Cornyn charged. “This isn’t about people continuing to come into the country, because we know President Trump has secured the border. This is about what happens with people already here.”
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He said the shooting was an example of “what happens when people become radicalized.”
US Embassy struck by drones in Saudi Arabia as Americans instructed to shelter in place
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones from Iran on Monday as Americans in Saudi Arabia were instructed to shelter in place. The embassy was empty at the time of the hits and no injuries were reported as a result of the attack.
On Tuesday, the embassy issued a security alert saying that the shelter in place order for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran remained in effect, and it added that U.S. citizens throughout Saudi Arabia were advised to remain indoors. It also advised U.S. citizens to “avoid the embassy until further notice” due to the attack.
“We advise all U.S. citizens to maintain a personal safety plan. Crises can happen unexpectedly while traveling or living abroad, and a good plan helps you think through potential scenarios and determine in advance the best course of action,” the embassy’s Tuesday alert read.
In the security alert, the embassy urged U.S. citizens to shelter in place, monitor its website for updates, enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), ensure their passports are valid for potential short-notice travel, remain aware of their surroundings, avoid demonstrations and large gatherings, follow local authorities’ instructions and monitor official information sources for the latest updates.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a video posted on X, urged Americans in the Middle East to register with STEP, saying that it would allow them to see the latest safety and security guidance amid the “cowardly attacks” from Iran.
NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the attack, saying “the repetition of this cowardly and unjustified attack blatantly violates all international norms and laws, including the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
“The Kingdom emphasizes that the repetition of this flagrant Iranian behavior, which comes despite the Iranian authorities’ knowledge that the Kingdom has affirmed it will not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran, will push the region toward further escalation,” the foreign ministry’s statement read.
Iran has launched attacks in the region against Israel and several countries that have U.S. interests in retaliation for the U.S. and Israel’s joint military offensive known as Operation Epic Fury. Saudi Arabia condemned the retaliation on Feb. 28.
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“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its rejection and condemnation in the strongest terms of the blatant and cowardly Iranian attacks that targeted the Riyadh Region and the Eastern Province, which were successfully intercepted,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry’s Feb. 28 statement read. “These attacks cannot be justified under any pretext or in any way whatsoever, and they came despite the Iranian authorities’ knowledge that the Kingdom had affirmed it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to target Iran.”
Amid the retaliatory strikes, the State Department has ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and their families from Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Pelosi’s war powers flip-flop exposed in resurfaced Obama-era clip contradicts Trump criticism on Iran
A clip of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has resurfaced online where she flatly defended the then-Obama administration’s decision to strike Libya — without the congressional authorization she believes President Donald Trump should have secured before conducting his own strikes over the weekend.
“You’re saying that the president did not need authorization initially and still does not need any authorization from Congress on Libya?” a reporter asked Pelosi at a press event back in 2011.
“Yes,” Pelosi answered plainly.
The unambiguous answer contrasts sharply with Pelosi’s view of Trump’s strikes against Iran on Saturday.
In a joint effort targeting Iranian military leadership, the U.S. and Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, citing an imperative to halt Iran’s pursuit of developing a nuclear weapon.
Pelosi swiftly condemned the operation.
“President Trump’s decision to initiate military hostilities into Iran starts another unnecessary war which endangers our servicemembers and destabilizes an already fragile region,” Pelosi said in a post to X.
“The Constitution is clear: decisions that lead our nation into war must be authorized by Congress.”
Pelosi, alongside other Democrats, is pursuing a war powers resolution that would limit Trump from taking further military action against Iran without express congressional approval.
Trump’s strikes bear similarity to President Barack Obama’s decision to strike Libya in 2011 under Operation Odyssey Dawn.
In that operation, Obama ordered a series of strikes against Libya in March 2011, looking to deter Muammar Gaddafi from attacking civilian protesters.
FETTERMAN PRAISES TRUMP’S IRAN OPERATION AS ‘HISTORIC’ MOMENT FOR AMERICA AMID PARTY DIVISIONS
Gaddafi, known as the “Mad Dog of the Middle East,” was the ruler of Libya from 1969 to 2011. He had a long and complicated relationship with the U.S. — at times aligning with national objectives and, at others, governing in a manner the U.S. couldn’t ignore.
The final straw came in the Libyan revolt of 2011, when demonstrations broke out in Benghazi and other cities. Like recent uprisings in Iran, Gaddafi met the threat to his rule with crushing force, marching his forces toward several Libyan cities that had resisted his power.
In what he described as attempts to uphold international law, Obama said the U.S., in partnership with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), had taken the strikes to protect Libya’s civilians to protect Libya’s civilians.
GOP REP MASSIE JOINS DEMOCRATS IN OPPOSITION TO US IRAN STRIKES
“We struck regime forces approaching Benghazi to save that city and the people within it,” Obama said in remarks after the attacks.
The strikes did not kill Gaddafi.
Gaddafi was killed later that year at the hands of revolutionaries in October.
While Obama said he had consulted a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers, he did not pursue a declaration of war before carrying out his strikes.
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“So, for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: The United States of America has done what we said we would do,” Obama said.
Pelosi’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether she saw any key differences between the attacks carried out by Obama and those now ordered by Trump.
REP RO KHANNA: Congress must reclaim war powers from an out-of-control Trump over Iran
As a principled opponent of military adventurism since America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, I was devastated this weekend when we learned that once again, American servicemembers will be coming home in body bags. Trump announced, “There will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”
No. That’s not the way it is. That must not be the way it is. As Trump now refuses to rule out sending ground troops to Iran, I believe we must do everything in our power to stop this horrific war of choice before more Americans are killed. That is why this week, I am forcing a vote in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan resolution with my Republican colleague, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, to end this illegal and unconstitutional conflict. These families are in my thoughts and prayers. But we also owe our fallen soldiers’ families and every military family with sons and daughters still in harm’s way a debate and vote in Congress.
The framers of our Constitution knew that any president would have incentives to start unnecessary, costly and destabilizing wars. As James Madison wrote, “War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement.” That’s why they entrusted the authority over war and peace “fully and exclusively” to the people’s representatives in Congress — not the president.
Trump once seemed to understand this. In his 2024 election night victory speech, Trump promised, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.” In 2016, he channeled Republicans’ resentments with the Iraq War, saying that conflict “started ISIS, it started Libya, it started Syria,” and its architects “lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none. And they knew there were none.”
Ten years later, the administration is promoting a new set of lies, including the false claim that U.S.-Israeli airstrikes were actually preemptive, against imminent threats from Iran, even as a peaceful diplomatic solution appeared to be within reach.
We owe our fallen soldiers’ families and every military family with sons and daughters still in harm’s way a debate and vote in Congress.
Let’s be clear: Just 1 in 4 Americans support this war with Iran. This country does not want to see more dead Americans. Americans don’t want higher gas prices, which will spike at the pump because of this stupid conflict. They don’t want higher inflation. They don’t want us to waste tens of billions of dollars on this war, all while millions of Americans lose their healthcare. They don’t want to throw the Middle East into more chaos and unpredictable violence while well-connected Pentagon contractors enrich themselves. Americans want Washington to focus on jobs, childcare, infrastructure, schools and healthcare at home.
MIKE DAVIS: WHY TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKE WAS NECESSARY AND LAWFUL
Yet the president who warned in 2023 of those who “want to squander all of America’s strength, blood and treasure, chasing monsters and phantoms overseas while keeping us distracted from the havoc they’re creating here at home” is plunging this country into a reckless war with barely an explanation for why.
This week’s vote could be one of the most consequential in our nation’s history. Congress can play a critical check on this unthinking march into deeper and more reckless war.
I believe no one individual should decide whether to put American sons’ and daughters’ lives on the line for a war of choice. Every member of Congress, collectively representing 340 million Americans, must participate in this solemn debate. And each of us must be held accountable for the consequences.
This isn’t a partisan issue. I am informed by Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, who argued that “every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” I am forcing this vote this week on behalf of millions of mothers and fathers. If enough like-minded Democrats and Republicans join together against the permanent-war party and the military industrial complex, the House can pass this resolution and send a powerful and unmistakable directive to the Executive Branch: remove U.S. forces from this ill-conceived and unconstitutional war.
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After all, the longer this war drags on, the more dangerous it becomes. Iran is a complex society of 90 million people — more than three times larger than Iraq in area and more than triple its population when we invaded Iraq in 2003. Top U.S. military advisers warned that with limited stocks of air defense systems, American and Israeli forces will be forced to absorb incoming fire from Iran’s missile arsenal in the coming days and weeks. Our 40,000 American troops in the region remain at risk from Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
Instead, we must assemble a global coalition that is ironclad in our shared commitment that Iran must never be allowed to have a nuclear bomb. A smart approach should have targeted sanctions and other tools to prevent the Iranian government from obtaining nuclear weapons. We can and must deal with the regime’s horrific crimes, violations of human rights and its slaughter of brave Iranian protesters. But bombs will not end Iran’s nuclear program, which Trump supposedly “obliterated” eight months ago. Nor will bombs bring regional stability or justice for the protesters. America, in John Quincy Adams’ words, should be “the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all,” but should not go abroad “in search of monsters to destroy.”
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This week’s vote could be one of the most consequential in our nation’s history. Congress can play a critical check on this unthinking march into deeper and more reckless war. I will be urging my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes on House Concurrent Resolution 38. And I respectfully ask Americans across the political spectrum to engage with their lawmakers to support this measure.
After decades of wars launched by presidents of both parties, it’s time for Congress to build a new bipartisan majority: Congress must reclaim these war authorities from an out-of-control Executive Branch and use this moment of crisis to unify our country around a shared priority: No war with Iran.
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LIZ PEEK: Democrats rage over Trump’s Iran strikes as exiles cheer ayatollah’s fall
Leftists in the U.S. are seriously confused. While Iranians around the world celebrate the death of the thuggish Ayatollah Khamanei, who ruled their country with an iron fist, liberals in the U.S. are condemning President Donald Trump’s war to liberate the Persian nation.
Opposition to the U.S.-Israel joint attack on Iran was broad and swift, powered in part by Trump Derangement Syndrome — if he’s behind it, they’re reliably against it — and also tinged with antisemitism.
The smoke had not yet cleared from the bombings in Iran before Democrats started shrieking their objections, with Connecticut Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy, for instance, calling it “dangerously illegal and a mistake of staggering scale,” and denouncing the president as a “would-be dictator.” Murphy has also called Israel’s policy in Gaza and in the West Bank “immoral” and recently announced that he would not support additional military aid to Israel.
Anti-Israel Democrats in the House were especially strident, with “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib from Michigan posting, “It’s clear that the genocidal govt of Israel doesn’t care about children + human life including our own loved ones in the military.” She also posted, “The government of Israel is addicted to bombing hospitals, schools, refugee camps which are all war crimes.”
Democrats have been pulling away from their traditional backing of Israel for some time, and especially since the far left took hold of their party. Axios reported in December that the DNC’s still-secret “autopsy” of why Vice President Kamala Harris was defeated by Trump in 2024 concluded that the former VP “lost significant support because of the Biden administration’s approach to the war in Gaza…”
Iran has brought nothing but bloodshed and destruction to Israel, the United States and the Middle East for decades.
That is, in sifting the ashes of the 2024 election for clues as to why an inarticulate candidate who admitted she couldn’t think of a thing she’d do differently from the wildly unpopular Joe Biden went down in flames, Democrat officials determined…it was Israel’s fault! Democrats are quick learners — their support of the Jewish state is dwindling fast.
It isn’t just Democrats piling on. Criticism also came from far-right conspiracy theorists, too.
FROM MISSILES TO MINERALS: THE STRATEGIC MEANING BEHIND THE IRAN STRIKE
We also heard criticism from the utterly worthless and anti-Israel U.N., with Secretary-General António Guterres condemning the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran and demanding immediate negotiations “to pull the region, and our world, back from the brink.”
Guterres has overseen a U.N. with “a glaring anti-Israel bias, advancing biased and one-sided efforts to isolate and delegitimize the Jewish state,” reports the pro-Jewish group AIPAC. A bias AIPAC can document and which, astonishingly, has “escalated dramatically since Hamas’ October 7 attack.”
Spineless European leaders stood on the sidelines, initially distancing themselves from the U.S.-Israeli initiative. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at first declined to give the U.S. permission to use its air bases, thus forcing American jets to undertake a 20-plus hour flight to carry out their mission. He then relented, earning ridicule from all sides.
US CLEARED TO USE BRITISH BASES FOR LIMITED STRIKES ON IRANIAN MISSILE CAPABILITIES
Of course, witless students also weighed in, with Columbia University’s most renowned anti-Israel group, responsible for last year’s “encampment” built to protest the Gaza conflict, posting “death to America” in Persian after the U.S. and Israel killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. That prompted Sen. Tex Cruz, R-Texas, to demand that foreign students sending out such anti-American messages be “deported immediately.” He’s right.
One student protester told an interviewer that the U.S. “should align with Iranian regime instead of Israel because Iran ‘is not fascist.'”
Zohran Mamdani, the newly installed Muslim mayor of New York, harshly condemned President Trump’s war with Iran, saying, “Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.” He also said, “Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers and community leaders.” The mayor assured them, “You will be safe here.”
Mamdani misread the room, assuming that Iranians living in the U.S. would react as he had to the attack on the mullahs. Instead, joyful Iranians gathered in Times Square to celebrate the end of one of the most hated and savage regimes in history.
IRANIAN-AMERICAN DEMOCRAT ‘INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTED’ WITH PARTY’S RESPONSE TO US-ISRAEL STRIKES
They apparently felt perfectly safe, as indeed they were.
There are certainly valid reasons to fear a military confrontation with Iran. The country hosts a huge arsenal of ballistic missiles, it has a well-trained and now vengeful military, and it can disrupt the world’s oil supply by mining the Straits of Hormuz. Also, it is a large country of 90 million people; Iran’s citizens may hate the mullahs, but they have no weapons with which to bring down the theocracy.
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But Iran has brought nothing but bloodshed and destruction to Israel, the United States and the Middle East for decades. There could be no peace or progress in the region while Iran continues to fund its terror proxies and doggedly pursues long-range missiles and a nuclear bomb.
Democrats who mourn the scrapping of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, protesting that the JCPOA was preventing the regime from acquiring a nuke, surely know better. The deal was seriously flawed, it was unverifiable and from day one the mullahs prevented U.N. inspectors from carrying out agreed-upon certification of the pact.
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President Trump has ended the mullahs’ reign of terror and united the region in a manner no one could have imagined.
This is a righteous endeavor. Let us hope that on the other side, a free Iran will become a trusted ally.
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MORNING GLORY: Why Trump must finish what he started with Iran’s regime
President Donald Trump has proven again and again to have mastered strategic and tactical surprise in conflict, and to depend upon the military professionals advising him. Now, however, he faces a decision on when to end the battle with the Islamic Republic of Iran or whatever regime follows its collapse.
In making that decision, the events of 35 years ago should figure in his calculation.
The American-led international coalition that assembled to drive Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi troops from Kuwait began that war with a massive aerial and naval bombardment of Saddam’s forces in Kuwait and some targets in Iraq on January 17, 1991. The first phase of the first Gulf War lasted five weeks. The second phase, a ground invasion of Kuwait, began on February 24, 1991, and famously (or infamously) concluded after 100 hours.
Serious military professionals have long debated the decision by then President George H.W. Bush, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell to end military operations when they did. A huge tactical success had been achieved and the strategic benefit of such an overwhelming display of force, and almost certainly some Americans are alive today who would not have survived an extended campaign to depose Saddam Hussein 35 years ago.
But..
The “Marsh Arabs” of Iraq, the Shi’a Muslim population that inhabited the marshlands around the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the southern part of the country still controlled by Saddam after the 100-hours campaign, attempted to wrest their freedom from Saddam’s remaining forces. A 1992 Human Rights Watch report concluded: “In their attempt to retake cities, and after consolidating control, loyalist forces killed thousands of unarmed civilians by firing indiscriminately into residential areas; executing young people on the streets, in homes and in hospitals; rounding up suspects especially young men, during house-to-house searches, and arresting them without charge or shooting them en masse; and using helicopters to attack unarmed civilians as they fled the cities”
Add to that massacre another decade of atrocities by Saddam against his people that did not end until the second President Bush, this time with Dick Cheney as the vice president and Colin Powell as secretary of state, ordered the military to invade Iraq and topple the dictator. In the dozen years between the two wars came the expense and danger of the two “no-fly zones” which the United Nations authorized and the U.S. enforced.
EX-CIA CHIEF WARNS NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE IRAN’S RESPONSE AFTER OPERATION EPIC FURY EXPOSED REGIME ‘ARROGANCE’
A friendly fire incident — U.S. F-15s mistakenly shot down two American Black Hawk helicopters with the loss of 26 military and civilian lives.
The extended deployment of American forces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also believed to have led to the terrorist attack on Khobar Towers on June 25, 1996, a housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 19 Airmen were killed and more than 400 U.S. and international military members and civilians were injured in the attack, which has been attributed to either or both al Qaeda and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The towers were home to troops and civilians supporting Operation Southern Watch, the no-fly zone operation in Southern Iraq.
Counter-factuals are not useful for debate. — American officials make the most difficult decisions with limited information, some of which we still don’t know — but the actual history that followed the 100 hours of war can inform the decisions ahead of President Trump.
MARK LEVIN: HANDS OFF POST-WAR IRAN? THAT COULD BE A GRAVE STRATEGIC MISTAKE FOR AMERICA AND THE WORLD
Had the first Gulf War not been halted at the arbitrary elapse of 100 hours, but instead extended into a ground campaign in Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein in 1991, a completely different history of the Middle East would have followed, one perhaps free of the Iranian nuclear and missile programs which have precipitated this battle. But the coalition assembled by the first President Bush might have frayed and fallen apart. The American casualties of that war would have exceeded the 300 killed and 450 wounded. Again, the debate about “What might have happened” is a ridiculous one to conduct. We cannot know.
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But President Trump and his advisors can, and no doubt are, reflecting that with the Islamic Republic on its back, without much in the way of defenses, but still with striking power, the United States may want to persevere in the ongoing battle until a new set of rulers free of the medieval theological motivations of the now dead Ayatollah Khamenei are in place.
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It is not for civilians to draw up war plans, but presidents ought to study the decisions of their predecessors. A premature end to this battle will almost certainly lead to another one, perhaps without the advantage that the tactical surprise of this weekend’s attack brought us. We can fairly guess that because this regime refused to stop its nuclear program, its missile program and its export of terrorism after President Trump ordered Qassem Soleimani killed in January 2020, and again after Operation Midnight Hammer obliterated the nuclear weapons program of the Islamic Republic. Instead, the fanatics atop this barbarous regime began to rebuild their killing capabilities and displayed their true nature with the stunning massacre of more than 35,000 of its own citizens in January. This regime is incapable of changing. The regime must be changed.
Persevere President Trump. Americans have been dying at the hands of this wicked regime since it came to power in 1979. More have died this week. Do not let it survive to kill again.
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Netanyahu insists US and Israel’s strikes on Iran won’t lead to ‘endless war’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Americans on Monday that there won’t be an “endless war” in the Middle East as the United States and Israel continue striking the Iranian regime.
“You’re not going to have an endless war,” Netanyahu told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview. “This terror regime in Iran is at the weakest point that it’s been since it hijacked Iran from the brave Iranian people 47 years ago. So this is going to be a quick and decisive action. And we’re going to create the conditions first for the Iranian people to get control of their destiny, to form their own democratically elected government, which will make a different Iran altogether.”
Netanyahu insisted that the destruction of the Iranian regime would pave the way for “many peace treaties” with other Muslim countries in the region and that it would “change the world.”
“If we go through what we plan to do, I think it will create conditions for peace,” the prime minister said. “This is not an endless war. This is, in fact, something that will usher in an era of peace that we haven’t even dreamed of.”
Netanyahu specifically cited Saudi Arabia as a nation he believes has “a lot to gain” from the Iranian regime’s fall and that peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel will be “very close” as a result.
“So this is a gateway for peace, for broader peace. And I believe that we can achieve it,” Netanyahu continued. “The most important thing to understand is that when we work together, President Trump and I, we achieved, in fact, four breakthroughs for peace. Brokered by President Trump working together with me, we brokered — we brought forward the Abraham Accords, which was four peace treaties with four Arab countries. And now working together against Iran, we will be able to bring many, many more peace treaties. So this is not an endless war. This is a gateway to peace. It’s the exact opposite of what people are saying.”
FETTERMAN BLASTS IRAN STRIKE CRITICS, AYATOLLAH’S APOLOGISTS: ‘LET’S SEE WHO GRIEVES FOR THAT GARBAGE’
Netanyahu laughed at the “ridiculous” assertion Trump’s critics have said that the president was dragged into a war with Iran by Israel.
“Donald Trump is the strongest leader in the world,” he said. “He does what he thinks is right for America. He does also what he thinks is right for future generations… Iran is committed to your destruction. And whether people understand it or not, the leader has to understand it. Donald Trump understands it. You don’t have to drag him into anything. He does what he thinks is right, and this is right.”
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He doubled down on the dramatic military action his country and the U.S. have taken with “Operation Epic Fury.”
“The reason that we had to act now is because they were,” Netanyahu said. “After we hit their nuclear sites and their ballistic missiles program, you’d think they learned a lesson, but they didn’t because they’re unreformable. They’re totally fanatic about this—about the goal of destroying America. So, they started building new sites and new places, underground bunkers that would make their ballistic missile program and their atomic bomb program immune within months.”
“If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future,” Netanyahu continued. “And then they could target America. They could blackmail America. They could threaten us and threaten everyone in between. So, action had to be taken. And you needed a resolute president like Donald J. Trump to take that action.”
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