Fast forward to 3 minutes 25 seconds and listen through to 7 minutes 40 seconds . . . — reports how Netanyahu gave Trump no option, no choice . . .
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Well…. I don’t suppose Trump was very much opposed to what Netanyahu was laying out to him. Whatever else you might say about Trump, he is his own man and if he is not minded to do something, he just won’t do it.
Yes, some very expensive US radar bases have been taken out, but the US now has air superiority and with AWACS planes able to circle at will, I would be surprised if the operational capability of those radar bases is not now being carried by the AWACS planes, which also have a radar range of up to 600 miles.
As for Alastair Crooke, a look at his background reveals that he spent 30 years in British intelligence, so we assume he still has good information sources. But he is also the founder and director of the Beirut-based ‘Conflicts Forum’, an organisation that advocates for engagement between political Islam and the West. He lives in Beirut. One could be forgiven for suspecting that there could be a pro-Islamic slant to his analysis and that his view on how well Iran is weathering the attack by US and Israeli forces should be adjusted on that account.
“Whatever else you might say about Trump, he is his own man and if he is not minded to do something, he just won’t do it.”
He likes to think he’s his own man, but his strings are easily pulled, and his avarice leaves lots of strings hanging loose.
For a “reality check” on the value of US’s supposed “air superiority” have a listen to the second video at https://vridar.org/2026/03/07/iran-two-reality-checks/ — advance the timer to the last minute for Lawrence Wilkerson’s final words.
(From what airbases are those AWACS you are speaking of taking off from? How far away from Iran are those bases?)
Re the first video. He’s referring to, for example, a Polish source of information. As a Pole, I can say he’s very misguided on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. To be frank, he’s just regurgitating Kremlin propaganda.
I am an Australian but I have learned that the Australian mainstream media sources of information and Australian government sources of information about Russia, Israel, the US, China, are for most part false propaganda, often even outright lies.
More possibilities from Max Blumenthal at The Grayzone:
http://www.thegrayzone.com/2026/03/06/israel-fbi-assassination-plots-trump-iran-war/
Richard G.
Being told you have no choice is different from having no choice.
Firstly, I would say that this sort of assumes that Trump didn’t want to attack Iran. He did. He wants to attack every perceived enemy of the USA – Venezuela, Iran, Cuba are all very much symbols of anti-American feeling which are manageable for the US armed forces. So he sees them as easy wins.
But it is always important to bear Trump’s psychology in mind. He is a fantasist. He lives in almost a dream-like state where he can do no wrong and has never done anything wrong or failed at anything. This is a man who will pick up a phone to a golf club that he owns, tell the manager to put his name on a trophy for a tournament that he didn’t play in (while removing the actual winner’s name) and then boast about how he won the tournament to press members who were actually at the tournament and the awards ceremony. And (this is the important bit) he really believes that he is the club champion after that.
People have for years underestimated the degree to which Trump is delusional. In his head he is God. There are no rules; rules are for the control of fools and he is no fool. If you follow rules you are a fool. Those rules can be the law, they can be marriage vows, they can be contracts that he has signed. Nothing binds Trump and never has, at least since he fell in with Roy Cohn the mafia lawyer who taught him everything about might makes right and believing the lie so that it becomes the truth.
The FIFA peace-prize? He picked up the phone and told FIFA that he needed an award for bringing the World Cup to the USA. That’s all that happened. He ordered them to give him a prize and since he was stinging from being rebuffed by the Nobel committee, he told them it had to be a peace prize. But then he demanded Machado hand over her Nobel as a condition to remaining in power so now he has, in his head, won two peace prizes! That’s how it works for him. He really believes he has a Nobel peace prize because he forced Machando to hand over her certificate and medal. Neither Machando nor FIFA were given any reasonable option but to play along with the madness.
When trying to understand what is going on with Trump you absolutely must grasp this. He is not a rational man. He is a complete fantasist who lives only for praise and certificates of his own greatness. If he doesn’t get them he will simply have them printed.
Netanyahu will only have had to say that Trump could do what no previous president has done and defeat Iran and everything else in the conversation would have been whitenoise to him. There is nothing complicated about getting Trump to do something if you know it will get certain people out on the American streets waving flags.
Yeah, things Trump cares about: getting more money; standing in front of a cheering crowd; forcing himself on women – to some degree or other, in some manner or other; being praised by manly men he admires (top among them: Putin). People who figured this out can manipulate him. Unfortunately for them they are not the only ones, so he gets manipulated by multiple people in various directions.
Thank you Neil for sharing this piercing analysis. Those of us who know the historical, moral and economic dimensions to the acts of war against Iran are agreed that US and Israeli hegemony objectives, driven by the oligarch multi-billionnaire Zionist campaign base, are behind it. However Netanyahu is oblivious to our views, and he has promised that a big surprise is coming to Iran. We should know what that means, reflecting on what happened in Japan in WW11. I feel awful waiting for it. We can ring Penny Wong’s office, and our local federal member’s, to plead that Australia kick out US bases and surveillance in Australia, and we can take a physical stand outside their electoral offices. Wong’s numbers : Adelaide Electorate Office (08) 8212 8272 ; Canberra Ministerial/Senate Office (02) 6277 7500 ; National Toll‑Free Line 1300 301 698 and official parliamentary email : senator.wong@aph.gov.au
Hi Neil
I wonder if you have been following Brian Berletic? In his recent video ‘Yes, the US DOES Have a Plan – Spanning Decades with Implications Far Beyond Iran’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEQCEOZbnI
…he puts forward the thesis that it is not Israel that pushed the US into war with Iran, but it is a very longstanding policy of the US finally reaching fruition, and it would have happened at a convenient moment whoever was notionally in charge.
Many good commentators (and I very much respect Crooke and Hedges) seem to think it is primarily an Israeli policy, but Brian brings receipts in the form of US policy and planning documents dating back to the start of this century and beyond. Ultimately it’s all about isolating and containing China, so that the US maintains unopposed primacy throughout the world.
I find Brian’s thesis difficult to argue with and am very interested in your opinion, Neil.
Hi Geoff, I have not heard Berletic (time limitations my end) but I don’t think it has been a secret that the US has been seeking to position itself to be able to throttle China economically. I don’t recall official publication where I think this was actually indicated. But war with Iran is the stupidest way to do it and I understand many of the US military top brass strongly advised against it. It was far more effective to maintain and build up naval bases in the Gulf States and Indian Ocean as they were doing — with their potential to cut off trade with China via that direction. What the war has done is to put the US on the backfoot now (they seem to have been propelled to act when they did according to Israel’s timing and vastly underestimated Iran’s capabilities at the same time) — and I think those advisers (ex CIA, ex military, ex foreign affairs etc) are right who say that Iran will win and dictate the terms with the US having to leave the Gulf and Middle East altogether. China, Russia and Iran will be the big winners here, with a pivot away from the domination of the US dollar.
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I just hope you are right about the outcome, Neil.
It’s what a few of those whom I consider to be noteworthy experts have said. Unfortunately one of them added that if the US loses against Iran and is forced into retreat from the Middle East, it will be bad news for others — it will mean a more serious power play against other countries in the Americas for starters. Greenland, Cuba (it already looks like Trump is about to take over Cuba — what a lovely distraction he must be hoping that will be from Iran), Brazil. . . .