Without a Doubt, Worse than Nixon
[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]
On March 18, 1969, the U.S. military launched a secret program authorized by then-president Richard Nixon. Code named Operation Menu, the U.S. bombed targets in Cambodia until May 26, 1970.
The program was never authorized by Congress; information about the bombings were withheld from both Congress and the American public.
It was a gross abuse of executive power and the basis for drafting an Article of Impeachment against Nixon. The article did not receive adequate support in Congress because a number of members of Congress felt they had not done enough to restrain Nixon with regard to the Vietnam War, and public opinion had not yet shifted firmly against Nixon because of the Watergate scandal.
Three of six Articles of Impeachment did receive approval, however; the unauthorized bombing of Cambodia emphasized the abuses of power delineated in the approved articles.
Fortunately for Nixon, Republican members of Congress took him aside and told him they had the votes to impeach and remove him if he didn’t resign. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, avoiding hearings and heightened scrutiny of his abuses of his office.
Donald Trump authorized the bombing of Iran. His secretary of defense did not restrain him by requiring an Authorization for Use of Military Force. Neither of them made much effort to keep the mission secret as it launched Saturday as Trump posted about it to his personal Truth Social account.
Congress was not informed of the operation in order to debate an AUMF. Congress received testimony from Trump’s director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on March 25 in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which she said,
… The IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003. The IC continues to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program.
In the past year, we have seen an erosion of a decades-long taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public, likely emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran’s decision-making apparatus. Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons. …
There were exchanges with the media and public between the administration about Gabbard’s statement regarding the enriched uranium stockpile. If the status of that stockpile had changed with a firm move toward arming a weapon occurred, there has been no effort to communicate that with the Senate Intelligence or Armed Services Committees.
The American public was lied to by Trump who announced this past Thursday, “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.”
Trump waffled publicly about U.S. military action against Iran, saying, ““You don’t know that I’m going to even do it,” Trump told one reporter. “I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do. … “ I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final [call] … I like to make a final decision one second before it’s due, you know?”
Trump failed to request approval from Congress before making that final call some time between Thursday and Saturday.
It’s possible the call had already been made and Trump’s apparent indecision was a head fake. An analyst with Haaretz seemed to think this was a possible strategy. EDIT: The Atlantic published an article at 12:29 a.m. ET Sunday in which they reported Trump had already decided to bomb Iran on Wednesday, before his public statement about a two-week window of decision.
Head fake or no, Trump violated the Constitution’s Article I, Section 8 which grants Congress the power to declare war. It is not a power granted to the executive who “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” under Article II, Section 3.
Trump has already repeatedly failed under the Take Care clause. This first strike against Iran conducted without Congressional approval should be a road too far.
The blowback from this may be enormous, beginning with global economic effects due to instability in the fossil fuels market and may include terrorist or overt military strikes against U.S. targets, perhaps by way of surrogate networks Gabbard also testified about on March 25.
Trump is without a doubt worse than Nixon. He should be impeached — again, yes — and this time removed from office.
Iran’s nuclear program is now mostly underground. Enrichment and any reprocessing facilities are difficult to inhibit. Any strikes would have done significant damage but Iran still would have enough fissile material for some warheads and possibly some launch vehicles. Both Israel and the U.S. are not considering how easy it would be for Iran to mine and close the Straits of Hormuz, a shallow and narrow causeway for Saudi (and other) oil. U.S. forces in Bahrain would be immovable. Iran has its own domestic issues that are now able to be blamed on “The Great Satan”, further strengthening existing theocratic rule. These are the kind of secondary effects that the National Security Council and the State Department analyze. But the Orange Turd knows all and doesn’t need any advice.
Now that the Orange Idiot has taken Israel’s bait, I expect that Iran will dump mines in the Straits. Oil and fuel prices will go up. Well done Mr. President.
According to Kulinsky on Thursday, The Guardian reported that Trump was doing it in the weekend so as not to freak out the markets during the week.
Of course he could have done it on Thursday as US markets were closed because of Juneteenth which he refused to acknowledge.
The Peace Prize winner as he terrorizes inside and outside the country.
That’s bullshit. This is his typical pump-and-dump — he’s played this same pattern time and again since December 2016 when he fucked with the Boeing contract for Air Force 1. All the effort is intended to maximize the opportunity to those with inside information by market open on Monday.
Whoever had inside info is counting on the markets to freak out Monday morning.
But it’s bigger than just Monday morning and I don’t think Trump or his American insiders grok this. I’ll write about it next.
I noted some knock-on effects in the post before this one. It also means the markets have had time to think about it, which IMHO will make their panic more intense. I still think Vlad was also involved in this given how bad the Russian economy is due to its war waste and its dependency on the fossil fuel market on the cui bono principle.
Harry Shearer writes “Question now for Iran re: their remaining military assets: use ‘em or lose ‘em.”
https://bsky.app/profile/harryshearer.bsky.social/post/3ls5yiqujr22p
Excellent post, Rayne! Irrespective of the rashness and irresponsibility of these bombings by Trump, this is his boldest dictatorial move yet. He is flipping the biggest of his stubby fingers at Congress by doing this, saying that he and Whiskey Pete can do any damn thing they want with the awesome capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces and no one can do a thing. Craven. The fissile material had reportedly been moved out of Fordow long ago. Expect oil and natural gas prices to go up considerably. Alliances against the United States are now being formed as a lead up to WWIII. This lunatic must be stopped.
Not just Congress. This feels like yet another Fuck You to the American people because we have the audacity to tell him he’s full of shit. We made fun of his birthday parade. We had No Kings protests that were better attended than his parade.
Trump ran on bringing peace to the Middle East and no new wars. This is a campaign “promise” that the people who voted for him say is one of the reasons they voted for him. We’ll see if the usual low information voters fall for the spin.
There was an interesting poll done in Canada about opinions of Trump where IIRC the Faux ‘news’ crowd favored Convict-1 / Krasnov / TACO at a 72% clip but informed Canadians went at 1%, not a typo.
It’s the information.
“The fissile material had reportedly been moved out of Fordow long ago.”
Citation for this? I am not finding reference to removal on iranwatch, isisonline or nti, according to which the IAEA reported in March 2023 that it had discovered uranium enriched to 83.7% purity at this plant.
I doubt they did, either because I’m also fairly certain that the important parts of that facility are well below the advertised 60 meter penetration depth of the MOP. Not just the materials, but the centrifuges (for UF6 separation) as well.
“Trump is without a doubt worse than Nixon.”
Yes, but TACO Krasnov has a base that wants red meat – all the time. Nixon lacked that at scale and there were adults in the room. The Orange Toddler plays to his base and who, exactly is making calls to directly insert the US into a foreign war? I became aware of this bombing about 8:40 PM EST last night and knew there would be worse news to come.
Elton & Bernie claimed in the early 70’s that ‘Madman Across The Water’ was just a random title…
This bombing is troubling on so many levels, for me it reeks of a saying I picked up years ago and continue to share with young people:
‘Between impulse and action there is a thought process.’
It has everything to do with that space between stimulus and response. It rests on deliberative thinking and choosing the correct action instead of reacting. How carefully has this been thought through by the mob in charge of the White House and indeed the Pentagon? Unless the Iranian infrastructure is so crippled that it cannot respond we are in for a rough(er?) next few years.
Cyber, Strait of Hormuz, dirty-bomb and economic tanking attacks immediately come to mind; who knows where the retaliatory strikes will occur or what form they will take? Unless of course it is more dick-wagging to distract from the possibility of more NG troops being deployed on US soil – but in that case see the above statement regarding that space between impulse and action.
And aren’t the rethugs going to LA for their convention? Odd choice for a ‘city in flames’ that required domestic urban pacification.
Far better minds here understand the calculus of this bombing action, but I see nothing more than another quid pro quo with Bibi Fuckingyahoo – we help bomb that which he cannot reach and oh, by the way – here is the Gaza strip to develop? A touch cynical I know but look at the mob mentality running our country right now.
“TACO Krasnov has a base that wants red meat”
You need to slow your roll and check polling on military action against Iran. I’m not going to spoon feed you.
The Sunday shows will certainly be interesting. For example, Israel’s ambassador will be on CBS, but to the polling point MAGA will twist to the preferred wind so we need to mind what Rupert’s world does.
As for Convict-1 / Krasnov / TACO, he has always wanted to be seen as a war hero so as soon as the idea was being floated I cynically knew this operation was going to happen. Remember the ‘I always wanted one of these’ comment when some vet gave him their Purple Heart. Some reporter should find that guy and see if he’s still OK with it.
I’m enraged with the Wednesday decision and Thursday denial. Time to get Leavitt her pink dress to match the DPRK flack.
Opening the gates of hell. At what point do a few of Pakistan’s nukes fall off the back of the truck (despite the sectarian differences)?
But there will never be an impeachment. Just ask Lisa Murkowski – GOP members are more afraid of their MAGA constituents than they are of the history books.
This may be a subject on which they part ways, if the constituents are against US getting forced into another Middle East war.
Was it a head fake or indecision? I don’t think it is possible to know what is in his adeled brain.
Zinsky 123: “Alliances against the United States are now being formed as a lead up to WWIII. This lunatic must be stopped.”
I woke up at 3:am wondering if we have become a rogue nation with an unhinged, unpredictable madman at the helm. Why did he demand unconditional surrender and urge evacuation of Tehran? My imagination runs to extreme possibilities.
Reply
Congress must address this attack in a formal manner – either by retroactively approving it and setting forth ground rules or condemning it and prohibiting future action. Failure to do so will confirm that the Republicans are co-conspirators in the dismantling of the Constitution.
It will be interesting to see if the Trump Doctrine includes taking out other countries’ developing nuclear capabilities, like N. Korea.
It’s unlikely he’d go after North Korea because Kim has made it look like he’s kissed Trump’s ass and they’re no threat to Netanyahu’s power nor to Putin’s. You have to wonder if Trump has gotten vig from Kim since 2017.
I threw in N. Korea as a way of pointing out that Trump’s justification was more about Iran than the principle of destroying the nuclear capabilities of bellicose nations.
I’m waiting to see the reactions of the Gulf States, Russia, and China. This may have been a military intervention that was greenlighted through diplomatic back channels.
PS In looking at the video on Trump’s announcement, his left eye seems a little wiggy.
The more obvious example of bellicose nations with nuclear capability is the one we’ve allowed to direct our military strike this weekend.
For how bad Nixon was at least he had some shame. I think Trump considers impeachment an honor.
I’m confused; is this Biden’s fault or did God tell him to do it?
His “We love you, God” at the end was truly bizarre and disturbing.
If Trump was in a bar and said that god shit, the person next to him would say, “Give me your keys. You’re not driving.”
That “We love God” confirmed for me a couple things. First, he’s been huddling with Mike Huckabee–along with Bibi and Christian nationalist Hegseth–and the Apocalypse/Armageddon NOW crowd has roped him into some phone prayers.
Second, like so many old sinners, Trump sees death a-comin’ and he is sorely afeard. I’ve seen it in my own kin. The exhortations to God start bubbling up the closer they hear time’s winged chariot pulling in to their gate. It makes stops at the White House too.
He doesn’t look well in that video.
I seriously doubt he believes in God. Christianity is just a prop for him to get votes and cash. I think it’s a message to his Christian nationalists that we are all Christians, not Muslims (Allah) and that he’s doing God’s will.
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”
—Sinclair Lewis.
A Christian Nationalist, Pete Hegseth has “Deus Vult” (“God wills it”) and the crusader’s cross tattooed on his body. He wears suit jackets lined with representations of the American flag. We knew this before he was confirmed (thank you Joni Ernst). Is anyone surprised by what road “We the people” are on and where it may take us?
Presumably they used big conventional munitions, not tactical nukes. Is that pinned down, or not? Israel presumably has its own tactical nukes, and could have gone that route, itself.
I think we would have heard already if there were nukes used as there have certainly been parties monitoring radiation signatures over key locations looking for signs Iran had moved from enrichment to arming warheads.
Fox already saying he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
At the very least he deserves a Pulitzer Prize for that statement he gave last night.
The Retribution Regime for corrupted cruel criminals continue to spread hate and violence.
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been obliterated. Many presidents have dreamed of delivering the final blow to Iran’s nuclear program, and none could until President Trump. The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant showing the world that American deterrence is back. When this president speaks the world should listen.”
Hegseth, DoD Press Conference, June 22, 2025
“The operation President Trump planned…”
What a sense of humor!
Trump just returned from a trip to the middle east; I wonder how many pieces of luggage he took with him, how many extras he brought back, and how much crypto does one suitcase hold?
Thanks for this.
And…
“The Atlantic published an article at 12:29 p.m. ET”
Atlantic timestamp is Junes 22, 2025, 12:29 AM ET
Thanks, I’ll fix that now. I’m afraid I was running on fumes when I published this post after 1:30 a.m. LOL
Doesn’t the War Powers Act allow the president to commence military action for up to 60 days before requiring an AUMF from congress?
Isn’t that the loophole that Clinton used in bombing Iraq for four days, Obama bombing Libya, Reagan bombing Lebanon (or was it Libya too?), and invading Grenada?
Steve Herman:
https://bsky.app/profile/newsguy.bsky.social/post/3ls6x7eyiva2k
June 22, 2025 at 7:21 AM [TIMES are ET]
Here’s a screenshot of Iran Foreign Minister’s earlier statement:
https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3ls6a4xkmwc2z
June 22, 2025 at 12:28 AM