As Beege pointed out earlier, a three-star general got fired today by Sec. Hegseth. But that apparently didn't stop Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper from making a trip to the White House. There, along with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, they briefed the president on his military options in Iran.
The top U.S. commander in the Middle East briefed President Trump on Thursday on military options for Iran, a rare in-person visit to the White House as the U.S. weighs resuming major combat operations, according to U.S. officials and other people with direct knowledge of the meeting...
Trump officials have told Arab Gulf states to be prepared for a short, intense campaign after the midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Vance has also engaged one of Iran’s most powerful hard-liners in an effort to revive peace negotiators, the Journal reported.
“We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump said at a rally last week, referring to the heavy U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign in the spring. “Or they’ll agree.”...
Cooper rarely briefs Trump in person, so the meeting could signal that the U.S. is moving closer to significant military operations.
It appears that someone briefed Sen. Chris Murphy on the plan. He immediately ran out to the cameras to say the plan was crazy.
United States Senator Chris Murphy has suggested that President Trump's intention to resume war with Iran could include a plan to "deliberately target civilians and use the harm of civilians as leverage in war." https://t.co/JzyWfQ6Gji
— Analyst News (@AnalystNews_) October 29, 2026
Reading between the lines, it sounds like our plan is to bomb some of the leaders and maybe some bridges. But of course he can't say that and no one who knows what the actual plan is can respond to him. So this is just a free chance for him to attack without consequences.
"We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist," the White House official said in response to a question that that the administration has reached out to U.S. allies in the Gulf about the potential military campaign.
VOA also asked for comment on whether military options were still on the table after the mid-term elections.
"President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon," the official said.
Trump repeatedly said that Iran would have used a nuclear weapon if it had one. The president this week said the U.S. is monitoring the situation of Iran's underground nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain.
"We know exactly what is going on at Pickaxe Mountain, we know the other three are obliterated ... we watch, we have entrances on every one of those that we blew up,” he told Fox News on Sunday.
We're not hearing much about it at this point because the Trump administration appears to have Iran on the ropes. Oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz as if Iran didn't matter.
Persian Gulf oil exports have surpassed prewar levels, as an improvised shipping system under U.S. protection is helping tankers move oil through one of Iran’s fiercest waves of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
Middle East oil flows, including shipments through Hormuz and alternative routes across the region, averaged more than 24 million barrels a day in the week through Oct. 18, surpassing prewar levels of 23.3 million, according to ship tracker Kpler.
Preliminary figures show Hormuz oil flows, including offshore transfers in the Gulf of Oman, came to around 14 million barrels a day on average for the same period, or 82% of prewar levels.
Also, some of the oil that would have traveled through the Strait is being redirected to the Red Sea. The only producer not exporting any oil via the Strait is Iran. And with inflation inside Iran running around 160 percent, their economy is in a nosedive.
#IranWatch🇮🇷: Iran's Statistical Center claims that Iran’s yearly inflation was 88.7% in October. WRONG. Today, I measure Iran’s inflation at a DEVASTATING 160%/yr. I REMAIN THE ONLY ACCURATE SOURCE FOR INFLATION MEASUREMENTS IN IRAN. https://t.co/tTAE0AqfVK
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) October 29, 2026
But as with other autocratic governments, the leadership of Iran doesn't much care if the people suffer so long as the leaders remain in power. Sen. Murphy may see protecting those people as a sign of the strength of the rule of law, but it looks a lot like protecting America-hating tyrants to me.
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