Niraj Gupta

Twenty-six generals and admirals in fourteen months. No misconduct cited for a single one. A former Fox News weekend host who never held a senior military command has removed the Joint Chiefs Chairman, the Army Chief of Staff, the commander of Army Transformation and Training, the Chief of Chaplains, and at least 22 other senior officers from the most powerful military on earth. He blocked four Army officers from promotion to brigadier general, two Black men and two women, by unilaterally striking their names from a list of 36. When Army Secretary Dan Driscoll refused to remove them, Hegseth did it himself. No hearing. No review board. No Senate consultation. The names were struck because the man who reads the list decided they should not be on it. The pattern is not random. It is architectural. Every removal serves the same function: shortening the distance between a presidential decision and its execution. The officers who remain are the ones who did not resist. The officers who resisted are gone. The replacement for the Army Chief of Staff is Vice Chief General Christopher LaNeve, who served as Hegseth’s personal military aide. The man who carried the briefcase now signs the orders. The chain of command has been rebuilt so that every link answers directly to the man who removed the previous link. General Randy George was the commander of the United States Army’s ground forces. That title matters now in a way it did not matter six weeks ago. Before February 28, ground forces in Iran were a theoretical exercise discussed in war colleges and think tanks. After five weeks of air strikes, with the IRGC publishing bridge target lists across four allied nations, with the President saying the military has “not even started” destroying what remains, with MEUs staged in the Gulf and the 82nd Airborne deploying and JSOC operators at forward bases in four countries, the ground option is no longer theoretical. It is a logistics package. And the man whose job was to assess whether that package should be opened was told to retire the same day the President posted “much more to follow.” Lieutenant General Hodne ran the command that trains every soldier who would execute a ground operation. Major General Green led the chaplain corps that would minister to every soldier who dies in one. George decided whether the operation should happen. Hodne prepared the soldiers to carry it out. Green prepared them to live with it. All three were removed on the same afternoon. Congress has not held a hearing. No subpoenas issued. The legal authority for a Defence Secretary to unilaterally override promotion lists and force immediate retirement of Senate-confirmed officers during wartime has not been tested because nobody with the authority to question it has chosen to. The IRGC has said attacks will “intensify from next week.” The Ford carrier is heading back. The CNN intelligence assessment confirms half of Iran’s launchers and thousands of drones remain. The President has named the next targets: power plants, desalination, oil wells, Kharg Island. And every general who might have said “this crosses a line” is already gone. Twenty-six officers. Zero misconduct findings. One question that every general still serving is asking behind closed doors: who is left to say no? And what happens when the answer is nobody? open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

Morally I have a severe problem with this. I don’t think we are the “good guys” anymore. We’ve gone full rogue. The events I’m watching are things that I never thought I’d see us ever do to anyone. It’s really disturbing

How about Pete Hegseth ask himself to resign. That will give him time to work on his insider trading, so that he makes money on it next time.

@stocktalkweekly 😂

*PRESIDENT TRUMP FIRES ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI

How messed up is it that they keep killing the negotiators? How the hell is Iran supposed to accept a peace deal if Israel keeps targeting the very people they’re negotiating with?! They are literally sabotaging the talks!

Treat your friends like our enemies and treat Russia like your best friend, while we watch Ukraine protect our allies with drone technology that we refuse to use. The new world order.

What a disgrace this administration has turned out to be. “You break it, you own it.” Apparently, doesn’t apply these simpletons. A level of incompetence that is difficult to comprehend but not surprising. Whoever thinks this unprovoked war was a good idea is incredibly naive, delusional and completely out of touch with the fact that the world is actually impacted by the stupid things we do.

Of course he did.

@tracywolfson Poor Grant Hill

This is great 😂

The founders didn’t intend for Congress to sit on the sidelines. James Madison gave it the power to check the president, especially in matters of war and foreign policy.

@McFaul @UConnMBB That was incredible. As a Michigan fan, I can relate to that turnover. Sorry Duke. Great UCONN win.

Great @UConnMBB win! Duke also gave it away.

Hopefully someone in Washington can read… great post below

Q: Has there been an increase in Russia's support for Iran? RUBIO: Let me put it to you this way -- there is nothing Russia is doing for Iran that is in any way impeding or affecting our operations

We have reached an important Arrangement between the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on defense cooperation. The document was signed ahead of our meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. It lays the foundation for future contracts, technological cooperation, and investment. It also strengthens Ukraine’s international role as a security donor. We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia and to work together to strengthen the protection of lives. Now into the fifth year, Ukrainians are resisting the same kind of terrorist attacks – ballistic missiles and drones – that the Iranian regime is currently carrying out in the Middle East and the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia also has capabilities that are of interest to Ukraine, and this cooperation can be mutually beneficial. We also discussed the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region as a whole, Russia’s assistance to the Iranian regime, developments in fuel markets, and potential energy cooperation. Thank you for the meeting.

I gotta hand it to Trump, crashing the market twice in 12 months with self inflicted moves is a rare feat we may never see again in our lifeimtes

WELKER: Would the administration ever raise taxes in order to fund this war? BESSENT: Again, Kristen, terrible framing WELKER: It's a simple question BESSENT: It's a ridiculous question WELKER: Can you answer it? BESSENT: Why would we do that? We have plenty. We have a trillion dollars.

I am just a guy that likes making my maps but I do feel somewhat compelled to say that Iran has a particularly good power grid, and gas distribution network. Like nearly impossible to destroy. I mean, I think Iran has a better gas transmission footprint than Canada. I know know who this tweet is for, but maybe these maps are helpful. In 2017, Iran exported 7,871 GWh and imported ~4 kWh, mainly exporting to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Iran's 4.3MWh per capita of annual electricity consumption is actually in-line with the UK at 4.6MWh per capita, and ~25% ahead of countries like Brazil and South Africa. Attacking a very hardened system like this, and opening the Gulf up to attacks on far more single-failure-point assets -- seems wildly, WILDLY stupid.

Crickets. How are we not engaging with Ukraine on this?

I’ve been very supportive of POTUS on Iran & believe getting rid of Maduro was good. But I’ve been appalled by this Admin's tone, rhetoric, tactics & strategy toward Europe. Denigrating our allies has been terrible. Weakness communicated to Putin has caused grave damage. Passive-aggressive communication toward President Zelenskyy is embarrassing. I hear from our allies about the damage this has done & it’s going to take time to repair.

“Our mess, your problem” is a heckuva pitch to “invest in America.” 🇺🇸