The last 48 hours have been rather intense, as we have been all over the place regarding Israel, Iran, and a possible nuclear deal.
Trump has been encouraging Iran to come to an agreement at the negotiating table, saying he does not want Israel to strike, but he understood time was running out. Well, the alarm just went off.
It was early Thursday when Trump still seemed to be hopeful that a deal could be struck before Israel ran out of patience with Iran.
When Trump was asked about Israel launching a strike, he responded, “Yeah, it’s a very fair question. Look, I want to have an agreement with Iran… We’re fairly close to a pretty good agreement. It’s got to be better than pretty good, though…I’d much prefer an agreement.”
He continued, “As long as I think there is an agreement, I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it. It might help, actually, but it also could blow it. But we’ve had very good discussions with Iran."
Trump added, “Whether or not we get there, I can’t tell you, but it’ll, it’ll happen soon. I say this, Peter, very strongly, they can’t have, whether it’s going in or not going in, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I’d prefer the more friendly path.”
Just hours later, Israel’s clock went out, and it launched a massive strike against Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the start of Operation Rising Tiger, stating, “We can’t leave these threats for the next generation."
He continued, “Because if we don’t act now, there will not be another generation. If we don’t act now, we simply won’t be here. We have internalized the lessons of history. When an enemy says he intends to destroy you -- believe him.”
I have been quite clear on my feelings on this, and if I am being honest, I am glad that Israel took the initiative to make the strike, but this is going to get much worse before it gets better.
Iran has been crippled, with numerous military leaders now dead, but the country is not yet out of the game.
To that point, on Friday, Iran launched a counterstrike of more than 100 missiles, with several getting through to the target, as the Golden Dome was unable to stop them all.
According to reports, several targets were hit inside Tel Aviv, but I have not yet seen the injury or death reports from the attack. Trump is now asking everyone to cool off, stating, "There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left."
Knowing Netanyahu, I expect him to launch another massive attack, and I suspect it will be far worse than the first one. I believe we will find out within the next 48 hours exactly what the prime minister has planned for his next move.
