I Despise Iran. That’s Why This Strike Makes No Sense.

The airstrikes may have hit Iran—but the real impact will be felt in U.S. law, leadership, and civil liberties.

I made it thirty seconds into the President’s speech before I tapped out. I'd half-joked it would sound like this:

“I bombed Iran. Best bombs. My generals love me—Raising Cain, so good, so good. Iran owes us now. Expensive bombs. Beautiful bombs.”

Satire, sure. But not far off.

After a day in the hospital with my mother-in-law, I wasn’t about to top it off with this nonsense. I did, however, catch the spectacle behind him: JD trying to look relevant, Marco contradicting himself from nine seconds prior, and Pete Hegseth—Trump’s golden retriever—panting happily in the adult room, wagging through another crisis he doesn’t understand.

It was the Three Stooges behind the Strongman Stooge.

The Strike Heard 'Round the Bureaucracy

So what did we do? Did we degrade Iran’s nuclear program? Did we hit anything vital?

Maybe. But probably not.

If I’m Iran, and Israel has been pounding my infrastructure, and I know Trump lives for dramatic optics, I’m moving everything critical underground—or out entirely. The second Bibi launched his first missile, Tehran likely flipped every countermeasure switch it had.

That’s what smart actors do. And contrary to Beltway arrogance, Iran isn’t dumb.

Unfortunately, our intelligence system under this regime is. The Trump White House gutted the NSC, sidelined professional analysts, and replaced functional decision-making with sycophantic loyalty tests. In a functioning White House, facts rise. In this one, flattery does.

Until we get BDA (battle damage assessment), this was just another expensive fireworks show with no proof of effectiveness.

Trump Doctrine: Lie First, Strike Once, Claim Victory

If there is such a thing as a Trump Doctrine, it seems to go like this:

1. Lie about what’s happening.

2. Do a dramatic thing.

3. Declare victory.

4. Leave the rest of us to deal with the consequences.

This is not a doctrine. It’s a branding campaign wrapped in military hardware.

If the actual goal is to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, then this doesn’t get it done. Taking out a few sites—without follow-up, escalation control, or regime-shaping strategy—achieves nothing except headlines and hashtags.

Even if we accept the premise (that Iran is actively developing a bomb), this was never going to stop them. Delay? Maybe. Deter? Not a chance.

Welcome Back to the GWOT: Now With 133% More Dictatorship!

Here’s the darker truth: the Trump Regime has been itching for a reason to reawaken the War on Terror—with all the domestic powers that come with it.

I helped write some of those laws. Back then, even as we pushed boundaries, we held the line. We debated. We self-restrained. The current regime has no such scruples.

Trump has turned the DOJ into his protection detail. He controls ICE, the National Guard, and increasingly the military. He governs not by law, but by loyalty.

If Americans start dying—if Iran retaliates and the body count rises—expect the response to be immediate and authoritarian. The Patriot Act was just the dress rehearsal. This time, the gloves come off.

Korematsu was never overturned. Let that sink in.

Iran’s Response Menu: From Posturing to Pandemonium

So what does Iran do next? Here are their options, in rough order of plausibility:

Option 1: Do Nothing

Low probability. Tehran doesn’t think it started this. Sitting still would be domestically humiliating and strategically unrewarded.

Option 2: Hit U.S. Interests Abroad

Most likely. Think: Americans in Europe. Embassy staff. Energy contractors in Iraq. Targets that are symbolic but just outside the red line of triggering all-out war.

Option 3: Strike Military Assets

Also plausible. Swarm attacks in the Gulf, drone strikes on ships, leveraging the Houthis to disrupt Red Sea traffic.

Option 4: Cyber Retaliation

Dangerous but probable. Iran’s cyber wing is competent. A major U.S. infrastructure hit—if attributable—would trigger a scorched-earth response. They may try smaller disruptions first.

Option 5: Hit the Homeland

Least likely. Highest risk, highest reward. A suicide bomber in a New York subway? Mailboxes filled with C4? Iran gets one shot before America turns Persia into glass. And they know it.

Oh, Right… the Nuclear Problem

And through all this, we seem to have forgotten: Iran’s nuclear program still exists.

Did we destroy it? Doubtful.

Did we delay it? Maybe six months.

Did we give them another reason to finish building the bomb? Absolutely.

I don’t care what Tulsi “Shampoo Commercial” Gabbard says—I think Iran is either near breakout or pretending very convincingly. And if they weren’t before, they’re incentivized now.

No state wants to end up like Iraq or Libya. Nuclear weapons are the insurance policy against American regime change theater.

The Real Victory: Domestic Control Through Foreign Chaos

Let’s not pretend this was about Iran. This was about power—domestic power.

Trump got his parade. His talking points. His rally moment. He got to play Commander-in-Chief on cable news.

And if Iran gives him a real war? Then he gets everything else he wants:
• Emergency powers
• De facto martial law
• An electorate too scared to vote him out
• And a military he’s slowly trying to train to salute him, not the Constitution.

Conclusion: The Real Threat Isn’t Iran

The real threat isn’t over there. It’s here.

It’s a White House that uses war to fuel dictatorship. A military policy run by amateurs with no plan for what comes next. A people so numbed by chaos they stop asking what the hell we’re doing—and why.

Iran may strike back. Americans may die. But the bigger casualty may be the republic itself.

Unless we wake the hell up.

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Bonus Sidebar: Sovereign Exit in the Age of the Wartime Presidency

This is why I tell people to have a second flag.

When the U.S. launches a strike like this—without oversight, without strategy, and without any credible plan for what comes next—it’s not just about Iran. It’s about the kind of country the U.S. is becoming in response to its own actions.

You don’t need to be a pacifist to recognize the risk. I’m not. I worked in national security. I’m well acquainted with the tools of power. But I also know that once the war machine starts rolling, the first thing it runs over is domestic constraint.

And if you're reading this thinking, “they’d never use that power on people like me,”—you’re wrong. They will. Not because you’re dangerous, but because they can. When power concentrates in the executive, the Constitution becomes optional. And when fear governs the streets, dissent becomes suspicious.

That’s why Sovereign Exit isn’t about ideology—it’s about capacity.

• Does your government have checks on executive power in wartime?

• Does your country have a functioning judiciary that remains independent under emergency rule?

• Do you have legal residence, financial access, and physical security somewhere not yoked to a declining empire mid-convulsion?

For Americans, the answer is increasingly no.

A single retaliatory strike by Iran—whether it’s cyber, kinetic, or symbolic—is all it takes for Trump to invoke a new state of emergency. And the War on Terror legal framework is still sitting there, intact, waiting to be reactivated.

That’s why I created Borderless Living.
It’s not just a newsletter. It’s a field manual for those building their second flag before the first one burns.

I map exit strategies. I assess countries. I game out timelines.
If you're ready to start thinking clearly—and defensively—about your future…

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