33 Comments
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Christie's avatar

Growing up a very dear friend of the family was a Marine…as he told me in a letter from Vietnam, Marines are always first in and last out! This is a horrible escalation of an “excursion” that should never, ever have happened…and our country will be paying for this monumental arrogance and stupidity for years upon years to come! I’ve heard that it was Jared Kushner, Steve Witcoff and Pete Hegseth that convinced him “to go to war,” and none of these “advisors” are qualified in any damn way to give such “advice!” Where was General Cain in this conversation? The insanity keeps doubling every single day! We are being held captive by this totally unqualified, insane and corrupt regime…and our lives, our children’s lives have been endangered for decades to come because of this illegal war!

Joan Powell's avatar

Thank you Jack. This is so dangerous for our Marines, and the lies as well frm Trump.

https://apple.news/AVmNnsUYNRuy0sOM5ll5ILA

Black Man Spy - Malcolm Nance is going live on Mar 21 at 6:00 AM PDT: “US-Iran Warcast - Day 22- Live w/ Malcolm Nance & Jacob Kaarsbo”. I urge everyone to tune in and watch and listen.

Teri Gelini's avatar

They tell the truth and they said he was going to do it.I watch them every day. Ken Harbaugh former Navy officer is another good one to watch as is Denver Riggleman who was intelligence in the air force and former member of congress

Joan Powell's avatar

Thank you Teri for sharing Ken and Denver, I will keep in mind to watch them as well.

Susan's avatar

Jack, I’m so angry and deeply concerned… and, yes terrified.. for our military men and women. Iran is going to be ready for them and that means massive casualties. I want to believe that Congress will step in.. but I don’t. This is the war he wanted and he doesn’t give a damn how many people die unnecessarily because of it. He and everyone who fails to try to stop this is complicit.

I realize you’re an agnostic but for my part… my prayers go with them and their families. I know that won’t stop what’s coming but honestly, other than contacting our elected officials which I have done non-stop for weeks, I don’t know what else to do.

Thank you for trying to prepare us. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for days… at least.

#Holdfast

~Susan

Joan Powell's avatar

Our Marines should not be there bc of Trump. Our elected officials who the majority of us contact to do something prior to the illegal war and now, hasn’t been implemented. Prayers is what I do daily and continue.

#Holdfast

Joan

Teri Gelini's avatar

This is a suicide run putting the marines on Kharg as the Iranians are going to be shooting down on them from the mountains next to the strait of Hormuz. There are already mines in the water and our mine detectors are not nearby they were sent back to the states. I feel for all the parents that members of the military going there or already there Jack

#HOLDFAST

Teri

Karen Scofield's avatar

Holy Smokes 😱‼️ This is going to not only escalate this War of Choice by this Maniac, but most certainly will result in mass casualties Guaranteed🤬 What a mess... but, TGIF to you and your readers, Jack, Thanks for keeping us well informed, it's appreciated, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍

Maggie Cecil's avatar

Other than demanding action from our lame-ass elected representatives, what can we do?

Deb's avatar

Unfortunately, this does not come as a giant surprise. His moves are getting easier and easier to spot. Sort of like when he accuses others of doing some nefarious thing, it’s projection on his part….. Now, when he denies it’s probably a good indicator of the opposite happening.

My concern is the military ppl they will be sending (and their families) into a situation where it’s very likely there will be overwhelming casualties. We’ve already had too many for an action a large percentage of the US does not support (meaning there should have been zero lives lost). The Middle East is not a super friendly to USA kind of place, hard to understand from a Western perspective and the Iranian experts were fired just before this began? I have knots in my stomach over this one.

Thank you Jack for keeping us up to speed and seeing things clear eyed. Even when the truth of the matter is literally hard to stomach. Better to know…. and kudos to you for the extra hugs with your family! :)

Terry O’Reilly's avatar

Married to a Marine, mother of a Marine. This is fact. This is American Marine lives. This is quagmire and disaster

Cherae Stone's avatar

Heavy sigh. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Jo Burns's avatar

Thank you Jack. The Marines don't move unless the game is afoot. I never believe a word out of his mouth. I watch what is moving. I saw the movement while his lies were spewing and thought, yeah, bub, uh huh, sure. I knew escalation was coming and it will be ugly. The Iranian terrain is formidable. Praying for their safety and the end to this nightmare.

Sara Goodnick's avatar

What will it take for Congress to charge this Orange Menace with treason? Or to find his mental capacity is so diminished he is incapable and mentally challenged? The coming loss of irreplaceable American lives, plus that of those of innocent Iranian citizens, had better be the end of the Republican party and the end of the Trump wanna-be dictatorship. #HOLDFAST

J Hardy Carroll's avatar

Well done, Jack. We're witnessing the historical Gallipoli pattern in real time. Then as now, when great powers start massing specialized assault troops near a strategic strait, they are not “keeping options open,” they are moving along a well‑worn escalation ladder toward control and occupation.

In 1915, that meant dreadnoughts and ANZACs closing on the Dardanelles while London swore it was a limited campaign; in 2026 it means Marine Expeditionary Units sliding toward the Strait of Hormuz while Trump insists there are “no plans” for a wider ground war. That time you had a strategic plan from Churchill behind it. This time you have demented grandpa ShitzPantz signing off of on a conglomerate of half-assed nitwits who think this is a meme-generating opportunity, and are proud if it.

I agree with your point that logistics are truth and words are theater, Jack. This meshes almost perfectly with the Gallipoli precedent: you don’t assemble forces trained for rapid, violent entry around a chokepoint unless you expect, or are preparing, to use them. The pattern is the same imperial muscle memory that produced Gallipoli and the Italian “White War” in the Alps: incrementalism, euphemism, and a quiet shift from punishment to control, with public consent managed until boots are already on the ground and reversal costs become politically prohibitive.

The result in Gallipoli was 40,000 dead Anzacs, 80,000 dead Turks, and ignoble retreat with no gain. Nineteenth‑century Europe wrapped war in a romantic haze of banners, bugles, and bayonet charges, and that fantasy died under the flat, mechanical cough of the Spandau and the Vickers.

Now the romance is digital, not watercolor: PowerPoints, drone feeds, and sanitized phrases like “excursion” and “limited incursion,” but the structure is the same. Senior civilians and flag officers sit in climate‑controlled command centers, watching icons move on screens, while Marines and soldiers are positioned under hostile mountains and along mined straits, expected to absorb the reality that technology and “elite” status do not cancel terrain, massed fire, or political delusion.

What died by Spandau bullets has never really been buried; it just keeps being rebranded every time a new generation of planners convinces itself that this war, unlike the last one, will finally be clean.

Live and don't learn. That's us.

Alexa Russell's avatar

No one is immune from this abysmal theatrical pattern. The bases from VA to Pendleton to Hawai’i and in between, around the globe, are now targets and protection is being assaulted. Damage has been done.

If diplomacy is an answer, it will take a lot longer than we imagine to implement a ‘good neighbor’ policy. One by one, asap, this administration will fall, yet the cleanup climate is another matter. Steady as we go. Thank you Jack.

Judy Robinson's avatar

Jack, this is such helpful information in an overwhelming, totally unwanted situation. Yes, news sources from Reuters, for example, tell us what we are not being told, but you explain it in ways I needed to understand. Thank you! I do not want any of these things to happen. I just want it to be over and our country to become what it should and needs to be. If that ever happens, it is going to be a long time coming, and I feel horrible for lives, any life, lost anywhere, and for lives and life plans altered through no wish of any of their owners. How can we get the two main people in this country, who want war and lie about it, out of their positions, and how can we ever restore our place in the world as peaceful, caring, and an ally to countries who have been our friends for years? Is much of this uncalled for behavior being done all with intent to distract from the Epstein files and to gain control over elections, or to cover up what he dn they are going behind the scenes?

#HOLDFAST!

Toni Denton's avatar

Jack - Thanks for this.

As Rachel Maddow said years ago after his first election and on repeat: "Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do" speaking of trump and all his minions. - Toni

#HoldFast

Rachel C's avatar

I was going to quote my namesake, too👹

Elizabeth George's avatar

Over a lifetime of watching the country involve itself in conflicts and wars around the world, I have learned never to believe a word that any politician—and particularly the President—says when it involves sending members of the military anywhere. “Send in the Marines” has never meant deploying the military to hand out chocolate bars to children, let alone to tiptoe around to make sure no one is harmed.