Coffee Break: Doomsday Delusions, Iran Eschaton Edition

It is important to remember that many players driving the Ramadan War, including senior members of the U.S. cabinets, are operating in a mental frame work of apocalyptic religious fervor, end-times eschaton and are gripped by doomsday delusions.

Don’t Call It Operation Epstein Fury, Traitor!

Even the name of the conflict is a field for dueling psyops.

Some call it the Ramadan War, others use its ridiculous American Government official title Operation Epic Fury, and some even choose to participate in what the ADL calls “conspiratorial rebranding” by calling it Operation Epstein Fury.

Please, I beg of you do NOT click on the AI created conspiracy video below

Washington Post bot-like entity scribe Will Oremus has more to say about evil Iranian propaganda, citing leading “disinformation researchers,” and referring to “Epstein conspiracy theories” (because US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel both swore under oath that there’s no evidence of criminal conspiracy and there aren’t even any such thing as the Epstein files, and now stand accused of perjury by Rep. Ted Lieu, but I digress):

To erode public support for the joint U.S.-Israel military operation, Iranian state media has sought to portray those countries’ leaders as part of a corrupt and depraved “Epstein class” or “Epstein regime.” While such content often fails to gain much traction outside Iran, the message is spreading through generically named “news” accounts that researchers say appear to be using the Epstein conspiracy theories to serve pro-Iran talking points to a global audience.

The Epstein posts are part of a maelstrom of Iran-related misinformation that has engulfed social media since Feb. 28, when strikes by the United States and Israel killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and touched off a conflict that has spread across the Middle East. Mixed in with real footage of the conflict are dramatic videos of missile strikes, downed fighter jets and earth-shaking explosions that have racked up millions of views on X, TikTok, Instagram and Telegram, only to be debunked as AI-generated fakes, real footage from past conflicts being passed off as new, or scenes from video games.

HDX News was part of a network of at least 15 anonymous X accounts churning out content that aligns with the messaging of Iran’s Islamist regime and resharing one another’s posts, according to ISD researchers who identified the campaign. Another, called GPX News, posted the same fake Epstein video — a mishmash of imaginary, AI-generated scenes with bits of real footage — and received more than 4.7 million views, according to X’s publicly viewable metrics.

Both accounts were suspended by X after The Post reached out for comment, though others in the network remained active as of Monday. X did not respond other than asking for examples of the posts and accounts.
Schafer said it’s not clear whether the accounts are working on behalf of Iran’s government or merely support it. But he added that the pro-regime propaganda they promoted was “not subtle.”

Their posts included triumphant reports of successful Iranian strikes on American and Israeli targets; calls for followers to “stand with Iran”; and suggestions that China and Russia stand ready to back Iran in a cataclysmic world war. All 15 accounts ISD found were created in the past two years, and nine of them were verified on X, meaning they pay a subscription fee to Elon Musk’s social network in return for features that can include greater visibility, a blue checkmark verifying their authenticity and the chance to generate revenue from their posts.

And to think it was just a decade ago that the WaPo was publishing false and defamatory claims that this very web site was “pushing fake news and Russian propaganda” that they never retracted.

Too bad that Jeff Bezos has gutted the glorious defenders against Democracy Dying in Darkness, because they seem to be defending a distinctively minority opinion, per Drop Site News:

Old tricks seem to be all the US government and MSM have left to sustain the Interregnum of Unreality.

But eventually things that cannot last forever, like fraud-based credit cycles, cease.

The Dangers of Deliberate Lies and Delusions

Former USMC Captain and State Department Officer, Iraq War combat veteran and Afghanistan War State Department officer Matthew Hoh who in 2009, “resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan with the State Department over the American escalation of the war” was on Judge Napolitano’s show today and warned that the undying lies of the 2000s are still leading us into wars 23 years later.

But he also points out the big difference between the GW Bush and Trump administrations’ lies:

Judge Andrew Napolitano: I do want to talk to you (about) the persistence of these lies about Iraq, lies push nations toward war. You fought in Iraq, a war you now regret. Nevertheless, you have firsthand knowledge of the killings there and the lies that got us there. and the lies persist to this day. Please address the core Trump and Lindsey Graham lies that Americans were killed by Iraqis on orders from Iran.

Matthew Hoh: It is just astounding and sickening that they’re still lying about Iraq.

You have a lie that was started by the Bush administration in order to justify a war on Iran by the Bush administration 20 some odd years ago. This idea was that we are going to blame Iran for the violence in Iraq, for the killing and wounding of our soldiers in Iraq on Iran and that’s going to be one of our justifications to launch (a) war on Iran. And the George W. Bush administration to be clear, the Bush administration uh went to great lengths to set up this lie and to orchestrate this lie and then to present it publicly and it was a humiliation.

What is maybe more maddening to me than anything else is the fact that you have so many in the United States, including the media, who just accept(the lie that Iran was responsible for violence against U.S. troops in Iraq in the Second Gulf War) They hear the president say this. They hear members of Congress say it. they hear Pete Hegseth say it or whoever and they just allow it. They accept it as if it’s true and it’s simply not true.

Here’s one of the differences. In 2003, the men and women in charge were competent liars. And here we have incompetent liars. And so I think that’s one of the great differences between these two wars.

One of the problems we may be dealing with is that what were once knowing deceptions are now full-blown delusions.

Danny Haiphong warned about delusional Western leadership on his show last night.

Danny Haiphong: all we have are delusions at this point coming out of the political leadership in Washington right now and and look this is this is another delusion (from Trump):

POTUS Trump: everything’s fine our country is uh doing really Well, I stronger and our country is uh doing really well. I mean, at a level that nobody thought. We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. And uh I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion. How good? It’ll be a short-term excursion. Everything is going well.

Danny goes on to debunk Trump’s various claims about the success of the war and how limited its impact will be on the global economy.

Trump’s delusional beliefs are likely more related to his rapidly declining mental faculties, Chief of Staff Susie Wile’s increasingly tight control of his informational intake, and his deeply-held belief in his own cult of personality.

Unfortunately, many of those around Trump actually believe he is a genuine religious leader and coincidentally some of them are believers in end-times cults. Like Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Fox News Warmonger Idiot Believes What?

Here’s how Hegseth’s public expressions of his delusions and derangements are covered in the Guardian:

Hegseth, 45, a former Fox News TV host who now commands the world’s most powerful military, has this week become the face of Donald Trump’s war in Iran. That has set off alarm bells for critics who warn that the Secretary of Defense – pointedly rebranded “Secretary of War” – has rapidly transformed the Pentagon into the staging ground for an ideological and religious crusade.

With machismo, Christian nationalism and callousness toward the lives of US troops, they say, Hegseth’s puerile displays on TV are aimed at sating Trump’s desire for a warmonger worthy of the manosphere.

They also have some good background from Pete’s CV:

Hegseth’s rise would have been unthinkable under any other commander-in-chief. Born in Minneapolis, he studied politics at Princeton University and became publisher and editor of the Princeton Tory, a conservative student journal, where he frequently waded into culture-war issues such as feminism and homosexuality.

After leaving Princeton, Hegseth joined the US army national guard as an infantry officer. His service included deployments to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba and tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. He later revealed in a book that he told soldiers under his command in Iraq to ignore legal advice about when they were permitted to kill enemy combatants under their rules of engagement.

Hegseth became chief executive of Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative advocacy group, but departed in 2016 amid allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety and personal misconduct.

And just a little bit about his actual beliefs:

There was another aspect of Hegseth’s personality barely addressed by the Senate: his sympathy for Christian nationalism. Photos have shown him bearing two tattoos associated with crusader imagery. One depicts the Jerusalem cross – a cluster of five crosses long connected to medieval crusader iconography – on his chest.

Nearby is an image of a sword accompanied by the Latin phrase “Deus vult”, meaning “God wills it”, a slogan historically linked to the crusades and revived in recent years by various far-right groups. It appeared on clothing and flags carried by some participants in the January 6 Capitol attack.

Nor are the references merely symbolic. In his 2020 book, American Crusade, Hegseth wrote that those who benefit from “western civilisation” should “thank a crusader”. The book suggests that democratic politics alone may not suffice to achieve the goals of his political allies, declaring: “Voting is a weapon, but it’s not enough. We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must.”

The Guardian points us to a 2024 New Yorker piece that adds alleged drunkenness to the Secretary’s list of mental maladies:

A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events. The detailed seven-page report—which was compiled by multiple former C.V.A. employees and sent to the organization’s senior management in February, 2015—states that, at one point, Hegseth had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club, where he had brought his team.

But others say he’s just drunk on Jesus and eager to expedite a fiery Second Coming (TM).

Per Jonathan Larson:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has enshrined evangelical Christianity at the uppermost levels of the U.S. military, airing monthly prayer meetings throughout the Pentagon. Last year, the Pentagon confirmed to me that Hegseth attends a weekly White House Bible study. It’s led by a preacher who says God commands America to support Israel.

Some Christians claim biblical prophecy requires Israel to exist for Jesus to return. But Hegseth’s Bible study leader, preacher Ralph Drollinger, teaches that the reason to support Israel is that God still blesses Israel’s allies and curses Israel’s enemies, even though Israel killed Jesus (this smear, the historic root of antisemitism, has been rejected by every major religion).

After Israel’s attack on Iran last year, Drollinger dedicated two weeks of lessons to preaching support for Israel. His lessons went out to White House cabinet members and members of Congress even as Israel, too, was lobbying for U.S. engagement.

Larson only mentions Drollinger, but it turns out Hegseth features a rotating cast of God-talkers at his breakfasts including the charming and delightful Doug Wilson, about whom Word & Way reports:

Controversial Christian Nationalist preacher Doug Wilson stood at a podium inside the Pentagon on Tuesday (Feb. 17) as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held there for leaders of the U.S. military. The Idaho pastor and self-described “paleo-Confederate” preached about the importance of trusting God for protection in battle and praised the monthly worship services as perhaps a sign of a new revival like the Great Awakening or the biblical Day of Pentecost.

Once considered a fringe far-right Christian figure, Wilson in recent years has found himself increasingly embraced by the broader evangelical world and the conservative political movement in the age of Donald Trump. The biggest evidence of his rise is that Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself the “Secretary of War,” is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a denomination founded by Wilson. Brooks Potteiger, Hegseth’s CREC pastor in Tennessee from before joining the Trump administration, preached at the first Pentagon worship service in May and again last month. Wilson recently announced he’s sending Potteiger to Washington, D.C., to lead the new CREC church plant there, which Hegseth has been attending.

Wilson, an outspoken proponent of Christian Nationalism, has sparked numerous controversies over the years for what he preaches and teaches. He has downplayed the horrors of slavery and defended enslavers. He also pushes a hardline version of patriarchy, not just insisting only men can serve as pastors or in other church leadership roles but also that they should rule in families. That latter belief bleeds into civic life as Wilson argues the United States should adopt household voting, where the male head of the household casts the votes for everyone in the family. Wilson also pushes for codifying in U.S. law other theological beliefs he holds, including bans on abortion, same-sex marriage, and Pride parades. Additionally, he garnered headlines for leading his church members in Moscow, Idaho, to disobey public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interestingly, the word Israel isn’t mentioned in that article, so I’m not sure that Wilson is a Christian Zionist in addition to his other fascinating beliefs, but his insights into military theory are of note:

“We should not want God simply to win. We want God to get great glory in winning, getting great glory in and through winning. And getting great glory means that Gideon goes into battle with 300 instead of with 10,000. Getting great glory means Jehoshaphat goes into battle with the choir out in the vanguard,” Wilson added. “When you learn how to stand firm in the Lord and in the strength of his might, you are going to start sounding to your wife like a spiritual version of Chesty Puller after the Chinese came into the Korean War: ‘We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We finally found him. We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.’ And he also said, of course, ‘All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us, they can’t get away from us now.’ And your wife is going to stare at you and say, ‘What have you been reading?’ Your Bible.”

Apocalyptic Belief Trickles Down on the Troops

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been doing the work on this aspect of our collective psychosis:

“This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be “afraid” as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. He urged us to tell our troops that this was “all part of God’s divine plan” and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”

— MRFF active duty NCO client, writing on behalf of themself and 15 other unit members

MRFF has received over 200 calls from more than 50 military installations across all the services since Saturday reporting similar disturbing pronouncements from their Christian zealot commanders.

Before we wrap this up, we have to detour to my home state of Texas.

From the latest issue of Texas Monthly, headlined “One Man’s Quest for the End of the World Started on a Ranch in Texas” and subheaded, “A Texas businessman believes he was divinely chosen to help usher in the Second Coming of Christ—by finding unblemished red heifers and getting them to Israel.”

The piece focuses on Texas rancher Jerome Urbanosky’s experience with a delegation “high-ranking rabbis who’d flown straight from Israel, a U.S. documentary crew toting multiple cameras, and a Texas businessman named Byron Stinson” who wished to purchase a very special heifer from him.

Four men dressed in black tactical gear and carrying military rifles approached and told him they needed to sweep the property to make sure no “foreign agents” were present. “They were armed to the teeth,” Urbanosky remembered. He wasn’t inclined to stand in their way. His wife, Jane, who was in the kitchen preparing the weekly Sunday meal, stared saucer-eyed as the armed men entered her home.

Four men dressed in black tactical gear and carrying military rifles approached and told him they needed to sweep the property to make sure no “foreign agents” were present. “They were armed to the teeth,” Urbanosky remembered. He wasn’t inclined to stand in their way. His wife, Jane, who was in the kitchen preparing the weekly Sunday meal, stared saucer-eyed as the armed men entered her home.

Once the security team cleared the property, Urbanosky led the rabbis to a red barn, where two calves awaited. Urbanosky Ranch is home to a herd of more than 450 Santa Gertrudis cattle, a hardy breed that’s known to produce good beef and whose origins trace back to the King Ranch, in South Texas. But as Urbanosky knew, this delegation wasn’t here for a steak.

Santa Gertrudis cattle also have striking coats of deep rusty red, which is what had initially attracted Stinson’s attention. A seventy-year-old Glen Rose business owner who’s described himself as a “Jesus zealot,” Stinson had visited Urbanosky at his ranch once before and explained that he was in search of an unblemished, completely red heifer—a scratch or a single white hair, and it wouldn’t do. Such a heifer hadn’t been identified in two thousand years, but it was key to unlocking an ancient Jewish ritual described in the book of Numbers, a necessary precursor to constructing the Third Temple in Jerusalem and, ultimately, bringing about the Second Coming of Christ. It’s a fringe but nonetheless influential belief, and Stinson’s Israeli associate, Yitshak Mamo, had convinced Urbanosky that he, too, was essential to this journey.

Fantastical as Stinson’s end-time scheme may sound, its real-world consequences are grave—and have the potential to become far more explosive. The pursuit has already heightened tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and was cited by Hamas as one reason for the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Stinson’s efforts have sparked headlines across the Middle East, been criticized by international Christian leaders, and made him an unlikely but consequential figure in one of the most delicate and contentious religiopolitical issues in the world.

The crazy is real and it’s got money and guns.

In future editions, I hope to post on the apocalyptic beliefs of several Israeli cabinet members and what some are thinking on the Islamic side of the fence.

Previous Attempts to Parse the Psychology of Our Misleaders:

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57 comments

  1. Mikel

    “Even the name of the conflict is a field for dueling psyops.”

    Giving a shout out to Operation Bibirossa.

    1. Pat

      I am personally using Operation Epic Failure.
      Mostly because it is on so many levels. It is a level 11 failure of diplomacy, strategy, honesty, leadership, military ability and ability to recognize reality.

      1. Paul J-H

        I use Ramadan war because the insult to Muslims worldwide is just too great. Also it complements the Yom Kippur War, which, as it happens (thanks encyclopedia) also happened during the Ramadan (starting on the tenth day.)

  2. Antifaxer

    Hegseth has now barred the press from taking photos of him that are unflattering.

    Such a macho man!

      1. motorslug

        Paul Crewe: You’ve lovely hair.

        Miss Toot: Thank you

        Paul Crewe: Ever find any spiders in it?

        1. Paul Harvey Oswald

          OMG. Negativland on NC. I have indeed seen everything now.

          Big fan since 1980s. Seen them live 3 times. Major influence in my personal life, to a point that would be inappropriate to go in to here.

          Negativland. I’ll be jiggered.

  3. Tom Stone

    The Crazy is very real, I have encountered it in Sonoma County and it scares the crap out of me.
    There’s also a nearly unlimited amount of money controlled by the Zionists along with total information awareness.
    The guns?
    Those are more democratically distributed in the USA, however the Tanks and Bombs are not.
    I do wonder how much Covid induced brain damage contributes to this insanity, my unscientific wild ass guess is…just enough.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Thanks, I had originally hoped to cover the Chinese response to that, as well as the crazy inside the Israeli cabinet and some Islamic eschatology too, but my concepts for these blog posts always way overshoot what’s possible. lol.

    1. Carolinian

      Right. Instead of Christian Nationalists shouldn’t it be Judeo-Christian Nationalists with emphasis on the former? It’s true that Trump has a skin deep claim to be a Christian even though he represents just about everything Christianity claims to be against. But Miriam Adelson is not Christian and Susie Wiles used to work for Netanyahu.

      Here’s suggesting these evangelical mega churches have a lot more to do with Elmer Gantry than the Rapture although the Billy Graham movement, back when the country really was religious, leaned heavily on fear of the next world. Without a doubt many of these mega church preachers are simply going where the money is and there’s a lot of money to be had by supporting Israel. Conveniently the prosperity gospel says that love of money is actually ok. They are for that too.

    2. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Thank you!

      I enjoyed that Kendzior piece. She’s slowly redeeming herself for being one of the biggest indy Russiagaters going.

    3. Lefty Godot

      She has an offhand comment in that story saying that the MRFF story is single-sourced (the organization head) and bogus. I’m not familiar with MRFF so I’m not sure how legitimate it is versus being a shop run by a small number of people for personal benefit (like SPLC). The unfortunate thing is that the MRFF story sounds too real.

      1. Otto Reply

        Re: MRFF story. Last week I posted a link in a comment so I wanted to report that Snopes labels the story “unrated.”
        Were US troops told Iran war is to bring ‘Armageddon,’ return of Jesus? Inspecting claim

        Apparently there is a concern with sourcing (although MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein was quoted as saying he received @200 complaints.) Without corroborating audio and/or video, Snopes won’t rate it. They did reach out to DoD for comment. Should be interesting if they deign to reply.

        No quibbles with your terrific overview, Nat. Just duly reporting this update.

        The fog of this war/not war is thick. Surf safely!

        1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

          Thanks I’ve known Weinstein for many years and believe him to be a sincere and honest person but he’s also very much got an axe to grind, so yea, he might be exaggerating. He might not, he’s been cultivating his network of skeptical service personnel for many years.

          1. hoki_haya

            there are many servicemen and women in every branch of the US military who do not want to drink the kool-aid of ‘do not be afraid/we are doing god’s work/armageddon/revolutionary suicide’. the US Navy refuses to escort corporate interests through Hormuz, etc.

            i first learned of clinton’s bombing of yugoslavia from an irate retired marine.

            hegseth apparently has been backbenched a bit (too much bluster even for the rest of the trump-team), and they’ve enlisted the rot of condoleeza to maintain the face of operations. great! along with HRC’s newfound enthusiasm of DJT’s foreign policy, and kamala/dnc’s promulgation of cheney’s endorsement…hey, what’s a monoparty to lose!

      2. Dwight

        Kendzior calls the story a “debunked narrative by a discredited huckster,” and goes on to call it “fabricated,” but her link neither debunks the narrative nor discredits Mikey Weinstein. It just asks why the story came to him only. Maybe because he’s been at it for years and is known and trusted? Not saying the story is credible but she hasn’t shown it isn’t.

  4. The Orange Man

    This is an old article that I think has been posted before, but well worth the re-read, IMO

    https://deepdivewithleeslusher.substack.com/p/the-state-of-western-warcraft

    First paragraph:

    In early 2023, the head of the US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, General Christopher Cavoli, remarked, “precision can beat mass.”1 This is true; precision can beat mass. But some countries now have the capability to render Western precision much less precise, both by “hard kill” (kinetic) and by “soft kill” (electronic). More to the point, these countries now possess both precision and mass, whereas the West is left to rely on a degraded version of the former and has long since abandoned the latter.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      I wish Slusher wrote more for public consumption. I get the feeling his paying clients see a lot more of his thinking than we in the public.

  5. southern appalachian

    Well I arrived at the view that this Armageddon idea must be the product of a male imagination, with one large eruption and then this sort of rapture or despair sort of thing. Or sleep. I expect a female version to be a bit more cyclical and continuous, a spiral, something else. I suppose that is sexist.

    Anyway, around here that sort of belief in end times is not uncommon. After a while noticing I arrived at the idea that just about everyone recognizes the changing climate and most see absolutely no way to adapt; the mind hits a wall and the fear morphs and comes out in a socially acceptable way, Armageddon, easier to accept than riding a bicycle and reducing consumption. I’m being a little flippant but I think that is kind of accurate. The climate changing is in a lot of ways much scarier than a human war- wars end. The climate, if loosed- well, the return of the titans.

    1. Expat2uruguay

      this Armageddon idea must be the product of a male imagination, with one large eruption and then this sort of rapture or despair sort of thing. Or sleep.

      Rather creepy how the “male imagination” produces something that sounds a lot like a male orgasm when describing Armageddon.

  6. Hickory

    Many people don’t like calling it the Department of War, and this article uses quotes as if Hegseth isn’t really the Secretary of War.

    But renaming that department to “War” instead of “Defense” is by far the most honest thing this administration has done.

    I for one am glad for the renaming. It doesn’t make the needless violence any better, but it does make it easier to talk about clearly with uninformed people.

    Thanks for the update on the looney tunes characters running the US.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Thanks for the kind words, but please note I didn’t put quotes around “Secretary of War” — that was done in The Guardian and Word & Way pieces I quoted from.

  7. motorslug

    Don’t be too hard on Oremus, Nat.
    His knees are sore from the meeting with EpsteinBro Bezos before he wrote it.

    BTW, what the hell is ISD? All I can find is ‘Institute for Strategic Dialogue’ which looks like a CIA/Mossad front.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      Their website seems to jibe with your suspicions.

      Founder’s bio:

      Sasha Havlicek

      Co-Founder and CEO

      Sasha Havlicek is a social and policy entrepreneur who, for the last two decades, has incubated and scaled global initiatives to counter the rise of weaponised hate, disinformation and extremism, on- and offline. As founding CEO of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, she has led the build-out of ISD’s advanced digital analytics capability designed to detect and mitigate information threats to democracy, public safety and national security. Spearheading ISD’s extensive partnerships with governments, cities, businesses and communities, Sasha oversees teams delivering research, policy advisory, training, digital literacy and communications programming around the world. She has advised a range of governments at the highest levels, has testified before US Congress and the UK Parliament, and is a regular commentator in the media (CNN, BBC, Channel 4 News and other networks).

      Sasha is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Global Internet Forum on Counter-Terrorism, the Christchurch Call and the Global Partnership for Action against Tech Facilitated Gender Based Violence. She is a founding board member of the Forum on Information and Democracy and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition on Internet Safety.

  8. Henry Moon Pie

    That laying on of hands in the Oval Office is pretty bizarre. Who brought the olive oil?

    One of the problems with a “God is on our side” claim in a actual war is what happens if you lose? Either your god doesn’t amount to much, or worse, your god is on your enemies’ side.

    Good stuff, Nate, as usual.

    1. Glen

      First time I saw those photos, I had to read the captions and article to make sure it wasn’t an exorcism.

      Shows you what I know.

      Nat, another good one. Thanks!

    2. Science Officer Smirnov

      He: A nation of men, not laws. For instance all across this land bedtime stories never sleep. It is worse than The Man’s waking dream to take powers he doesn’t have to pursue ends he can’t explain.
      She: A happy conviction in the consent of the governed is a permissive faith. Even his lawlessness is blest once it is known.
      He: What deterrent’s left when there’s no political will?
      She: Hell is no use when God is on our side.

  9. hoki_haya

    Given the overlap of beliefs, including essentially telling troops to embrace ‘revolutionary suicide’, the late Jim Jones is in effect the sitting US Secretary of War.

    He should be thrown overboard before taking anyone else down with him. Operation Relieve Global Urine.

    Thanks for the MRFF link, and this highly apropos series.

  10. McWatt

    I’ve heard a rumor we have the Lepage glue gun. It glues whole formations of drones in midair.

  11. Donald

    On Doug Wilson—

    https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/books/a-brief-for-israel.html

    That is from 2012. Theologically he is a Calvinist and not a dispensationalist (I have an ex friend who is both, but he is confused).

    He is not a Zionist. But inpractical terns as you can see from the link, it doesn’t matter much because he sees the Israelis as Western who don’t openly take credit for killing civilians. He even seems to realize they might kill civilians deliberately but they lie about it.

    It is sort of the “ hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue” defense of Israel as morally superior.

    It is an old post, so I guess it is possible he has changed but I doubt it.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      thanks for the info! My waders were pretty full today so I didn’t dive into Wilson as deeply as I might have and unlike Hagee he’s not someone I’ve followed for a long time because huge menace.

  12. Tom Stone

    There has been no declaration of War, there is no Authorization for the use of Military Force and Congress was not consulted before the attacks on Iran began on Feb 28.
    Every senior Military official knew this and every one of them knew that their orders to attack Iran were illegal.
    They knowingly obeyed illegal orders.
    They are cowardly murderers.
    Murder can be defined as the deliberate unlawful killing of one Human Being by another.
    Every Iranian who has been killed in this War by American forces is a murder victim.
    Every time I see that picture of the graves being dug for more than 150 schoolgirls murdered by Americans my blood pressure spikes.
    This is supposed to be OK because JESUS IS COMING!
    I don’t think so and neither does anyone else with a vestige of sanity or decency.
    This is a day when I really hope there is a Hell.

  13. mrsyk

    Thanks Nat. Is it known who promoted Hegseth for the position? I’m remembering his nomination being rushed through, but I’m not remembering who’s idea he was.

    1. Nat Wilson Turner Post author

      My understanding was that Trump enjoyed watching him on Fox, but let me research and get back to you.

      1. mrsyk

        Sorry, not meant to be homework. Ten minutes on the world’s worst search engine got me nothing, but I’ll revise my strategy and try again.

        I am rather curious.

          1. mrsyk

            Thank you. Maybe there’s no there there, but in my world it seems likely Hegseth had a sponsor. I’m going to revisit the confirmation proper tomorrow with fresh eyes.

  14. KD

    The Washington Post failed to point out the most insidious aspect of Iranian propaganda: Propaganda is most effective when it is basically true.

    True Americans will only be able to counter these evil people telling the truth if we flood the public with mountains of incessant bull shit, and suppress any access to accurate information. You might argue that if American’s heads are full of complete bullshit, this might spill over to America’s leadership class and lead to rash and dangerous decision-making. Do not fear: America’s leadership class is already high on their own supply, and have already made enough rash and dangerous decisions to doom America and the world. Just smile, wave and pretend. Jesus is about to return anyways, so it doesn’t matter that the US is being run by a dementia patient counseled by a circle of drunken psychopathic fools.

  15. The Rev Kev

    Over the decades there was always lip service paid to religion in Washington but it always seemed to be a check-box thing if you know what I mean. We now have an administration where the god-botherers are up front and center, especially in the Pentagon and the results are in and they are not pretty. And yet there was always suppose to be a separation between Church and State but it seems that this was not good enough to the holy-rollers and they wanted to be part of the State itself whether in the schools or the military. This always made me wary as, for military officers, whose commands would they obey? If for example a US pious pilot was flying over Iran and was ordered not to bomb an ancient, historical, world-heritage mosque what happens if the Lord orders him to bomb all infidel buildings according to his beliefs?

  16. Ben Panga

    On Hegseth being a 3rd Temple Heifer-humper:

    Tucker recently used a clip of a speech he gave in Jerusalem back in 2018

    Here’s the full 11min speech video and transcript

    Key segment:

    [Apologies for formatting]

    I was here in 2013 here in 2016 here again and every turn I learn more about the lies that are told about the Jewish people about the history of this land about the founding of Israel about the Israeli government about the treatment of Arabs and Palestinians about the West Bank about Judea and Samaria about Jerusalem about the old city
    that if revealed to the world would change the way the world sees Israel
    which is why I take a solemn responsibility in coming here and learning from Joe and from others about the truth on the ground and then going back to America and fighting the fake news about the Arab Israeli conflict the Arab Israeli peace process the so-called two-state solution that is still drips off the lips of the intelligencia in America today when if you walk the ground today you understand there is no such thing as the outcome of a two-state solution there is one [Applause] state
    and what I love about this group is the Eternal optimism in the belief of the Jewish people of the scripture of this land and the understanding that f for years if not this year in Jerusalem then next year in Jerusalem but we we are here in Jerusalem
    and today Jennifer and I and others had a chance to go see the Western Wall of the Temple mount the Western Wall tunnels uh so much of the old city and as you stand there you can’t help but behold the miracle before you
    and it got me thinking about another miracle that I hope all of you don’t see too far away
    because 1917 was a miracle 1948 was a miracle 19 1967 was a miracle 2017 the Declaration of Jerusalem as the capital was a miracle and there’s no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not [Applause] possible
    I don’t know how it would happen you don’t know how it would happen but I know that it could happen that’s all I know
    and a step in that process a step in every process is the recognition that facts and activities on the ground truly matter
    and that’s why going and visiting Judea and Samaria understanding that sovereignty the very sovereignty of Israeli soil and Israeli cities locations is a critical next step to showing the world that this is the land for Jews and the land of Israel
    uh and I believe as was mentioned he said you need to uh what was mentioned is you need to buy the ticket don’t just wish for 40 years to win the lottery buy the ticket
    I would submit to you in light of the support you have in Washington DC the support you have amongst patriotic Americans amongst Evangelical Christians amongst Believers amongst Republicans even amongst some Democrats who can barely say it anymore in Washington buy the ticket take your action take do what needs to be done done here in Israel cuz I truly believe this is a moment where America will have your back

  17. Yaiyen

    Guys i think Iran is finish if there is ceasefire and the way they fight the war is not enough to force USA to do peace deal. Iran are good people but i am sad to say 2025 that don’t win wars with that strategy

    1. Yves Smith

      They have repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and so far even negotiations. After the way the US and Israel deceived them, hard to see how they talk unless the West makes visible, verifiable concessions like removing forces from its bases.

  18. Ignacio

    Thank you Nat. I just couldn’t believe my eyes watching that Euronews video. I believe Aurelien gets it right when he says that behind the Iran attack there is the phantom of 1978 events that somehow the US psyche (part of it) wasn’t able to get over it. Now transformed in crusades, religious wars with prayers at the White House. Good job here Nat. Wow!

    It is unsurprising then to see how this war lacks any evident rationalization of strategic aims except, may be, the mere destruction of the enemy. If the West believed once that reason and history were on their side fudgetaboutit. The times they are changing.

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