Trump Declares Unwise and Illegal War with Iran

Donald Trump claims that the U.S. has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, effectively declaring a war without the congressional authorization required by the Constitution. Israel had already started bombing Iran (leading to Iranian counterstrikes), and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his support. There's much more to come, but The Guardian and the Associated Press have some early coverage. Trump's move sadly isn't surprising, but it's unwise, illegal, and deeply concerning.

The BBC has a good recap (and ABC a shorter one) of the nuclear deal brokered with Iran by the U.S. and other nations back in 2015 (during the Obama administration). The deal stayed in place until Trump undermined it during his first administration. The deal was working, although if you do a Web search, it's interesting that many of the results are conservative organizations claiming that it was a disaster.

As with the Iraq War started in 2003 by the George W. Bush administration, this war was not necessary. And only Congress has the right to declare war, even if that's often been ignored in actual practice for U.S. military attacks for decades now.

Trump posted about the attacks today:

Notice the all-caps "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" and the bizarre, business correspondence thank you directly after bragging about dropping bombs (and starting a war). This reads like a child punching someone and then screaming he can't be hit back, not to mention something straight out of George Orwell's novel, 1984:

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.

Los Angeles Protests 6/7/25

In the Los Angeles area, protests to ICE raids have formed in at least three areas: near a Home Depot in Paramount, near a Home Deport in the Westlake district, and downtown LA near the Metropolitan Detention Center. From local station KTLA:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] conducted a raid in Paramount on Saturday morning, a day after federal agents raided several locations across Los Angeles.

Large groups of protesters quickly assembled near the sites of the raids on both Friday and Saturday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that around 11 a.m. Saturday, deputies were dispatched to the 6400 block of Alondra Boulevard in Paramount on reports of a large group blocking traffic.

"As deputies arrived, it appeared that federal law enforcement officers were in the area, and that members of the public were gathering to protest," LASD said. "The sheriff’s department was not involved in any federal law enforcement operations or actions and responded solely for traffic and crowd control management."

As one of the links above covers, LA cops have used flash-bangs and tear gas against protesters. The local ABC, NBC and CBS stations also have some coverage. (So does the Los Angeles Times, but its articles tend to be paywalled.) Some of the "independent" coverage is just using the mainstream news feeds, but some activists are posting shorter videos.

The Trump administration is reportedly sending in 2,000 national guardsmen, and is threatening sending in marines as well, which presumably would violate the posse comitatus act, not that they care. The Trump administration has already shown its contempt for habeas corpus and due process in general. (Not to mention the social safety net, and the good of the non-billionaire general citizenry.)

The live feeds have been interesting. Earlier tonight, one of the gatherings (downtown LA) was apparently declared an "unlawful gathering." But while I was watching, the cops (presumably) were mostly blocking one road and not moving further (apart from one cop I saw shove a bicyclist, which seems to be SOP for cops at protests). The cops hadn't tried the classic box-them-in-and-then-charge-them-with-failure-to-disperse BS yet. (But that feed just ended.)

When the feeds are from mainstream media outlets, the Facebook threads have a healthy number of comments supporting the protesters, but also plenty of authoritarian and racist comments urging deportation and violence. So, the same stuff we've seen for decades (and centuries, and millennia...). The spontaneous turnout of protesters from multiple walks of life has been encouraging, though. Likewise, it's heartening to see protests in DC, NYC, Chicago and elsewhere. The local Los Angeles and California state politicians I've seen so far also oppose ICE's raids and the Trump administration's threats. We'll see how things develop.