CBS News Update, Plus
Starting shortly, I’ll be AFK for the afternoon.
Last night I quoted Armchair Warlord’s caveat that we need to expect a lot of disinformation and misinformation in the coming days. I was listening to CBS News at lunch and got a perfect example.
The tops story was, “Netanyahu says Israel has destroyed Iran’s biggest enrichment plant.” That announcement was immediately followed by a pivot to more reliable sources. US NatSec sources were quoted as saying they had seen “no significant damage.” The IAEA was quoted saying that they had detected “no release of radiation.”
MoA explains what’s going, as we and others have noted. First I’ll repeat: air launched missiles are nothing to sneeze at, but to go deep there’s no substitute for major surface to surface ballistic missiles or multiple bomber runs with much more powerful and penetrative bombs than an F-35 can carry. So, MoA:
Iran Could Use Oil To Urge The U.S. To Sue For Peace
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Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities are buried underground near Natanz and Fordow. Satellite images show only light damage on above ground facilities in Natanz. Fordow seems to have not been attacked at all. There were attacks on some of Iran's ballistic missile facilities. There are no reports yet of the level of damage they received.
Curiously there were no signs of any active air defenses. Israel seems to have disabled them by other means than open warfare.
Israeli sources claimed that Iran had retaliated by launching a hundred drones against Israel. There were however no observations of any drone. Iranian sources say that none had been launched (yet).
The attacks so far seem to be aimed more at regime change than on nuclear facilities. The few strikes on nuclear infrastructure are just enough for Israel to claim this as an act of preemptive self-defense.
A preemptive self defense is legal under international law. But it requires that the threat is "instant", "overwhelming" and "imminent" leaving "no time for deliberation". None of these conditions existed when Israel launched its attack. The war it launched is thus an act of aggression and illegal under international law.
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Really disturbing.
Trump has utterly destroyed any remaining moral authority that America might have possessed. What world leader—looking at you, Putin and Xi—could possibly believe anything that Trump may say in the future. He has unmasked himself to the world as a rank liar—does he even understand that? He seems to glory in it? “Deception.” That means Trump has been lying for months. Yes, to Iran, but yes, also to the American people who elected him, most of whom were never interested in new wars.
US-Israeli Deception Gave Iran False Security Amid Washington Green Light
Fresh reporting as well as new Friday statements by President Trump reveal that the US and Israel practiced deceptive diplomacy, as Israeli and American officials worked together to convince Iran that nuclear negotiations were progressing.
Yet all the while an elaborate Israel attack on Iranian nuclear sites was being planned, and Tehran was given a false sense of security, and ill-prepared for its defense.
Axios has reported that Tel Aviv was given "a clear US green light" to start bombing, according to two unnamed Israeli officials. The previously widely reported 'split' and spat between Trump and Netanyahu was a public ruse.
"Two Israeli officials claimed to Axios that Trump and his aides were only pretending to oppose an Israeli attack in public — and didn’t express opposition in private," the report explained. "The goal, they say, was to convince Iran that no attack was imminent and make sure Iranians on Israel’s target list wouldn’t move to new locations."
Trump was even publicly advocating for diplomacy even up to within hours of the overnight attacks, which involved at least 200 Israeli warplanes, and drones.
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President Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he and his team were read in on Israel’s plans to attack Iran. Asked what kind of heads-up the U.S. got ahead of the attack, Trump said in a brief phone interview, "Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what's going on."
Israel is seeking to both decapitate Iran's military leadership and completely destroy Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran has long maintained is for peaceful energy purposes.
The great negotiator only engaged in deception as he prepared an attack on Iran pic.twitter.com/Ol222rH8UY
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) June 13, 2025
"Trump has utterly destroyed any remaining moral authority that America might have possessed. What world leader—looking at you, Putin and Xi—could possibly believe anything that Trump may say in the future. He has unmasked himself to the world as a rank liar—does he even understand that? "
How do we acknowledge that, in fact, the left was right about Trump? He is a liar and a deceiver. He pretended to want peace while actively preparing for war. What do Gabbard and others think? If they don't resign in protest then all they really care about is their power.
Am I the only one who thinks that this “tough guy” schtick is wearing a little thin? We are teetering on the brink of a war that will surely prove to be catastrophic beyond anyone’s imagination and all we get is, “Hey, I warned’em”. But then Lindsay comes in to save the day with, “Let’s go all in and help Israel finish the job!!” Diplomacy, we don’t need no stinking diplomacy, cause we’re gonna kick their ass and then the rest of the world will know who has the biggest stick!”
Just don’t see this ending well.