by Michael Arria | Sep 14, 2026 | Article, Iran, Iraq, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint, terrorism
This story originally appeared in Mondoweiss on Sep. 11, 2026. It is shared here with permission.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The United States has experienced much political and social upheaval since then, but the subsequent “War on Terror” paved the way for our current moment, and there are booming echoes of the era all around us.
Once again, the United States is waging a disastrous war in the Middle East with no discernible end in sight. Islamophobic rallies targeting NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani conjure up memories of the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy. The government designates activist and advocacy organizations as terrorists. The Guantánamo Bay detention camp remains open. In fact, a legal immigrant was just sent there.
CBS reveals that the Taliban seized roughly $7 billion worth of American-purchased military hardware after the United States officially lost that war 5 years ago.
“Taliban fighters patrol in armored vehicles once supplied to Afghan forces, wearing American tactical gear and carrying American weapons,” reads the report. “CBS News saw one Humvee in the Afghan capital still adorned with a faded Green Bay Packers decal — a remnant from its past operators.”
The small number of Americans who opposed that war were either dismissed or attacked. So too were those who warned that the Bush administration’s overreach would result in disaster.
“The civil libertarians were mostly ignored, and as one new threat followed another — Iraq, ISIS, ‘lone wolves’ — the president’s reach continued to grow. Across the Bush and Obama administrations, the commander in chief was given, or simply took, new powers to prosecute, shut down and seize the assets of alleged terrorist groups and their supporters,” writes Radley
by Steve Benen | Aug 18, 2026 | Iran, Iran Tensions, Maddowblog, News, Politics, World
Donald Trump has invested an enormous amount of time and energy lately trying to convince people that the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz. In reality, the U.S. most certainly does not control the Strait of Hormuz, but the American president spent much of last week insisting on the delusion for reasons he never explained.
At one point last week, the Republican added a twist to the truly bizarre rhetorical campaign, posting an item to his social media platform that read in part, “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT! … Praise be to Allah!”
The idea that the U.S. will somehow “keep” the body of water didn’t make a lot of sense, but as last week neared its end, Trump elaborated on the proposition during an event in New York.
Trump says that after Iran is defeated he’s going to declare the Strait of Hormuz a territory of the United States — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-08-14T19:56:59.178Z
“[A]fter we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump said.
During an unrelated White House event this week, a reporter asked the president to elaborate on this apparent plan. He said making the strait a U.S. territory is “a great idea,” before again falsely claiming that the waterway is currently “open” and controlled by U.S. forces. Trump added, “I like the idea of declaring it a territory.”
Trump on making the Strait of Hormuz a US territory: “I like the idea. We have total control over the strait.”— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-08-17T18:14:08.233Z
There’s
by Chris Walker | Aug 17, 2026 | Donald Trump, Iran, iran war, News, Oman, Strait of Hormuz
On Monday, President Donald Trump indicated that he may expand the U.S.’s unauthorized and illegal war on Iran to include attacks on Oman, if that country continues negotiations with Tehran over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump made the remarks in a call to Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, who relayed it on the air during a “Fox & Friends” segment. Yingst had asked Trump about reports…
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by Steve Benen | Aug 14, 2026 | Iran, Iran Tensions, Maddowblog, News, Politics, World
It’s been more than a week since MS NOW first reported on the conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, including moldy showers, food shortages and sailors running out of basic necessities, like soap.
The report, based on conversations with a dozen family members with loved ones serving on the ship, sounded the alarm about “excruciatingly long shifts” and potentially dangerous conditions as the aircraft carrier enters its ninth month at sea and its fifth consecutive month of combat operations against Iran. The Lincoln, MS NOW went on to note, left its home port of San Diego on Nov. 21 and has set a modern-day record for the most continuous days at sea.
President Donald Trump said effectively nothing about this until Friday afternoon, during a brief Q&A with reporters.
Q: The family members of US service members are concerned about the conditions on the USS LincolnTRUMP: No they’re notQ: Has the deployment gone on too long?TRUMP: No no no. Not nearly long enough.— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-08-14T17:16:35.974Z
When one reporter noted that family members of U.S. service members are “concerned about the conditions” on the USS Lincoln, the president started to reply before rejecting the premise of what he’d been asked. “No, they’re not,” the Republican said.
After insisting that the Lincoln would soon be “replaced” by another ship, Trump was asked whether the current deployment has gone on too long.
“No, no, no,” Trump replied. Leaning in closer to the press corps for emphasis, he quickly added, “Not nearly long enough.”
At that point, the president turned and walked away.
The suggestion that the family members of sailors and Marines aboard the USS Lincoln are not concerned
by Amy Goodman | Aug 14, 2026 | Donald Trump, Interview, Iran, Israel
The Washington Post reported Monday that due to an alleged Iranian threat to assassinate President Trump, he secretly swapped planes before departing the July NATO summit in Turkey — leaving senior administration officials, staff and members of the press corps on board. “The Israelis passed a tip, a concern, that the plane and potentially the president was under threat,” says Dan Lamothe…
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by Sharon Zhang | Aug 14, 2026 | Donald Trump, Iran, Israel, News, Pentagon, Pete Hegseth
A sailor reportedly had to be rescued after going overboard off of the USS Abraham Lincoln last month amid an apparent ongoing mental health crisis brought on by the lengthy, Iran war-related deployment for the aircraft carrier. The Navy Times and Stars and Stripes reported this week that at least three sailors have tried to jump overboard the ship recently, but were stopped.
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