Trump Is Hiding the Truth About the War in Iran

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/opinion/iran-war-trump-lying.html

https://archive.ph/UIY2d

Trump Is Hiding the Truth About the War in Iran
March 21, 2026
By The Editorial Board

From his first announcement of the attack on Iran on Feb. 28, President Trump has issued a stream of falsehoods about the war. He has said Iran wants to engage in negotiations, though its government shows no sign of it. He has claimed that the United States “destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability” when Tehran continues to inflict damage throughout the region. He has said the war is almost complete even as he calls in reinforcements from around the globe.

Lying is standard behavior for Mr. Trump, of course. His political career began with a lie about Barack Obama’s birthplace, and he has lied about his business, his wealth, his inauguration crowd size, his defeat in the 2020 election and so much more. A CNN tally of Mr. Trump’s falsehoods during one part of his first term found that he averaged eight false claims per day. Many people are so accustomed to his lies that they hardly notice them anymore.

Yet lying about war is uniquely corrosive. When a president signals that the truth does not matter in wartime, he encourages his cabinet and his generals to mislead the country and one another about how the war is going. He creates a culture in which deadly mistakes and even war crimes can become more common. He makes it harder to win by hiding the realities of conflict and by making allies wary of joining the fight. Ultimately, he undermines American values and interests.

There is a reasonable debate to have about the wisdom of this war. Iran’s murderous government does indeed present a threat — to its own people, to its region and to global stability. Mr. Trump could make a fact-based argument for confronting the regime now, especially to prevent it from menacing its neighbors and, above all, from developing a nuclear weapon. We are skeptical, but we acknowledge that there is a case to be made.

Mr. Trump is not making it. Instead, he has lied about the reasons for the war and about its progress, in an apparent attempt to disguise his poor planning and the war’s questionable basis.

...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The truth is simple: Trump is a fucking moron and a servile puppet of Israel.

[BootinUp]

1. Democratic Presidents have to clean up the fucking mess again.

Its very painful to read that these intelligent people acknowledge there is a case but they are skeptical. Utter nonsense. The disregard for the true costs of such a misadventure is astounding.

[Turbineguy]

2. Trump would lie when it's less effort to tell the truth.

[Martin Eden]

3. Trump has no concept of "Truth"

He says or does whatever he perceives to serve his interests in the moment, based on his limited knowledge and the base instincts of his mental pathologies.

I doubt he actually "believes" what he says, given how often he contradicts himself. Nor does he care, as long as the bottomless pit of his ego and insatiable greed are fed.

The fact that a huge swath of US voters can't see this vile sociopath for what he is, constitutes an enormous failure of consent by the governed.

Or maybe he is a "true" reflection of who the American people really are.

[malaise]

4. THIs

plus decency, humanity, or integrity.

[David__77]

5. This seems to assume that Trump or the US is the author and strategist of this war.

[leftstreet]

7. +1

[DET]

6. Ya Think?

Even if there is a case to be made about going to war with Iran, there is no case to be made about Trump leading the charge, especially with a moron like Hegseth at the helm. The phrase ‘What could go wrong?’ takes on new meaning here.

[leftstreet]

8. Israel is turning south Lebanon into Gaza

But everyone's hanging on Trump's every cognitively-impaired word

[roamer65]

9. Just wait until Iran invades Southern Iraq and Kuwait.

They have the men to do it.

Weapons will probably be Chinese.