Free Republic

Judging by Donald Trump’s outbursts of late, he can’t seem to decide whether reopening the Strait of Hormuz is easy or hard. He also can’t seem to decide whether he needs international allies to help with this urgent task or not. Iran’s blockade on oil shipments exiting the strait—done in response to Trump’s attack—is causing worsening global consequences daily. So it would be useful for Trump to settle these arguments in his own mind already. But Trump’s incoherence on the Strait of Hormuz actually reveals something else, as well: a massive political weakness. .....

Iran launched a fresh wave of missiles at Israel Tuesday – only a day after President Trump said Washington and Tehran were having “constructive conversations” to end the conflict. Six people were injured following a strike in Tel Aviv and one munition, which damaged buildings and cars in the Israel city, contained 100 kilograms of explosives, the Times of Israel reported. Three buildings were significantly damaged by the Iranian warhead, according to Home Front Command official Col. Miki David. David said the projectile appeared smaller than conventional warheads fired by Iran. Iran also fired missiles on northern and southern Israel...

Trump administration officials on Tuesday slammed a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment of the damage done to Iran’s nuclear facilities by weekend US airstrikes that the president has touted as a massive success. The classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) bomb damage assessment — deemed a “low confidence” estimation of the effectiveness of Saturday’s strikes on the Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz sites — reportedly determined that Iran could bring its nuclear program back online as quickly as within one to two months, according to Fox News. On the high end, estimates indicate that Iran could restart uranium enrichment within a year, according...