Trump’s War to Nowhere

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Mar 6, 2026

Séamus Malekafzali, journalist reporting from Beirut and Paris, offers on-the-ground analysis of Iran, Lebanon, and regional dynamics. He discusses rapid escalation of Israel–U.S. strikes, targeting of civilians and institutions, Lebanon’s internal fractures, Gulf energy and market risks, and aims behind efforts to weaken or collapse states in the region.

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INSIGHT

Leadership Is Buffooning Strategic Decisions

Leadership treated the war flippantly while lacking clear objectives or coherent messaging.
Gharib cites Trump's shifting justifications and Marco Rubio's inconsistent responses as evidence of absent strategy.

INSIGHT

Iranian Decentralization Versus Israeli Intentionality

The conflict is rapidly regionalizing with decentralized Iranian responses and deliberate Israeli strategy.
Séamus Malekafzali explains Iran's instructed decentralized attacks versus Israel's intentional, centralized campaign.

INSIGHT

High-Precision Strikes Point To Intentional Targets

Strikes hitting schools and opposition figures are unlikely accidents given target maps and surveillance capabilities.
Malekafzali argues attacks like the girls' school in Minab and reported strikes near Mousavi suggest calculated targeting, not errors.

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The Israel–U.S. military campaign in Iran has killed more than 1,000 people since the assault began on February 28. A war powers resolution in the Senate to curb President Donald Trump’s ability to drag the U.S. into the war failed on Wednesday. Similarly, a measure in the House failed on Thursday.

“This war is just a few days old and it's escalating really quickly,” says Ali Gharib, senior editor at The Intercept. “It's becoming a regional conflict,” as Iran retaliates and targets U.S. bases as well as Israel and Gulf energy sites. This week on The Intercept Briefing, Gharib discusses the human and political toll of the Israel–U.S. war on Iran with co-host Jordan Uhl and journalist Séamus Malekafzali, who has been based in Paris and Beirut.

“Trump has repeatedly failed to articulate anything — even resembling coherent — about why the U.S. got into this war,” says Gharib. He adds, “Marco Rubio even — who again, not the sharpest tool in the shed, but usually has his shit pretty together — but in this case, he's like changing his tune every two days because he has to keep up with Trump's inanity about what the reasons for the war were.”

The end game for Israel here, says Malekafzali, is they want “a state that is incapable of defending itself, a state that is no longer sovereign.” He adds, “If you are bombarding police stations, if you are bombarding hospitals and schools, border guards, when you are attacking the very fabric of any society as your main target, CENTCOM and the IDF together, that means that you are going toward state collapse.”

“These are hard-won lessons over and over again for the United States — war after war, fallout, blowback. It just happens again and again. And yet we always seem to get leaders who are willing to run willy-nilly into these things,” says Gharib.

Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

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