Iran ; explosions across Tehran following Israeli and US strikes, 28 February 2026

[otto]

When did he say it would last for days?

I know you are great with links, and I couldn't find anything from Trump saying that.

I thought it was only in the last 24 hours or so that he has said 4 weeks.

TIA

I edited the original comment. I don't have time now to look for links to Saturday live BBC news. Will look for it ...

 

[MassGuy]

He said 4 weeks, or put another way, 2 healthcare plans.

Why are you trying to get the thread shut down? My politics would probably surprise a lot of people on here, but I’m able to stay away from it.

Remember you can't discuss a blurred topic. Thank you

 

[Friday Fan]

Caine says cyberattacks were used to ‘disrupt, disorient and confuse’ Iran​

Cyberattacks knocked out Iran’s key systems ahead of U.S and Israeli strikes,
according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.

U.S. cyber operations were used to “disrupt, disorient and confuse” Iranian forces at the start of the operation, Caine said.

Disruptions to its communications systems reduced Iran’s ability to assess the attack and to coordinate its response, Caine told reporters at a Monday briefing.

https://apnews.com/live/iran-us-israel-hezbollah-strikes-03-02-2026#0000019c-aecf-dfc5-adbd-afcf37ca0000

 

[Jade]

Being in charge and doing the actual mission planning are realms apart from each other.

The planners have been working their butts off for over a month; I can assure you (from direct experience) that those pros who do this for an actual living know exactly what they are doing. That's their jobs and they do that job regardless of who happens to be at the helm as the figurehead at the time.

From Trump’s in charge place the missions are planned. Trump made these plans with Israel.

Trump is calling the shots; the Armed Forces are obeying, imo:


...
In the meeting, Trump said he would support a renewed Israeli military effort to take out missile sites.

...

A few days later, massive street protests erupted inside Iran, prompting a deadly crackdown that saw the regime kill thousands of protesters. Trump vowed to come to the protesters’ aid, claiming the US was “locked and loaded.”

That is when planning for a joint American-Israeli operation shifted into a higher gear.

…

The same applied to a February 11 meeting between Trump and Netanyahu in Washington, which was moved up by a week as the prime minister worked urgently to ensure the president remained committed to carrying out an attack.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/01/politics/cia-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-strike

all imo

 

[Summerliz03]

Do you know how many Generals and Admirals Obama fired?

Obama hasn’t been the president for almost 10 years. The Trump administration bombed Iran 3 days ago. I will never understand the constant need to bring up Obama, Biden, Hilary, Jimmy Carter every time there’s a discussion about current events happening under the Trump administration. All MOO.

 

[Lebowski]

i have no military background, but if it's anything like civilian government, all the mid- and low-level decisionmaking is done by apolitical career professionals. and even though the upper management are political appointees, the policies they actually implement tend to have much more continuity from one administration to the next than people outside the government imagine. ... it's also true that, from the PoV of people at the top, the executive branch has a surprising amount of inertia affecting how and when and whether it does as it's told.

that said, the high level decisions, such as whether to start a war, and the broad strokes within that, are made by the president and his appointees.

 

[Sarahlou]

I edited the original comment. I don't have time now to look for links to Saturday live BBC news.

Is this the quote you were thinking of?

“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians, ’See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],’” the president said. “In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.”

Trump Says He's Weighing Several ‘Off Ramps’ From Iran Strike: ‘I Can Go Long’

President Donald Trump told Axios it will take Iranians "several years to recover from this attack."

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[missy1974]

I edited the original comment. I don't have time now to look for links to Saturday live BBC news.

Ok thanks! I have heard commentary saying a few days, but I do not recall that Trump himself said that. Searching and even asking AI to search for me, I couldn't come up with anything from him.

 

[Magic8Ball]

Ah, that 4D chess we've been hearing about

I actually don't think Trump is a chess player or even much of an intellectual, for that matter.
I DO think he has strong leadership qualities, including decision-making skills.

Israelis are the true chessmasters in the Middle East. I think POTUS recognizes that Bibi understands the complexities of that region better than he ever could, although he would never, ever, ever in a million years admit to that fact.

Re: this particular effort, it appears to me as if Israel is the brains and the US is the brawn, which is not to say that Israel is weak or the US is stupid, just that in terms of roles, that's how they seem to have delineated tasks in this specific situ.

Israel appears to be responsible for conducting strategic strikes to take out key leadership, and the US is taking on more heavyweight, large-scale destruction of the regime's overall infrastructure.

JMO.

 

[PrairieWind]

Obama hasn’t been the president for almost 10 years. The Trump administration bombed Iran 3 days ago. I will never understand the constant need to bring up Obama, Biden, Hilary, Jimmy Carter every time there’s a discussion about current events happening under the Trump administration. All MOO.

I raised it because you had commented on Trump firing Generals. I merely pointed out that Obama had fired far more. Thus, Trumps actions were not out of the ordinary.

 

[missy1974]

Is this the quote you were thinking of?

“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians, ’See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],’” the president said. “In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.”

Trump Says He's Weighing Several ‘Off Ramps’ From Iran Strike: ‘I Can Go Long’

President Donald Trump told Axios it will take Iranians "several years to recover from this attack."

uk.news.yahoo.com

Thank you!!!

The U.S military is preparing for the possibility of a weeks-long operation on Iran, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters.

However, Trump told Axios that the timeline of a planned U.S.-Israeli bombing operation, which would last at least five days, could change, with one factor being whether or not Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed.

 

[MassGuy]

Yes
He cut 20% of 4 star generals
A purge of over a dozen top leaders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the vice chief head of Global strike command and the Air Force Special ops command as an example
I highly doubt he has any respect an it’s well known he had no experience

The commanders on the ground are not appointed by the President.

Your point is completely undercut by the success of this operation.

You’re inadvertently making the argument that Trump is some sort of military genius, when again, this is being executed by career military leaders in theater.

He does not hand pick battlefield commanders. That’s not how it works at all.

 

[303gmf]

Do you know how many Generals and Admirals Obama fired?

Are either in office currently?
NO

 

[Elley Mae]

President Trump is. Do you honestly believe he is not listening to his advisors?

I’m thinking Raizin Caine is involved.

 

[Summerliz03]

I raised it because you had commented on Trump firing Generals. I merely pointed out that Obama had fired far more. Thus, Trumps actions were not out of the ordinary.

I was more referring to the noted shift in firing Generals and replacing them with loyalists and/or others who had less bipartisan military experience vs just the actual number of Generals fired. Obviously every administration is free to fire who they want and hire new people but Trumps policies have been a direct shift in how the Pentagon has operated and I personally don’t see it as a positive thing. Again, MOO.

The potential consequences of Trump’s unprecedented Pentagon shakeup

Trump’s shakeup of Washington reached the Pentagon on Friday as he fired several top military leaders, including Air Force Gen. CQ Brown as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Trump selected retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to be the new Joint Chiefs chairman, a job that requires...

www.pbs.org

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/22/nx-s1-5305781/president-trump-fires-6-top-level-military-officers-a-retired-rear-admiral-reacts

CQ Brown: Trump fires top US general in Pentagon shake-up

The new Pentagon chief had accused CQ Brown of a "woke" focus on diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.

www.bbc.com

Trump fires top US general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup

C.Q. Brown was on official travel when Trump made the announcement.

www.reuters.com

 

[anneoakley63]

I did. I served in the pointless war in Afghanistan.

I’d rejoin and be in theater for this in a heartbeat. A once in a lifetime opportunity to help collapse a terror regime, or at the very least, significantly degrade its ability to terrorize people around the world.

Again, the regime Iran is directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

Look at what they are doing right now. This is exactly who they are.

Thank you for your service. My grandfather, Uncle, father and both brothers served in the military. Uncle served in Korea, one brother served in Desert Storm and the other served 2 tours in Iraq. All said they would go back to help the people in those countries.

 

[otto]

Is this the quote you were thinking of?

“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians, ’See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs],’” the president said. “In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.”

Trump Says He's Weighing Several ‘Off Ramps’ From Iran Strike: ‘I Can Go Long’

President Donald Trump told Axios it will take Iranians "several years to recover from this attack."

uk.news.yahoo.com

Yes, thank you! When I heard 2-3 or 5 days, I assumed that the goal was to ensure that this did not turn into a weeks or years long war. Today, we hear that it will last 4-5 weeks.

 

[Vern]

There’s just a complete lack of understanding as to how the US military operates.

100%.

The US military works exactly as any western military does; that's what makes us allies.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"The mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused," Hegseth said today during a briefing at the Pentagon. "Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons."

For decades, Iran has been in pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, through both enrichment of weapons-grade nuclear material and development of missiles that can carry a nuclear warhead.

In June 2025, during Operation Midnight Hammer, the United States struck Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant using 30,000-pound GBU-57 "massive ordnance penetrator" bombs. That operation, Hegseth said, obliterated Iran's nuclear program.

https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4418826/hegseth-says-epic-fury-goals-in-iran-are-laser-focused/

 

[justtrish]

Yes
He cut 20% of 4 star generals
A purge of over a dozen top leaders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the vice chief head of Global strike command and the Air Force Special ops command as an example
I highly doubt he has any respect an it’s well known he had no experience

I can't speak for other branches because I have no firsthand knowledge, but I can speak for the Army, and it's been downsizing some MOS's and restructuring things for many years now. This happens over time, things evolve and it changes. I've been an Army wife for 27 years, so I've seen things change a lot both directions during that time. I've seen the massive increase in troops and the need to downsize once we were out of Afghanistan and Iraq. The military always adjusts and there is good and bad with that, but it isn't anything new to this administration, but for some reason it seems to get made into a headline as if it is Trumps personal choice to fire people. IMO