“America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against basically civilization.” Trump said in his remarks. “They have waged war against civilization itself.”
U.S. Central Command announced the deaths of the service members in a
post on X Sunday, noting that five other service members were “seriously wounded,” and that several others had sustained “minor shrapnel injuries and concussions.” Those service members are in the process of being returned to duty.
As of Sunday morning, the identities of the service members are being withheld by the command until their families have been notified.
“Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing,” CENTCOM said.
CENTCOM later added the military struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities, saying in part: “No nation should ever doubt America’s resolve.”
U.S. Central Command said several other service members were injured as well.
www.newsnationnow.com
There are now three key questions: How will protesters respond to President Trump’s call to take over the government? Can Iran’s authoritarian system survive? And could the attack unleash a chaotic battle for power?
Mr. Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have made public appeals to Iran’s people, arguing that they have offered them a historic opportunity to topple their brutal authoritarian government. How they envision an unarmed population facing down a heavily armed, ideologically driven security force is less clear.
Experts say that Iran’s clerical rulers may be too deeply entrenched for Iranians to topple them, and that the U.S. and Israeli strikes risk setting off deeper radicalization or violence.
www.nytimes.com
Liberty, in other words, is first a mental commitment.
“The hour of your freedom is at hand,” Mr. Trump told them. “So let’s see how you respond.” In January, he even asked protesters to “take over ... institutions.”
So how have Iranians reacted so far? While the war is far from over, the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday sent people in many cities onto their balconies and into the streets with “a rare mix of jubilation, fear and expectation,” according to the news site Iran International. The New York Times reported people setting off fireworks and honking car horns, yelling “freedom, freedom” with exuberance.
The moment was captured by the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in a post on the social platform X on Sunday: “What comes next is uncertain. But there is now an open path to a different Iran, one that its people may have greater freedom to shape.”
Despite big questions over the American and Israeli attacks on Iran, it is now up to Iranians to determine their liberty – and restore faith in the essence of the fading international order.
www.csmonitor.com
www.theguardian.com
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