[rayiner]

> But everyone else (including the professional strategists let go in the DOGE purges, and the remaining ones in the room) thought that this was an incredibly stupid idea that was bound to fail for obvious reasons.

What’s your source for this?

[SideburnsOfDoom]

You made the claim that they thought it was a great idea. What's your research for that?

it is widely known that Mr Netanyahu has suggested this same plan to every US administration from Bush onwards (1), and was rejected by them all until now.

It is widely known that the military analysts all made the obvious prediction that Iran would seize Hormuz (2)

I might be a bit off the mark with "professional strategists let go in the DOGE purges" but not by much (3) DOGE Cuts have affected the Pentagon as well (4), so it's less clear. What's your source that it had no effect?

Recent reporting on the decision to attack in 2026 includes (5)

Trump attacked based on "a feeling" (6) not advice.

1) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ED_096-xmEk

2) https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/us/politics/trump-iran-st...

3) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

4) https://defensescoop.com/2026/06/23/pentagon-workforce-cuts-...

5)

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-wa...

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2026/nyt-haberman-swan-le...

and also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48708072

6) https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/vibes-over-intel-white-house...

[rayiner]

Thank you for the sources. The NYT article citing the Maggie Haberman book is reporting that Trump was warned protecting the strait would be difficult. I will have to read her book on this, because it’s unclear who was part of this “inner circle” who delivered this warning. Was it the military? Or was it the known Iran skeptics like Vance?

[SideburnsOfDoom]

> known Iran skeptics like Vance

What does that mean? Is this an excuse to dismiss his assessment? I don't necessarily value his opinion, but "oh, he's known to be a sceptic of it" is often dismissive rather than acknowledging that there are real reasons be be sceptical.

> Trump was warned protecting the strait would be difficult. Was it the military?

The other link that you were already given makes it clear that it was the military. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48708072

Common sense makes it clear that it was the miliary who know the score. Who else would have studied it in as much detail and wargamed possible scenarios? I refer you to my grandparent comment re "professional strategists who thought that this was an incredibly stupid idea"

> For years, the U.S. government has conducted war games dealing with potential conflicts with Iran, including ones at the Pentagon attended by dozens of military officials and policymakers. Over and over, participants say, they concluded that Iran would respond to a major American attack by closing the strait of Hormuz.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/us/politics/trump-iran-st...

NB: this is one of the links given above, and yet you ask the question "Was it the military?" that is answered therein. Why?