Two of California’s top Democrats are criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran without prior Congressional authorization, warning that the escalation risks a broader war that could cost American lives and sidestep constitutional limits on executive war powers.
U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), whose district covers Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, said the strikes “clearly break” promises to avoid new foreign wars and put Americans first.
“President Trump promised to put Americans first and end foreign wars, but his actions in Iran clearly break those promises. The American people want solutions to the issues close to home, such as addressing the cost-of-living crisis. They do not want to be dragged into another reckless and endless war in the Middle East that will result in countless casualties.
“Congress was not given any information that would indicate there was an imminent threat coming from Iran. Without such credible evidence, there’s no justification in sending our servicemembers into this conflict. [Saturday’s] strikes are another instance of President Trump bypassing Congress to unilaterally launch an unprovoked military operation with no defined plan. I call on Speaker Johnson and Republican leadership to get off the sidelines and reassert Congress’s constitutional duty to serve as a check on the President.”
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) echoed those concerns, arguing that the Constitution requires Congress to authorize large-scale military operations.
“This decision to strike Iran without Congressional approval stands in stark contrast to a President who promised to put Americans first and end foreign wars. At a time when millions of hardworking families face higher costs of living and skyrocketing health care to pay for tax breaks for billionaires, Donald Trump is now pushing the country toward a war that risks American lives without presenting a clear justification to the American people or any plan to prevent escalation and chaos in the region.
“The Iranian regime has oppressed its own people, and its state sponsored terrorism and nuclear ambitions pose significant risks to the safety of Americans and regional stability. We must work with our allies to counter those threats. Regardless of what the President may think or say, he does not enjoy a blank check to launch large-scale military operations without a clear strategy, without any transparency or public debate, and not without Congressional approval.
“The Constitution is clear, and Republican members of Congress must join us in holding this administration accountable and restoring Congress’s role in foreign policy.”
Conflict escalated sharply Monday, March 2, as Iran and allied militias launched attacks on Israel, Arab states, and U.S. military positions, while the United States and Israel carried out additional strikes inside Iran. The U.S. military said Kuwait “mistakenly shot down” three American fighter jets during a combat mission; all six pilots ejected and were in stable condition. Israeli forces, responding to barrages from the Iran‑backed Hezbollah, struck targets in southern Lebanon, where at least 31 people were killed and 149 injured, according to multiple sources.
The latest hostilities follow Saturday’s joint U.S.-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an operation that set off global reverberations including canceled flights, deadly protests, suspended shipping, and surging oil prices, reports PBS News.
Inside Iran, the Iranian Red Crescent reported strikes on 131 cities, with at least 555 killed, and said attacks in Tehran appeared to knock state television off the air. Fears of a broader war deepened as Iran expanded attacks on regional energy infrastructure. Qatar’s state‑owned QatarEnergy cited the conflict and assaults on its facilities in Qatar in announcing a halt to liquefied natural gas production, pulling one of the world’s top suppliers from the market.
U.S. Central Command said three American service members were killed during Saturday’s operation in Iran; a fourth died Monday of injuries sustained in the initial strike, PBS News reports.
Trump spoke hours after the announcement of the first three deaths. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” the president said in a six-minute video posted to Truth Social. “… [W]e’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case, but America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the U.S.-Israeli air campaign “the most precise aerial operation in history” and condemned Tehran’s “expansionist and Islamist regime.” In a video Sunday, President Donald Trump described the offensive as “one of the most complex, most overwhelming” ever and said it would continue until “all of our objectives” are achieved.
What comes next
- Authorization questions: The War Powers Resolution requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing U.S. forces into hostilities and limits such actions to 60 days (with a 30‑day withdrawal period) absent congressional authorization. Lawmakers from both parties will press for legal justifications and any claims of imminent threat.
- Risk of wider conflict: Associated Press’ reporting of Hezbollah strikes from Lebanon and counterstrikes in Beirut underscores the danger of regional spillover involving Iran-aligned militias and U.S. forces stationed across the Gulf.
- Human and economic costs: With the first known U.S. casualties since strikes on Iran began, members of both chambers are likely to seek classified briefings on force protection and escalation management, while constituents face uncertainty over energy prices and global markets typical of major Middle East crises.
The use of such force by the President without Congressional action requires an imminent threat. There was none. The Secretary of Defense (War in this case) and the Secretary of State said that there was a threat to Israel and equated that threat to a threat against the US. This is absurd but in fact the US has been following Netanyahu’s dark path for years. As a result thousands are dead, huge property loss has resulted, the American taxpayer is out billions of dollars in war materiel given and spent on Israeli defense. There are worse regimes in the world than Iran, including both Putin’s and Kim’s which are in fact nuclear armed. Yet we let Russia destroy and kill in Ukraine to a greater extent than Ira has done in their neighborhood. We need someone to speak the truth about this. If it is the burden of the US to intervene to stamp out evil how are we prioritizing that evil?
RHS – 100%. Based on Rubio’s own words, this was a pre-preemptive act of aggression against a sovereign nation we were in the middle of diplomatic negotiations with. This was a sucker punch on a global level. To call it “defensive” is incredibly insulting to the functioning minds of the world. We launched a surprise attack against a country with NO nukes, NO ICBMs and NO ability to hit US soil and we didn’t even ask Congress for input. Stupid, failed men who thrive on violence and machismo are running our country and sending our kids to die while we kill other people’s children, for what? Well, better question is, for whom?
YOU-LIE – “Yes, we continue talking with Iran as they continue processing their nukes.”
Your opening sentence is a lie. No need to read the rest of your nonsense. No mature, intelligent adult believes what this proven to be dishonest administration says.
The irony….Ukraine anyone?
STEVE – uh…. we at war with Ukraine? Do you know what the words you use actually mean?
What about it.
F in vocabulary and logic.
Wait a second, hold on everyone! Trump actually had a replacement leader in mind! He has a plan!
““We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back to the people, and we’ll see what happens to the people,” Trump said. The president added that he had at least one replacement in mind who is now dead.” https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-03-26?post-id=cmmawr6d900013b6v9vav6ruj
Oh, never mind.
“What would Salud do?”
– No one, ever
Don’t worry folks, the war won’t be “endless.” Trump assured us we have enough defensive weapons to fight this war “forever.” Surely, Iran can’t possibly keep defending itself forever! Oh, and military commanders have told soldiers this is now a Christian war, so God won’t let us all keep fighting, right?
“more than 200 new complaints since Saturday’s initial strikes against Iran, with members across all services claiming that high-ranking officers are tying the mission overseas to fulfilling a Christian prophecy.”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2026/03/03/military-officers-accused-of-framing-iran-war-biblical-mandate.html
Also, the guys he was thinking about installing as the new leadership are all dead because we and/or Israel funking bombed them, so Trump will just have to quickly pick some new leaders. Oh, what’s that you say, Mr. Trump….?
“Earlier on Tuesday, at a news conference in Washington, President Trump said that many of the people his government had viewed as potential leaders of Iran had been killed since Saturday. “Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody,” he said.”
Aw, shoot! Ok, well maybe Iran (you know, the country we are “liberating” by killing them) has some ideas on leadership…..
“The senior clerics responsible for selecting Iran’s next supreme leader met on Tuesday to deliberate, and the son of the slain former leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, emerged as the clear front-runner, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations.”
Yeah! They Ayatollah’s kid will now lead Iran. Well, he must be a nice guy, right? Right?
“If he is elected, it suggests it is a much more hard-line Revolutionary Guard side of the regime that is now in charge.””
Oh snap! Guess that whole thing backfired….
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/world/middleeast/iran-mojtaba-khamenei-successor.html?smid=url-share
JFC you just can’t make this up. We have got to have the dumbest people on Earth running this Pearl Harbor Part 2 “war.” And then we have those who cheer the idiocy on.
The past year has been bad enough, but we’ve now taken this 2-brain celled, drunken, glue-sniffing MAGA clown show on the road and are killing innocent people throughout the Middle East. The stuff I am reading and hearing direct from the puckered lips of the rapists and criminals in charge is honestly shocking, even for America.
This will be our nation’s downfall.
Everyone has a right to be upset for any reason whatsoever, but this comes across as yet another overreaction. Something is lost when just about everything is a “10” on the emotional/reaction Richter scale. It does not make sense that each and every problem can be traced to you-know-who and those who support you-know-who. Just sayin’.
BEES – what about my comment is “overreaction?” These are all FACTS.
Name one of these that didn’t happen or is not as bad as it sounds.
Having no plan for regime change after targeting and assassinating a foreign leader? Pretty bad.
Telling troops this is a holy war of sorts? Yeah, pretty bad.
The Ayatollah’s son being a hardliner possibly worse than his dad and now being touted as likely successor? That’s no good.
So go ahead. Tell us which of these FACTS are not something to be worried about?
Bees – I stand corrected – THIS is the dumbest, and most moronic statement I have ever rad on this website.
> It does not make sense that each and every problem can be traced to you-know-who and those who support you-know-who.
So *someone else* is the Commander-in-Chief, is calling the shots, is holding news conferences and saying “Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody” because he’s killed everyone he knows?
Some random Joe, I suppose.
> this comes across as yet another overreaction
Not to anyone sane. But ok, so far Trump (see, he has a name) has only bombed 8 countries and deposed 2 heads of state. How many does it have to be, in your estimation, for us to no longer be deemed as overreacting?
Hard to take these complaints to seriously. The last time Congress declared war was 1942, 84 years of conflicts without congressional approval. Obama bombed Libya for 7 months with congressional approval.
00ps – hard to take you seriously and all the other cons in the brain trust here who refuse to address what is happening now and keep saying “what about Biden/Clinton/Obama?”
I have opposed ALL bombings by ALL presidents. Most of us have. “What about” is not an answer.
I understand that you consider flat-out lying to be perfectly acceptable behavior, but I would like to point out that not having declared war does not mean without Congressional approval. Repeatedly, Congress held hearings and debated, and then approved military action. Remember Colin Powell and his phony presentation? Now, who opposed those authorizations and marched in the streets against them? Oh right, us. And who thought they were fine and dandy? Oh right, you folks, same as now.
> Obama bombed Libya for 7 months with[out] congressional approval.
And who opposed that? Pre-MAGA Republicans (e.g., John Boehner), libertarians (e.g., Ron Paul), and … progressive Democrats (e.g., Dennis Kucinich) and wide swaths of the “far left”.
You don’t take “these complaints” seriously the same way that you don’t take *any* pushback against sociopathy, corruption, violence, etc. seriously.
I OTOH take the complete and utter moral and intellectual corruption of right wingers quite seriously.
The people of Iran are quite happy with the decisions made by Trump/Bibi. Iranians are celebrating in the streets across Iran and across the globe. There are a smattering of people who are not happy simply due to their distaste for Israel and/or Trump. We should all celebrate with the people of Iran and hope they can have their country back in the near future.
BEES – do you know any Iranians? Sure, many are happy the Ayatollah is dead. Who wouldn’t be. BUT, they do not necessarily trust the US to make life easier for them, especially as we are killing hundreds of children (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4zze5lzjpo). The Iranians who are still in Iran have a legitimate concern: what next? The US has made it clear we have no plan whatsoever for installing a peaceful, democratic regime. Any celebration MAGA is relying on, is short lived, at least in Iran.
To say there’s only a “smattering of people” who disagree with this war is absolute, 100% proof you have no idea what you’re saying. Read the news. Most countries on the planet outright oppose this or are very skeptical of this war, including our NATO allies. Most people in America oppose this war. Heck, here’s one now…. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/just-one-four-americans-support-us-strikes-iran-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-03-01/
It’s readily apparent that on this topic, much like all others you broach, you are either not well informed at all, reading MAGA memes instead of actual news, or are simply trolling.
Which is it?
DISCLAIMER FOR THE SIMPLE FOLK: these are not “insults.” Stating these options for the this reasoning is simply stating fact. Calling someone who makes claims like that above, “not well informed,” is simply a statement of fact. These are objectionable and verifiable facts.
Hey BEES, here is an account of a person ACTUALLY IN IRAN….
““All the people are afraid,” an Austrian resident named Omid told Reuters. “You see maybe in the social media that people … are happy because (Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is dead, but that is, I think, just social media. Everybody in Iran, they are afraid.””
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-04-26?post-id=cmmciqzue00003b6s99jvwfil
Maybe try to think more before painting all Iranians as “celebrating” this war.
Bees – This is quite possibly the dumbest, and most moronic statement I have ever rad on this website.
Wow! Repeated Bending of the Knees seems to cause delusions and hallucinations.
Hey BEES, KAPO and all the other suckers who believe whatever Trump/Fox/Memes tell them. You still think Iranians are celebrating in the streets of Iran?
“Iranians trickling across the border into Turkey this week painted a picture of destruction and fear hanging over their cities under U.S.-Israeli bombardment
……..
“We are scared of everything,” Ms. Alizade, a pharmacist, said. “I am in constant fear.”
Ms. Alizade said she plans to stay with an aunt who lives in Western Turkey until hostilities abate. She has closed her pharmacy for now. “Most of the pharmacies are shut down,” she said.
The drug distribution centers are closed too, disrupting the supply chain. “People are scared to go out,” she said.
…
Leyla Rabet Nejad Saed, 27, was among them. She had been living in Istanbul and planning her wedding there later this month. The war has canceled those plans. On Friday, she said she was heading back to her family in Shiraz. “How can I be safe when my family is in danger,” she said.”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/06/world/iran-war-trump-israel-lebanon/iranians-flee-to-turkey-i-am-in-constant-fear-says-one?smid=url-share
Sorry, but getting really sick of the MAGA crowd, and ONLY the MAGA crowd, portraying this devastating war as a “liberation” and looking at a couple photos of Iranians IN AMERICA cheering and saying how all Iranians are happy about this.
They are being bombed, kids killed, no leadership and no plan for the future.
Enough with the fantasy land. War is real. No one is cheering in Iran.
Trump and Hegseth can join Bibi at The Hague
And in Hell. These are evil, racist, violent “men” and at least 2 of them are rapists. One (likely more) are also pedophiles.
All objective facts point to these creatures being unfit for humanity, yet so many gush and fawn over them. Dumb, single white men I can understand, but when I see women supporting this trash it’s really sickening.
And if we remember our history – RONALD REAGAN sold arms to IRAN.
I just saw this today: https://x.com/Hontas_Farmer/status/2028718923768528934?s=20
> There are a smattering of people who are not happy simply due to their distaste for Israel and/or Trump.
I remember a time when you didn’t constantly lie outrageously.
How happy are Iranians about the fact that Pete Hegseth says that the only Iranians who should worry are those who think they’re going to live?
https://x.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/2030073983958200650?s=20
And how about the 180 Iranians on the unarmed ship that we torpedoed on the way back from a training exercise in India that the U.S. also participated in, what Hegseth called a “quiet kill” with a smile on his face?
https://x.com/MalwareJake/status/2029960631416131718?s=20
The ship was a type of naval warship akin to what we term a corvette. It was armed.
To elucidate (from Wikipedia):
Armament
Naval guns
1 × 76 mm Fajr-27 naval gun
1 × 40 mm Fath-40 AAA or 1 × 30mm Kamand CIWS
2 × 20 mm cannons Oerlikon
2 × 12.7 mm heavy machine guns
Surface to air missiles
4 × Mehrab SAM, a naval version of the Sayyad-2 or 4 × Sayyad-3 SAM
Anti-ship missiles
4 × Noor or Qader anti-ship missiles (Some ships are equipped with 8 anti-ship missiles)
Anti-submarine warfare
2 × triple 324 mm torpedoes
Aircraft carried 1 × Bell 214 ASW helicopter
Wikipedia is irrelevant here–this particular ship, on this particular occasion, was not armed, as a requirement of the training exercise.
Learn the definition of the word armed.
Learn to be intellectually honest.
So? We aren’t at war with Iran, so why are we attacking their ships in international waters?
Just because they can be armed, doesn’t mean it was at the time. Sounds like it was leaving an organized peace time operation with multiple nations. Not sailing for war.
Yes, but it was still an armed warship. That part of the comment above was not true.
So what? Lots of ships are armed. Does that mean that any armed ship on the planet is a legitimate target?
They are when nations are in armed conflict, and the ship is from one of the belligerent nations, which doesn’t require a declaration of war, unfortunately.
Has Pete Hegseth invaded your brain? The strike was totally illegal.
> They are when nations are in armed conflict,
They’re in unloaded conflict, I suppose.
Oh okay, so you’re fine with a president ordering the sinking of a ship at any time when they are not a credible threat. Cool.
By what metric is a warship of a nation involved in armed conflict not a credible threat?
For one, when they are not in a state of battle readiness. For another, when they are not in waters where US ships are operating. You can argue whether the two points apply in this case if you want. Again, if your criteria for killing people is the “possibility” that they may be a threat then kill the everyone in Iran. Why wouldn’t you agree with that? And for that matter, as we know that Iranian intelligence has cells all over the world and “possibly” in the U.S. would you advocate rounding up all Iranian Americans and imprisoning them? Or maybe just an execute them as well. I mean, they are “possible” threats, and right?
How can you magically divine that a warship is at general quarters when you are somewhere in range of its weapons? Do you suggest waiting until they fire at you?
You’re just being hyperbolic.
Anon that is some weak sauce bro. The point is that you don’t know if that ship was a threat. Period. You launch into some speculative nonsense about “possible” when in fact you’re just talking out of your ass.
In attempt to locate accurate/valid information (I did not intend on including the “Facebook” findings):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_IRIS_Dena
of note from the abc article there are pretty valid points regarding the “Legality of sinking a warship” in a “Declared WAR” (which according to Mike J. it’s only a military operation which actually sounds sort of Putinish?)…. “Military law experts said the Iranian ship, which was in the Indian Ocean in international waters off Sri Lanka, would have been a lawful target had the U.S. declared war. ”
https://abcnews.com/Politics/us-sinking-iranian-ship-raises-questions-legality/story?id=130769096
I was unable to locate the article I’d read earlier this morning that had the unarmed information included.
I suggest reading the talk page on that article–not all of the editors are acting in good faith, and some are actively suppressing information.
As for the “unarmed” article, see my links in the comment below. The claims come from Iranian and Indian officials, who arguably are not reliable, but who would be more reliable … Pete Hegseth?
Yeah the talk page is sort of interesting to say the least. Reasoning behind posting the link in first place is this mention under Background “However, the ship was reportedly unarmed or lightly armed at the time because of its participation in the International Fleet Review, which the United States also attended.[6][7]” … it’s still there (so what you’re saying is it not be there long!) for now. I thought earlier the “or lightly” wasn’t there? Sorry, I should have put the original quote in at the time I posted it, can’t fix it now. But in talk page it seems that the fact the U.S. was also at the same event, Pete was AWARE it was Unarmed.
as for who to believe that’s looking like an oxymoron? I’d ride my bike but not to a car wash 🙂
The “unarmed” text was added at 12:37 today. I’m not sure whether it was there when I last read it.
I have 3 bicycles and a 27 year old car with 84,000 miles on it, about 500 of those since the beginning of the pandemic. Back when I did drive it, I would wash it in the rain.
Everything in my comment was true, bozo.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/most-chilling-detail-u-attack-222218920.html
“The exercise in question required ships not to carry any ammunition. Normally, the Dena carries various missiles and guns, including anti-ship missiles. Because the U.S. also took part, it would have been aware that the Dena was unarmed. Former Indian Foreign Minister Kanwal Sibal accused the attack of being “premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise.”
“The US has ignored India’s sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation,” Sibal said in a post on X. The Iranian ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, condemned the attack and said the ship was unarmed.
“We will respond to this assassination very strongly. This ship was unarmed and in a regular maneuver at sea. I think that the United States and the Zionist regime want to disturb and destroy all the international law and international norms,” Fathali said.
At least 87 sailors were killed in the torpedo attack in international waters in the Indian Ocean, and the Sri Lankan navy responded to the Dena’s distress call and rescued 32 survivors, but 61 members of the crew are still missing. The U.S. didn’t respond to the call, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth crowed about the attack to reporters on Wednesday.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said, calling it a “quiet death.” As a result of the attack, an Iranian supply tanker that was also near Sri Lanka, the IRIS Bushehr, has taken refuge in the island country.
The sinking of the Dena seems to be part of Hegseth’s new policy of ignoring “stupid rules of engagement” and “punching them while they’re down,” and it raises questions of what the Trump administration would say if a country like Iran attacked an American ship it knew was unarmed.”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/sinking-iran-ship-war-crime/
” the target of the submarine’s torpedo reportedly sank relatively quickly and may not have even been armed for battle (in part because it was returning from what was essentially a diplomatic mission). And no other Iranian or other hostile ships or warplanes were reported to be anywhere near the attack.
Even assuming for the sake of argument that the American submarine fell under these exceptions, it retained an obligation to do whatever it could to help rescue survivors, if only to alert other ships in the area and/or coastal authorities, such as the Sri Lankan Navy, of the location of the target vessel so that they could render assistance.
But there is no evidence as yet that the submarine, the U.S. Navy, or United State Central Command (CENTCOM) did so.”
[be sure to read the whole thing]
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/middleeast/us-iran-submarine-warship-analysis-intl-hnk-ml
“The Iranian frigate was reportedly on its way back home after participating in India’s multilateral MILAN 2026 naval exercises, which included ships from what were described as 18 “friendly foreign countries” and aircraft from three more, including the United States, according to an Indian government website.
A US Navy release said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft took part and conducted anti-submarine warfare drills with other participating forces.
But MILAN 2026 was a largely ceremonial event, with videos posted on social media showing members of the Dena’s crew marching in a parade in the port of Visakhapatnam two weeks ago.”
And then it continues with the fascist take:
“Though its presence at the exercise may have been benign, the Dena was one of the newest and most powerful ships in Iran’s fleet, capable of carrying surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes, according to the website shipshub.com.
Analyst Carl Schuster, a former director of the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center and a retired US Navy captain, said that in the current state of conflict between the US and Iran, the Dena presented a threat.
“Given Iran’s continuing attacks on any US-friendly country it can reach, it is very possible, indeed likely, that the frigate was positioned to strike mercantile shipping either flagged to a US-friendly country or carrying cargo for one,” Schuster told CNN.
“This sinking can be justified as a preventive measure reflecting that concern,” he said.
Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College London, said the US’ legal justification for sinking the ship can be found in a document signed by President Donald Trump on March 2, which, in part, said the US took action against Iran to ensure the free flow of goods and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian frigate could be seen as a threat to that flow, Patalano said in a post on X.”
Then briefly back to sanity:
“But he also pointed out it’s unclear if the Iranian ship was in a state of readiness for war or if the US sub issued any warning of its planned attack.
While neither would preclude an attack on an armed enemy combatant, analysts noted the Iranian ship was not nearly in an equal fight with the US fast-attack sub.”
Then back to fascism:
“Submarines confirm a remarkable level of lethality,” Patalano said, adding that it would have been prudent for the Iranian commander to be aware of the active conflict situation his country was in.
“ASW (anti-submarine warfare) should be taken absolutely seriously at one’s peril,” he said.
[there was of course no anti-submarine warfare involved]
Can’t you people fathom the difference between armed, and loaded? Despite the very gullible assertions that the ship was not loaded with ordnance, it was armed. Antiship missiles, as an example, come in containerized launchers, and the containers were clearly visible on the ship when it entered the Indian port before the exercise.
I’m not arguing the legality of striking the ship. It was legal, in times of hostility, but definitely not moral, to strike it on the high seas when it didn’t pose a direct threat.
And no, it wasn’t legal.
Suddenly introducing the term pedantry means you realize you were wrong. It’s OK. Just don’t keep digging that hole.
Good. But for those who continue to insist that the warship IRIS Dena couldn’t possibly have posed a threat to anyone or anything, and was by a faulty definition “unarmed”, I have some questions for you:
1) When did the international exercise end?
2) When did the sinking occur?
3) What type of warship is the IRIS Bushehr, which immediately fled to Sri Lanka?
4) How can you be so cocksure that the IRIS Dena and IRIS Bushehr didn’t conduct an underway replenishment?
I think the actions of the US government, both here and abroad, have been totally reprehensible and fascist, but let’s not inject fantasy about innocent warships.
Have you provided any evidence it was armed?
“fantasy about innocent warships” is a crappy way to talk about 90 dead sailors who did nothing whatsoever to threaten the US.
Sailors on a nation’s warships are tasked with carrying out orders from their government.
Since nobody answered the previous questions:
Has the government of Iran shown no signs of attacking any countries during this time?
And further, not only do we all now know who is the insta-up/down voter here, but you ignored the point of my comment.
Those sailors had no capability, even if fully armed, locked and loaded, to threaten US soil. They didn’t deserve this. Full stop.
Of course it’s possible that it could pose a threat. If that’s your metric for killing a bunch of guys on a ship that had shown no intent to engage anyone anywhere then you ay as well annihilate everyone in Iran–every single one of them citizens of a nation with which the US is in an armed conflict and therefore every one of the a “possible threat.”
No, it was not armed–that was a requirement of the exercise.
https://x.com/i/status/2029885772774494337
Hey BEES – what does it look like these “Iranians are celebrating in the streets?”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/09/world/iran-war-israel-trump-oil/d401b50e-2d8c-51a8-bbce-79089c7a4e79?smid=url-share
Are you saying installing the Ayatollah’s son was a “decisions made by Trump/Bibi?”
Hey BEES – you still thinking the people of Iran are cheering in the streets for the US and Israel?
“Crowds of Iranians were in the streets of Tehran on Wednesday to mourn military commanders killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes, while some residents of the capital described grappling with feelings of deep uncertainty and growing despair.” — https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/11/world/iran-war-news-trump-oil-israel/iran-holds-public-mourning-ceremony-for-commanders?smid=url-share
Don’t worry, I’ll keep reminding you how you and the other MAGAts have no clue about what is really happening in Iran.
The wealthy Iranian expats here in the States do not reflect the feelings of those being bombed and killed. Please stop getting the 2 confused.
Trump and MAGA have similar values to the Third Reich and ISIS (aka Islamic State).
For those few who may not know, there is a ‘No Kings’ rally scheduled for Saturday, March 28th from 9 AM until 3 PM. Of course, you can come earlier and stay later. I suggest taking the MTD bus to the event: Lines 6 and 11 have stops closest to Alameda Park; if you don’t want to attend the Carpinteria rally, take Line 20 from Carp to the MTD Transit Center on Chapala and walk about 5 block; LIne 3 for those in Oak Park/Samarkan; Line 5 for Hendry’s/Hidden Valley; for Ellwood peeps, Line 6-25 to the 12x close to Target/Jack-in-the-Box at Storke/Glen Annie; for Isla Vista/UCSB the quickest way would be to take the 24x). You can also park your in a near the park the night before or early that morning, take a bus there or have someone drop you off, and you’d have your car close at hand.
That last sentence about sums up your thinking skills.
It’s similar to asking LLMs whether you should walk or drive to the car wash, and most of them recommending walking because it’s good exercise.
The people living in Iran are the ones who are suffering the consequences of this war/conflict/military action or whatever YOU want to call it. People are dying there and here we are in sunny Santa Barbara concerned and complaining about…..well, basically nothing. The outrage comes mostly comes from those who are not happy with other things in the lives. The victimhood h-a-s to stop.
Bend those Knees and expel drivel.
You said they’re all thrilled. Your comments are grossly dishonest and they have to stop.
> The outrage comes mostly comes from those who are not happy with other things in the lives.
You’re soundly a whole lot like Basic, and have as much credibility.
So stop complaining about what people say. Lead by example.
BEES – why can’t we be outraged about what is happening to our fellow humans in Iran just because webare not currently facing any harm and it’s a sunny day? You have the stones to say those who don’t support murdering innocent people and soldiers who posed no threat to us have no happiness in our lives and are just playing “victims?”
This really is one of the dumbest things Ive read here in a while. Sounds like you’re rhe victim of a spoiled pudding between your ears.