Iran May Keep Fighting Until Trump Leaves Office – The Thursday AM Quickie 8/13/26
One of Donald Trump's paid liars has quit her job, or was fired, or – who cares, really? In a few months, most people will forget they ever knew Karoline Leavitt's name. - Corey
ON THE SHOW TODAY
8/13: It's our dear departed friend Michael Brooks' birthday, which will be commemorated. Emma will be hosting solo. The guest will be Eli Clifton, investigative journalist, and co-founder of the Quincy Institute, discussing his new book, "Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power."
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Thanks again paid subscribers!
Today you’ll read about the Trumped-up charges against an SPLC researcher, the latest ICE outrages in Virginia and New Jersey, and why some leftists aren't terribly upset about the primary election result in Wisconsin.
Tell your friends to sign up for this M-F newsletter at AMQuickie.com!
THE BIG NEWS
US Servicemembers Hit Breaking Point in Trump's Iran Quagmire
It's been clear from the jump that Donald Trump's pointless, illegal, and losing war on Iran was not going well for America. But new reporting from Military Times and Stars and Stripes, two independent publications that cover the US military, suggest that conditions for US servicemembers are far worse than the public might imagine.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been at sea with thousands of sailors and marines for nine months, breaking records for a maritime deployment without returning to port. The aircraft carrier was first dispatched to the Pacific Ocean in November before being redirected to the Middle East for Trump's Iran war. Since then, there have been reports of mold, food shortages, and dangerous exhaustion among the crew leading to accidents on board. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called those reports "FAKE NEWS from the Pharisee Press."
The denial puts Hegseth at odds not only with the facts, but with the military rank and file. What's worse — and I should add a trigger warning here — military families say their deployed loved ones aboard the Lincoln have been involved in or witness to multiple suicide attempts by crew. In at least two cases, crew tried to jump overboard.
"I'm trying to keep a happy face for our three kids," Annabelle Loma, whose husband tried to go overboard, tells Navy Times. "They’re little, they miss their daddy, they just want to know mommy and daddy are okay. So I can't just worry and break down, even though I want to — every single day."
These families' ordeal won't end soon as the US war evolves into a quagmire. Trump yesterday boasted of the US naval blockade of Iran, claiming "total control over the Strait of Hormuz," and adding, "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT." A top adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, said they will "prolong this war until we get to the next term of the [US] presidency" to deter future attacks on their country.