Top U.S. commander in the Middle East briefs Trump on Iran options

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

11 hours ago


The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East briefed President Trump on Thursday about the options for military action against Iran, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of the meeting.

Why it matters: This was the first time the commander of the U.S. military Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper briefed Trump since the beginning of the crisis with Iran last December.

Trump has order a massive U.S. military build up in the Middle East and he is considering ordering a military campaign against Iran.

Behind the scenes: Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine also attended the briefing, the U.S. official said.

ABC News first reported on the briefing.

Driving the news: Cooper and Caine briefed Trump while the third round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks concluded in Geneva.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2026/02/27/trump-iran-middle-east-military-options

[Roy Rolling]

1. Photo From the Oval Office?

I don’t know if this is an “official” photo of the military strategy meeting.

[IbogaProject]

2. And these idiots are unaware how resistant Iran will be

Both its geography and culture have resisted invasions for millennia. Even Alexander more went through than really conquering that area. I feel this is a ploy to disrupt cheap middle east oil to try and make the Venezuelan oil more marketable plus help prop up Bibi.

[ChicagoTeamster]

3. Iran has 4 times the land mass and double the population of Iraq

And after Trump’s tariffs, insults, and treatment of NATO, NATO won’t join us on Iran like they did on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iran, despite the current political unrest, their society is more unified than Iraq’s. They will fight back.

Invading Iran will be an expensive boondoggle.

[EX500rider]

4. Don't think there is any plan to invade. just bomb from the air

The US has moved lots of air assets into the region & zero troops

[ChicagoTeamster]

5. On what basis? Trump said we destroyed all of their nuclear enrichment facilities last time.

Iran was honoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed by Iran and the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, and Germany, along with the European Union. Trump invalidated the deal by pulling the US out and re-imposing sanctions.

He did it just because Obama signed it and Bibi was against Iran. Iran has a right to develop nuclear energy for electricity generation. They can't keep burning diesel in a world that's going green.

[EX500rider]

6. Only one reason to have thousands of centrifuges under a mountain enriching to 60%+ and it's not power plants

Most commercial nuclear power plants (specifically Light Water Reactors) require uranium enriched to 3%–5% Uranium-235

Advanced Reactors (HALEU): 5% – 19.75%

Iran is currently producing uranium enriched to 60% purity, far exceeding civilian needs and holding significant, rapidly growing stockpiles.
Only required for bombs.

On May 31, 2025, IAEA reported that Iran had sharply increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, just below weapons-grade, reaching over 408 kilograms, a nearly 50% rise since February

[ChicagoTeamster]

7. That's after Trump destroyed the treaty and the means of verification and enforcement.

This is all because Trump ended the nuclear treaty because it was an Obama administration (along with the world powers). He probably will try to negotiate a business deal where US oil companies will control Iranian oil.

They see how the world powers don't bomb and threaten nuclear powers like North Korea.

The US and UK have been interfering in their country since the 1920s and the UK and Russia competed for influence from the late 1800s til the early 1920s. Iran declared neutrality during WW2 but were invaded and occupied by the Allies to preserve the lend lease supply routes and control of the oil fields.

Iran initially recognized Israel after 1948. But after the 1979 Islamic Revolution they were officially hostile.

The US and UK overthrew the democratically elected Mossadegh government and placed the Shah in power in 1953 because Iran tried to nationalize their oil industry. After the coup, the Anglo-Iranian oil company became BP in 1954. The shah was a brutal dictator supported by the US and UK. Resentment against his repressive rule caused a coalition of Islamists, leftists, and merchants, unified by Ayatollah Khomeini, to overthrow the U.S.-backed monarchy in 1979.

So maybe after 150 years of European interference followed by modern UK and US interference, they might think that their only guarantee against continuous threats and interference is to become a nuclear state. Maybe the EU should intervene and negotiate a new treaty without the business deals.

[EX500rider]

8. Maybe they shouldn't have signed and still be bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ?

[ChicagoTeamster]

13. Well, they're being bombed now.

[AverageOldGuy]

9. " Trump has ordered a massive U.S. military build up "

Not exactly. He has ordered a massive NAVAL build near Iran.

WTF is the purpose? Does he plan to bomb the shit out of Iran and at some point the Iranian people will rise up, throw out the mullahs, and select a George Washington to lead them into freedom, prosperity, love, and peace along with a long-time alliance with the US?

Neither Trump nor the assholes advising him have a clue about how to proceed.

WTF is the goal? What does he want the situation to be at the end? How do we know when we get to the end? He has no idea and no one around him has any idea . . . and speaking as a retired Army officer, I doubt that there is a general officer in any of the services with the stones to stand up to Trump and Hogsbreath and tell them this is madness.

Bombing from now until Nov 2029 will do nothing but piss of the next ten generations of Iranians. If he thinks he will put troops on the ground, it will require a MINIMUM of 60 days to get even a basic invasion force in place. We will get NO support from Europe or from most of the Middle East. And the ground war will drag on and on and on. Meanwhile, when the body bags start to arrive, if you think Trump's approval ratings are low now . . . .

This is the pipe dream of a madman abetted by imbeciles, fools, and braying jackasses.

None of this will end well.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "Not exactly. He has ordered a massive NAVAL build near Iran."

I did actually spot the below article from Reuters about an hour ago though -

Satellite images show more aircraft at Saudi airbase used by US forces

By Catherine Cartier, Eleanor Whalley and Maria Laguna
February 27, 2026 12:10 PM EST Updated 3 hours ago


A combination picture of satellite images show planes at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on February 17, 2026 (left), and on February 21, 2026 (right). 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights


Feb 27 (Reuters) - Satellite images showed a rise in the number of military support aircraft including refuelling tankers at a Saudi airbase used by the U.S. military during a four-day period in February, as Washington built forces in the region amid tensions with Iran.

Saudi Arabia, a longstanding U.S. ally, told Iran last month it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used for military actions against Tehran, which held indirect negotiations with Washington on Thursday over its nuclear programme.

In a high-resolution satellite image taken on February 21, at least 43 aircraft were visible at Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan Airbase - which has hosted U.S. forces for decades - compared with 27 aircraft visible in a February 17 image.

The number dropped to 38 in a February 25 image.

(snip)

I expect they have stuff in Kuwait.

[IcyPeas]

11. Reminds me of when Donald Rumsfeld said:

(This article is from February 2003)

U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began a trip to Europe Friday by telling troops any conflict with Iraq would probably be over within months.

He made the prediction during an address to hundreds of U.S. military personnel inside a hangar at an air base near the northern Italian town of Aviano.

"It is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months," Rumsfeld told them.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/war-likely-wouldn-t-last-long-rumsfeld-1.366648

[Rhiannon12866]

12. LIVE: IRAN BOMBED...WAR BEGINS?!! - Meidas Touch

MeidasTouch reports on developing breaking news that Israel has launched preemptive stiles on Iran. - 02/28/2026.