International, National & Minnesota Report
With a little more than a week from the start of the February 28th Iranian bombings, the reasons the War started are still being determined like throwing spaghetti noodles up again the wall to see what sticks.
Since, Donald J Trump (R) constantly needs to appear like he is incharge and has the final say we thought a reflection of all of the ten reason for going to War and who advanced them was warranted.
Donald Trump (President)
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- Eliminating “Imminent Threats” to the US: Stated the action was to “defend the American people” from imminent threats from the Iranian regime (Feb 28, 2026).
- Destroying Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions: Cited a need to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, claiming they would have had one in two weeks without the strike (Mar 2-4, 2026).
- Destroying Missiles and Navy: Aimed to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and “annihilate” its navy (Mar 2, 2026).
- Stopping Proxy Funding: Goal was to ensure Iran could no longer arm, fund, or direct “terrorist armies” (Mar 2, 2026).
- Preventing Nuclear War: Claimed the strike was necessary to stop a nuclear war and that Iran was plotting a major attack (Mar 3, 2026).
- Personal Retaliation (“Got Him First”): Indicated the attack was payback for plots against him, saying “I got [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] before he got me” (Mar 1, 2026).
- Regime Change: Urged the Iranian people to “take over your government” following the strikes (Feb 28, 2026).
- Punishing Human Rights Abuses: Cited the Iranian regime killing thousands of its own protesters (Mar 2, 2026).
Pete Hegseth (Secretary of War)
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- Conventional Shield” Defense: Argued Iran was building missiles to create a “conventional shield” for their nuclear ambitions (Mar 2, 2026).
- 47-Year History of Aggression: Justified the action by saying, “They’ve been killing Americans for 47 years” (Mar 4, 2026).
- Weakest Point: Claimed the war was launched because Iran was “the weakest they’ve ever been” (Mar 4, 2026).
- Stalled Negotiations: Argued Iran was not negotiating in good faith and was stalling to reload missiles (Mar 2, 2026).
Marco Rubio (Secretary of State)
- Preemptive Strike to Protect Troops: Initially claimed the U.S. struck first because they knew Israel was going to attack, which would prompt Iranian retaliation against U.S. forces (Mar 2, 2026).
- Destroying “Shield” Missiles/Drones: Argued the goal was to eliminate the short-range missiles and drones Iran was using as a “shield” to hide their nuclear program (Mar 2, 2026).
- Economic Leverage: Stated the goal was to destroy the Iranian navy because they had the capability to shut off 20% of global energy (Mar 2, 2026).
- Walk-back/Correction: Later walked back his comments on Israeli involvement and emphasized that the president’s decision was to “systematically destroy this terroristic capability” (Mar 3, 2026).
The Cost of this War
Because the Trump Administration has not gone to Congress to to ask for a Supplemental Appropriation, we are unclear as to what the cost will truly be. Current assessments are $1 Billion/day. Domestically, the impact has seen the cost of oil surpass $100/barrel, which has resulted in significant increases at the pump.
So far the loss of life, is limited to seven killed in action, with a number of casualties at 20.
The Elusive End Game
Since the rationales for going to War are not clearly defined, the understanding of when the mission is actually accomplished is just as unidentifiable. It seems this will be solely determined by Trump, and we will all be fortunate when he let’s us know.