# Speculation About Trump's Underlying Reasons for Bombing Iran and Other Targets

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** iran-strikes-2026\
**Created:** [March 4, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209 "2026-03-04T21:58:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 49

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**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speculation-about-trumps-underlying-reasons-for-bombing-iran-and-other-targets/1028209/49 "2026-03-05T13:33:23Z")

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> [@United States and Israel are bombing Iran](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-states-and-israel-are-bombing-iran/1028071/598):
>
> That story about the MRFF should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Further discussion on this subject risks taking the thread afield of its purpose. If it’s confirmed that US military leaders view the attack on Iran as a religious crusade, then it’s probably on-topic. However, debating whether that’s actually a thing would be a hijack. So I propose we leave it there for the purpose of this thread and not mention it again.

I note that I was initially a bit skeptical of the claims because the articles I read on this said things like “There was this report, and this other report, and that report - this _always_ happens when there’s a war in the Middle East”. If Christian whackjobs come out of the woodwork each time something like this happens, that’s not good - it shouldn’t happen at all - but it _does_ make me question if there’s anything unique about this situation that might be related to the actual causes of the war, or if it’s just the usual whackjobs stirring up when Israel is in the news. It seemed more likely to be the latter than the former.

Here’s the quote, front the Guardian article:

> [@](#):
>
> “Anytime Israel or the US is involved in the Middle East, we get this stuff about Christian nationalists who’ve taken over our government, and certainly our US military,” Mikey Weinstein, MRFF’s president, who is an air force veteran, told the Guardian.

So if this happens _any time_ things are stirring in the Middle East, that really undermines the narrative that this has anything special to do with this war.

And then I read @Cervaise’s linked article and I’m even more convinced the story is horseshit.

How does nonsense like this blow up so big it runs in “legitimate” papers like _The Guardian_? Did none of the journalists or editors realize that the quote they themselves put in the article severely undermines the narrative they’re building, not to mention the other uncovered issues with the claims?

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