Trump and Netanyahu lied about a Kurdish invasion to trick Iran into attacking them, dragging Kurds into war.
Ben Mycelis opens the live broadcast with breaking reports that a U.S. fighter jet has crashed in Basra province, Iraq, with the pilot ejecting before impact, as confirmed by Iraqi police and reported by Al Jazeera and Iranian state media. The U.S. military initially denied a crash, then shifted language to deny specifically that the jet was shot down, a distinction the host flags while noting the administration's pattern of evolving and contradictory public statements. Mycelis covers Trump's dismissal of Kristi Noem from the DHS via social media post and her replacement by Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma, who the host characterizes as having previously misunderstood prior war authorizations. The show then broadens its war coverage: Shahid drone and ballistic missile strikes by Iran on U.S. and allied interests across Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE continue at a reduced but ongoing pace, while Tehran is described as under heavy bombardment from U.S. and Israeli forces. Mycelis details the failed attempt to draw Kurdish ground forces into the conflict, explaining the long history of U.S. betrayal of Kurdish groups, from Trump's first-term withdrawal from Syria to the more recent empowerment of Syria's Al Jalani-led government, which overran Kurdish autonomous zones. He reads at length from a statement by Kurdish leader Shahnaz Ibrahim of the Jalal Talbani party, who wrote that after Syria, the Kurds refused to be pawned again, concluding that they are not guns for hire. The episode covers the sinking of the Iranian ship Denna by a U.S. submarine torpedo while the vessel was 2,000 miles from Iran in Indian waters, with reported deaths of close to 100 crew members and no rescue rendered by U.S. forces. Mycelis discusses the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices approaching $90 per barrel, and growing alarm among Gulf state leaders, including a statement from an Emirati billionaire demanding to know who authorized a war that now threatens his country's stability. Pete Buttigieg joins for an extended conversation, arguing the war in Iran is a war of choice with no clear mission and no coherent State Department evacuation plan for Americans stranded in the region. He reflects on his own pre-deployment letter written just in case he did not return from Afghanistan, and draws a direct line between VA doctor-and-nurse cuts and simultaneously expanding war spending. Buttigieg warns that the pattern of chaos, including insufficient interceptor stockpiles across Arab states, no post-conflict political framework, and damaged alliances, mirrors the failures of Iraq and Afghanistan. He urges citizens not to feel powerless, pointing to prior instances where public pressure reversed administration decisions, and calls for congressional accountability. The broadcast closes with Mycelis noting Trump's suggestion at a press conference that Cuba may be the next target.
