The world seems like it is on fire lately, and it could get much worse very soon.
All signs point to a massive strike taking place in Iran, as our military has been moved into place and is ready to go.
Even more telling is that all non-essential personnel have been ordered to leave the embassy in Beirut, which is a telltale sign that something is about to go down.
Over the last few months, President Trump has ordered more personnel and resources into the Middle East theater.
While Trump has not given the press much to work with in either direction, the fact that these assets are now in place, including our largest carrier, signifies that a strike is about to take place.
Israel has also been ramping up its military for war, so the optics on this seem fairly clear.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to try to downplay this a bit, stating, “The president has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration.”
Today, reports surfaced that the evacuation of the embassy in Beirut of all non-essential personnel had been ordered.
The State Department stated, "The Department of State has ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from U.S. Embassy Beirut.”
It continued, "We continuously assess the security environment, and based on our latest review, we determined it prudent to reduce our footprint to essential personnel. The Embassy remains operational with core staff in place. This is a temporary measure intended to ensure the safety of our personnel while maintaining our ability to operate and assist U.S. citizens.”
The danger now is of Hezbollah getting unleashed. If Iran feels threatened, that will likely be its first course of action.
Ross Harrison, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, explained, "If the regime in Tehran feels threatened, the likelihood of unleashing Hezbollah against Israel and U.S. regional assets increases substantially.”
He continued, "If it faces an existential risk, then Iran may throw caution to the wind and try to deploy Hezbollah to the maximum.”
This would explain why Israel is getting ready for action, as the deadline for Iran is nearing (Trump gave Iran up to 15 days to respond to his proposal for a nuclear deal).
Trump has come under considerable scrutiny for not asking for permission from Congress to conduct attacks, and I am fairly certain that Congress would consider any strike against Iran on this front to be considered a declaration of war, so Trump has to tread carefully here. I would like to think that common sense would prevail and Iran would come to the table, but quite frankly, the country seems as though it is itching to get into a fight with the United States as of late, and I am sure Trump will be more than happy to oblige.
