The Unspoken Vows, 59th Day of Childwinter,526 M.E. (Electra): If you're 22 or younger, you've never lived in a time when the United States wasn't in some intractable war or another in the Middle East. Your whole life. War. The Middle East.

I'm truly sorry. I hope you find peace in your lifetime. 

Last night, the Stable Genius launched a bombing campaign against Iran, an unauthorized act of war and the very kind of action he campaigned against in 2024. His team of cracker-jack negotiators, i.e., his son-in-law and a real-estate partner, couldn't complete a treaty (or as he puts it, "a deal") with the Iranians fast enough to distract from the Epstein affair, so he turned his black-out drunk Secretary of Defense loose on a sovereign nation. The first military act, reportedly, was bombing a school for girls, because if that isn't a strategic target, what is?

"Everywhere in the world they hurt little girls.” - Cersei Lannister  

The war, without congressional authorization, approval, or even notification, is obviously illegal, although to my thinking, no war is moral or justified. Today, Israel announced that the bombing has killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been in power for over 35 years.

I am no fan of Iran's or of Khamenei, but if we've learned anything in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria, it's that taking out authoritarians without a clear and imminent successor in place creates a dangerous power vacuum. Despite his title, the Ayatollah was "Supreme Leader" in name only - I understand that the Revolutionary Guard really runs the country, and with Khamenei gone, I expect various generals to start competing for dominance. Warlords and regional leaders will try to seize power, and terrorist organizations like ISIS will be able to flourish in the chaos.

The Stable Genius' reckless actions will have long karmic consequences and the whole world will pay a stiff price for many years to come.

War never changes. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons area always purely human ones. The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth. Spain built an empire based on its lust for gold and territory. Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower. But war, war never changes.