The head of DOJ’s counterterrorism section has been — instead of countering terrorism — part of Trump’s useless National Guard deployment in DC. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

And, to extend on both the Powell rule and something @profsaunders.bsky.social alluded to early in her thread, the elimination of USAID means that in a post-war stabilization and reconstruction world, the USG has thrown away one of its primary (if not THE primary) toolboxes.

Needless to say, I couldn’t agree more. Every day is like shouting into the void, but we have to keep making these points. Everyone spent years talking about how important the 3Ds were to America power. And it evaporated in the blink of an eye.

In the fire hose of Trump craziness over the last year, it’s easy to forget many of the details. Here is a great summary:

I TOO WOULD LIKE TO SHOUT THIS OUT.

Great thread that really points to the major problems (mostly self-inflicted) with the US diplomatically. More & more, there is the sense that the US GOP is in some sort of fantasy land and magical thinking that should cosign that party to uncredible ash instead of cosplaying masculinity.

Whatever happens, even miraculous Venezuela-like stability in Iran and/or Cuba, the end of US diplomacy as we knew it weakens the US. Diplomacy is a tool of power, we had the best, and we blew it up deliberately. These waters are plenty charted, and they are full of icebergs. 15/15

🧵 MAGA arson: the deliberate burning down the US State Department, diplomatic capacity, and international credibility (15/15)

This. THIS, dammit.

Excellent analysis of what the gutting of the State Department and Trump's impulsiveness has cost us now,and will continue to reverberate in the future.

Must-read thread.

If you're finding it difficult to follow and keep track of the dizzying sequence of US interventions (and implosions) around the world, spend a few minutes with this thread to get back up to speed. A good reminder, too, that for all the bluster, the USA is MUCH weaker today than it was a year ago.

This thread as a single page: skywriter.blue/@profsaunder...

And when any news outlets write about the Trump/Rubio killing of US diplomacy, they better use ACTIVE VOICE.

🧵Feels like shouting into the void, but it is essential to note that the Trump/Rubio gutting of the State Department and blowtorching of US diplomatic capacity and credibility is an accelerant to this spiraling war and will seriously undercut US/allied efforts to pick up the pieces after. 1/

It really, really does not work anywhere close to this way.

Believe what he says. We are on a regime-change spree.

Paging @profdownes.bsky.social

CNN Dana Bash talked to Trump about Iran's next leader: "He said, 'It's going to work like it did in Venezuela. We have a wonderful leader there. She's doing a fantastic job, and it's gonna work like that.'"

This is not good.

Meanwhile, Hormuz not opening any time soon

And no diplomatic capacity to mitigate any of it.

Our policy toward Ukraine is not only shameful but also very, very stupid.

Quite the headline from People.com people.com/trump-says-i...

She did NOT

Yes, he means it.

[Exit Murderer.]

The US have effectively told allies that they will use their diplomatic efforts as cover for military strikes, which does create a number of potential challenges for trying to end the war, or any other diplomatic activity for that matter.

Neither did Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat.

i really don't think Hegseth realized the diplomatic consequences of that strike

President Zelenskyy: In three days, Middle Eastern countries have fired 800 missiles for Patriot systems - a number Ukraine has never even had.

Leave how??????

These are all answers given by trump and his various sycophants in the last five days to the question, "why are we doing this?"

This isn't getting any less true as the war goes on...

I would love to have the answer to this question: besides the in-person meeting with Merz, and presumably calls with Netanyahu, what diplomatic outreach at relatively high levels is the US govt doing to manage escalation and plan for regional stability (of any sort) after the war? I'll wait.

The unfolding of a dark spring:

Not to mention the catastrophic loss of life and potential refugee crisis.

At the risk of sounding repetitive: holy fucking shit

“.. Sounds a little bit like President Lyndon Johnson going into Vietnam, doesn’t it?” the [GOP] lawmaker said. @politico.com www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

🧵 #unforeseenepicfuries

I’d add Russian cans o’ worms — all of Trump’s wars are “good, but…” for Putin. Central Asian worms — they’ve all been balancing between RF, PRC, Middle East, and this makes it a lot harder. During the tanker war, Japan and Europe were most dependent on Mideast oil. Are they still? I don’t know.

"The only limits on what we can do is President Trump's desire to achieve specific goals" (paraphrasing what Hegseth said): this is completely at odds with how responsible people think about the use of military power in the service of strategic goals and with realism in the literal sense.

🧵Cans of Worms possibly opened by Trump's war of choice in Iran, a running list: (not exhaustive, with the caveat that I am not an expert on the region so these are questions from a US foreign policy perspective, please add others) 1/?

"They are toast," "I liken the Iranian military to a football team," "POTUS got him twice" (sunk the Soleimani), "we are fighting to win," "minus Paul Bremer and the nation-building" "sure, Iran will still be able to launch some missiles" (at civilians, embassies, he says)...

It’s being said a lot that the shadow of Iraq is hanging over Keir Starmer and the Labour Party during this Iran crisis. It absolutely should. What’s remarkable is how little much of the British media and the rest of politics seem to be thinking about it at all, or learning its lessons.

Had to Google it, but Starmer actually opposed the Iraq War, specifically citing its illegality.

This cartoonishly childish Hegseth persona is an insult to the American military, the American people, the Iranian people, and just about everybody affected by this war. It is absolutely incredible, in the literal sense, that this man is at the hinge of the chain of command in this spiraling war.

Not enough reporting on the fact that Netanyahu’s government goal of making Iran a failed /crippled state isn’t in the interest of the USA and its Gulf Allies.

Macron, who if nothing else has an intuition on when European solidarity is needed, has already called Sanchez in support today: