The Trump administration has conflicting explanations about why it went to war with Iran, with public statements from Trump, Rubio, and senior Pentagon officials contradicting each other, highlighting the shifting justifications for decisions in a short period. On Tuesday, Trump said at the White House that this strike was based on his judgment, believing that if the US and Israel did not act first, Iran would "strike first." He also denied that Netanyahu pressured the US to take action, instead claiming that he might have "pushed them a bit." However, Rubio told reporters at the Capitol the day before that the government "knew Israel would take action" and believed it would "trigger an attack on US forces," leading the Pentagon to deploy actions in advance as a precaution. The report noted that this is the first time that Trump administration officials have so openly linked the cause-effect chain of the US's involvement to Israel's preemptive action, and such statements have sparked divisions within the MAGA faction, especially angering factions that emphasize "America First." This controversy occurs against the backdrop of reports indicating that American public support for Israel is at historically low levels.
The report also stated that since the attack last Saturday, Trump has given different reasons in at least 19 phone interviews, covering regime change and nuclear threats, and mentioned in an ABC interview that Iran allegedly planned to assassinate him in 2024, implying personal factors in the decision-making. Trump also admitted that the worst-case scenario would be a successor as hardline as the slain Khamenei, which was interpreted as indicating an intention for regime change; almost at the same time, Pentagon policy chief Kugler attributed Khamenei's death to "Israeli action," emphasizing that the US objective was to weaken Iran's military capabilities rather than "national reconstruction," and stated that the action would not "go on indefinitely."
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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1858706718210058/
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