ArchitectGuy on Israel

WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Diminishing Risk of an Iran Attack
Marc Gustafson
February 22, 2026

Early one Saturday morning two years ago, I stood outside President Biden’s house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with intelligence that Iran was about to launch an unprecedented
missile barrage at Israel. The stakes felt enormous, yet I hesitated before waking him. My concern was that the region would spiral into chaos. Many of my friends were stationed at bases that could become
targets. Working at the Central Intelligence Agency in the post-9/11 era, I had long worried about Iran and the possibility that a U.S. misstep would spark chaos. A lot has changed in two years. The risk of regional war has greatly diminished. Several factors have put the regime on its heels…READ MORE

IT’S NOON IN ISRAEL
Operation Irani Freedom?
Amit Segal
February 19, 2026

…There are serious indications that a strike is coming. Senator Lindsey Graham said today that the decision to attack has “already been made.” As for when, we still don’t know. But it’s always entertaining to watch headlines outrun developments. In the space of the last week we’ve seen stories racing toward a negotiated deal, only to pivot 180 degrees and sprint toward declarations of imminent attack. But the buildup in the Middle East reveals more about the scale than the schedule. Despite the escalation with Iran seemingly flowing from the abduction of Maduro in January, the next strike will not be another small-scale, pinpoint operation. More than a hundred fighter aircraft are already in the region—including, but not limited to, forty-eight F-16s, twelve F-22s, eighteen F-35s, six E-3G Sentry AWACS aircraft, and roughly forty refueling planes. READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM As the US eyes Iran showdown, how far should it go? It is clear that militarily, Iran is not capable of challenging the United States militarily. The US, then, must answer one basic question: What does success look like, and at what cost?

JPOST ‘Hundreds of strikes per day’: Former CENTCOM deputy says US can wipe out Islamic Regime in hours The massive accumulation of US military assets in the Middle East is not merely a show of force but a signal that the United States has the capacity to dismantle the Iranian regime’s power structure in a matter of hours, according to Vice Admiral (Ret.) Bob Harward, former deputy commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM)...However, the most significant shift in strategy concerns the regime’s internal grip on power. Harward suggested that a campaign would target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the instruments used to oppress the Iranian people, rather than the national infrastructure.

JEWISH INSIDER Lahov Harkov: ‘Don’t change your weekend plans,’ experts say amid media frenzy over possible Iran strikes Experts tell JI that despite the constant flow of reports that Trump favors a military response as talks with Iran falter, an American strike and Iranian retaliation against Israel are likely not imminent

FRONT PAGE MAG Khameini the Psychopath: Profile of a madman. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not merely a clerical strongman; he is the living embodiment of a theocratic delusion that has wreaked havoc across the Middle East for more than four decades. As Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran — the ultimate authority over the state, the military and the Revolutionary Guard — he blends absolute religious conviction with ruthless political power, creating a toxic worldview that is both messianic and merciless. At the core of Khamenei’s psyche is an obsession with divine mission. As leader of Iran’s Shiite Twelver sect — a branch of Islam that venerates the succession of twelve imams as God’s appointed guides — Khamenei perpetuates the notion that he is not just a political ruler but a spiritual commander.