Summary
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta warned that Trump’s return to the White House could embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him a “blank check” in the Middle East and increasing the risk of war with Iran.
Panetta expressed concern that Trump would support Netanyahu’s aggressive stance against Iran without restraint, potentially worsening regional instability.
Panetta also predicted Trump might allow Russia to retain parts of Ukraine if he returns to office, though he doubted Trump’s negotiation skills.
He criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy, suggesting Trump would be inclined to “capitulate” to authoritarian leaders, which may not sit well with some Republicans.
Realistically: Less than 11.
Armchair: 3 or 4.
Trump’s people seem eager to turn this into an open regional conflict with direct US action and boots on the ground. Once that happens we are cruising towards a world war, and no one will even be thinking of Gaza any more.
Edit to be clear: I’m not minimizing what’s happening in gaza. It’s terrible. But it can get a whole lot worse.
I’m not trying to come across as rude…but have you been living under a rock? How on earth is what’s going on currently a 3 or a 4? There’s literally an extermination campaign in Northern Gaza where Israel is executing everyone they see and routinely attacking the only functioning hospital left. And I’m saying function VERY loosely. Not to mention all the attacks they do kn the rest of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, or the regional escalations with Iran.
It’s already at 11.
Yeah it’s about to go region wide. Many 10s of millions more will be in active combat zones. What we have now is just a primer.
Edit As a highwater, Israel flirts with nuking Iran if they become nuclear capable.
The actions that led to it becoming region wide happened under the Biden administration. The ongoing genocide is happening under the Biden administration. Biden gave Israel virtually unlimited arms and funding to perform all these actions. The middle east is a powder keg right now and whether or not Trump won would have been irrelevant. It’s about to blow.
Bidens admin has tried to maintain the status quo. They wish things could go back to say, 2019 status or so. It’s still shitty, it’s still unjust for Palestine’s innocent, but there isn’t a full world war happening.
Trump’s team wants to get actively involved. They want to go far beyond the status quo. They don’t think what is happening today is enough. They want open war with Iran and it’s satellites. They want Palestine depopulated and to rebuild vacation condos in its place.
I get it you think it’s really bad now. I agree.
But we are about to get someone actively hoping to make it worse. More, more, more.
We stopped being status quo months ago. This is not normal. Biden had the power to make it go back to normal with a single phone call. Israel is America’s proxy, not the other way around.
The genocide in Gaza is currently underway. So what’s worse than a genocide? I’m honestly asking here. How does it get worse than this? Keep in mind there’s also the war with Lebanon and the escalations with Iran to talk about as well.
A wider genocide. A nuclear war. American soldiers actively involved, essentially another iraq war. A US administration not seeking the relative calm of the past but a 2025 with NO Palestine, no Iran, no Yemen.
With all that Israel has been emboldened do you honestly believe they will stop with Gaza? What do you think their incursions into the West Bank or Lebanon have been about?
I’ve never claimed that.
The implication is that 11 is as bad as it gets. Unless you’re like a hundred, you’ve never seen 11. It can get so so worse.
Yes, people are dying. And it’s horrible. But acting as though this is the worst it’s ever been or will ever be is laughable.
Israel is currently committing a genocide in Gaza with zero intention of stopping. Where do you go to be worse than genocide?
A genocide and a war with another country, which they’d probably like to turn into a genocide as well?
There’s also a whole other population of Palestinians they’ve barely started genociding. Are you saying it’d be no worse if they started killing off people in the West Bank in the same way?
They’ve started incursions and attacks into the West Bank already. And they’re already invading Lebanon with regular strikes on Syria. They’ve also repeatedly escalated the conflict with Iran as well. All you say that will happen under Trump has already been happening under Biden.
So you’re saying it can get worse?
I’m saying it’s already getting worse. The escalations have already been happening.