Friday morning we woke up to the news that we were extremely close to starting a potential war with Iran. Now we know more precisely that we were about 10 minutes away from a major escalation. Donald Trump talked about his plans in a tweet and it raises more questions than it answers. Here’s part of what he said:

We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!

Mideast expert Ilan Goldenberg says, “This is a question you should ask BEFORE authorizing military action.”

Trump didn’t realize UNTIL TEN MINUTES BEFOREHAND that a planned airstrike would kill over a hundred people and would therefore be grossly disproportionate to the loss of a UAV?

To say this is amateur hour would defame amateurs.

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) June 21, 2019

Conservative writer Bill Kristol responded saying:

He’s held the office of president for two and a half years. He has no idea how to behave as president of the United States. He has no idea how to be president of the United States.

The American people & Congress have no idea what is the Iran strategy of @realDonaldTrump, if he even has one.

What are US goals? (Regime change? Or a different nuclear deal?)

Do US actions help those goals? (Can we contain escalation?)

We can't afford amateur hour by @POTUS. https://t.co/XzLEBgirHN

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 21, 2019