America is on the brink of a full-scale war with Iran — but no one is willing to say exactly why, including the occupant of the Oval Office. 

But there are clues. 

The U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is en route from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East. It should arrive there within days. The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three guided-missile destroyers are already there. 

As the world’s largest armada assembles near Iran, a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran has just concluded, apparently without getting anywhere. Meanwhile, Tehran is conducting military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial choke point for the world’s oil.

Americans have never had exceedingly long attention spans, but the last year of Trump “flooding the zone” has further shortened them. To refresh memories: 

In late June, Trump claimed that U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites had been “a spectacular military success” and that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.” He told reporters that “Iran’s not going to have a nuclear weapon. I think it’s the last thing on their mind right now.”

Nearly six months later, in early January,........

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