President Trump was at it again Thursday morning, issuing threats on Iran that nobody (least of all Iranians) could take seriously and likening the coming days of combat to the easy triumph in Venezuela, a comparison that he has made many times before, though even he should have detected its fallacy long ago.

His entire comment, which he posted on Truth Social at 8:22 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, is worth quoting and parsing:

The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT. At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT. At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela, which is working out brilliantly for both Venezuela and the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Let’s take this post claim by claim and threat by threat.

“The United States will be hitting Iran … VERY HARD TONIGHT.” To what end is unclear. If hitting more than 13,000 targets in 39 days of massive bombardment failed to bring Iran’s leaders to their knees, and if firing an additional 49 Tomahawk cruise missiles earlier this week had no effect (other than committing a war crime,........

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