Tend to agree with 123 on this one. Trump and his administration have both made seemingly contradictory statements about the cause of the initial strike but it does seem that US Intel was that Israel were planning their own operation and that the response from Iran would very likely be to attack not just Israel but also Israeli allies, including, of course, US bases and facilities in the area. Trump then decided to get in first to limit such attacks. Netanyahu has come out and denied that he could possibly influence Trump (leaning into the Orange One's vanity by declaring him the greatest and most powerful world leader in the process) but I think most of us know that he is also a lose cannon when it comes to making his own decisions.

I don't think many would mourn the extremist clerical regime in Iran-including very many of its own people-and Iran poses very real terrorist threats to Western nations and fears around them developing nuclear capabilities are certainly not unfounded but Starmer is making the point that regime change should not come from the skies and that lessons should be learnt from Iraq.

Trump didn't go to Congress as he should have done before declaring war and so he has breached both US and international law. The US liberal late night tv shows of Kimmel, Stewart and Colbert, whilst all acknowledging the genuine danger Iran poses, were also all full of clips of Trump making contrary statements about Iran over the last few years. If you think the tool makers son makes too many U-turns, you should watch those!

Moreover, Trump seems to have no idea whatsoever as to what follows next, how long this now very regional war in the Middle East will last or how stability could be gained. Heggseth promised no more "woke" wars, no more long term US involvement in "nation building" in other countries as Trump himself fluctuated between talking of it being all done in 3-4 weeks and then talking of US military might being able to support the conflict indefinitely (whilst getting a dig in at Biden for allowing too many higher spec US weapons to be used by Ukraine against best buddy Vlad).

In the meantime, yes, legitimate military and terrorist targets are being hit, but so are increasing numbers of innocent civilians. No-one seems to know what will happen now that this has been ignited, let alone Trump. I believe that Starmer is only trying to put the UK on the right side of this.