BULLETIN - NEO-CON DON BOMBS IRAN - WE ARE AT WAR - 2.28.26

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Countdown with Keith Olbermann

Episode: BULLETIN - NEO-CON DON BOMBS IRAN - WE ARE AT WAR
Date: February 28, 2026
Host: Keith Olbermann
Producer: iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this urgent "Countdown Bulletin" episode, Keith Olbermann delivers a scathing, real-time summary and analysis of former President Donald Trump’s unilateral bombing campaign against Iran. Olbermann examines the grave constitutional, moral, and geopolitical implications as the assault unfolds, denouncing Trump’s actions as dictatorial and reckless. He frames the attack as not just a military crisis, but a historic violation of American democracy, warning that it risks spiraling into a wider Middle Eastern war.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Trump Declares War on Iran Without Congress

[02:32 - 04:31]

• Olbermann opens by breaking the news that Trump, without congressional approval, has launched strikes on Iran (including civilians and government targets) and that Israel has joined the assault.

• He sharply criticizes Trump:

  "Trump is thus now acting as a dictator, a military dictator of the United States... we are not at war. Trump is at war against Iran." – Keith Olbermann [03:24]

• Olbermann likens Trump’s illegal military action to dictatorial behavior and suggests it’s motivated more by personal political gain than national security concerns.

The Neo-Con "Wet Dream" Realized

[04:31 – 08:06]

• The host contextualizes Trump’s attack as the fulfillment of decades-long neoconservative ambitions dating back to the 1980s.
• He criticizes Congress for abandoning its war-declaring authority and points out that the attack was launched during a major U.S. news "dead zone" (overnight Friday/Saturday morning).
• Olbermann predicts escalation, noting embassies across the Middle East have told staff to shelter in place and that explosions are reported in Abu Dhabi.
• He accuses Trump of hypocrisy, referencing his past promises to support Iranian protesters but failing to act previously.
• Commentary on the reckless motivations behind the war:

  “Never forget that this war was begun because 35% Trump approval, because Epstein files, because economic collapse, because midterms. Never for a moment forget Trump has done this to keep a diseased, delusional criminal in power himself.” – Keith Olbermann [07:50]

The Hypocrisy of Trump and His Supporters

[08:06 – 11:28]

• Olbermann draws parallels to the Bush-era invasion of Iraq, but asserts that Trump’s motives are even more cynical.
• He dedicates a segment to quoting Trump and his allies’ own past anti-war and anti-neocon statements, exposing stark hypocrisy.
  • Notable Quotes:

    “Thousands of our great soldiers have died or been badly wounded. Millions of people have died on the other side. Going into the Middle East is the

Transcript

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[Keith Olbermann]

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a production of iHeartRadio. This is a Countdown Bulletin podcast. I'm Keith Olbermann. While you were sleeping, Trump illegally and unconstitutionally declared war on Iran. He began to bomb its cities, including Tehran and its parliament and its Security Council and its military targets and its schools and its ordinary civilians and its militia allies in neighboring Iraq. Israel has joined in this assault. To quote Martin Sheen as the president in the dead zone, the missiles are flying. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To quote Trump to President Zelensky, you are playing with World War Three. Trump has called it a war, used the term war repeatedly, and inanely told Iranians to stay inside their homes, which this country is bombing. It is war. He is calling it war, and yet he has sought no congressional approval. And Trump is thus now acting as a dictator, a military dictator of the United States. At this moment, we are not at war. Trump is at war against Iran because apparently that FIFA Peace Prize just doesn't mean anything anymore.

[Military/War Supporter]

The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we're doing this not for now, we're doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission. We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear armed Iran.

[Keith Olbermann]

I will add, if it was not clear to you there, he sounds like shit. In realizing the decades old wet dream of the neocons and Donald Trump now is officially the most neocon of all the neocons we have ever had. In realizing the decades old wet dream of the neocons who have wanted to blow up Iran since at least 1980, if not since the January before that, when the shah we put there in the 50s was chased out, Trump also fulfilled yet another neocon fantasy. By the custom of decades of presidents acting just a little bit more like medieval kings than the previous president did, Congress has let its exclusive right to enact war lapse, even though Congress still insists it still has the exclusive right to call it a war. Now this too is gone. The Israeli military says dozens of Iranian targets have been hit. This was all well before sunrise on the American east coast, thus making it not just that the war began in the ultimate possible news dump window overnight Friday in the U.S. saturday morning, on the other hand, is the beginning of the work week in Iran. Good morning. That this could explode into another multiple country carnage in the Middle east, just as the last multiple country carnage in the Middle east was beginning to wind down. That was underscored when staff at the U.S. embassies in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates were notified overnight and instructed to shelter in place. And oh, by the way, all the civilians in those countries were also so instructed. Better add Iraq to that list and soon enough. Israel explosions have already been heard in Abu Dhabi. You will recall last July, Trump claimed to have obliterated Iran's capacity to stage nuclear and ballistic conflicts with the same certainty expressed when he explained that he had been vindicated and exonerated in the Epstein files. Trump previously promised to defend the protesters seeking freedom in Iran, and when the Iranian dictatorship slaughtered thousands of them off the streets, he did nothing. Now American lives will be lost alongside theirs, as he said in the sound bite that you heard. Not his life, not the lives of anybody he knows, just ordinary American servicemen and women who were sent there because there is no force willing to even protest loudly this greatest of all the constitutional violations by any president in our history. Remember at all times that even if Trump was telling the truth about Iran last summer, there is no strategic value to this move that is worth the risk of wider escalation of war in the Middle East. Never forget that this war was begun because 35% Trump approval, because Epstein files, because economic collapse, because midterms. Never for a moment forget Trump has done this to keep a diseased, delusional criminal in power himself. I do not feel I have to,

[Anti-War Commentator]

like last time with Bush in Iraq,

[Keith Olbermann]

have to lead any of the protests against Trump's insanity. Here I have the words of others to quote others who have warned for years what war in Iran would mean to quote and I have had them at hand all this time to quote

[Anti-War Commentator]

and I will now quote them.

[Keith Olbermann]

The United states has spent $8 trillion fighting and policing in the Middle East.

[Anti-War Commentator]

Thousands of our great soldiers have died

[Keith Olbermann]

or been badly wounded.

[Anti-War Commentator]

Millions of people have died on the other side. Going into the Middle east is the

[Keith Olbermann]

worst decision ever made

[Anti-War Commentator]

said by Donald Trump. President Donald Trump October 9, 2019 also quote to anyone still gullible enough to fall for scummy media hoaxes. Trump said warmongering neocons love sending your kids to die for wars they would never fight themselves. Liz Cheney is Kamala's top advisor. Liz wants to invade the whole Middle East. Kamala Equals World War 3. Trump equals PE the pocket Nosferatu. Stephen Miller November 1, 20244 months ago and quote a vote for Kamala Harris is A vote for Dick Cheney and a vote for war, war and more war. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote to end wars, not start them. We are at a historic crossroads. Our God given rights are under attack. Now is the time for us to stand together for love of country and Trump to get us back on the path to peace, freedom and prosperity. That from the Einstein of ballot box seizures. Tulsi Gabbard October 28, 2024 and then this Whitman's sampler of warnings against our newly christened war in Iran. Don't let Obama play the Iran card. In order to start a war in order to get elected. Be careful Republicans. Donald Trump October 22, 2012 Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly. Not skilled. Donald Trump November 10, 2013 in order to get elected, Barack Obama will start a war with Iran. Donald Trump November 29, 2011 Remember what I previously said? Obama will someday attack Iran in order to show how tough he is. Donald Trump September 25, 2013 and one more inarguable argument against what Donald Trump has done while you were sleeping from 2011, you may recognize the voice of the speaker.

[Military/War Supporter]

Our President will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He's weak and he's ineffective. So the only way he figures that he's going to get reelected and as sure as you're sitting there is to start a war with Iran.

[Keith Olbermann]

And I'll correct the timing on the Stephen Miller quote. It only feels like two months ago. It was in fact 14. In conclusion, I will say this much on behalf of George W. Bush.

[Anti-War Commentator]

We all knew the moment he took

[Keith Olbermann]

the oath that he was going to pointlessly, recklessly, senselessly start bombing the Middle east and would have no way out and we would be there a decade. It was the family business. Daddy had already done it. It was the plan. It was so much the Bush family plan that a world turning event like 911 was simply retrofitted into the plan and made secondary to the plan. Trump, he just did this. He just lied to save his fat ass. We are invading Iran because it turned out invading Minnesota was insufficient to keep Trump in power. We are invading Iran because we have always been at war with East Asia. Iran. We are invading Iran because Pete Hegseth has spent 13 months as the Secretary of Brilcream and he finally came up with a name for it. Operation Epic Fury. And as the next days and weeks or months or years or decades unfold, weeks of forced patriotism and Lindsey Graham coming close to an aneurysm, but not quite close enough. Weeks or more in which we might even see cadet bone spurs in a big round hard military hat like the North Koreans wear. Or at least new khaki colored baseball caps or maybe khaki colored makeup for his hands to cover up whatever it is he's dying of this time. A final, final thought. You know what would be right and just, just now we should have our new war in Iran christened overnight, fought by our newest patriotic, triumphant, flag waving, unbeatable brave American heroes who so inspired us in the week past at the State of the Union, the Olympic winning US Hockey team. Over to you General Tkachuk. This has been a Countdown Bulletin podcast. I'm Keith Ulberman. Countdown with Keith Ulberman is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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