{"id":332601,"date":"2026-10-31T06:20:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=332601"},"modified":"2026-10-31T06:43:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:43:47","slug":"senator-briefed-on-trumps-iran-war-plans-warns-of-devastating-escalation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=332601","title":{"rendered":"Senator Briefed on Trump\u2019s Iran War Plans Warns of \u201cDevastating Escalation\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharon Zhang \u2013 Truthout Oct 29, 2026<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with <\/em>a donation<\/em><\/a> of any size.<\/em><\/p>\n

A senator who was briefed on President Donald Trump\u2019s plans to launch intense strikes on Iran after the midterm elections has warned that the attacks are slated to be so horrific that they will lead to the \u201cdestruction\u201d of the U.S.\u2019s \u201ccommitment to the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

At an event hosted by the Middle East Institute<\/a> on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that he was recently in a \u201cfairly detailed\u201d briefing with Pentagon officials about the war plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will just say this: Their plan \u2026 will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan that they have developed will lead, in my view, to a prolonged escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests,\u201d he went on, adding that it would also put the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk when Iran retaliates.<\/p>\n

Murphy said that he couldn\u2019t share details of the plan, but, when asked to elaborate, he pointed to recent reporting on the campaigns that the Pentagon has drawn up on behalf of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported<\/a> that the U.S. has informed Gulf countries that it is prepared for a \u201cshort, intense military campaign\u201d after the election next week. The Pentagon has created plans to strike a wide variety of targets, reports have said<\/a>, including<\/a> Iran\u2019s nuclear energy facilities.<\/p>\n

Trump has reportedly explicitly ordered<\/a> the military to target a large amount of energy infrastructure \u2014 largely considered to be civilian in nature. One plan prepared by the military, CNN<\/em> reported, is for the U.S. to drop the \u201cMother of All Bombs,\u201d the largest conventional weapon by weight in existence, a 21,000-pound bomb with the ability to destroy everything within its massive blast radius.<\/p>\n

The plans, if carried out, may \u201cuse tactics that are even more provocative and dangerous, and potentially violative of international law,\u201d Murphy said \u2014 worsening tactics that the senator acknowledged have already violated the international war guardrails.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery first year law student could tell you that this war is illegal\u201d in the domestic sense, Murphy said. \u201cBut it is also clearly in contravention of international law and commitments that we have made to the rule of law to deliberately target civilians and to use the harm or potential harm of civilians as leverage in war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s comments suggest that Trump is slated to go even further in the illegal war that has already had devastating consequences for Iran\u2019s civilians and economy.<\/p>\n

According to an analysis<\/a> by the National Iranian American Council, U.S.-Israeli strikes have already destroyed or damaged nearly 1,300 schools, 80 energy facilities, and scores of transportation facilities and sites like airports and bridges. The harsh sanctions regime has also ravaged the economy, with over 1 million jobs lost and massive inflation for basic goods like food, even as the value of the rial hits record lows.<\/p>\n

The opening strikes of this war also involved the U.S. bombing<\/a> an elementary school in Minab, Iran, killing over 160 people, including 123 children under 13 years old.<\/p>\n

Trump and his cabinet have repeatedly stoked concerns that they may commit even more heinous war crimes against civilians with the president\u2019s repeated genocidal threats<\/a> to \u201cannihilate\u201d Iran. In his speech to the UN general assembly last month, Trump mused about whether he should \u201cdrive [Iran] into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to concerns of the administration\u2019s wanton disregard for military procedures and briefings to Congress is the Pentagon\u2019s secrecy regarding its ever-shifting operations.<\/p>\n

Murphy noted that, on top of never having sought congressional approval for the war, Pentagon officials have been guarded in private briefings about the war. He said that he gets the sense that, internally, Pentagon officials believe more strikes won\u2019t be effective in achieving the U.S.\u2019s goals \u2014 as previous reports have said<\/a> \u2014 but that they have become more reluctant to voice their disagreements with the military\u2019s top brass under Hegseth when speaking with Congress.<\/p>\n

Indeed, on Wednesday, Hegseth fired the military\u2019s top planner<\/a> just days before strikes could potentially restart. The Pentagon said Hegseth fired Brett Sylvia, the head of strategy, plans, and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accusing him of leaking<\/a> information about Iran and Russia to journalists without providing evidence.<\/p>\n

This is the latest high-level firing by Hegseth, who has also ousted several generals because of reported personal disagreements<\/a> over how the military<\/a> should be run.<\/p>\n

Source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Cenk Uygur reflects on Chris Murphy\u2019s disclosures<\/p>\n

Chris Murphy Reveals HORRIFYING Iran War Plans<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Young Turks \u2013 Oct 30, 2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n