War With Iran: Is America Being SETUP Again? // James Li

James Lee | Trusted Newsmaker

Let’s not waste time sugarcoating this: we’re on the brink of another war in the Middle East, and it’s looking more and more like we’re being set up—again. The same playbook that led us into Iraq and Afghanistan is back on the table, dressed up in new language, but with the same old actors pulling the strings.

The narrative is slick. Iran is “weeks away” from building a nuclear weapon. Iran is “a threat to the West.” Iran “must be stopped before Tel Aviv becomes the next Hiroshima.” They’re counting on you being too scared—or too distracted—to question any of it.

But let’s talk facts.

Iran has been “months away” from a bomb for over 30 years. That same clock keeps resetting. Why? Because it’s not about nukes. It’s about leverage. It’s about regime change. It’s about keeping a permanent enemy to justify a permanent war machine. And yet again, the American public is being softened up for a conflict that has nothing to do with our safety, and everything to do with strategic power plays—foreign and domestic.

You’re going to hear a lot about how this isn’t about Israel. That’s a lie. We’re being told that Israel is defending itself, that the strikes are “surgical,” that the intelligence is ironclad. But what’s actually happening is a systematic military campaign across half a dozen countries, ignited after October 7th and expanding ever since—with Iran now in the crosshairs.

And behind all of this is Netanyahu, a man cornered by his own corruption trials, desperately clinging to power the same way leaders always have—by invoking existential threats and calling for national unity. War is his way out. And just like Bush needed his war to escape political failure, Bibi’s banking on the same gamble: that fear can drown out accountability.

And here’s the real kicker—Israel already has nuclear weapons. They’ve never admitted it, but the world knows. And unlike Iran, they’re not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Unlike Iran, they’ve assassinated nuclear scientists. Unlike Iran, they’ve made sure every U.S. president since the ’90s quietly signed agreements not to touch their program. We can’t even talk about it in official channels without sparking diplomatic chaos.

But go ahead, tell me again who the real threat is.

Meanwhile, back home, our leaders are playing dumb. Pretending diplomacy is still on the table. Pretending they haven’t already signed off on this campaign. Pretending there’s still a chance to “contain the situation.” It’s all theater. We’re being managed, not informed.

And the media? Don’t even get me started. Same recycled pundits. Same fear-stoking graphics. Same dead-eyed anchors reading from cue cards written by Pentagon press officers. You’re going to start seeing chatter about “unprovoked attacks,” “terror plots,” and “preemptive Israeli strikes” meant to keep you primed and pliable. Don’t fall for it. The manipulation is never direct—it’s a slow burn. They just need you disoriented enough to go along.

But here’s the good news: this isn’t 2002. We have something we didn’t have back then—each other. Independent voices, podcasts, social media, a decentralized truth-telling network that they can’t fully control. And while they’ll call it conspiracy or “misinformation,” it’s often the only place where sanity survives.

So here’s my plea: if you feel that familiar tension in your gut, if you remember how it felt watching “shock and awe” play out on live television only to find out we’d been sold a war on lies—don’t ignore it. Speak up. Share dissent. Question everything. Because if we don’t, the war machine will roll over us just like it did last time, only this time with even higher stakes.

America doesn’t need another war. It needs honesty. It needs accountability. It needs a break from this endless cycle of imperial gaslighting.