“Biden says he’s decided how to respond to deadly attack on US forces in Jordan.” I realize I’m the guy who often grumbles that the president doesn’t do press conferences or sit-down interviews anymore, but I concur with the assessment that this makes President Biden sound like he’s on The Bachelor. “Let’s see which Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ammunition dump or fuel depot gets a rose!” Instead of telegraphing that a U.S. response is coming to the Iranians and the world, the U.S. should respond and explain the retaliation concurrently or afterward.

As discussed on today’s Three Martini Lunch podcast, yesterday deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said during a briefing, “We certainly don’t seek a war, and frankly, we don’t see Iran wanting to seek a war with the United States.” As Bill Clinton would say, it depends on what the definition of “war” is. Because Iran-backed militants from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched a drone attack at a U.S. base in northeast Jordan, near the Syrian border, that killed three U.S. Army reservists. Having your proxy groups launch attacks that kill our forces sure sounds an awful lot like wanting a war.