Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain
Feb 18, 2026
A former senior U.S. intelligence official who is an informal advisor to the Trump administration on Middle East policy told Drop Site that, based on his discussions with current officials, he assesses an 80-90% likelihood of U.S. strikes within weeks.
Iran realizes that it is facing an unprecedented threat from the U.S. if a deal that conforms with Trump’s terms is not reached, former Pentagon official Jasmine El-Gamal told Drop Site. “This is not a dress rehearsal,” she said. “This is it. This is not the negotiations of last year or the year before or the year before that. They’re backed into a corner. There’s no off ramp.”
Let’s circle back on this later. I feel like we are simply dealing with completely different facts (Iran landed a hit on Mossad HQ, in the middle of downtown Tel Aviv). Let’s see what happens after Trump bombs Iran. Hoping it never happens!
I also ‘hope’ it doesn’t happen but i assume it will happen tonight once wall-street closes…