A generational divide over the Iran war has emerged between older attendees and their political heirs at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas, as the group’s leaders pleaded for unity ahead of a challenging midterm election year for Republicans.
Younger conservatives spoke of disappointment and even “betrayal” over Donald Trump’s launch of strikes against Iran, saying that the president’s actions run counter to his many pledges to oppose foreign entanglements.
Meanwhile, older conservatives were looking past Trump’s campaign criticism of military action to topple foreign regimes, arguing the war in Iran is a pragmatic act forced by threats to the US.
Maga anxiety over Iran war on display at CPAC
CPAC is usually a place of optimism, if not triumph. But for the first time in a decade, the president did not attend, apparently consumed with the war in Iran. In his absence, the audience gathered in a cavernous ballroom to hear well-known but less powerful Maga figures debate where their movement was heading. Chief among their concerns is how a president who campaigned on ending wars could find himself mulling a ground invasion of Iran.
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Iran accuses US of plotting ground assault while publicly seeking talks
Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month.
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Lawmakers react to reports Pentagon is preparing for ground operations in Iran
US lawmakers have responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a more dangerous phase.
James Lankford, a Republican senator, told NBC’s Meet the Press he had not ruled out supporting troops on the ground but that “we’ve got to be able to know what the objectives are and what they’re actually carrying out”.
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DHS now longest partial government shutdown in US history
The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the fourth largest agency in the US government, became the longest partial shutdown in US history on Sunday. If the six-week partial shutdown continues after the weekend, it will become the longest of any shutdown, surpassing the impasse late last year that dragged on for 43 days.
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US abortion rate holds steady despite bans, report finds
The abortion rate is holding steady in the US despite total and partial bans in some states – largely because of travel across state lines and a significant increase in telehealth appointments, a new report says.
The number of abortions in the US increased slightly last year,