10/22/26: Troops Evacuated Amid Iran Escalation, Prof Pape ON Trump's Iran Gamble, AI Cybersecurity Nightmare

In the past 48 hours, a cascading set of developments has pushed the United States and Iran to the brink of a renewed war, while a separate, AI-amplified cybersecurity vulnerability has been described as the most serious in history, threatening up to 70% of the world’s websites. The hosts of Breaking Points walk through the evidence: U.S. troops and diplomats are evacuating parts of the Middle East, the Israeli Air Force conducted a massive probing exercise near Iran’s border, and the New York Times reports that U.S. and Israeli planners have drawn up a short but intensive three-day bombing campaign targeting Iranian energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile arsenals. The White House denies planning strikes before the November midterms but does not deny that Israel might act. Meanwhile, Iran’s top security official, General Raissi, told Dropsite News that Tehran believes a strike may come before the midterms and that Iran has new targets in its sights—including civilian infrastructure and data centers in Gulf states that support the U.S. war effort. Brent crude oil spiked to $112 per barrel, and Saudi Aramco told employees at its Dhahran facilities to work from home after a drone strike killed two foreign nationals at an oil field.

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