Talks hang on the same issues, nuclear stockpiles, sanctions, and mistrust.
Four Things
The Wal Street Journal reports Iran Talks Bog Down Over Nuclear Program and Sanctions Relief. That’s only two. The biggest issues are mistrust and warmonger meddling.
Progress toward a deal to end the war with Iran slowed Monday as the two sides dug in over references to the country’s nuclear program and financial relief for Tehran, mediators said.
The slowdown followed a weekend that began with President Trump and other administration officials saying a deal was close and ended with Trump saying he wouldn’t rush to conclude an agreement that wasn’t right.
After the initial reports of the deal surfaced, Trump came under criticism from more hawkish members of his party who worried an agreement could open the Strait of Hormuz and ease the financial pressure on Iran’s regime but leave its nuclear program intact.
“The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” Trump said early Monday on social media, blasting his Republican and Democratic critics as knowing nothing about the deal under negotiation.
The two sides are working toward a memorandum of understanding that would end the fighting and lift constraints on shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz over 30 days while setting the stage for talks about Iran’s nuclear program in a second phase. Relief from sanctions would depend on progress, a senior U.S. administration official said Sunday.
The U.S. is seeking clearer commitments from Iran about its nuclear program up front, while Iranian negotiators are pressing for details from the U.S. about relief from sanctions and asset freezes, mediators said.
Gulf countries also broadly support the effort, though they worry the U.S. could disengage before security concerns raised by Iran’s bombardment of the region during the war are addressed.
Israel is also concerned the U.S. could do a deal that would ease the economic and military pressure on Tehran and tie its hands, particularly in its fight against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
Israel is pressing its American contacts and publicly via the media for a tougher deal with more commitments from Iran, a person familiar with the matter said.
War Hawk Meddling
Benjamin Netanyahu does not want a deal.
Neither does Senator Lindsey Graham, unless they are extremely one sided.
But let’s return to mistrust.
No Iranian Commitments
Cancelled Talks
BREAKING: Iran’s Foreign Ministry now officially confirms that no Iranian nuclear commitments and uranium handover exist or will exist in any draft agreement with the US, calling all reports that claim otherwise a “pure lie,” making further talks pointless due to the US insistence on this issue.
Based on that issue, the statement declares “we are not signing any agreement with the US” and “no one can claim we are close to reaching an agreement.” Iran separately stated to Tasnim they are now on the verge of “cancelling” the negotiations completely.
Institutionalized Vacillation
“US policymaking suffers from institutionalized vacillation. Positions flip within hours. You get contradictory viewpoints back to back. That kills any negotiation.”
Lindsey Graham and Netanyahu do not want a deal. Graham convinced Trump to pressure all of the countries to sign the Abrams Accord.
Iran Seeks Guarantees from China
Iran Beating Trump on Art of the Deal
“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have.”
That was the principle Donald Trump (or his ghostwriter) set out in The Art of the Deal, published in 1987. Perhaps Trump should have re-read his own book before posting on April 5: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
The grim reality is that, in the talks to end the war, it is Tehran that has had the leverage. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz put intense pressure on the global economy. As petrol prices have risen in America, so Trump’s opinion poll ratings have plummeted. The result is that, at the time of writing, the US seemed poised to agree to a deal that — over the long term — threatens to leave Iran in a stronger position than before this war began.
Trump has insisted that he is in no hurry and would never accept a bad agreement. But the reaction of hawkish Republicans to the emerging deal was telling. Senator Ted Cruz suggested that it could be a “disastrous mistake” because it would leave Iran “able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz”. Senator Roger Wicker, head of the Senate armed services committee, warned that the emerging deal “would not be worth the paper it is written on”.
Eli Groner, a former director-general of Netanyahu’s office, argues that the knowledge that Iran can now close the Strait of Hormuz at any point in the future “is a victory far deeper and more strategic than any point-scoring military achievement”. His one-word summary was: “Disaster.”
As Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, observed on X: “Iran has gained significant leverage for the future by demonstrating it can control the strait, by attacking its neighbours and US bases in the region and causing significant damage, and by taking the United States’ and Israel’s best punch and surviving.”
Shapiro believes that, nonetheless, Trump is so boxed in that accepting a bad deal that opens the strait would be a better option than continuing the war.
Trump’s occasional threats to unleash “Hell” on the Iranian regime lacked credibility — because of his obvious reluctance to get involved in a ground war and because of the danger of Iranian retaliation against the Gulf states and their energy infrastructure.
In the jargon of military analysts the vulnerability of the Gulf gave Iran “escalation dominance”. The US president — who compares himself obsessively with former president Barack Obama — liked to deride the nuclear deal that the Obama administration reached with Iran in 2015. Trump has called it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into” and claimed: “Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran.”
But Trump himself is now negotiating an agreement that looks, in many respects, worse than the one Obama negotiated — partly because of the lurking knowledge that Iran can still close the Strait of Hormuz, any time it wants. That is some achievement from the master of the art of the deal.
Dan Shapiro – Former US Ambassador to Israel
Full Shapiro Comments
With all due caveats about a deal that has not been announced yet, some thoughts:
The US-Iran deal being described in the news is a weak deal, and the net result of this war is significant damage to US strategic interests. That said, since the war was a mistake from the beginning, we can at least be thankful it appears President Trump is moving, belatedly, to end it.
This war was ill-conceived in every respect. There were no clear strategic objectives, and no way to achieve most of the objectives mentioned at an acceptable cost.
After the Strait of Hormuz was closed, and the global economic crisis started to spread, reopening it became the most important objective. That meant Iran had far greater leverage than we did.
So President Trump faced only terrible options, of his own making. The deal being reported is among the less terrible options he could have chosen. At least he is not choosing to escalate the war, which would cause an even greater global economic crisis.
The least terrible deal would have been a verified opening of the Strait — and nothing else. Keep full sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, maintain watchfulness and deterrence established in the 12-Day War last June, and try to negotiate a significant rollback of the program and intrusive inspections.
This deal is weaker than that. It reportedly provides $25 billion in unfrozen assets without receiving any concessions on the nuclear program. That money will give the regime a lifeline and help it begin restoring funding to its proxies. And there are no guarantees that Iran will make meaningful concessions on enrichment or HEU once those talks do start.
Those talks, which will likely drag on, may well take place without a credible US military threat backing them up, as the United States labors to recover from all it expended and lost in this campaign and shore up other strategic priorities (IndoPacific) that have been set back, and as US midterm elections approach.
Meanwhile, the deal says nothing about Iran’s ballistic missile program or its support for proxies. Yes, US and Israeli strikes degraded, but did not eliminate, many Iranian attack capabilities. But overall, Iran has gained significant leverage for the future by demonstrating it can control the strait, by attacking its neighbors and US bases in the region and causing significant damage, and by taking the United States’ and Israel’s best punch and surviving with enough ability to project aggression in tact.
It’s a bleak day for US strategic interests. But it’s better than continuing the war and making it even worse.
Once the dust clears, one thing must not be forgotten. The Iranian people continue to live under a vicious regime. Trump has barely spoken of them in weeks. They deserve help, support, and appropriate non-military external pressures on the regime to give THEM the best chance to change it.
The Administration, which put so much faith in military power to do what it could not, should invest in Iran experts, communicators, Persian language broadcasting, transition planning, diplomacy, and more aimed at supporting the Iranian people in their quest for freedom from tyranny.
That was true in January when the Iranian people were demonstrating for their freedom. And it is still true today, despite this stupid war.
Reflections on the Art of the Deal
Vitaliy Katsenelson
Trump is objectively the worst negotiator I’ve ever seen. Preannounces deals before they’re signed, locks himself into weakness, the other side smells desperation and reneges. Count the Russia/Ukraine “deals” he’s announced. Count how many closed.
A good chunk of the country bought the “Art of the Deal” myth. Turns out he’s teaching the opposite: a masterclass in what not to do. There is no art. Just a guy with the temperament and IQ of a chipmunk negotiating for 330 million people.
Was a Deal Close?
I think so. And it was total capitulation, too.
But it appears Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and media reports of a weak deal made Trump back off. So Trump says nobody knows what was in the deal. Sorry, details were leaked everywhere.
That prompted a backlash from Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz.
Notably, the energy markets concurred with the idea a deal is close, and still do. Oil is down again today. This is different from previous announcements where oil soared back up.
No Winning Options
As I have commented for months, Trump has no winning options. Iran can wait Trump out.
In the initial week of the war, I made an assessment that Iran’s overriding goal was to inflict as much pain on Trump and the US as it could.
That the US could inflict more military pain on Iran was never in doubt. But winning (if it is possible at all) would still require boots on the ground.
Iran knows Trump does not have that resolve.
Notably, the longer this has gone on, the more demands Iran has made. Trump had a deal on the table from Iran that did involve giving up uranium. Trump turned that down.
He demanded surrender.
Now it’s Trump who is fittingly on the verge of surrender.
For discussion, please consider Trump Announces an Iran Deal that Appears to Be a Complete Capitulation
Here we go again, another deal announcement and another denial by Iran. But …
My follow-up was Trump Waves the White Flag of Surrender to Iran. What Can Go Wrong?
The leaked terms of the deal amount to a Trump surrender. Netanyahu is unhappy.
Today we see more warmonger interference by Senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Senator Roger Wicker.
Amusingly, Wicker warned that the emerging deal “would not be worth the paper it is written on”.
That is exactly how Iran feels about any deal with the world’s biggest liar, Trump. Iran would be stupid to give up its enriched uranium, so it won’t.
you can always trust what the mullahs say. When have they ever lied? Or been violent to their population? Or hung people for protesting?
The mullahs….. Without them, who would many commenters here think are the modern Gandhi. Don’t be confused about their death chants….. they’re as peaceful as hummingbirds. Ask ’em…. they’ll tell you.
I have not read any commenters here who support or believe “the mullahs”.
Only a dumb fuck like you would assume that because someone criticizes Trump’s huge blunder in attacking Iran means that person supports “the mullahs”.
Israel has no interest in peace. BiBi wants all Palestinian and Iranian people dead.
Therefore Trump can not end operation Epstein Fury.
A few thousand miles to the East, China’s leadership is still laughing at how easy it is to get Trump to announce grain sales that have no terms, delivery dates or signatures. Manipulating Trump into announcing grain sales that have resulted in no physical shipments makes Trump look like a fool ~ and liar.
Unfortunately Trump does not care about credibility.
“ Talks hang on the same issues, nuclear stockpiles, sanctions, and mistrust.”
No. 1 issue will be Iranian mistrust of the US. It will permeate all talks.
Trust is easy to lose, but really hard to earn it back once it is lost.
What is the US to regain trust?
The Americans do not care if they are trusted or not, as long as they can destroy things.
It is the mindset of a protection racket.
There is no deal coming anytime soon.
The US cannot even get Iran to agree to negotiate because Trump cannot keep his big mouth shut and keeps claiming victory in the media and saying that Iran has given in to all his terms. That’s not a way to get the other side to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, Iran has the leverage and is using it. They are in no rush. If they can get enough concessions from Trump, then they will finally agree to negotiate. What they want is an unfreezing of some Iranian assets, a continuing toll booth on ships transiting the strait, an end to the US blockade, and an end to sanctions on Iranian oil. If they can achieve that, they will then negotiate. Which they will drag out for as long as they possibly can, while Trump endlessly announces how close to a final deal they are.
Assuming negotiations begin, the strait will likely return to only 30% or 40% of normal activity. Which will mean a continued shortage of oil, gas, etc till the end of the year.
Just in the last hour, the US has attacked numerous Iranian targets and labeled them as self defense. Interesting that we continue to attack Iran while we attempt to negotiate with them.
Also in the last hour, Iran has announced that they will open the internet again for Iranian citizens.
Iran is running out of money, time and resources. The question is will Trump stop before Iran hits bottom. Iran saying they’ll turn on the internet is akin to them saying they’ll stop hanging protestors.
You’d have to be a special kind of moron to believe the mullahs…. apparently this comments section is filled with such rubes.
Lol! You drink too much Trump cult koolaid.
Iran has been dealing with attacks and sanctions for decades.
They know that Trump is an impatient moron who negotiates with himself in public media. Time and leverage are on their side. Controlling the strait of Hormuz provides them with huge leverage and they will continue to use it till Trump gives in to their demands.
Get ready for a massive ceasefire…..4 US refueling jets are in the air. DOW +1k
Genocide against Jews by Nazi during WW2 was the darkest hours of jews nearly 100 years ago.
That’s was the other side of the pendulum swing.
After WW2 Jews established their country on the Palestinian land with the help of White people such as USA, British and European countries.
Jews keep on stealing land and commit genocide against the land owner Palestine.
And even stealing the land of neighbouring countries to make the Greater Israel.
Communication was weak and propaganda was successful.
Radio era, TV era and even computer era – propaganda was successful.
Then problems arise when social media arrive. Scene of destruction and live brutal massacres are broadcasted.
This is the end of the pendulum swing and about to swing back to another side.
The whole world hate Israel. Even young people of white countries. Coincide with the power of supporting White countries are fading and leading to multipolar world.
This century will be the dark hours of Israel If the Israel doesn’t change the course in time.
I’m not optimistic with current situation.
Nuclear power, 9 million Jew, Israel surrounded by 500 million Muslim and tension is rising.
If the outside powerful support is getting diminish …………..
The Challenge for American JewsProgressive alliances are weakening, political identities are shifting, and emotional ties to Israel are being strained.
https://archive.ph/cRazm#selection-609.0-615.121
Hollywood will have to try harder
Zionist Jews seemed to have emerged from their WWII victimhood with an attitude devolving to “ONLY Jewish lives matter.” Genocide on the order of 100,000 people in Gaza and Lebanon, a majority women and children, is just unforgivable. The destruction of the homes of more than 2 million people! 2 million people! (Not to mention numerous very old Christian churches.)
lol, I heard it was twenty five teenth million and all were 4 year olds. and some school teachers.
thanks for displaying the kind of ahistoric nonsense that would make the quad at Columbia proud. You can wear your keffiya with pride along with your che guevara queers for palestine tshirt. Chef’s kiss perfection.
That first image is spot on. Trump is a clown. He’s negotiating with himself on “Truth Social” while the Iranians just sit back and watch. Trump will end up capitulating to a deal that is far worse than the one he tore up and declare victory. His quarter-wit supporters and the bottom feeders at Fox News will cheer.
No he was negotiating with the GCC and Egypt.
He did not invite Iran or Israel because they would have made negotiations more difficult.
2-star Mishelin award for the cartoon and analysis. Keep ’em coming Mish.
Do worry, Trump & Walrus will find a way to make things even worse.™
time to make popcorn! US fighter jets have struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) speedboats as explosions were heard near the port of Bandar Abbas, Iranian media reported.
Strange but July Brent is down to $96. Doesn’t make sense but great time to load up. Let’s see how the market reacts tomorrow.
more here https://x.com/RyanRozbiani/status/2059041347097493543
I, as a businessman, would never enter into an agreement with a person like Trump. Or with a company filled with the ass-kissing, praise-Trump weasels that this admin is filled with.
Not sure why the world expects Iran to make a deal with Trump. Especially knowing his history of lying and back-stabbing. The pathetic lack of institutional controls on this administration (and any future administration) means that there is no independent check on future presidential whims.
I’ve always said, the only way out is a security guarantee by China.
Of course, this puts the downgrade of the US in full view.
Just when you think Mish has fallen as far as he can, he puts some Stew Peters idiocy out there to dash those thoughts.
Stew Peters???? LOL Have some respect for yourself, do better.
What’s your issue with Stew Peters?
no matter what, you can always trust the mullahs in iran. they are amazing philanthropists, fund raisers and lovers of all things peaceful.
ask them…. they’ll tell you.
How many countries have they invaded since 1979? How many has the USA?
That’s whatcha call a straw man argument, which is French for “horseshit”
The bullshit is thick and deep. The focus on nuclear is horseshit. At this point China, Russia, N. Korea, and Pakistan all probably would give nukes to Iran.
The Abraham Accords are DOA beyond Bahrain and UAE signing. No self respecting Middle Eastern country is gonna sign up for security collaboration with Israel with the primary goals of containing Iran and Israel’s other “security” aspirations..
I think Trump is delaying the resumption of the war until after the midterms and had hoped to get the Straight of Hormuz reopened in the meantime to reduce economic effects before the midterms..
The reality is the ship has already sailed. This attack on Iran was incredibly risky and blew up Trump’s presidency. Iran is now militarily stronger than before the attacks and gaping holes in modern US military capabilities have already been exposed for the world to see.
I do not think the current U.S. Administration has the reputation, strength nor the finesse required to pull off a successful working agreement. Any further military escalation will be a disaster for all parties involved including the entire world and I expect the U.S. blockade to get more porous or be dropped altogether even if no agreement is reached.
China is behind the scenes with a fat thumb getting the other gulf countries to line up on a long term security framework. This massive f-up by the U.S. has lifted China’s reputation tremendously
lol, another middle east and china expert has spoken. or maybe he just regurgitated what he read at CNN or a Facebook post said in his feed. Well done, sir!
Wrong and wrong I am an Independent and never watch tv. Obviously you should do a little reading, might learn something beyond the propaganda kool aid you have been slurping up
At least one U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf region has been deployed far longer than normal.
The USS Gerald R. Ford has exceeded 300 days at sea, far beyond the typical 6–7‑month carrier deployment. This is one of the longest U.S. carrier deployments since the Vietnam era.
Should be able to vacillate enough for 10-15 market rallies on news of a deal, humorously noting the market didn’t discount anything about this war, in their pricing levels, other than the first couple weeks. It’s relentlessly rallied since. 10 plus more rallies and it’ll be up nearly 20 percent after being up 10x over last 17 years. That takes some doing, monkeyhammering markets takes ineptitude, deceit, and bad negotiating, poor war planning… and a forked tongue throughout. Most on this blog will be massively enriched but still angry AF. This makes Powell, Bernanke and Yellen’s jawbone look like child’a play.
Iran is just stalling and waiting for the mid terms. Any deal Iran actually commits to between now and November will exclude their nuclear program.
Iran is being very accommodating.
After all, it is not demanding that the genocidal Jewish Apartheid state occupying al-Quds be dismantled.
As for the Gulfies, they involved themselves by providing the US launch platforms for war, and providing a human shield (war crime) for combatants staying there. Sooner or later they will realize that they have bet on the wrong horse and could have had better relations with Iran for a much smaller price than they have now paid.
Trump and a large part of the meida-political class are till in la-la land.
The crisis will not resolve until they get a few more smacks in the nose served up by reality. They absolutely insist that America’s feeble military position be demonstrated more intensely. Nothing to do with resolve or boots on the ground. The US lacks the means to force anything at any cost short of nuclear war.
the country that got its few military assets blown up is being accommodating.
Oh good, another Iran expert chimes in.
Trump’s CIA says Iran still maintains about 80% of its land based military assets.
This is the estimate of people who misjudged before they began, had all their bases routed, lost billions in planes, are virtually out of stand-off weapons, have had mysterious fires aboard their vessels, claimed ‘damaged’ to planes that were demolished and put out a lot of poppycock stories about things until evidence emerged that they were lying. Remember the nuclear material that was obliterated but now neds to be extricated?
Iran has said that their missile inventory is at 125% of what it was Feb 28.
They are producing underground. They have anti-ship missiles, fast boats, mini subs, mines, torpedoes, air defense assets, enough to keep US planes and ships at a distance.
The US used up its expensive missiles bombing decoys and empty buildings and burying the ports to missile cities, all which have been excavated meantime. Safe below 500m of the toughest granite, impregnable to even nuclear blast.
Stop listening to captured media and take that red pill.
Oh, really?! Who controls the Strait of Hormuz now, fuckwit?!
Asking the Gulf states to sign the Abraham Accords is like asking residents in an apartment complex to sign a certification that the psychopath in Apt 666 is a good neighbor, even though he kills other residents every day, tortures residents for fun, routinely steals their apartments and calls himself “God’s Chosen One.”
I’m gonna tell y’all right now this shit went loony toones.
“… I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”
https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/38772
Trump is dead serious, from reports and even Google AI, that in order to get this peace deal it’s mandatory the gulf states sign onto the Abraham Accords.
Trump has lost his mind.
Trump has repeatedly criticized multilateral agreements as unworkable and not in the USA’s best interests. This is a staple excuse for him to pull out of all kinds of agreements the USA signed. One’s logic chip must be truly diseased to keep a straight face with this guy.
That’s because there is no deal that will satisfy Israel. This allows him to keep Israel happy and Epstein off the newshour, and at the same time blame the gulfies for no deal.
The Netanyahu and Israeli lobby demand added after the initial negotiations. Why does Israel get a say when it was their faulty intelligence and recommendations Trump acted on that just destroyed the U.S. standing in the world?
Because Epstein. And I am sure that Uncle Jeffrey is just the one that we know about, but there in fact are many more.
Worst dealmaker in American history. Hands down. Not by a little, by several full laps. Ironic, that this serial liar billed himself as the deal king? Whatever he had, by the late 1980s those brain cells are long gone.
word on da street is he b 8up
Explain, please.
8-up term for being burned out
The book was ghost written. I doubt he even read it.
Iran just announced it is restoring Internet access in the country.
It will be interesting to see whether that has any impact on the conflict.
Would love to see some Iranians show up here.
Feelings would be hurt. Boo boo faces would be made.
The wheels are falling off the Trump bandwagon
If they can tilt the elections enough, he and his 33 percent or so of faithful brain-deads will hang on until the bunker finally goes. And so much more damage will be done by then, also in the backlash toward him. The system is oscillating into instability. The USA and world stability bandwagons are the ones I worry about.
Why is Trump so beholden to Israel? Even he has to see that most of the country is getting tired of this open-ended support for Israel. Long term the real loser in this could be Israel because it will have isolated itself so much.
They should be the Big loser.
(7) Memorial Day: When Israel Slaughtered 34 on the USS Liberty
How many times do we have to go over this?
1. Epstein was a Mossad agent with the job of creating/facilitating incriminating encounters between American politicians/leaders and underage minors.
2. No doubt he filmed these encounters and passed the videos on to his handler.
3. Israel now has material that they use to blackmail anyone who does not do their bidding.
4. Trump is Netanyahu’s bitch.
I agree with your points one to three, but I wouldn’t be so sure about point four. Remember that this idea that Trump can be blackmailed has been tried before: he was supposed to have let Russian hookers pee on him in a Moscow hotel room. I can imagine that Prince Andrew and a lot of other men who weren’t as smart as they thought they were, could have been caught that way, but I don’t know about Trump.
There are an awful lot of people weighing in on what Trump is doing. This reminds me of a letter to an Australian financial newspaper from some young person, saying that Warren Buffett must be a “total fraud,” because Buffett said that he didn’t understand some stupid theory being bruited around the universities. He’s only the best in the world at what he does, but he must be a total fraud because he doesn’t think we’re smart.
I am still trying to digest Trump’s latest move: demanding that all the Arabs, including his murderer friend MBS, sign the Abraham Accords. It looks to me as if he is aiming to bring the entire Middle East under the effective control of what I take it is a secretly united Anglo-American-Israeli government. This would certainly impose a kind of peace on the region, a bit like the sort of peace the Roman Empire used to impose.
I suppose if you still have faith that this civilization is going to last and is worth saving (I don’t), it might be the thing to do. I think all these Western efforts are only going to end up by handing the Earth over to the Chinese.
“handing over the earth over to the Chinese”
What’s wrong with that? They’re just reassending after a 200 year coma. Look what the white man has done to the world over the last 400 yrs. It ain’t f****** pretty….
The West (white men and that includes the j**) don’t want to give that up. The great U.S.A genociding since it’s founding, especially the last 60 yrs.
I don’t know why the Jews don’t realize that, to the Chinese, they are just animals like the rest of us. Jews should be protecting Western civilization as something precious, not trying to destroy it, because it protects them.
I think the “white man,” like the Roman Empire and later the Austrian Empire and the modern American empire, sacrifices long-term survival for short-term gain. The Chinese do the right thing: they spread as a race, and exterminate all who stand in their way.
I believe you’re thinking of the Mongols.
Uh NO. Who invented gunpowder the guns, rockets, bombs? The Chinese. Did they go about with the brutal colonization of the rest of the world back in the days? NO but guess who. Again the white man ain’t gonna give it up without war.
I would even dare say that the gunpowder created MASSIVE forward thinking and progression in the world in science and tech back in the days. The WEST was under religious hegemony until BAM! What the hell is this black powder?!?!
For China they are JUST entering the 1st inning. Look what they’ve done in the last 45 yrs without firing a single shot. The world would like to see what the 3rd inning will be like in the next 200 yrs. Hopefully it will be a better PEACEFUL world without the religious crazy s***.
He doesn’t care one whit for the rest of the country, and has said so on multiple occasions, to the cheers of his army of simps.
Iran is stringing this thing along. It doesn’t appear they’ve changed a single position since the start of this war. The only reasons I can imagine that Iran is doing this is that they don’t believe the US has the ability nor the internal support to actually defeat Iran in a real boots on the ground war. If that’s the case (and I guarantee you it is), then Iran simply has to hold out until oil prices go so high that it crushes demand down to meet a sharply lower supply. That price will be wildly detrimental to American voters and will eventually force the US to completely back off. Which will be possibly the greatest humiliation in American history, mark the end of Pax America and begin the world’s turn towards China as the global hegemon.
But Iran has no choice, anything they agree to will be for nought. The US will just come back, murder more of its population and demand to take more. It’s just how our culture works.
And I wouldn’t change a thing about Iran’s government. Over generations, the people will just hate the government more, and hate religion because it is what the government stands for. Once the people reject religion, the government will fall and Iran will become a decent country for its population.
Finally, this humiliation will be financially devastating for the vast majority of American citizens as we won’t be able to import trillions of goods and run multi-trillion dollar deficits. Like the Great Depression, the left will take over for decades, but hopefully we’ll come back a more decent country ourselves. And all due to MAGA!
“The only reasons I can imagine that Iran is doing this…”
I think Iran’s motivations are informed by decades of being bullied by Britain and the US from at least WWII forward. It is possible that the Netanyahu-Trump assault has given them the angle by which to durably end the bullying.
lol, did robert reich’s blog say this?
China does not want to be the global hegemon. What this could end in, is a multipolar world, which is a good thing for most people, except those who want wars all the time.
Im very poor (for real) and this worried me so I purchased another big bag of white rice to stash away: There is no deal the Iranians will accept that the US can stomach.
The global economy will be near death by November. The collapse will start in July and become pervasive by Sept at the latest with the Strait largely closed.
Kepler forecasts best case scenario as 40% former traffic by year end. So we are VERY fucd regardless.
And the elections? I anticipate a great deal of domestic unrest which will allow Trump to declare martial law, either nationally or in key states.
The latest is that Saudi Arabia has to recognize Israel, which Trump knows is a non-starter, which is why he now insists on it.
The prediction markets agree, there has been no significant increase in the odds of Saudi Arabia joining the Accords. Doing so would trigger severe internal risks for MBS. I wouldn’t think he would risk his regime (and perhaps even his life) to agree to Trump’s new demand. Trump is just tossing out something that he can use as an excuse and blame failure on someone else.
blame failure on someone else Whiskey Pete?
The more countries that get involved, the less likely there is an agreement.
Weirdly,, Trump has commented to that effect before. That’s a reason he offered for bilateral trade agreements.
Even taco’s supporters are starting to doubt his tweets and increasingly believe he is an habitual liar.
In 2008, with the Iraq war still a bridge to nowhere and a breeding ground of chaos, and the absurdity of its premises (bloody remake of world to democracy in a year or so, on a liar’s budget) more than obvious, W’s apologists finally turned on him. No apologies, no humility, it is not in them: it is endemic to that kind of aggressive, self-overrating, blustery personality. They silently slunk off, to become Trump fans. Same people.
What dipshit will they follow after he’s gone?
Kamala at this rate
quoted: The US is wasting time and resources in overseas conflicts, National security should be built on domestic strength, specifically by securing our power grid and reducing global oil dependence. We have the technology, tools, solar, wind, advanced battery storage, nuclear power to make this happen.
We have the wrong people in place to make this happen.
That cartoon leaves out vacillation between Trump being happy Iran is cooperating lawfully as a partner, juxtaposed with threats of complete genocide — all in the same sentence out of Trump’s mouth.