Trump is reaping what he sowed but will not be capable of understanding. What is perplexing is the way America's inbuilt checks and balances just aren't working. A bully has to be confronted wthout fear.
The incompetents around the President clearly did not provide adequate advice but how come the system, which is not (yet) a dictatorship, allowed one man to ignore any advice he disliked and proceed recklessly when even the simple fact that Congressional approval had not been sought or given was enough to halt the process from day one?
The lie about an immediate threat - rather than just an immediate opportunity for assassinations - recalls the propaganda about WMD (Tony Blair and Bush the father) prior to the attack on Iraq.
But Bush didn't embark without painstakingly lining up a broad coalition of nations which excluded Israel for maximum cohesion.
That letter by Joe Kent amounts to a devastating indictment of Israeli intentions which will likely be widely believed and as hard to refute as an accusation of harassment with no witnesses.
Israel's current political leadership is no less incompetent than that of the US: every word they say contributes to the rising antisemitism abroad and their every action reinforces age-old prejudices. The army is admired and even feared but force alone cannot do the job, as Trump is finding out.
We have come to a pretty pass - and I don't mean Hormuz.
Dan, I'd like to send your own words back to you with a minor change. "The question is whether a regime built on ideological defiance and religious extremism can accept constraints (and whether the American people, faced with the opportunity, would have the discipline to insist on them)." So far, we have not.
I live in west Michigan which is as MAGA as it gets. White Christian Nationalism is in the air I breathe every day. These are people who believe in Trump because he is paving the way for the return of their savior. War, disease, poverty, degradation of the environment are all GOOD! Lying, cheating and stealing are OK as long as it is in the service of that heavenly goal. Some will cheerlead for nuking Tehran. How's that for "Some big surprise" ending? I would not be sanguine about assuming these people will act rationally in a time of crisis.
“And yet, the broader claim he is gesturing toward cannot simply be dismissed out of hand. The idea that Netanyahu, who strongly favored confrontation with Iran, ran circles around Trump is plausible. After all, Netanyahu is infinitely manipulative, constantly scheming and darkly brilliant, while I have no confidence Trump can find Hormuz on a map.” How would this have worked exactly? To me there seems to be evidence Trump had Iran in his sights since the 1980s.
Well, Bibi would have said words that Trump found pleasing enough to be convincing. Perhaps he supported Florsheim shoes for all occasions. Praised Melania or Barron. Maybe he assured him China pays the tariffs or that the 2020 election was stolen, and that windmills are very ugly and totally stupid., You know, like when he convinced Trump to idiotically pull out of the JCPOA, which is why Iran became a nuclear threshold state. Maybe he told him that Sleepy Joe would never attack Iran, and definitly not Crooked Hillary or Barack Obama, who's not even American.
The article mentions how the Iranian government can replace a fallen leader with another who steps in and resumes the work. There must have been a succession plan and capable people were chosen and trained years ago in case of an emergency. Then we have Felon Trump. He brings incompetent, arrogant people with no skills for their job except blind loyalty. He fires thousands of skilled employees and replaces them with inadequate people. What could go wrong? Real estate developers are our new diplomats. A former talking head is in charge of defending our country, and a former drug addict lawyer with no medical knowledge is in charge of our children’s health. Then you have a draft dodging six time bankrupt businessman whose main claim to fame was as a reality show performer, in charge of the richest, most powerful nation who relies on his ‘gut’ for decisions. You just can’t make this stuff up!
There's no question the US government is a disgrace. Sadly, though, unlike the mullahs they were, incredibly and infuriatingly, elected. And the second side it was even by the popular vote, so we cannot blame the cretinous Electoral College.
I don’t remember if it was the first or second Gulf War where I heard of a group who swore that we could have won the war in Vietnam, if we had stayed longer. The power of disbelief is stunning. It’s the same with Iran.
There is a major difference. The Vietcong and North Vietnam military were genuine operations with grass roots and a combination of ideology and nationalism, fighting what they viewed as a foreign occupation. The Iranian regime is a criminal outfit with little support beyond those who benefit from the mafia. Indeed, it IS the occupation. The Domino Theory in SE Asia was wrong. The need to repel jihadism is not wrong.
I agree with what you wrote. Don’t disagree with your last sentence; that is the problem we are not solving with what is happening. We went into Vietnam with a wing and a prayer. Did not care that the government was corrupt. Thought we could bomb the civilians into accepting our terms and never understood what people actually wanted. Than the atrocities that the military wanted to hide, like My Lai. I would like nothing better than to see this hateful regime gone. What is happening will not do that, and nobody is talking about something that will.
Trump is reaping what he sowed but will not be capable of understanding. What is perplexing is the way America's inbuilt checks and balances just aren't working. A bully has to be confronted wthout fear.
The incompetents around the President clearly did not provide adequate advice but how come the system, which is not (yet) a dictatorship, allowed one man to ignore any advice he disliked and proceed recklessly when even the simple fact that Congressional approval had not been sought or given was enough to halt the process from day one?
The lie about an immediate threat - rather than just an immediate opportunity for assassinations - recalls the propaganda about WMD (Tony Blair and Bush the father) prior to the attack on Iraq.
But Bush didn't embark without painstakingly lining up a broad coalition of nations which excluded Israel for maximum cohesion.
That letter by Joe Kent amounts to a devastating indictment of Israeli intentions which will likely be widely believed and as hard to refute as an accusation of harassment with no witnesses.
Israel's current political leadership is no less incompetent than that of the US: every word they say contributes to the rising antisemitism abroad and their every action reinforces age-old prejudices. The army is admired and even feared but force alone cannot do the job, as Trump is finding out.
We have come to a pretty pass - and I don't mean Hormuz.
Dan, I'd like to send your own words back to you with a minor change. "The question is whether a regime built on ideological defiance and religious extremism can accept constraints (and whether the American people, faced with the opportunity, would have the discipline to insist on them)." So far, we have not.
I live in west Michigan which is as MAGA as it gets. White Christian Nationalism is in the air I breathe every day. These are people who believe in Trump because he is paving the way for the return of their savior. War, disease, poverty, degradation of the environment are all GOOD! Lying, cheating and stealing are OK as long as it is in the service of that heavenly goal. Some will cheerlead for nuking Tehran. How's that for "Some big surprise" ending? I would not be sanguine about assuming these people will act rationally in a time of crisis.
I most certainly am not assuming that of them, or Trump
“And yet, the broader claim he is gesturing toward cannot simply be dismissed out of hand. The idea that Netanyahu, who strongly favored confrontation with Iran, ran circles around Trump is plausible. After all, Netanyahu is infinitely manipulative, constantly scheming and darkly brilliant, while I have no confidence Trump can find Hormuz on a map.” How would this have worked exactly? To me there seems to be evidence Trump had Iran in his sights since the 1980s.
Well, Bibi would have said words that Trump found pleasing enough to be convincing. Perhaps he supported Florsheim shoes for all occasions. Praised Melania or Barron. Maybe he assured him China pays the tariffs or that the 2020 election was stolen, and that windmills are very ugly and totally stupid., You know, like when he convinced Trump to idiotically pull out of the JCPOA, which is why Iran became a nuclear threshold state. Maybe he told him that Sleepy Joe would never attack Iran, and definitly not Crooked Hillary or Barack Obama, who's not even American.
Haha
The article mentions how the Iranian government can replace a fallen leader with another who steps in and resumes the work. There must have been a succession plan and capable people were chosen and trained years ago in case of an emergency. Then we have Felon Trump. He brings incompetent, arrogant people with no skills for their job except blind loyalty. He fires thousands of skilled employees and replaces them with inadequate people. What could go wrong? Real estate developers are our new diplomats. A former talking head is in charge of defending our country, and a former drug addict lawyer with no medical knowledge is in charge of our children’s health. Then you have a draft dodging six time bankrupt businessman whose main claim to fame was as a reality show performer, in charge of the richest, most powerful nation who relies on his ‘gut’ for decisions. You just can’t make this stuff up!
There's no question the US government is a disgrace. Sadly, though, unlike the mullahs they were, incredibly and infuriatingly, elected. And the second side it was even by the popular vote, so we cannot blame the cretinous Electoral College.
The only way this thing should end is with the complete and unconditional surrender to the US,
https://hiddentruthsbysunny.substack.com/p/the-war-obituary-was-written-before?r=zst24&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
That would be desirable, sure
I don’t remember if it was the first or second Gulf War where I heard of a group who swore that we could have won the war in Vietnam, if we had stayed longer. The power of disbelief is stunning. It’s the same with Iran.
There is a major difference. The Vietcong and North Vietnam military were genuine operations with grass roots and a combination of ideology and nationalism, fighting what they viewed as a foreign occupation. The Iranian regime is a criminal outfit with little support beyond those who benefit from the mafia. Indeed, it IS the occupation. The Domino Theory in SE Asia was wrong. The need to repel jihadism is not wrong.
I agree with what you wrote. Don’t disagree with your last sentence; that is the problem we are not solving with what is happening. We went into Vietnam with a wing and a prayer. Did not care that the government was corrupt. Thought we could bomb the civilians into accepting our terms and never understood what people actually wanted. Than the atrocities that the military wanted to hide, like My Lai. I would like nothing better than to see this hateful regime gone. What is happening will not do that, and nobody is talking about something that will.