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You know, the stupidest man on the planet and the President of The United States shouldn't be the same guy.
We saw his handling of COVID, and he still got re-elected. Plenty of idiots if you're pointing fingers (warning: it's gonna take you years to point at all of them).
"American allies around the world have responded coolly to â or outright rebuffed â President Trumpâs call to send warships to escort merchant vessels in and out of the Persian Gulf, illustrating the consequences of his dismissive approach to global alliances.
âYou mean for 40 years weâre protecting you and you donât want to get involved in something thatâs very minor?â Mr. Trump said at a White House appearance, noting that Europe, Japan and others depend on oil from the Persian Gulf far more than the United States does."
Trump is calling this an "Excursion," not a War and he says he'll tell us when he "feels" the war is over. A Middle East War started by a Bonespurs draft dodger whose kids will never serve. Without the authority of Congress.
You've GOT to be joking that any other Nation is going to 'escort' oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz risking their own lives for Israel or the U.S.
Must be wonderful to live in such a two dimensional world made up of goodies and baddies, where all that is needed for global peace and prosperity is for the good guys to beat shit out of the bad guys and all problems are resolved.
I have to strongly disagree. Trump is on a mission, like it or not. Part 1 was Venezuela, Part 2 is Iran. Part 3 is about China and to a lesser extent Russia. This is about who controls the oil and the associated revenues. Good guys or terrorists. Trump has got China frozen in its tracks unable to react as they might otherwise do if someone else was in charge. Trump has made it clear that things that need to be done can be done without starting WW III. The Arabs and Israel are finally joining together and cooperating with each other to fight a common enemy, Iran.
The geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East have been forever changed, in a good way. The status quo is over.
Must be wonderful to live in such a two dimensional world made up of goodies and baddies, where all that is needed for global peace and prosperity is for the good guys to beat shit out of the bad guys and all problems are resolved.
So, to your premises:
1) The Iranians are the bad guys
Unfortunately, that doesn't make you guys the good guys here.
There is a long history of colonial powers coming in, installing a puppet regime, opening up access for foreign companies to extract all the natural resources and lo, certain people back home get rich, mightily! hugely even!
Trump even SAID he wanted the oil. He's also said the same about Venezuelan oil. And acted on it.
Strangely, local people tend to get a bit pissed about foreigners coming in and stealing their resources. Colonialism has a VERY bad track record among the locals.
Hell, look how aggro you guys got about alleged Somali fraud of your social security. Imagine those Somalis were bigger, stronger, organised, with guns and came to take all your oil.. That is pretty well what is going on here.
So a key part of your premise: Trump is doing this for the good of the world is bullshit. He's not. He's doing it to get rich, do a favour to Netanyahu and to get better polling numbers. And I'm pretty sure the Iranians know it.
Premise 2: This is a brilliant strategic move to corner China.
This is a strange one. Assuming the US did get to corner the global oil market. This is precisely the reason why Japan went to war against the U.S.. They saw it as their only option to secure access to oil, which they didn't have and the US controlled the sea. Putting China in the same position is just purely reckless (and stupid). Not least because China is also a source for a lot of stuff the rest of the world needs, like rare earths and so on.
However, the move has also made it patently clear to everyone around the world that weening national economies off of oil & gas dependence is now of key strategic importance. Which is actually a good thing, Just it means Trump would quickly lose his leverage (pretty much like Putin discovered to his surprise).
In fact, it's pretty apparent that Trump doesn't actually know why he is doing this. It's far more likely he is doing it because people he trusted told him to do it. He thought, quick win, surge in the polls at home, let's do it! Might even make a buck or two.
Now he's stuck and his poll numbers suck.
Edit: Premise 3: The Arab states are joining with the Israelis to defeat a common enemy..
ha. good luck with that one going down the road. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
some plan, right? now he demands China and the rest of the world help with the strait, which he fucked up.
oil and ag prices are climbing...and who does that hurt first. the poorest of the poor...but its going to hit the US markets too, US markets are only down a few % but the risk of a larger selloff is rising, and then even the rich will feel the bite, spending will drop, stagflation...
It's why the most outspoken MAGA supporter here has gone into witness protection. You know he's churning on some of this, but ignores the bigger picture and reinforces very specific issues when he feels it's safe/not as damaging. His "relax, oil is coming down" comments were an attempt to say something positive. Ooops. He won't engage about prices, China benefiting, the risk to Taiwan (and our markets that depend on chips), the removal of Russian sanctions...
I think it was mentioned here somewhere....but on Bill Maher's show Friday, Lloyd Blankfein said the secret part out loud... it was great for a while, but if income inequality and inflation don't get addressed soon, the poor are going to come after the rich... with pitchforks.
Trump removed the healthcare tax credits, and between 1.2 and 1.4 MILLION people are no longer covered. Rural healthcare is decimated. The savings this year... about $23B. Now Congress is asking for $50B to support a war the "Commander in Chief" can't define goals, timelines, or success.
Republicans are scared to say anything that might draw his fire before the primaries, but once nominees are selected, we'll see if the Republicans crumble. They are going to get destroyed in November, and when they see how MAGA politics play in the summer and fall, I'm guessing we'll see a ton of "moderates" appear out of nowhere.
I wouldn't be surprised if impeachment becomes a campaign trail topic this fall.
Newsflash kurt. There is no mission... never was. Israel forced Trump into action. Trump doesn't plan for anything with the military beyond the initial strikes. That is evident to everyone, you included. When things don't go his way, he is always surprised. It didn't happen in Venezuela but is happening now in Iran. He can't clearly articulate why he went to war with Iran, what the plan is and what the end-game looks like. Today he's saying "Maybe we should not be there at all". I mean WTF is he even doing?
Now that things are going sideways in Iran... he's busy scrambling. What you call "strategic" is what most everyone else would call chaotic. If Biden had done this, you would have been in fits of rage. Oh right, Biden didn't need to as there was a nuclear agreement in place that Iran was complying with and everything happening now is a direct result of Trump negating that agreement.
some plan, right? now he demands China and the rest of the world help with the strait, which he fucked up.
oil and ag prices are climbing...and who does that hurt first. the poorest of the poor...but its going to hit the US markets too, US markets are only down a few % but the risk of a larger selloff is rising, and then even the rich will feel the bite, spending will drop, stagflation...
I have to strongly disagree. Trump is on a mission, like it or not. Part 1 was Venezuela, Part 2 is Iran. Part 3 is about China and to a lesser extent Russia. This is about who controls the oil and the associated revenues. Good guys or terrorists. Trump has got China frozen in its tracks unable to react as they might otherwise do if someone else was in charge. Trump has made it clear that things that need to be done can be done without starting WW III. The Arabs and Israel are finally joining together and cooperating with each other to fight a common enemy, Iran.
The geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East have been forever changed, in a good way. The status quo is over.
Newsflash kurt. There is no mission... never was. Israel forced Trump into action. Trump doesn't plan for anything with the military beyond the initial strikes. That is evident to everyone, you included. When things don't go his way, he is always surprised. It didn't happen in Venezuela but is happening now in Iran. He can't clearly articulate why he went to war with Iran, what the plan is and what the end-game looks like. Today he's saying "Maybe we should not be there at all". I mean WTF is he even doing?
Now that things are going sideways in Iran... he's busy scrambling. What you call "strategic" is what most everyone else would call chaotic. If Biden had done this, you would have been in fits of rage. Oh right, Biden didn't need to as there was a nuclear agreement in place that Iran was complying with and everything happening now is a direct result of Trump negating that agreement.
indeed. 
