That will be escalation. If Pakistan can/will do it, they should just get a nuclear security guarantee from them.
At the negotiations, Iran could agree to IAEA inspections as long as Israel gets them too. If that offer is made and the US says no to it, that will just spell out to every corner of the world how bad faith the US is acting.
I still can’t believe Iran agreed to sit down with Kushner and Witkoff again. I think making their absence a precondition to negotiations would garner them even more respect from the world community…
That’s why it’s so important for the EU to conduct an embargo and sanctions if they go there. They have a lot of self-interest in not turning the Middle East into a war zone (the US does too, but what can I say because the Israelis have bribed our Congress to See No Evil?) We need a few months here for a coalition to form on the right that’s anti-Israel First (and that implies: anti-Trump…), to challenge Repubs. I’m skeptical the Dems will fix their Israel First donor problem in time for the midterms…
All indications are Trump is looking for a quick exit.
Want a quick exit? Tell Miriam Adelson and Nutanyahoo: sorry, I can’t do this; “I will be returning the money." Just say no to Israel, curse out Kushner for selling you on the idea.
Make no mistake about it: Israel has decided to use nukes; their shitball logic is: “Gee, things worked out for the US after Hiroshima and Nagasaki…” You might ask why they would do that. Because they are zealots who just can’t give it up on their Greater Israel idea. They will sooner fire off nukes then return to a ‘67 border.
EU: you are in the driver’s seat on this if all members agree that letting Israel make it up as they go along is getting much too dangerous…
Wall Street is doing cartwheels over the strait being reopened. Here’s the reality:
As it is, we are going to see some inflation from the supply chain disruptions done during these recent military actions.
The analogy of the current situation for Trump: he’s like the guy sitting in the chair over the dunk tank at the county fair, with Nutanyahoo chucking the balls. If Israel reinflames things, gas goes way up. Trump can do all the blockades he wants, gas will eventually go back up, much higher than we have ever seen. I see only one way out for him: he has to rein in Israel. At best he can get an Obama inspection treaty, but don’t be too surprised if as part of the package the Iranians now also demand nuclear inspections for Israel.
The Iranian reparations issue can probably be addressed by pointing out to Iran that new tolls collected can be used to cover rebuilding expenses. The principle of having the idiots who started it pay for it is a fine one -but is it a realistically attainable one? If over time you can get the money to rebuild, why not take that victory??
I don’t see Trump reining in Israel. I doubt it’s about blackmail, because he has no shame whatsoever. For Trump, it was about greed and what the Israelis and Kushner had promised him. Israel sees him as weak and will ignore him. I think the only reason Israel enacted a ceasefire in Lebanon is because they got a warning from the EU…
Hearing him express his blind spot on weapons funding is pretty startling. In one sentence he points out that weapons are given to other gulf states -so why not Israel? Fair’s fair, right??
Wait a minute: those “other” gulf states; are they engaging in the level of violence against civilians that Israel is? NO WAY! Is he dissembling, or is he really drinking his own Kool Aid?? In his case, I am fearful that it’s the latter; he has a complete blind spot. These guys need to go; they are mentally ill, if not cravenly greedy for donor funds.
Cenk: you’re convinced Moskowitz is doing it for the money. You might be right, but there’s possibly another reason: he’s a racist ideologue, similar to the cracker congressmen from the civil rights era. This is an analogous overlap for many in the Repub Party (exemplified by Christie’s observation when Nikki Haley was asked to explain why the Civil War was fought -link…)
Moskowitz is not a dumb guy; but he might secretly rationalize his racism to himself by holding a belief like: “Oh, you Americans don’t really know the Palestinians like us Israelis do! They’re all liars and deceivers…”
Go for it; they will be confined to bunkers the way the North Vietnamese were in the Vietnam War, and we will end up with completely unworkable energy prices for a long time to come.
And you people in Congress will have had every chance to ram through a bipartisan impeachment, Mission accomplished for Trump: “Everyone is now as miserable as I am.”
Congress is pretty freaking lame, right? He just did something Congress wasn’t opting to do.
By the way: the UN has peacekeepers in southern Lebanon; a French soldier just got killed policing it. They are the ones who should be preventing border transgressions; none of this stealth land grab crap that Israel wants to do…
Germany and Italy blocked it. My guess? Some people in the governments there have been Epstein’ed by Israel. Those countries will also be hit with the consequences of an energy shock, so it must be some really dastardly blackmail that Israel is leveraging against those politicos.
With Israel continuing an occupation of Libya, it’s a pretty sad day for the world…
