Friends, you may have noticed that Iran launched, out of the blue, several drones at ships traversing the Strait of Hormuz. We struck some of their drone and radar infrastructure in response. What was interesting was the global response: no one cared. Oil prices didn't spike, and traffic through the Strait continued as before. Hmmmmmmm. It seems that both the U.S. and Iran assume that the deal will hold, despite this minor setback. What's more, insurance companies didn't immediately demand that all ships sailing through the Strait turn around and find safer waters. What this suggests to me is that the world is officially done with Iranian extortion and piracy. We kinda need that oil, in short, so we're gonna get it -- drones be damned!!! Now, of course this is precisely how we should have reacted to Iranian attacks from the start. They never posed a significant threat to tankers and cargo ships, and they never should have been permitted to hold the world (economy) hostage. Be that as it may, we've finally reached a point where Iran's leverage, which was always mostly imaginary, is being discounted. This bodes well for our ability to hold Iran to account and force them to make serious concessions at the bargaining table. It also bodes well, I hasten to add, for gas prices and GOP prospects in the midterms... One final observation: it's fairly likely that these drone attacks were not a matter of state policy so much as a desperate gambit by dissident, hardline factions within the Iranian regime. No doubt some Islamist fanatics don't like the terms of this deal, and they would like to sabotage it. Recent events suggest that doing so will be harder than the nutjobs might have thought. Good!
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116817203281419093
Agreed on all fronts!
ReplyDeleteBut I wonder if the muted global reaction (stable oil prices, continued shipping) is not in confidence at adherence to the MOU will hold, but a wink and not that it won't!
Is it possible our new best buds in the region may welcome Iran's impotent strikes? Each U.S. response continues the degradation of Iran's drone/radar capabilities, reducing their threat. Though the MOU keeps pressure on Tehran to negotiate further it will highlight their incompetence and deception.
So, might it be reasonable to wonder if the MOU was designed intentionally NOT to hold? But, instead continue US involvement in managing an out of control, proxy propping state.
* that should be "wink and a nod" to loosely steal English and Monty Python colloquialisms.. :)
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