quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
Trump can now say we did everything possible, but Iran has proven they will not honor any agreement. He is free to unleash maximum force to neutralize Iran. Prior to the negotiations, Trump's detractors said we were being too mean to the misunderstood Iranians, who just wanted domestic tranquility. Now it is proven that Iran's leadership just wants to attack and kill. They want to blackmail the world over oil.

Yeah... escalation now seems inevitable, unfortunately.

I think this was always where this was going to be the end. I also think that exhausting all reasonable diplomatic options was necessary and why Trump is the right man for the job.

It’s to the point that you destroy the infrastructure. The people of Iran need to either rise up and destroy the fanatics in charge or perish with them. If we topple the government it will only create unintended and unforeseen consequences similar to Iraq/Syria. Cut them off and destroy the country until they deal with the POS controlling the government. Negotiating is futile. They are the thugs in the Tom Cruise Reacher movie… “remember you asked for this!”.

quote:

I think this was always where this was going to be the end. I also think that exhausting all reasonable diplomatic options was necessary and why Trump is the right man for the job.

I agree... at this point.
However, he could have stopped after setting back their ability to build a nuclear weapon "by decades".

https://x.com/clashreport/stat...r-sending-oil-higher

The President’s detractors will never acknowledge the fact that he has done everything in his power to keep from destroying Iran’s infrastructure and economy. He absolutely knows the radical theocrats in the IRGC cannot be trusted, but he knows just as well that going forward, destroying Iran buys us nothing but bad juju. He’ll still try to preserve the country’s transportation infrastructure and avoid, where possible, civilian casualties. He’s been pushed into a corner, and the President is a dangerous animal to corner. He will break things and kill people, he will still exercise restraint.

quote:

He absolutely knows the radical theocrats in the IRGC cannot be trusted, but he knows just as well that going forward, destroying Iran buys us nothing but bad juju. He’ll still try to preserve the country’s transportation infrastructure and avoid, where possible, civilian casualties.

The Israelis are very good at infiltrating and taking out leadership. But that's a game of whack-a-mole. Kill one, another pops up.

^^^^^^^
The quality of the pop-ups will likely deteriorate after a while.

Ahead of more potential renewed strikes on Iran tonight, CENTCOM is saying its forces are at the ready:

https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2...r-sending-oil-higher



Iran Threatens To Reclose Strait, as US Military 'Ready' to Restart Blockade

Iran has once again threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, according to state broadcaster Press TV on Wednesday, citing an Iranian official. Iran is of course planning strait only under its own arrangements, or a protocol involving collection of fees and utilizing a designated route close to its coast, "as per the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)."

The Iranian official further warned the military stands ready to "strike at least twice the number of targets hit" in response to any strikes by the United States. "The developments of the past 48 hours show Iran won't back down from managing the Hormuz," the source noted.

"The U.S. military stands ready to restart the blockade of ships to and from Iranian ports if ordered to do so, a U.S. official tells Fox News", Fox's Friden reports.
"Iran suspends talks on a final settlement with the United States", TASS reports citing an Iranian source.

"Any threat will receive a powerful response," the official was quoted in Press TV as saying, and warned further that the Islamic Republic's armed forces do "not distinguish between the United States and its partners in the region." The official warned Trump that the US "will gain nothing" from making such threats.

"He (Trump) will certainly lose both the Strait of Hormuz and the negotiations over a final agreement," said the source. "The choice is now his." Meanwhile...

OIL EXTENDS GAINS, BRENT CRUDE RISES ABOVE $80 A BARREL

And WTI...

Trump: "Probably Hit Iran Tonight"

After earlier saying from the NATO summit in Ankara that the Iran ceasefire is "over" - and amid fears of renewal of full-scale war given that Tehran has launched drone and missile attacks on nearby American allies Kuwait and Bahrain once again, President Trump said on Wednesday that he would "probably hit Iran tonight".

He issued the major threat and warning during a press conference at the NATO summit: "I'll give a little warning: We're going to hit them hard tonight," he told reporters just before his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He later lambasted Iran for "killing soldiers, killing people for 47 years," and that because of that, the US has "a score to settle." He added: "We may just do it without a deal." He also sought to once again explain his view that it's not about regime change, but about the nuclear issue.

Watching the war in Iran is a lot like watching the video of 5 big cops fighting the little 105 lb drunk girl and looking like they are losing while you think to yourself how incompetent the cops are.

It doesn’t make sense until you understand that, while the drunk girl is fighting the cops, the cops are doing everything they can to not hurt the drunk girl anymore than necessary.

Trump has been clear since the beginning, that while we can erase Iran as a country, he wants and believes that a diplomatic resolution is possible. Iran will probably keep pushing until they realize that the last push was a mistake. In their culture, the US's strategy is due to weakness.

Enough with these as Trump says, “scumbags.” Take out every bridge and power plant and lastly send the Marines to take Kharg island. And, not that we need them, but where the fuck is Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, defend your country after Iran’s BS “retaliation.”

As much as I hate this term, it is going to require "boots on the ground" to solve this problem. Whether it is just Kharg Island, Qeshm, both, or some of the mainland of Iran, that is what it'll take (at a minimum) to stop those crazy bastards. Bleed them dry, monetarily and then physically if necessary.

I don't believe that these crazy muslim bastards are any different than the Japs. Both were/are crazed with a religious belief that what they were doing was right. Remember, Emperor Hirohito was regarded as a god. They are/were two peas in the same pod, and look what it took to defeat Japan. We're at that point again. I'm not suggesting nukes unless they somehow or another strike first.

I guess maybe turning Iran into the new Vieques might be an option as well, but it'll take longer.

Trump has built a compelling case that diplomacy doesn't work with a theocracy with the goal of expelling the US from the Middle East and eradicating Israel. It's time to put warheads on foreheads of both the theocracy and Iran's military. Utterly destroy both.

The Theocracy has left the physical upstream exploration and crude oil production in the hands of the oil ministry, but has turned over nearly all oil & gas export infrastructure to the IRGC to fund it's assymetrical warefare (e.g. proxy networks of Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, etc). It's time to utterly destroy the IRGC's military infrastructure as well as it's source of income (aka all oil & gas export infrastructure). Don't put boots on the ground, instead drop MOABs and other conventional bombs on all all IRGC oil & gas export infrastructure (e.g. Kharg Island). After 47 years this regime has lost the privilege of having a crude oil export economy (yes, their economy will collapse without it). Utterly destroy it.

Afterwards, the US and our allies loans the new government money to rebuild it. Although, it's probably faster just to build pipelines to connect the Iranian oil fields to the oil ports in Al Basrah, Iraq, and in Kuwait. The Saudi East-West pipeline that has diverted 100% of their production volumes from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea took 2 years. UAE's pipeline to divert Persian Gulf production to the Gulf of Oman took 4 years. The distance from Iranian Oil fields to both Al Basrah and Kuwait is shorter than either Saudi's or UAE's bypass pipelines.

The 35-second video captures extensive damage inside Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Tehran compound following the US-Israeli strikes, and was released as Iran held his burial ceremony.

https://www.indiatoday.in/worl...r-2943881-2026-07-09

quote:

The Theocracy has left the physical upstream exploration and crude oil production in the hands of the oil ministry, but has turned over nearly all oil & gas export infrastructure to the IRGC to fund it's asymmetrical warfare (e.g. proxy networks of Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, etc). It's time to utterly destroy the IRGC's military infrastructure as well as it's source of income (aka all oil & gas export infrastructure). Don't put boots on the ground, instead drop MOABs and other conventional bombs on all all IRGC oil & gas export infrastructure (e.g. Kharg Island). After 47 years this regime has lost the privilege of having a crude oil export economy (yes, their economy will collapse without it). Utterly destroy it.

Afterwards, the US and our allies loans the new government money to rebuild it...

You lose me when you say we should stick around and pay to rebuild it...

Also, where will all of the starving people go?
Will they rise up and make Iran Persia again?
Or flee the country and become refugees?

What will China do when 13% of it's oil needs are no longer met?

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
What will China do when 13% of it's oil needs are no longer met?

Rickshaw

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
What will China do when 13% of it's oil needs are no longer met?

Rickshaw

EVs powered by coal.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:

quote:

Originally posted by Stlhead:
What will China do when 13% of it's oil needs are no longer met?

Rickshaw

Or a Rick Roll

We missed an opportunity to drop a few MOABs to end all this crap.

quote:

Originally posted by TXLe:
We missed an opportunity to drop a few MOABs to end all this crap.

That’s what I’ve been saying, let’s make a bunch of them and just make it rain in an epic show of force.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...WblB8cYOpXabToP6w%3D

US Forces Launch New Strikes on Iran Following Attack on Ship in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s military claimed to attack a commercial ship that was using an unauthorized route through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. forces began carrying out new strikes on Iran on July 11, in response to an Iranian attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the strikes began around 7:15 p.m. ET, and were made in response to an Iranian attack on the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy. CENTCOM said one of the vessel’s civilian crew members is missing following the Iranian attack, and the ship is unable to continue its journey due to an onboard fire and damage to its engine room.

“In response, the United States is imposing a heavy cost by continuing to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the strait. The strikes are being carried out at the direction of the Commander in Chief,” CENTCOM said.

Shortly before the U.S. military announced the strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for firing upon a vessel that it said was attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz through a route not approved by Iran. The IRGC said its forces also began enforcing a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which sits on a key route for the oceangoing export of oil and other commodities.

U.S. forces struck Iran earlier this week in response to attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian forces have, in turn, fired on U.S. outposts across the Middle East.
In a memorandum of understanding reached with the United States on June 17, Tehran agreed to facilitate the safe and toll-free passage of vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz for a period of 60 days. Iranian authorities further committed to consult with Oman, which sits on the opposite side of the strait, and with other neighboring nations, to manage the long-term administration of the waterway.

Amid the clashes this week, President Donald Trump declared that the agreement and a ceasefire between the United States and Iran were over. Still, he said negotiations would continue, in line with a request from Iranian authorities.
“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” CENTCOM said of the latest strikes.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the Iranian side made “a poor choice.”

“Now they pay,” he added, in a social media post.

This is a developing story and will be updated with additional details.