Well, my former adopted home country is at least trying to make a gesture of support for securing the strait. Not sure how much help they'll be, but at least they're taking a public stand in opposition to the rest of the EU/NATO crowd.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/...-we-ready-contribute

You never know, though...the Czech Navy has a 100% win rate since 1918, when the Czechoslovak Legion commandeered a couple of vessels and sank a Soviet icebreaker and blew up a harbor on Lake Baikal !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Baikal

Whistling Past the Graveyard


Today President Trump expressed confidence about the situation in Iran, and unconcern about the midterm elections:

President Trump has said he does not care about the midterm elections and is willing to “outwait” Iran after the White House rejected the latest ceasefire deal proposed by Tehran.

At a cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump said that his government was “not satisfied” with the Iranian proposals and reiterated his threat to “finish them off” if there was no breakthrough.

“They thought they were going to outwait me. You know, ‘We’ll outwait him. He’s got the midterms’,” he said. “I don’t care about the midterms.”

That is, of course, what Trump has to say. But the reality is far different. Republicans are almost certain to lose the House, which means that Trump will be impeached for a third time and no positive measures will get through Congress. They also may lose the Senate, which would mean that Trump will not be able to get nominees confirmed. This is the reason why speculation has suddenly mounted that Justice Sam Alito might resign within the next few months, to give Trump a chance to confirm his replacement before it may be too late.

I still hope that Trump can salvage Iran, but time is running out, whether he admits it or not. He appears to have bungled that vitally important mission in two respects. First, the administration seems to have had no plan for what to do if Iran interfered with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. This seems almost inconceivable, since it was easily foreseeable that this could be one of Iran’s responses to a bombing campaign. But if there had been a plan, we would have seen it by now.

Second, Trump never should have entered into a ceasefire; certainly not one that lasted for more than a month, and counting. Our brilliant military operation has been almost forgotten, while to all appearances Iran’s regime is in the driver’s seat, able to frustrate the U.S. simply by saying No. Negotiating with the IRGC and the mullahs is pointless. Again, this should have been foreseen.

Trump’s hold on power has always been rather tenuous, but following what most see as ineptness in Iran, his political capital is gone. Thus, from the Economist:

Each week The Economist and YouGov ask Americans what they make of their president. Donald Trump has hit a milestone: he is the most unpopular Oval Office occupant since our poll began in 2009. War in Iran has hurt Mr Trump’s standing, but it is his handling of the economy that is really dragging him down.

But of course, Trump’s “handling of the economy” mostly means the price of gasoline, which has risen solely because of Iran. The average American voter doesn’t care much about foreign policy, but he cares a lot about the price of gas. And there is no use trying to tell voters that the current gasoline price is, inflation adjusted, either lower or no higher than what we saw during much of the Obama and Biden administrations. The popular perception is that over the last year, Trump has been fixated on foreign policy and has taken his eye off the domestic policy–i.e., cost of living–ball.

More from the London Times story linked above:

With the average price of petrol in the US hovering around $4.50 per gallon, Trump’s approval rating has slumped to -19.1 according to the Silver Bulletin average. His current rating is significantly worse than the -10.6 recorded at the low point of his first term.

Democrats are widely expected to win control of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm election and Republicans are increasingly nervous that they could lose the Senate too.

If there is a glimmer of hope for Trump, it may be in Rasmussen’s polling, where his numbers are not good, but not catastrophic, either:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 43% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-six (56%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 24% who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing and 48% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of – 24.



Rasmussen’s survey is not as bad as most others for the President, not because it is conducted by Republicans, but because it polls only likely voters. Others, too, have noted that Trump’s current decline is most pronounced among those who are least likely to vote.

Still, the situation is pretty bleak. Trump needs to regain the initiative in Iran and stop looking as though he is being endlessly jerked around by the IRGC. If the Iranians get nuclear weapons down the road, so be it. The best we can do, to the extent we haven’t done it already, is to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and the industrial and scientific base it needs for future nuclear weapons development. Setting back Iran’s nuclear program for, say, a decade is a worthwhile goal, even if a similar attack may need to be launched at some point in the future. But for now, the imperative is to re-open the Strait.

I fervently hope that I am wrong, but I think Trump’s obsession with dealmaking has led him astray. It is bombs that can do good in Iran, not negotiations with that country’s fanatical leaders. I doubt there is anything Trump can do at this point that will prevent Iran from going down in the judgment of most voters as a mistake.


LINK

Some of that could be true or bullshit. I don't care. As I have said. Lets see what happens. I am sick of the echo chamber of both dems and repubs.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
...If the Iranians get nuclear weapons down the road, so be it. ...

That author is a shortsighted halfwit

That's a steaming load of horseshit

More drone's destroyed tonite near the straight..

I think it's quite clear where we are at. Iran has clearly said straight and nuclear are redlines. I think it's time we probe those convictions and see if they hold true...

That article was written by a guy named John Hinderaker. If you read the responses to it even his followers think he has finally gone off the deep end. What a total crock of shit.

I don't know how many brain cells I lost just reading it, but I want them back.

A not so subtle message for Iran with their rejecting peace treaty terms, mining the Strait, and use of drones

https://x.com/Guysloveguns/sta...071796620087613?s=20

Pundit on FOX network, not normal FOX News, says DT might leave Iran stronger than before the war.

It's not over yet. This came to mind:

"The legendary "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. A team of young American college players defeated the heavily favored, four-time defending gold medalist Soviet Union 4-3, overcoming multiple deficits to pull off one of the greatest upsets in sports history."

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Pundit on FOX network, not normal FOX News, says DT might leave Iran stronger than before the war.

Name a media pundit who has been fired for an incorrect prediction.

Media pundits have the accountability and accuracy of a meteorologist's forecast. Media pundits jobs are to put/keep butts in front of screens not be right.

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Pundit on FOX network, not normal FOX News, says DT might leave Iran stronger than before the war.

To quote Para,
“A steaming load of horseshit.”

From the reports of the MOU, we may not have lost, but we sure as hell didn't win. We need to get what we want or destroy all remaining capabilities from the air whole continuing max pressure. This is absolutely ridiculous. This makes us look weak and pathetic.

Call the White House and tell President Trump he doesn't know what he's doing. He'll welcome the input, I'm sure.

By the way, I didn't know that all details of the negotiations were made public, and that the negotiations have concluded. When did that happen? I thought things were not yet determined.

The Times of Israel is reporting a $300 billion dollar investment fund for rebuilding Iran modeled on an earlier proposal by Witkoff and Kushner if they agree to the deal. Going to be interesting how this ends.