Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Question for the group:
How can Trump get out of this and save face? Ideas?
He can’t even get them to entertain peace talks or negotiations now.

Trump could have declared victory after the first week and walked away. But at this point, don’t see a viable path forward. Trump is toxic and Iran has him by the short and curlies.

The only hope is that Congress calls a halt to this debacle after 60 days and lets Trump blame it for caving.

I'm honestly not sure. He can escalate and get a bunch of US servicemembers killed. He certainly doesn't seem to have the attention span to keep it going.

My guess is he'll find some bribe for Iran and the MAGA cult will talk about how brilliant and brave he is, despite it being a total failure.

Anonymous wrote:Question for the group:
How can Trump get out of this and save face? Ideas?
He can’t even get them to entertain peace talks or negotiations now.

Declare victory, remove sanctions from Iran, unfreeze Iranian assets and a slow withdrawal of the US military from there region. Iran opens the strait and no one ever talks about it again.

MAGA and republicans will do whatever he says to do. All the podcasters, right wing influencers, Fox News, NYT/NYP, twitter, etc will tune the log rhythms up and everyone will be convinced he won a great victory. Just like Jan 6. Done and done!

Anonymous wrote:Question for the group:
How can Trump get out of this and save face? Ideas?
He can’t even get them to entertain peace talks or negotiations now.

Trump could have declared victory after the first week and walked away. But at this point, don’t see a viable path forward. Trump is toxic and Iran has him by the short and curlies.

The only hope is that Congress calls a halt to this debacle after 60 days and lets Trump blame it for caving.

Anonymous wrote:Question for the group:
How can Trump get out of this and save face? Ideas?
He can’t even get them to entertain peace talks or negotiations now.

He can't. Why would Iran bother negotiating with him anyway when he's not in control and the American negotiating team is consulting with Netanyahu the entire time?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So when will Israel and the US attack? Do you think Iran will fall for a “meeting” to negotiate?

Trump won’t attack. He’s desperate to get out of this.
It’s hilarious to see the back and forth this morning.
Wh says peace talks happening Monday night. Vance is going. Then they say Vance not going. Then they say Vance is going. Trump blathers about forcing them to accept his deal.

Meanwhile, Iran calmly says they are not sending any delegation members to peace talks at all, until USA stops blockade.

Iran holds all the cards here.

Yes Iran is holding the entire world hostage, as terrorist regimes do.

Trump is holding the entire world hostage, as terrorist leaders do.

Question for the group:
How can Trump get out of this and save face? Ideas?
He can’t even get them to entertain peace talks or negotiations now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way out of this is a loss. There’s no way to spin this into a success. I just hope Trump surrenders soon.

There is. WE WON, they LOST.

Um, what? They have won, we have lost. We pissed off the world, we have no way to monitor their uranium enrichment, we allowed a crazier regime to be put into place, we are looking at a global recession and higher prices for USA citizens that will likely last years…

Agreed. The MAGA nuts here are acting like the US being in a demonstrably worse position since this started is somehow a win.

We've wasted billions of dollars, murdered civilians, and hurt our standing in the world and they're acting like reopening a strait for a.daynthatbwas fully.open before the war is somehow a win.

And the whole "but Iran bad" poster... Iran is now in a stronger position with the control of the strait and sanctions lifted. So, yes Iran's hard line regime is bad, and Trump strengthened them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Iranians called the US pirates! This is what happens when you associate with Israel.

No, it is what happens when you behave like a Pirate.

Except it is Iran who is the pirate. We haven't fired on any ships in the Strait.

We have said we will seize commercial ships that break the blockade.

Iran hasn't tried to seize anything; their aim is disallowing movement through the strait. Shooting at things is not good, but it's not piracy if they are not seizing them.

Trump stole tankers by force that were leaving Venezuela.

You mean *sanctioned* tankers carrying illicit oil shipments. I love how you leave out all the pertinent details. DP.

Just one example:

“The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-seizes-2-sanctioned-oil-tankers-linked-to-venezuela-in-the-north-atlantic-and-the-caribbean

Think about what it means when a country sanctions another country and then takes their cargo for ignoring those sanctions.

How is that different from me telling you that you can't drive your car and then taking your car from you when you ignore me.

Let me guess your answer: they are bad guys and we are good guys.

For the moron who bizarrely insists Iran didn’t lay mines in the Strait, here ya go.

The U.S. military is using sea drones to help clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines that might be lurking there, in a quiet effort to ease Iran’s stranglehold on the waterway and begin reopening it to commercial shipping.

Iran on Saturday closed the strait again and fired on at least two vessels to protest the American blockade of its ports. Earlier, it said any shippers allowed to cross must use new traffic lanes that swing by Iran’s coast, warning of mines in the main channels of the strait.

The military could do an initial scan for mines relatively quickly in the confines of the strait, military analysts said. After locating the mines, a second wave of sea robots could be sent out to destroy them by using explosives or by setting them off remotely.

“You can get a small channel in that area surveyed in days not weeks using Unmanned Underwater Vehicles,” said Kevin Donegan, a former U.S. Navy vice admiral and former commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf.

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/the-navy-sends-in-the-robots-to-clear-hormuz-of-mines-1c107caa?st=MKmf8w

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So when will Israel and the US attack? Do you think Iran will fall for a “meeting” to negotiate?

Trump won’t attack. He’s desperate to get out of this.
It’s hilarious to see the back and forth this morning.
Wh says peace talks happening Monday night. Vance is going. Then they say Vance not going. Then they say Vance is going. Trump blathers about forcing them to accept his deal.

Meanwhile, Iran calmly says they are not sending any delegation members to peace talks at all, until USA stops blockade.

Iran holds all the cards here.

Yes Iran is holding the entire world hostage, as terrorist regimes do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Iranians called the US pirates! This is what happens when you associate with Israel.

No, it is what happens when you behave like a Pirate.

Except it is Iran who is the pirate. We haven't fired on any ships in the Strait.

We have said we will seize commercial ships that break the blockade.

Iran hasn't tried to seize anything; their aim is disallowing movement through the strait. Shooting at things is not good, but it's not piracy if they are not seizing them.

Trump stole tankers by force that were leaving Venezuela.

You mean *sanctioned* tankers carrying illicit oil shipments. I love how you leave out all the pertinent details. DP.

Just one example:

“The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-seizes-2-sanctioned-oil-tankers-linked-to-venezuela-in-the-north-atlantic-and-the-caribbean

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Iranians called the US pirates! This is what happens when you associate with Israel.

No, it is what happens when you behave like a Pirate.

Except it is Iran who is the pirate. We haven't fired on any ships in the Strait.

We have said we will seize commercial ships that break the blockade.

Iran hasn't tried to seize anything; their aim is disallowing movement through the strait. Shooting at things is not good, but it's not piracy if they are not seizing them.

“Seizing” ships doesn’t imply harm to anyone. Shooting at ships, however, most definitely does. Poor Iran. Such a victim.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any fellow American who supports the idea of interdiction and piracy of foreign assets in territorial waters or even the open sea is squarely part of the problem with our empire.

This is exactly what we did in Venezuela and it worked. So I’m all for interdiction of any Iranian ships unless and until an agreement is reached.

What do you think we’ve been doing in Venezuela and how do you think it’d been working?

You can't be serious. The U.S. blockade of sanctioned ships going to and from Venezuela put enormous economic pressure on the Maduro (now Delcy Rodriguez) regime. It's an excellent tactic to use against terrorist regimes - and of course, many of those sanctioned shadow tankers doing business with Venezuela were smuggling oil for Iranian terrorist proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. I hope we do exactly the same thing in the Strait.

So the Venezuelans, who hardly refine any oil, somehow reserve the little oil they do refine, put it in large, invisible tankers that can cross the Atlantic, sneak through the Strait of Gibraltar, through the Mediterranean, and dock at hidden ports in Gaza and Lebanon, so that the tankers can unload this refined oil into underground oil terminals without detection from the US, NATO, and the Israelis. No wonder Israel is unable to defeat two ragtag militias and they have to rage out and take out this impotence on 100,000 women and children.

O.M.G. No. Wrong direction, bud.

IRAN was supplying VENEZUELA with illicit oil, and was doing so since 2020 because Venezuela under Maduro was so backwards
and unable to extract much of their own oil. Seriously, how can you not grasp this? Do you read any news sources at all? And no, TikTok doesn’t count. JFC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any fellow American who supports the idea of interdiction and piracy of foreign assets in territorial waters or even the open sea is squarely part of the problem with our empire.

This is exactly what we did in Venezuela and it worked. So I’m all for interdiction of any Iranian ships unless and until an agreement is reached.

What do you think we’ve been doing in Venezuela and how do you think it’d been working?

You can't be serious. The U.S. blockade of sanctioned ships going to and from Venezuela put enormous economic pressure on the Maduro (now Delcy Rodriguez) regime. It's an excellent tactic to use against terrorist regimes - and of course, many of those sanctioned shadow tankers doing business with Venezuela were smuggling oil for Iranian terrorist proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. I hope we do exactly the same thing in the Strait.

The US paid Maduro’s lieutenants 50 million dollars to betray him and the operation was very close to going tits up.

So you think Venezuela was not the drug kingpin Trump claims they were but instead smuggled Iranian oil for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon ? ! Wow you should work for Trump. Needs more people like you with your out of ten box spitballing.

Are you really this dense? Of course Venezuela plays a huge role in drug trafficking, primarily cocaine. How can you not know this?

Venezuela also operates a shadow fleet of ships carrying illicit oil shipments between Iran, Russia, China, and Venezuela. Both things are absolutely true, which is why the US was (and is) seizing sanctioned ships.

I’m honestly embarrassed for you that this has to be explained over and over.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/when-economic-warfare-meets-gunboat-diplomacy-what-to-know-about-the-us-seizures-of-shadow-fleet-tankers/
https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-bella-1-teaches-us-about-targeting-shadow-fleets

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way out of this is a loss. There’s no way to spin this into a success. I just hope Trump surrenders soon.

There is. WE WON, they LOST.

Um, what? They have won, we have lost. We pissed off the world, we have no way to monitor their uranium enrichment, we allowed a crazier regime to be put into place, we are looking at a global recession and higher prices for USA citizens that will likely last years…