It is very difficult to click a like on this truthfully depressing post, but if truth is what we are all looking for, this is the gut punch most of us are feeling about this Presidency. We not only supported it in our cognitive dissonance, but continually justified it to our friends on the other side. It’s what happens when moral turpitude is ignored in the name of policy. I believe the deep Narcissism so many of us witnessed over the last 10 years but chose to ignore because of our agreement in policy has come home to roost. I’m afraid it’s going to be a very long 2 1/2 years until 2028.
I read that Lebanon’s President said the MOU is not binding on his country, leaving the door open that he reads the clause about territorial integrity and sovereignty directed as much at Hezbollah as at Israel - with the former remaining the greater threat. I suspect that Lebanese dignity recoils at the hubris of others making their country someone else’s playground.
If President Aoun means what he says, then the issue remains part of the discussion among the U.S.-Israel-Lebanon negotiators. Why Israel does immediately build on Alun’s declaration and make that clarification is anyone’s guess. Rather than only talk about defending itself, why can’t Israel add the hat of helping Lebanon help itself in excising a foreign element that responds exclusively to a malevolent outside party and starts wars that have nothing to do with Lebanon? In fact, why can’t one of the negotiation’s goals be a straightforward non-aggression pact with Lebanon formally announcing an end to the war it declared in 1948?
What will continue behind the scenes (Mossad operatives in Iran, for instance) will remain cloaked in secrecy. The regime has many internal enemies, so who can really say who is controlling any particular kamikaze drone.
On the “bright” side, if one takes the MOU at face value, then Israel is revealed as a U.S. vassal just as Hezbollah is Iran’s - so the antisemites of the world can no longer claim that Israel controls the U.S. Someone needs to inform the Squad.
Speaking of politics, the MOU is being closely associated with VP Vance. If/when it collapses, that opens a path for Secretary Rubio in the 2028 Presidential primaries. That’s probably not President Trump’s intent as his calculations are extremely short term, but that may well be one result.
And should it come to pass, the West and Israel would likely be better off. But two years is an eternity in international affairs, so we shall see what the world looks like then.
Senator Alan Simpson, 1931-2025 said ‘with integrity nothing else matters .. & without integrity, nothing else matters’. Trump has proven that he has no integrity.
Trump derangement syndrome, TDS, was originally applied to those who were obsessed with him being such a dreadful person and president. The term now applies to Trump himself, as the MOU could only be signed by a deranged person.
There are reports that Trump was driven to his U-turn by his Chief of Staff, Susan Wiles. She seems to hold no strong foreign policy beliefs but was concerned that Western oil reserves, which have mitigated the effects of the closure of Hormuz, would run down by the end of June and lead to major economic damage after that but before the midterm elections.
That would explain the sudden turn and the efforts to sell this agreement.
One would think that as oil production expands elsewhere in the world, especially Venezuela, and as the UAE bypass pipeline doubles in capacity next year, it will be possible to reimpose sanctions. Obama's JCPOA also lifted many sanctions but still, many Western companies were reluctant to deal with Iran because they were concerned about future US secondary sanctions.
It is very difficult to click a like on this truthfully depressing post, but if truth is what we are all looking for, this is the gut punch most of us are feeling about this Presidency. We not only supported it in our cognitive dissonance, but continually justified it to our friends on the other side. It’s what happens when moral turpitude is ignored in the name of policy. I believe the deep Narcissism so many of us witnessed over the last 10 years but chose to ignore because of our agreement in policy has come home to roost. I’m afraid it’s going to be a very long 2 1/2 years until 2028.
I read that Lebanon’s President said the MOU is not binding on his country, leaving the door open that he reads the clause about territorial integrity and sovereignty directed as much at Hezbollah as at Israel - with the former remaining the greater threat. I suspect that Lebanese dignity recoils at the hubris of others making their country someone else’s playground.
If President Aoun means what he says, then the issue remains part of the discussion among the U.S.-Israel-Lebanon negotiators. Why Israel does immediately build on Alun’s declaration and make that clarification is anyone’s guess. Rather than only talk about defending itself, why can’t Israel add the hat of helping Lebanon help itself in excising a foreign element that responds exclusively to a malevolent outside party and starts wars that have nothing to do with Lebanon? In fact, why can’t one of the negotiation’s goals be a straightforward non-aggression pact with Lebanon formally announcing an end to the war it declared in 1948?
What will continue behind the scenes (Mossad operatives in Iran, for instance) will remain cloaked in secrecy. The regime has many internal enemies, so who can really say who is controlling any particular kamikaze drone.
On the “bright” side, if one takes the MOU at face value, then Israel is revealed as a U.S. vassal just as Hezbollah is Iran’s - so the antisemites of the world can no longer claim that Israel controls the U.S. Someone needs to inform the Squad.
"one of the marks of antisemitism is an ability to believe stories that could not possibly be true"
--George Orwell
Good luck convincing the Squad or any other antisemitic grouping that Israel does not control the US.
https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/antisemitism-in-britain
Trump has acted in his domestic political interest. Imo he will be back post mid terms.
Speaking of politics, the MOU is being closely associated with VP Vance. If/when it collapses, that opens a path for Secretary Rubio in the 2028 Presidential primaries. That’s probably not President Trump’s intent as his calculations are extremely short term, but that may well be one result.
And should it come to pass, the West and Israel would likely be better off. But two years is an eternity in international affairs, so we shall see what the world looks like then.
Senator Alan Simpson, 1931-2025 said ‘with integrity nothing else matters .. & without integrity, nothing else matters’. Trump has proven that he has no integrity.
Trump derangement syndrome, TDS, was originally applied to those who were obsessed with him being such a dreadful person and president. The term now applies to Trump himself, as the MOU could only be signed by a deranged person.
There are reports that Trump was driven to his U-turn by his Chief of Staff, Susan Wiles. She seems to hold no strong foreign policy beliefs but was concerned that Western oil reserves, which have mitigated the effects of the closure of Hormuz, would run down by the end of June and lead to major economic damage after that but before the midterm elections.
That would explain the sudden turn and the efforts to sell this agreement.
One would think that as oil production expands elsewhere in the world, especially Venezuela, and as the UAE bypass pipeline doubles in capacity next year, it will be possible to reimpose sanctions. Obama's JCPOA also lifted many sanctions but still, many Western companies were reluctant to deal with Iran because they were concerned about future US secondary sanctions.