I'd like to blog about May The Fourth Be With You, but trump is making things worse as always.
After spending the weekend running around claiming "the war with Iran was over" and that the Strait was opened (aka lying as usual), today Iran made it clear who was in charge of this war and who was winning (via Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira and Bernard McGhee at AP News):
The United Arab Emirates on Monday said it came under attack by Iran for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold in early April. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said an Iranian drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, and the British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE.
The attacks appeared to be in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces on Monday began offering to guide commercial ships through the critical waterway and reported that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited. Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the strait since the war began.
Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war but expressed skepticism that it would lead to a deal. Two semiofficial Iranian news outlets believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Iran sent a 14-point proposal via Pakistan in response to a nine-point U.S. proposal.
Trump, meanwhile, also claimed that the war has been “terminated” because of the ceasefire — an interpretation that would allow him to skirt the War Powers Resolution, which requires Congress to authorize military action that extends beyond 60 days. Trump called this law “unconstitutional,” and its May 1 deadline passed without action after lawmakers left town.
This war isn't going to end until one of three things happen: Congress forces trump to abide by the War Powers laws and shuts down military operations; trump is out of power and saner heads can prevail; or Iran obliterates enough oil production capabilities by our Middle East allies to where they scream loud enough for trump to withdraw outright.
Invading Iran with ground troops is out of the question: Our military is falling apart under Hegseth's misrule as I type this. trump getting a peace deal out of Iran is out of the question because Netanyahu and the Far Right wingnuts in Israel do not want peace with Iran under any terms.
I seriously wonder what will happen first: trump's willingness to lie and deceive himself into a nursing home; or our overseas military quitting in a mass mutiny over lack of food and coherent leadership.
Yes, the Iranians understand what the war powers act is and how it works.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Sugar Pine
Iran hit Fujairah because it is a port in UAE territory, but outside the Gulf, that has a pipeline running to it from the Gulf. It is thus a way for the UAE to bypass the Strait in exporting oil, which Iran is telling us it will not allow.
ReplyDeleteBy controlling of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran holds the winning hand.
ReplyDelete