"Both the US and Iran claimed victory on Wednesday morning. Both were lying. The two-week ceasefire announced by Donald Trump the night before is not the triumph that he declared. It may not be an end to the war, as welcome as the pause is, or even last the fortnight. ...
The US has squandered tens of billions of dollars, burned through its interceptors and torched relations with allies."
~ The Guardian
"That may not bother Mr Trump, who had premised victory on the conditional reopening of a waterway that was not closed prior to the conflict. But the war has also spooked markets, raised prices at home and showed signs of fracturing his Maga base.
Mr Trump chose to believe Benjamin Netanyahu’s assurances that this would be a short and easy war, but soon found himself seeking an exit."
"This is a strategic defeat for the US that will resound for decades, and a clear sign of its systemic failures. Yet, given the costs of this reckless and illegal war, the best-case scenario may be that Mr Trump, characteristically scorning reality, continues to claim this as a triumph."
"Now that Donald Trump has backed off his threat to obliterate a nation of 93 million people, his propagandists are already retconning it into proof of his Solomon-like foresight and wisdom. The new spin is that the war with Iran temporarily ended in a ceasefire precisely because he made this threat, forcing Iran to renegotiate on more favorable terms."
~ Greg Sargent
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/4
https://newrepublic.com/article/208794/hegseth-reveals-hole-trump-victory-claim
"But there’s a small problem with this spin. It’s that the Iranians were already negotiating with Trump before the war started. Trump largely sabotaged those negotiations, because he was talked into believing the war would be easy and deliver a quick burst of glory. Trump’s approach to the talks made success impossible—deliberately. …
In a sense, Hegseth’s spin is doing us a public service."
"By insisting Trump’s threat drove Iran to the table, it should force a reassessment of why the original talks fell apart, why we went to war in the first place, and what Trump’s vicious, sadistic bluster actually accomplished. This is a story of failure all around, and the threats, too, accomplished only bad things. Which reveals another layer to this catastrophe, blowing another hole in Trump’s claim of victory."
"That’s because the core story that Trump and Hegseth have told about this war is that it’s showcasing that American strength and power are supreme, unquestioned, and can accomplish literally anything."
"Yes, Trump is the madman abusing power. But the GOP has empowered him, long after the dangers became apparent."
~ John Harwood
"The Madness of King Donald. Unless you’ve spent most of the last few years on a silent retreat – and who could blame you? – it can’t have escaped you that the American president is both not that bright and borderline sociopathic. ...
But what you may have missed is that the madness is contagious. It also affects many of those who come in contact with him."
~ John Crace
#Trump #Repubicans #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/9
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/09/donald-trump-insanity-ceasefire-iran
"Trying to deal with the madness makes them mad too, as they try to behave as if things that are most definitely not normal are all quite usual. All in a day’s work.
And nowhere has this been more in evidence than with the two-week ceasefire."
#Trump #Repubicans #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/10
"Europeans, like everyone else, heard Trump’s increasingly unhinged declarations: his gleeful threats to commit war crimes in Iran, his insults directed at European leaders, his calls for the US to abandon Nato. But his cry-wolf warnings have grown so repetitive that they are simply losing their effect. Europeans are becoming numb to Trump, and bored by him."
~ Nathalie Tocci
#Trump #Repubicans #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/11
"On Wednesday morning, a colleague asked if I thought that the American-Iranian ceasefire, which had been declared overnight, would hold. I shrugged. How can I know? How can anyone know?"
~ Anne Applebaum
"All of the decisions about this war are being taken, on the one hand, by an American president who has no strategy beyond his own gratification, as well as, on the other hand, by a secretive, extremist, fundamentalist Iranian regime whose leader may well be in a coma."
"[Megyn] Kelly just cannot wrap her head around how somebody as brilliant as Dear Leader got completely rolled and tricked into this stupid war by Benjamin Netanyahu. Donald “I Have The Best Brain” Trump? Tricked? Stable Genius Donald Trump? No he never!
Enjoy some more of the glory of Megyn Kelly losing it, but not actually being wrong."
~ Evan Hurst
#Trump #Netanyahu #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/14
https://www.wonkette.com/p/how-is-trump-so-stupid-he-believed
"While a civilization did not yet die this week, we most certainly experienced a very real loss; the loss of that last shred of hope that no matter how unhinged Trump becomes, no matter what he says in a rambling speech or an incoherent press conference, that he wouldn’t do that. That is now a menu item, even if its threat is just a means to an end."
~ Marisa Kabas
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/15
https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-iran-civilization-will-die
"The ceasefire was supposed to reopen Hormuz. Three days in: zero tanker movement Thursday, 230 ships waiting, Brent back near $100, gas $4.17. The IMF is cutting global growth forecasts because of this war — and says the damage persists even if the ceasefire holds."
~ Rudy Martinez
#Trump #Iran #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/16
https://www.chicanoinparis.com/p/the-rest-of-the-world-report-april-e95
Netanyahu announced direct talks with Lebanon — at Trump's request, expected at the State Department next week. Lebanon said "no negotiations under fire." Its Foreign Ministry wasn't notified. Its president said he won't let anyone negotiate on Lebanon's behalf. Israel kept bombing while making the offer.
"Lebanese reel after Israel kills over 300 in single day."
~ Ali awada
#Trump #Iran #Israel #Lebanon #war #StraitofHormuz #ceasefire
/17
When Trump donors pay for a fossil fuel shakedown using warfare & genocide, they get what they pay for.
Miriam Adelson paid both Trump & Netanyahu to get Gaza & Lebanon's fossil fuel resources.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-offered-250m-run-third-term-11226316
https://www.timesofisrael.com/adelson-testifies-for-second-time-in-netanyahu-corruption-probe/
https://www.wionews.com/world/bibi-files-netanyahu-documentary-adelson-hamas-funding-1774776776301
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/08/sheldon-adelson-trump-middle-east-policy
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/sheldon-adelson-obit/
https://apnews.com/general-news-b4b5b703f5074eada6a325970745111c
'JD Vance understands that Iran isn’t giving up the right to enrich shit, but he says it’s kind of like how his shrew wife has the right to skydive but actually she is not allowed and she knows it. No, really, he said that.'
It feels like we’re in a Bulgakov novel.
William Lindsey 
bouriquet
Nicole Parsons
ArchaeoIain
Kyle Memoir 🍉🐧
Ema
Michael Gemar
🟥 Eveline Sulman 🇳🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦