Fore!

If you want to know the real reason this war ended with a whimper it is that the US ran out of long-range missiles. According to reports, the military depleted 30 - 45 percent of its Tomahawks, JASSM's and critical interceptors in the first month of conflict. It simply couldn't sustain this war without putting boots on the ground, which Trump was loathe to do. So, we heard a lot of bellicose words for three months before Trump finally gave in and is now trying to make the proverbial silk purse out of a sow's ear. This is why he had everyone laughing when he entered a G7 meeting, proclaiming "I'm the boss."

The purported "deal" has raised more questions than answers, especially this 300 billion USD private fund allegedly set up to spur Iran's economy. Seems most of it is coming from the Gulf States, which is surprising given how much they are at odds with Iran and its proxies in the Persian Gulf. That figure has now grown to a whopping 425 billion USD.

No regime change, no act of contrition on Iran's part, it doesn't even seem like the US will make any effort to dig out the enriched uranium Trump claims is buried under a mountain of rock. "We're in no rush," he says. That's funny, I thought the whole reason for going to war with Iran was to rid us of this great existential threat.

This is the same regime that killed an estimated 30,000 protesters across the country from January to the start of the war in March, executed at least two men for organizing the protests, and shut down the Internet for months. By all accounts, the Revolutionary Guard is now fully in charge of the country with strong man Ahmad Vahidi leading negotiations.

The only contrition seems to be coming from the US side, Trump mainly, who praised the leadership in Tehran as "very rational" and "strong people, smart people." He now claims he never wanted regime change. Next thing you know he will be inviting them to Camp David, like he did the Taliban in 2019. He just can't get enough of that autocratic feeling.

It was an ill-advised war to begin with but to get nothing out of it other than assurances that Iran won't develop nuclear weapons and re-open the Strait of Hormuz is absurd. We had that before the war. Instead, he sensed there was no way out of the mess he created and wanted to cut his losses, much to the chagrin of Israeli allies and the war hawks in the Senate, who thought their fearless leader would see this through to the end. Poor Bibi was forced to accept this deal sight unseen.

Rubbing salt in the wound, Trump spoke out harshly against Netanyahu, demanding an end to hostilities in Lebanon, which is part of the deal. So much for that undying loyalty between the two nations. Trump senses greater development opportunities in Iran than he does in Gaza. After all, Iran sits atop the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and third-largest oil reserves. All Gaza has is some choice beach front. He's got that in Iran too. Most of it entirely undeveloped.

This will go down as one of the most embarrassing failures in US history. All that bellicose rhetoric at the start of the war. The threat of wiping Iran off the face of the earth. He was like one of those testosterone-fueled windbags from his UFC Battle Royale at the White House, only to find himself pinned to the matt because his intelligence department had failed to recognize the strategic hold Iran had over the Strait of Hormuz. 

Yet, he and his War Minister Petey Hegseth went in cocked and loaded, forgetting that most of their Tomahawks and other long-range missiles were committed to Europe. They expected capitulation on Iran's part in 24 hours like they had gotten in Venezuela. They thought the Iranian government was on the edge of collapse, especially after taking out the Ayatollah on the first day, only to find Iran simply dug themselves in, knowing they could wait out the missile strikes because they had counted his stockpile like you would a deck of cards.

Nice job, Donnie. You are the boss. Of what, I'm not exactly sure?