Kurt

I’ve read the WSJ every day for 35 years. Their reporting on Trump and the White House during the war has been weak and inaccurate. Odd. No clue why. If this article had been accurate, it would have talked about how Trump has been holding back the military from what they want to do to devastate the regime, and end this war. Where do people think the line “a whole civilization will die tonight” came from? If he unleashed the military, Iran would be the only country on planet earth without electricity, a developed oil industry to rebuild with, a steel industry, etc. Perhaps Trump’s language was hyperbole, but the effect is the same. Trump has been holding the military back to give the regime every chance possible, and then some, to recognize reality and concede, as well as to minimize any casualties to our troops. Naïveté? Possibly. The regime isn’t a rational actor. Israel had it right at the beginning, ie some of their first strikes targeted South Pars Gas Field. Kharg wasn’t too far behind. Trump stopped this. He’s been trying to thread the needle: accomplish our goals (getting the nuclear material and re-opening the Strait) while preserving electricity, an oil industry, and steel industry, and others, for the Iranian people when this ends - hoping the Iranians can boot the regime and take back their country. Even the escorting going on now in the Strait is Trump handicapping our military. They want to go and finish this in a devastating way. Trump complaining about the military not doing enough or being ineffective? They haven’t been given the green light to do what they want! That’s the story!

"In several recent conversations with aides, Trump expressed frustration that the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, while effective in crushing Iran's economy, hadn't forced Tehran to meet his nuclear demands." Basically the story of the whole war: people convince Trump that a particular military action will drive rapid political change in Iran, the military action (predictably) fails to do so, Trump gets frustrated. Rinse and repeat. wsj.com/politics/natio…

@lamper9999 @idreesali114 @JenGriffinFNC If you believe the IRGC. I don’t. Even if true, mistakes happen in war. Like a girls’ school adjacent to an IRGC base. Regrettable. Something to learn from. But, you move on.

@KurtDC2CA @idreesali114 @JenGriffinFNC x.com/MenchOsint/sta…

The U.S. has eliminated six Iranian small boats attempting to interfere with commercial shipping, U.S. Admiral says.

@AryJeayBackup A superpower can’t be taken out with the demolition of one island in less than five minutes. Without Kharg, you’re Cuba. Is Cuba a superpower?

Iran’s MFA spokesman responds to an inappropriate question from a foreign journalist on “why Iran doesn’t back down when America is a superpower.” He responded: “We are a superpower too.” Great powerful answer.

@ThePowerAudit @aeberman12 Keep going Chris. Noel is right. This dude can change the channel.

@aeberman12 @aeberman12 I am entirely confused by your take away on this. Your quotes are also not even what I said and this vessel is not an oil tanker its a vehicle carrier.

“First ship through Hormuz!” Big F**king Deal @ThePowerAudit It’s like the airport is shut down due to a storm, and the military flies in one plane to evacuate a VIP. Yipee #oil #Hormuz #shipping #energy #markets

The U.S. and Israel have different end goals, for sure. They want regime change. That’s not our goal. You do have to go to Tehran to do that, and about another few hundred cities, at a minimum. That’s never been on Trump’s “to do” list. He won’t repeat W’s mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we’re done, we’ll have stopped short of what Israel would like to have done. That will create a rift of sorts. So be it. But, from a military standpoint, this is not a war of attrition. It never has been. This could have been done in the first week. Full stop. Trump has been trying to thread the needle by accomplishing our goals, while not decimating the future of the Iranian people. This latter point is what he calls destroying a “civilization”. Not a good choice of words, but the effect is the same. The reality is we can make them a pre-electricity country with no developed oil industry. Understand that. From a military standpoint, that is how you defeat this enemy. But, Trump knows we aren’t at war with the Iranian people. We can’t cast 90MM people into the dark for a decade and with no oil economy from which to rebuild. Trump has been the one hindering our military, though for an understandable reason. That’s not what Israel would do. You’ve already seen that friction. Just go back to the beginning, and look at some of their first strikes on the South Pars Gas Field. That’s where Israel wanted to go from the outset. Kharg wasn’t too far behind. They are cutthroat. I respect that, but I don’t agree with it. That’s unimportant. What’s important is that Trump said no. They stopped. What will unfold here in the coming week or so, is a plan the military has developed for 30 years, and practiced in exercises every year since, and several times a year. I’ve been apart of it. Several times. It accomplishes our goals, but it is gritty. We will incur casualties, and equipment will be damaged. The gulf countries’ energy infrastructures will be roughed up a bit. How much of this? That all depends upon how Caine wants to do this. But, it will be done. Trump can’t leave things as they are, which was never a contemplated end result. He’s bent over backwards, and then some, to get the regime to concede their nuclear material and the Strait before committing to this next phase, because of the impact to our fighting force, and the region. I respect that. But he’ll give the order to finish the job shortly. He’ll send them.

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 Ha we're in a war of attrition with a foe we've economically strangled for 5 decades. Every day the Strait is closed, the tighter the vice on Trump, he's not cut out for a long siege as he has no patience nor tolerance for criticism as gas prices rise and the economy craters.

Iran embassy in South Africa takes a shot at the UAE after the IRGC missile attacks today: “One who sits in a glass tower should not throw stones.” (Let’s see how this ends)

@gbrew24 This is all about psyops and luring the fast boats out from their lairs. Talks are a means to an end. And the end is not written on paper.

"Talks are making progress," says Araghchi. Trump himself made a similar comment. Makes the last 24 hours in the Gulf all the more curious. What, exactly, was the US trying to achieve?

You misunderstand what’s coming. Or, you don’t know what’s coming. The regime will remain in place when we’re done, but the Strait will be open, and the nuclear material will be either obtained by the U.S., a third party or will be scuttled where it lies. Regime change is for the Iranian people, not us.

Negative. You’ve missed the mark there. If this was a march to Tehran, I’d agree. A lot of guys/gals would agree with you. That’s not what this is. This is a limited op, like George HW Bush’s eviction of Saddam from Kuwait. This is about nuclear material and the Strait. Easily achievable, yet gritty. I’d rather get this done now than wake up to see a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv or gulf countries economies held hostage. The difference between being proactive and reactive, in this instance, is night/day. Imagine if we’d stopped Hitler in Poland, instead of Berlin. History doesn’t remember the Neville Chamberlains fondly.

@FlashWireNews @araghchi Can’t be the regime or regime supporters. They aren’t that dumb. They know zero hour is upon them. Gotta be a leftie.

@araghchi Who Made This ???

Events in Hormuz make clear that there's no military solution to a political crisis. As talks are making progress with Pakistan's gracious effort, the U.S. should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire by ill-wishers. So should the UAE. Project Freedom is Project Deadlock.

@Bradsawful @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 Understand Brad. When you’ve been through war, politics don’t keep you up at night.

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 LOL, that's not how things work in midterms when one party is in complete control and the economy is in the shitter, you've been aroung long enough to know that. But whatever helps you sleep at night, we're gonna find out in 183 days.

@araghchi Events in Hormuz make clear there is only a military solution. Bonus prize: you’re near the top of the target list Jack!

@Bradsawful @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 Former Clinton Pollster Mark Penn on Midterms: “This is closer than people think it is. People are unhappy with the economy, they’re unhappy with the Republicans — but they’re also even UNHAPPIER with the Democrats.”

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 Well, I'll certainly be around in July/August to continue the conversation but, as I'm sure I've made clear, the die is well beyond cast at this point, IMO. Good luck out there, it's going to be a very interesting next 6 months.

It is your opinion, and you are entitled to it. I wouldn’t tread on that. You may be right. You may be right, but not to the degree you think. Or, you may be wrong. Remember, George HW Bush had a 91% approval in March 1991. 91%! When have the American people ever agreed on anything at a 91% clip since? Yet, he lost the election in November 1992. He only received 37.5% of the vote (granted Ross Perot had something to do with that). This is a shorter timeline, but a lot can happen.

Good to hear. Too few want to debate. They only like their own echo chamber. I fear I will disappoint, though. Partisan tit-for-tat isn’t my cup of tea. All I will say is that it’s too early to say. Conventional wisdom would agree with you given polling, gas prices, inflation (driven by gas), and the perceived “stalemate” with Iran. The latter will be resolved shortly, gas prices will follow with a lag. Inflation after that. Polling will follow all, and now we’re likely past November. Aside from this, historical midterm election results don’t favor the incumbent. But, our political maps are getting redrawn in such a way that red increasingly stays red and blue increasingly stays blue. Very little swing. Plus, in the Senate, you have to look at the specific seats up for grabs, and the Ds have work to do to switch enough there even as things stand now. This would be a more apt debate come July/August. A lot can change, especially during a war that could reshape the landscape of the most troubled region in the world for generations.

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 LOL, I'd welcome the debate, if for nothing else out of curiosity to see the rebuttal. Dude's polling in the 20's with independents, started an unpopular war he can't find his way out of, gas prices spiking with no end in sight, a congressional midterm for party in power...

@Bradsawful @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 You’ve got it all figured out. No debate needed.

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 A) A GOP Middle East war/bad economy that led to a Dem win B) 2 years of subpoenas, investigations, and Epstein victims under oath in Congress and on TV. No more reconciliation bills, wars, or tariffs. NC, OH, AK, ME, IA, TX all in play, any 4 of those drop = no judges.

@ldjdhdu @Earthbender1002 @Osint613 While you’re at it, imagine cows flying or dogs talking… The UAE prepared for years for this exact scenario. They had the equipment and human capital to effectively defend against what’s been flung at them. They also have allies who made sure they had what they needed.

@KurtDC2CA @Earthbender1002 @Osint613 Yeh imagine a war where they iran wasn’t sending hundreds of other missiles at the gulf or Israel and it was just explicitly the uae without us or Israeli support they would be finished in 2 weeks

That’s what Republicans thought after George HW Bush’s Persian Gulf War victory in ‘91. Didn’t turn out that way. We got Slick Willie. War is too volatile to be so sure of a political outcome at the end of it, domestically. However November is decided, you’ve still got two more years of the “drooling idiot”. Enjoy.

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 LOL, November is going to be a B-L-O-O-D-B-A-T-H

Ah yes, the side with all of the tax & spend answers that is de-populating blue states. Trump will get this done, and odds are we’ll be rolling again come November. History doesn’t favor the incumbent during midterms, but we’ll see. Now, for ‘28, you’ve got to find someone more honest than Shillary and someone more competent than Willie Brown’s mistress. Both, though, could have been elected dog catcher with your support! 😉

@KurtDC2CA @ZirpCapital360 @Osint613 LOL, I'm pretty sure you've misinterpreted where I'm coming from, I wouldn't vote for a republican for dogcatcher, I pray for democratic sweep to stop this fucking drooling idiot before this country is irreparably broken. And it may be too late as is.

@ldjdhdu @Earthbender1002 @Osint613 537 ballistic missiles intercepted 26 cruise missiles intercepted ~2,500 drones intercepted 90-92% destroy rate Not perfect, but impressive

@Earthbender1002 @KurtDC2CA @Osint613 Maybe your right because it would never actually be Iran vs uae they would call their allies us and Israel to help them