Los Angeles politics becomes a lot more understandable once you realize that Angelenos are lovely people but also deeply stupid, and that the city is governed by a coalition of very dumb rich people and equally dumb poor people. It is what it is.
It seems like the only way Trump will get back into this war is if he's dragged into it by Iran, kicking & screaming.
Thankfully, the Iranian regime is trying its best to do just that. Appreciate the help, guys.
Meanwhile, the blockade is up, more ships are coming out under U.S. guidance, oil remains under $100 and the IRGC knows the bottom is falling out inside the country. Yes, tonight’s events have strong shades of Biden April 2024, but let’s not ignore the obvious differences.
Now Trump will either say he mean Israel couldn't strike civilian infrastructure OR that this was all a headfake; Bibi can look like he still has balls without doing anything serious; and Iran can show it responded to its threats over Beirut.
Win-win-win.
Possible Trump played several journalists tonight and was always OK with an Israeli retaliation? Yes, but… the manipulation game last summer before Rising Lion was elaborate and premeditated. And not done by people ringing up Trump randomly for comment. Iran hit Israel today with a missile attack, which no one saw coming. Wait for the reporting on this but another explanation is Netanyahu spent an hour or so on the phone telling him Israel couldn’t not respond and Trump acquiesced, so long as the retaliation was limited.
Israeli source says that the targets were privately aligned with the U.S. to send a warning to Tehran while still giving the IRGC an out. Much harsher and direct regime targets are prepared in case the IRGC chooses to climb the escalation ladder.
A message conveying this is also being passed to Iran via 3rd parties.
Absolutely necessary response. You cannot have a deterrence equation where a response to Hezbollah missiles results in an IRGC attack without any consequences.
The regime in Tehran must think twice before launching missiles moving forward.