I suppose I could call this missive "The Weak in Review", as it will touch both the Trumpian war debacle and his seemingly pointless China visit, as the new leader of the world was announced in no uncertain terms for all to see.

In a Thursday interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump was asked if the US was considering options on how to get Iran’s thousand lbs of 60% enriched U235.

 

“I don’t think it’s necessary, except from a public relations standpoint. I think it’s important for the fake news that we get it.”

 

One has to wonder if that is a Trumpian way---call it “the weave”---to say the US lost the war. Perhaps if Pam Bondi was still Attorney General, she might say, “You’re talking about Iran’s uranium when the S&P is over 7000?”

 

Maybe a MAGA can try to explain what the purpose of the war was. Maybe a MAGA can explain what the US achieved in this war of choice.

 

Some of what it “achieved” is obvious. Brent crude closed the week just under $110, vs under $60 bbl before Trump’s war. The Strait of Hormuz is mostly closed, and Iran still has 30 of 33 missile sites aimed at the Strait it had before the war. Prices of everything from energy to fertilizer to food to even helium are on the rise, all due to the war. Inflation in the US hit a multi-year high, exacerbating the Affordability Crisis. US bases in the Gulf region suffered serious damage, including strikes that made runways unusable. The US lost 13 service people and suffered hundreds of injuries. Some untold number of innocent Iranians and Lebanese have been killed, including 168 Iranian elementary school girls blown up by US missiles. The US lost overflight permission in supposed allies like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and even Spain. LNG facilities in Qatar were badly damaged. Saudi refineries were damaged. Deaths were suffered in every Gulf state, and the various populations now live under stress. The US had to redeploy missile defense system from South Korea and maybe Japan, not only putting those countries at risk from the DPRK, but making “allies” question what faith they can put in the US ever again.

 

The US spent anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion (Hegseth is asking for a new $500 billion for his shop) and ran down its inventory of missiles and missile defense systems like Patriots and THAADs for this?

 

What was the purpose of the war? Wasn’t it because Iran was on a path to produce nukes? If that is true (Iran’s pursuit of nukes), is Iran today any less able to continue down that path? Is Iran less willing or more willing to produce nukes? (Looking at how North Korea is treated, despite having a comparable, if not worse record of how it treats its own people, one can easily argue Iran will be more determined to gain nuclear capability.)

 

I guess Trump could say he achieved “regime change”, at least technically. Of course, an 86 year old Ayatollah Khamenei was replaced by a younger model Ayatollah Khamenei, kind of like the way Trump traded in his wives for younger models. Heck, Iran doesn’t even have to change the official stationary: ”From the Desk of Ayatollah Khamenei”.

 

From Iran’s cold and calculated point of view, the war has been a win for its finances, as it now can sell its crude oil at much higher prices. In a backhanded way, Iran has gained international sympathy, if not for its regime, at least for its people. The US, on the other hand, has lost international trust and has gained a more negative overall view.

 

Interesting to look back on what had been achieved by the Obama Administration re Iran. Before beginning negotiations that resulted in the successful JCPOA, which took Iran completely out of the nuke and U235 enrichment game, the Obama Administration made an assessment of its options, using game theory (according to JCPOA architect and former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, speaking to Jon Stewart in a podcast). In its assessment, the Obama folks concluded any attack of Iran would result in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a subsequent jump in energy prices and also damage to Gulf states from Iranian counterattacks. The US also considered how it might forcibly remove any enriched U235 Iran might have and concluded it would cost too much in terms of time and the blood of US soldiers. Obama then decided diplomacy might be a better way---and history proved him correct in every way, as Iran was 100% compliant to the terms of the JCPOA. By negotiation, the US got all U235 enriched beyond 3% moved out of Iran, and allowed Iran only 300 kg of 3% enriched U235. Trump subsequently withdrew the US from the JCPOA, which immediately resulted in Iran beginning to enrich again.

 

Critics at that time---and MAGAs today---argue that returning frozen Iranian assets was too high a price to pay, but that fear looks silly given how much more money Iran is making today selling oil at these high prices. Also, the JCPOA took Iran 100% out of the nuke business, and it did not require blood and treasure to achieve it.

 

So let’s look at Iran today vs Iran on 27 February 2026:

-It still has all the 60% enriched U235 it had in February

-It can still fund Shi’a terror groups if it so chooses

-It has stronger control over the Strait of Hormuz

-It has 70% of the mobile launch missiles it had, 90% of its underground missile stores and launchers, and 30 of 33 missile launchers aimed at the Strait

-It has a younger Ayatollah Khamenei

-It has more world sympathy, whether it deserves that or not

-It has shown how asymmetrical warfare can be an advantage, and on the cheap (a $30K Iranian drone took out a $1.3 billion THAAD system in Qatar)

-It has shown that absent the US use of nukes, the US’ military capability is rather limited in what it can achieve---which will not go unnoticed by bad actors and hostile nations

 

It’s little wonder Trump has lashed out at journalists reporting the truth, and particularly against those who publish leaked intelligence assessments. Of course that is only because such true news embarrasses Trump and his Administration, as the Iranians know full well what they still have in terms of missiles and control of the Strait.

 

Operation Epic Fury is indeed more aptly named Operation Epic Failure.

 

In his meeting with Chinese leader Xi, Xi politely (“elegantly”, per a Trump Tweet) said that China is the rising world power, while the US is in decline. Trump agreed, but as anyone would expect, Trump tried to foist the blame on Biden, while in no way did Xi imply that at all. Loss of allies, loss of goodwill, greater domestic division---that’s all on Trump and his wars, his tariffs, he threats and his general irrational manner.

 

In a final insult to Trump---which Trump missed---Xi gave a going away present to Trump: rose seeds. Xi had visited the Obama White House when the lovely Rose Garden still existed and commented back then on its beauty. Xi knows full well Trump dug it all up to put in cement (and maybe corn dog stands?). Ouch! A subtle Chinese dig indicating who the true Alpha Male is.

 

We now return you to rising inflation, $4.60 gas, and the Epstein Files.

 

Jon Stewart/Ben Rhodes podcast:

A good post as far as it goes, but it didn't go far enough.

Not one word about Israel.

They instigated this war.

Anybody who can't see that is either willfully ignorant or pushing an agenda.

It is called the Trumpian Offramp. Don messed up badly, everything about this war was poorly calculated, Iran outsmarted America badly, and now he's looking for a way out as he's getting crushed in the polls, and his popularity is dwindling at an alarming rate. MAGA is in decline.

My guess is that he will withdraw with his tail between his legs, and claim a false victory having accomplished nothing except destruction of the world economy and more turmoil, but that's why we call him Mr. Chaos, isn't it?

He is a simpleton nimwit, being advised by people that he picked from the absolute bottom of the barrel, but that's just Don. It's a shame because tens of millions of people thought he was somebody else. And he sure is showing his true colors now.

The amount of chaos Trump has caused for the entire planet with his unnecessary forever war is astounding. It was sich a bad choice and the timing could not have been worse, as the world economy is already challenged enough. This means nothing to him as his wealth continues to grow through massive corruption. What did they think was going to happen with the strait and why did they think they could handle the consequences of this recklessness?

Trump deserves severe punishment for this act. America will be reaping the blowback for years to come and nobody knows how long the chaos will last.

Dumb and dumber. Pure Don style stupidity and staggering levels of ignorance and hubris.

The only good that can come from this is if MAGA devotees finally realize what a dunce they supported and rise up against this street trash pig president.

Edited May 16May 16 by spidermike007

6 hours ago, BonnieandClyde said:

A good post as far as it goes, but it didn't go far enough.

Not one word about Israel.

They instigated this war.

Anybody who can't see that is either willfully ignorant or pushing an agenda.

I suppose I did leave that out, though several times myself and others have noted what Marco Rubio said on Day 1, before he was scolded and given the proper line.

The US had sent warships into the region merely as a show of force, thinking it would pressure Iran in the negotiations (which would have, at best, recreated the JCPOA). Isreal attacked and made sure Trump had no choice but to join in, totally ignorant of what Iran was capable of doing re the Strait and going after Gulf infrastructure. Very poor planning and zero consideration of contingencies, but I suppose one cannot expect much from a Carnival People Administration.

Clearly the US was not ready for the war, nor was there any goal, other than Trump probably thinking it would be to his greater glory, improve his poll numbers, and take attention off of Epstein. Instead, Iran has won, Trump's poll numbers continue to tumble, Epstein is still there, and Trump's daily lies are believed less and less, even by MAGAs.

Netanyahu has wanted the US to invade Iran for more than a decade. When the JCPOA was under consideration, Netanyahu leaked some documents about Iran's nuclear program. The agency knew those documents were from 2003, not 2015, and in no way did they represent the then-current actions of Iran, nor did it credit what concessions they were willing to make with the JCPOA (especially after getting scared when Obama unleashed the Stuxnet virus that wobbled their high speed centrifuges). That incident was "borrowed" and put into the movie Kandahar, starring Gerard Butler.

Has Trump run this past Bibi?

If not I expect we’ll shortly be hearing why the illegal Israeli/US war of aggression must continue.

The announcement might not come from the White House.

I thought that was the whole point of the war he started ,so they

would not have a nuclear weapon ,so just leave them with the

enriched uranium !.

I think that proves that this war was just a distraction from the

Trump🤡Epstein files...

regards worgeordie

2 hours ago, Wingate said:

I suppose I did leave that out, though several times myself and others have noted what Marco Rubio said on Day 1, before he was scolded and given the proper line.

The US had sent warships into the region merely as a show of force, thinking it would pressure Iran in the negotiations (which would have, at best, recreated the JCPOA). Isreal attacked and made sure Trump had no choice but to join in, totally ignorant of what Iran was capable of doing re the Strait and going after Gulf infrastructure. Very poor planning and zero consideration of contingencies, but I suppose one cannot expect much from a Carnival People Administration.

Clearly the US was not ready for the war, nor was there any goal, other than Trump probably thinking it would be to his greater glory, improve his poll numbers, and take attention off of Epstein. Instead, Iran has won, Trump's poll numbers continue to tumble, Epstein is still there, and Trump's daily lies are believed less and less, even by MAGAs.

Netanyahu has wanted the US to invade Iran for more than a decade. When the JCPOA was under consideration, Netanyahu leaked some documents about Iran's nuclear program. The agency knew those documents were from 2003, not 2015, and in no way did they represent the then-current actions of Iran, nor did it credit what concessions they were willing to make with the JCPOA (especially after getting scared when Obama unleashed the Stuxnet virus that wobbled their high speed centrifuges). That incident was "borrowed" and put into the movie Kandahar, starring Gerard Butler.

Another exceptionally good post.

Excuse the snarky last line in the reply.

You're neither "willfully ignorant" nor "pushing an agenda".

However, your glaring omission of the role played by Israel in this latest war provoked us into a snappish response.

25 minutes ago, BonnieandClyde said:

Another exceptionally good post.

Excuse the snarky last line in the reply.

You're neither "willfully ignorant" nor "pushing an agenda".

However, your glaring omission of the role played by Israel in this latest war provoked us into a snappish response.

No problem.

I guess I assume that at some point people know the genesis of the war.

Trump had the chance to act like the leader of a superpower; instead he acted like a lapdog.

Do you have any idea how this is stored

To do this in a war zone is madness the 60% uranium is stored as a gas uranium hexafluoride in ŠKODA VPVR/M transport and storage cask each weighs 10,700 kilograms empty full more that 12,300 kilograms so to remove these, a crane and flat bed truck would be required how many containers there are is not know, and if any are leaking there is a containment problem, total load for 18 of these packages would be 190 to 220 metric tons,

There are several hypotheses of Decoy with fake containers,

this is to be carried out under war conditions Madness heading for disaster and a lot of people killed

https://thebulletin.org/2026/03/analysis-iran-likely-transferred-highly-enriched-uranium-to-isfahan-before-the-june-strikes/

The uranium is something, but Israel will not let it rest until it wrecks Iran as it has Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc.

It will never dislodge Hezbollah and Hamas and will continue to push for absolute annihilation. If there is a truce, it is only that. Messianic Israel will push on with war. It may even drop tactical nuclear weapons. That is not out of the question. The US might as well on Israels behalf..that's how compromised Trump is

Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS all Israeli creations

Israel has been severely damaged. Jews with second passports have left for their second (third) countries. Those that hold only Israeli passports are looking at resettlement throughout Latin America in particular and the dregs to Africa. They'll bide their time.

Satanyahoo is just trying to stay out of prison and away from war crimes tribunal.

Meanwhile, the slaughter goes on in Gaza and Lebanon.

Edited May 17May 17 by StarOfLight

13 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

Do you have any idea how this is stored

To do this in a war zone is madness the 60% uranium is stored as a gas uranium hexafluoride in ŠKODA VPVR/M transport and storage cask each weighs 10,700 kilograms empty full more that 12,300 kilograms so to remove these, a crane and flat bed truck would be required how many containers there are is not know, and if any are leaking there is a containment problem, total load for 18 of these packages would be 190 to 220 metric tons,

There are several hypotheses of Decoy with fake containers,

this is to be carried out under war conditions Madness heading for disaster and a lot of people killed

https://thebulletin.org/2026/03/analysis-iran-likely-transferred-highly-enriched-uranium-to-isfahan-before-the-june-strikes/

Trump needs to be able to hold it over his head like a trophy 😂

I might add to this when Israeli reputations can't sink lower all the illegal machinations and outright vulgar rudeness of Israelis in Thailand hitting upper limits. Just saw a video of an Israeli that entered an AC closed shop and took a dump on the floor. The vulgarity is legion and this is really what the world is up against