I wonder if the Palestinians will be doing their own genocide in the future, continuing the cycle. Happens throughout history. The Kurds used to do the fucking, now they’re getting fucked. Hutus and Tutsis. Serbs and Croats.

It’s hard to stop the cycle, but it can be done. Colonial projects are not the way to do it.

Iran ain’t stupid. Most ships aren’t registered under the flag of the nations they haul to anyway.

If the US leaves, then Iran will probably open the Strait.

It’s a shame Israel won’t let them leave.

They think they can bully all the other governments into submitting to their wishes, because they assume that’s how the USA has always been able to dominate the post-ww2 world.

They’re wrong. They do not understand soft power. They do not understand that US economic power is a mutual decision, and that we foreigners decided to allow the US its leadership because we benefited too.

They do not understand that military power has limits. They are unable to comprehend that they have severely weakened the USA as a world power, and given China victory after victory, and - maybe permanently - lost the trust of Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, and South Korea.

Yes, the ultra-conservative forces behind people in the administration like Stephen Miller and Russ Vought - ie the Heritage Society and associated organisations - have won a historic series of ideological victories over their hated progressive enemies. The cost, though, is that they have badly damaged the USA’s power to direct the course of international events.

For evidence of that, see Trump’s pathetic whimpering that none of the former friends of the US have turned up to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz.

He cannot see that the way we were keeping it open was by not attacking Iran. That was the reality. There would be no point in sending ships. You could only stop Iran by killing millions of Iranians, and losing millions of your own troops, in a ground invasion, and the example of Hezbollah and Gaza shows even that might not work.

It’s insane that he might do it anyway.

When Iran is more likely to keep its word than America, it is very frustrating to see our government keep pretending we are allies and that all is well.

Politics is just war by other means.

Ah, but how will we know you weren’t born yesterday?

Oh wait, I have an idea…

When Dick Cheney was making the world safe for Halliburton? Yeah, there’s no comfort there.

Fuck em. They can read, they know what this leadership is.