When It Comes to Metaphors, Ukraine Sucks, While Chances for a Deal with Iran Fade
The editor at the New York Post, who signed off on this headline, or came up with it himself, either displayed a profound ignorance of history or was making a snarky observation about Ukraine’s lack of strategic thinking. I think it is the former, but I welcome your thoughts about the latter.
The Japanese attack on December 7, 1941 was intended to destroy the US aircraft carriers berthed at Pearl Harbor. But those ships were not there… they were at sea. Instead, the Japanese decimated and damaged several battleships. This attack launched the United States into World War II. I will defer discussing whether President Roosevelt allowed this attack to take place in order to rally the American public to join the war in Europe.
Japanese Admiral Yamamoto reportedly said the following in the aftermath of Japan’s great victory:
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve….We have won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war.
Ukraine’s destruction of an estimated 10 aircraft of varying vintage changes nothing tactically or strategically to give Ukraine hopes of stopping the Russian offensive on the ground. All it did was enrage the Russian public and further their commitment to defeating Ukraine and NATO. The Russian leadership has played this surprisingly cool. The Russian negotiators met their Ukrainian counterparts in Istanbul on Monday and did not raise the attacks as an issue in the talks.
I think Ukraine launched the drone attack, in conjunction with the terrorist bombing of the bridge in Kursk and the bridge in Bryansk, which fell on a passenger train, in hopes that Russia would refuse to proceed with the scheduled meeting in Istanbul. If that was their goal, it failed. Russia will continue to meet with Ukraine, but will not slacken its military campaign on the ground.
Russia presented its memorandum, which simply repeated the position President Putin laid out on June 14, 2024. Russia ain’t budging. Russia did offer an exchange of 6,000 bodies and a temporary ceasefire to allow the Ukrainians to collect their dead along specific areas in the line of contact. In doing this, Russia was sending an unmistakable message about the nature of the casualties… Ukraine does not have 6,000 Russian bodies to deliver. This is a clever tactic to remind the Ukrainians about the true state of the war.
Turning to the prospects for the US and Iran agreeing to a deal to guarantee Iran is not building nuke, the hopeful indicators from last week — e.g., Trump reportedly telling State to stop work on Iranian sanctions — that a deal was imminent, is proving to be a Chimera, i.e., a mythical animal. Iran is ready to make a deal, the US is not. One Iranian negotiator assessed the current status of the talks with this comment to the Middle East Spectator:
At first glance, [the proposal] is assessed as incoherent and disjointed, very unrealistic, and with excessive demands. The fact that the Americans constantly change their positions has so far been the main obstacle to the success of the talks and now makes the work more difficult than ever.
The US is changing its positions? Say it ain’t so. But it is true:
Witkoff: We won’t allow Iran to enrich even 1%
CNN: Actually, the U.S. is no longer asking Iran for ‘zero enrichment’
Reuters: The U.S. is insisting on zero enrichment
Axios: U.S. has changed its position, says Iran can enrich up to 3%
Trump: Iran can’t enrich at all
Trump’s desire to make a deal with Iran, assuming he is sincere, is being buffeted by unyielding Zionist opposition, not only from Netanyahu, but from much of the political establishment in DC. Zero enrichment is a deal killer for Iran. Trump’s claim that he is the master of making a deal is being exposed as a hoax… there is no agreement in sight for ending the war in Ukraine, the talks with Iran are stalled, and his imposition of tariffs has failed to produce a line of countries eager to “kiss his ass.” Only the UK’s Keir Starmer has planted his lips on Trump’s corpulent ass to secure a trade deal, which may say something about Starmer’s sexual proclivities.
I discussed Ukraine’s drone attack and terrorist strikes on bridges and a train today with Nima and with Judge Napolitano:
Pres. Putin remains firm and clear in peace talks.
Pres. Trump flips and flops on demands made to Iran.
Iran has every right to say "ENOUGH!", and end all talking.
Larry wrote: "Trump’s claim that he is the master of making a deal is being exposed as a hoax…" Who would trust the US now?
Look what he's done to my country, Ma.
https://youtu.be/r44Ach4mXE4?si=WZX-PUwrxnq6yitn
My big brother, who's 83 years old, lives in Israel [Don't ask]. Before moving there, decades ago, where he taught in Israeli schools, he'd obtained a Master's Degree in Speech & Communications.
A few days ago he called me. And for some 70% of the conversation he was laughing, almost hysterically, over Trump's "stupidity," as he called it. And our conversation went on for a couple of hours--a couple of hours of his attempt to speak about Trump's tarrifs, and other subjects, but his laughter so intense he was barely able to speak.
There's a scene in the movie, Knives Out, where the Thrombys learn that they will not receive a penny of inheritance from the newly-deceased Harlan Thromby, the super-rich billionaire who decided to leave all of his dough, and the family mansion, instead, to his live-in nurse, Marta Cabrera. Well, after the annoucement is made, and the family sits stunned, the quiet, oldest member of the Thromby family, whom they call Greatnana, giggles. Yeah, she giggles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV05E64dI6I
Yeah. Like my big brother, I'm feeling it. You know, all the shit I've come across, in life, that I once thought was so important, ain't resonating with me anymore as "all that." I guess my brother's uncontrollable laughter can be attributed to that vibe, with, perhaps, the special spin--Well, and my big brother virtually said as much--that, it ain't about Greatnana; or my brother; or myself; or any individual.
It's about the entity that Col. Lawrence Wilkerson always refers to as, "The Empire," i.e., the U.S.; America; "The West." Yeah. My big brother pretty much, eventually, explicitly stated that. He said something to this effect: "How appropriate it is that, at the end of 'The Empire,' a maniac, a con artist, and an immensely stupid fool, Donald J. Trump, is in charge." I really don't like name-calling. Yet, on the other hand........
I just hope that I can let out a big belly laugh, as my childhood buddy, Ralph, would put it, "Every OTHER now and then!" If people weren't being slaughtered, maybe I could laugh myself to death. Maybe that's what my big brother's doing: laughing to keep from dying. I don't know. QUESTION: Why are our leaders such WEAK MEN? They stink of weakness. It's sickenly obvious. Nuf said.