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Old Yesterday | 10:09 AM
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BrazilBusDriver
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Originally Posted by AAdvocate
Yes, 4 letters

R
I
N
O

Has had a vendetta against Trump since day 1 because of mean tweets or whatever. Hard to find a more biased person out there. Of course he would write for The Atlantic lol
Someone with command of the facts can attack the ideas and not just the source. Just because you think he's a dick - it doesn't make him wrong necessarily.

Trump really has three viable options that I can see.

1) (Feasible) He can change nothing substantial and continue the blockade. That's problematic for pretty obvious reasons, but hopefully it will eventually get him a slightly better deal than the JPCOA that he can sell domestically. That said, it seems likely the Iranians can take economic pain for quite some time, and I'm not optimistic the nuclear program completely ends, based upon what the admin has telegraphed through the news. This is probably his most likely course of action. It likely avoids strategic defeat.

2) (Feasible?) He can conduct a limited ground operation to secure the uranium. That seems politically unpalatable for a lot of reasons, including "no new wars". I would have argued the whole "60 days war powers act" and "Congress/constitutional republic" with midterms coming, but I suspect the "hostilities ended before 60 days" argument would be in play here. If he goes this route, the exec would likely decide to act without congressional authorization, and in conjunction with Israel. This is the only COA that meets the stated objectives of this conflict, but without a negotiated settlement or regime change, it doesn't reopen the straight.

3) (Feasible) He can unilaterally withdraw and hope that Iran doesn't toll the ever-living crap out of traffic transiting the straight...which they probably would, because who's gonna stop them? Europe? Gas goes down, but American hegemony in the Middle East is severely weakened, if not effectively over. This is US strategic defeat.

4) (Infeasible) He can make good on his threats to end Iranian civilization. Seems like a re-hash of PGM strikes wouldn't be enough, not that we have a lot left anyway. Would probably make $150/bbl oil look like a relative bargain. Might wanna get a lot of Canadian sports wear for international overnights. At least AA is tilted domestically. IND, CID, MDT, AVP, and ILM overnights would probably go senior.

5) (Infeasible) Iraq 2.0 style regime change. This is probably the only COA other than #1 that secures something approaching a victory.

Is there something else he can do that we delusional, ignorant, MSM brainwashed peasants can't see? If so, enlighten us by engaging with the subject material and not just yelling about the source.
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