Let's show appreciation and gratitude towards each other's contributions on the board.
- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 4
Iran live updates: Trump says no deadline for Iran to make a deal
President Donald Trump said that he would not set a deadline for Iran to make a deal, while speaking at the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Asked directly if there was a deadline for Iran, Trump said there was “never a deadline.”
“Never a deadline. It'll happen, it'll happen, but never a deadline,” Trump said. https://abcnews.com/International/live-updates/ira...No more bluster about bombing them into the stone age. The Strait stays closed, until there is agreement, and there is no urgency about reaching an agreement.
...this is what Rant #1 called for: long term disruption of oil supply from the Gulf, to the great enjoyment of USian big oil. The regime's shifting excuses for the war, are because they can't say the real objective out loud.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 3
The regime's shifting excuses for the war, are because they can't say the real objective out loud.
You may well be right, Steve. The evidence does seem to fit your theory, even if much of it is circumstantial/indirect.
Which means…… we’ll never know, at least “for sure”.
But you’ve swayed me.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Which means…… we’ll never know, at least “for sure”.
Nope, we won't. For weeks, we have been asking who is Baghdad Bob. No closer to an answer now, then we were in early March.
Tonight, the Beeb reported Iran is dismissing that 14 point, 1 page, memo, as a US "wish list".
An Israeli analyst on Amanpour said the initial objective was "regime change", which Trump has never admitted to. Iranian agreement with the US, would keep the existing regime in power. The analyst figures Iran is nowhere near any sort of capitulation that would meet the Israeli objective of the war.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force hit within the city of Beirut today, for the first time during the "cease fire", while continuing offensive operations in the south of the country.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 4
...this is what Rant #1 called for: long term disruption of oil supply from the Gulf, to the great enjoyment of USian big oil. The regime's shifting excuses for the war, are because they can't say the real objective out loud.
There seems merit for sure. Just out:
Shell tops profit estimates as Iran war boosts oil price, cuts share buybacks … It reported profits of $6.92bn (£5.1bn) for the first three months of the year, which was higher than analysts had expected and up from $5.58bn in the same period a year earlier.
Still, that theory would ascribe iron execution discipline based on a set strategy (Project 2025/6?) to a leadership more prone to populism and late-night tweets / decision making driven by the latest Fox News segment.
Perhaps the approach is to continuously ‚step over red lines‘ and routinely ‚break things‘ (borrowed from Musk), then opportunistically pushing for strategic goals coming into reach once the dust settles. That would also explain the shifting explanations - they are simply made up on the way as the situation develops.
I‘d look out for the situation becoming untenable at home - prices at the pump? Stocks? Bonds? - and the regime’s objectives may change on a dime. We‘ll see.
No. of Recommendations: 2
I‘d look out for the situation becoming untenable at home - prices at the pump? Stocks? Bonds? - and the regime’s objectives may change on a dime. We‘ll see.From the CEO of Chevron:
What Chevron’s CEO said about gas shortages
“We will start to see physical shortages,” Wirth said, noting that surplus supply in commercial markets, tankers in so-called shadow fleets avoiding sanctions, and national strategic reserves were all being absorbed,
“Demand needs to move to meet supply,” he said. “Economies are going to have to slow.”
Wirth was specific about the sequence. Asia is the most exposed region because it is most heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil and gas. Japan, for example, sources approximately 95% of its oil imports from the region,
Europe is expected to feel the impact next. Asia was already responding: Japan received its first crude shipment from Russia’s Sakhalin Island in two years just this week as importers scramble for alternative supply.
The United States, as a net exporter of crude, is less exposed than Asia or Europe. But Wirth was clear that no economy is immune. He pointed to a specific data point to illustrate how close the disruption is to U.S. end markets: The last scheduled Gulf shipment was being offloaded at the Port of Long Beach, which supplies Los Angeles and Southern California, according to Reuters.https://www.thestreet.com/economy/chevron-ceo-send...The Beeb has been reporting shortages in the Philippines for weeks. Spot issues with supply in Australia. I heard an analyst, a few days ago, say it will get real for the US in two or three months. Meanwhile USian financial markets continue to move on what comes out of Trump's pie-hole.
Steve
