I guess I see this very differently on two fronts:
- The Iran gets a nuke front: I agree this episode has proven to them beyond a shadow of a doubt they need a nuke. But we can prevent that. I am in favor of bombing any nuclear development from here on out. We pretty much have to do that going forward. But that is isolated facilities and, judging from past experience, something we can easily identify. It also is in the interest of China, Russia et al for Iran NOT to get a nuke. To me that doesn’t seem like that hard a task to keep up. And it doesn’t require the mass slaughter of Iranian innocents to accomplish.
- Iran’s control of the strait: we have FAR less exposure than nations depending on the world. Let the free market work it out or let those nations spend their money policing the strait. Yes it will cause a permanent rise in the underlying price of oil. But assuming the average tanker carries 2 million barrels the underlying actual cost increase is only $1/barrel.
Why would we spend more billions upon billions to prevent a $1/barrel rise in the price of oil? I just don’t get it.
Well, yeah, that’s why I said it goes well beyond oil.
In my view, when Mango Mussolini committed to this war, there was no turning back. In principle, I agree with every point you made, which is why 1) I voted for Kamala and 2) opposed this war from the beginning.
None of that matters now. The question is, how do we best try to make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t? No matter how you slice it, we are going to be spending billions on Iran for the foreseeable future. The Tangerine Tyrant made sure of that.
So, and I am guessing you agree with me on this, the issue now is what course of action will, or is most likely to, produce the best possible outcome for the United States. Fair?
For argument’s sake, suppose Team Trump decides tomorrow to cut its losses and end all missile strikes, etc., against Iran. Now what? Again, I was against Trump and this bullsh*t from the beginning. But the hornet’s nest has been stirred up. How does cutting our losses
now produce the most favorable outcome? Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan.