> My understanding is that they were actively negotiating
The only parties I’ve seen say this are Iran and Oman. Practically every other source, including non-English, concedes taking three weeks to come close to hashing out a framework isn’t serious.
> Trump was not authorized by Netanyahu to win that negotiation
This is nonsense. Netanyahu was pushing Trump. But if the Tehran team had capitulated, Trump would have taken the win. Hell, the capitalization could have been bullshit.
> outcome was foreordained
Of course it wasn’t. Ford wasn’t scrambled until weeks ago.
If you can read translated European, Indian, Chinese and Arab reporting on this, I’d strongly suggest it. The English-language stuff has inherited America’s obsession with Israel. That’s obviously germane here. But it isn’t as controlling as we like to make it seem.
Honest question, posed with all possible respect to a longtime HN user whom I am certain isn't a bot, an idiot, or a shill. Does Trump sound, to you, like a guy with a plan of his own, who can be trusted to execute that plan? Like someone who deserves the benefit of the doubt?
We're told that "Biden gave everything to Ukraine and didn't bother to replace it," but "Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term," and now we have a "virtually unlimited supply, stocked and ready to WIN BIG!!!"
Where do you, personally, draw the line? What could he say to convince you that he isn't acting in our country's interests, or even his own?
I’m doing nothing of the sort. I’m carrying water for the evidence.
Iran was not negotiating in good faith regarding giving up their nuclear program. Israel was encouraging but not boxing in American decision making. Witkoff and Kushner were (a) genuinely trying to strike a deal and (b) against kinetics when they started. These are each supported by the preponderance of evidence, far more than their inverses.
> Where do you, personally, draw the line?
Where the evidence does. If that winds up being pro- or anti- whatever party, I’ll look at that second. Facts aren’t partisan.
I’m doing nothing of the sort. I’m carrying water for the evidence.
Unfortunately I don't feel that I have access to the "evidence" you're referring to.
Everything I know about the attacks on Iran, I learned from people who lie a lot. That's pretty much all they do. They begin lying shortly after they wake up in the morning but before they get out of bed, and then they don't stop lying until they enter the alpha state that night. After that they probably lie in their dreams, but to be fair I guess I don't have evidence of that either.
Facts aren’t partisan.
Are your non-partisan facts more like Kellyanne Conway's "alternative facts," or the kind that are actually true?
My understanding is that they were actively negotiating, or at least they thought they were. In the middle of the dialogue the lights went out.
Essentially, Trump was not authorized by Netanyahu to win that negotiation. The outcome was foreordained.