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I thought I’d share one of my New Yorker cartoons today, it’s been a while. It doesn’t relate to my words below, at least I don’t think it does. If it does, let me know how! I hope you get to go on a swing this weekend, and that when you do, you scream out whatever you want.
Trump signed something with Iran yesterday. They call it a “memorandum of understanding.” Here it is in its entirety.
As I understand it, this MOU is in place so that Iran and the US can then negotiate more concrete terms. The agreement states we are paying Iran $300 billion for reconstruction costs for the damage that the US and Israel caused. Iran is to promise to open up the Strait of Hormuz and “reaffirm” to try to not to develop nuclear weapons (signaling that Iran is simply reiterating what it said in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Trump tore up in 2018).
The agreement lifts the U.S.-imposed naval blockade of Iranian ports and, most crucially, grants Iran waivers to begin exporting its oil even before the negotiation of a final agreement on its nuclear program. That will give Iran a critical economic lifeline. The one major step to be taken by Iran is reopening the Strait of Hormuz to free passage for the next 60 days, though the agreement seems to leave open the possibility of charging fees after that period.
What I read is that Israel says it does not feel bound by anything in the MOU. Trump started this war with Israel, is apparently ending it without them.
Some top Republicans call it “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.” Critics argue that the deal achieves less than the one Barack Obama negotiated with Iran in 2015.
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future,” the outgoing GOP senator Cassidy of Louisiana wrote. “Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.”
Heather Cox Richardson today lists some of the costs of Trump’s idiotic war cost:
the lives of 13 servicemen and women, injuries to 400 more
$132 billion so far in immediate costs, lost income
higher consumer costs, oil prices skyrocketed
175 Iranian schoolchildren and teachers were killed, and likely more
Former secretary of state Antony Blinken posted: “By President Trump’s own terms, the war is a failure. The Iranian regime is intact and its military wing more empowered, while the Iranian people are more impoverished, repressed and desperate…. The only ‘achievement’ of the ceasefire is the likely re-opening [of] the Strait of Hormuz—which was open before the war started. And we will apparently pay Iran to do so…. Don’t expect a return to normal any time soon, if at all.”
Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia said: “The president has been humiliated on the world stage, and many Americans are increasingly concerned about his stability and his capacity in the office. It’s deeply distressing to Americans across the political spectrum to see a president so incompetent and so incapable attempting and failing to represent the nation internationally.”
Trump may think by signing the MOU in a ceremony at the uber fancy Palace of Versailles, he will look presidential, and his followers will think he’s a strong president, all around great guy doing important things. Trump was invited to Versailles by French President Macron, and one of the deciding factors in accepting an invitation to dine at the Palace of Versailles was that it was “not gold leaf” but the “real deal”.
He probably thinks it will save him in the midterms, that he has saved face and his legacy as a great leader is intact. Smart Americans—Republicans included—know differently. He has ruined so much, taken down good things that responsible American leaders have done.
Thanks for being here! See you soon. Have a great Thursday, keep the faith.
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