Operation Economic Outcast (economic D-Day) will achieve what Operation Epic Fury failed to achieve—
Force Iran hardliners back to negotiate table and make a deal with significant concessions. That’s my prediction.
Now Bessent, after earning Trump’s trust, is taking over the leading role of the war. He is much smarter than Hegseth of a room temperature IQ.
In the end it’s the economy, stupid.
Replies to: “Operation Economic Outcast (economic D-Day) will achieve what Operation Epic Fury failed to achieve—”
Money means nothing to religious fanatics. They don't live in the modern world.
We should have been smuggling weapons into the Iranian resistance before we every launched an attack.
I'm not sure we've done this ever.
Of course we did. Google MEK, for one.
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MEK is a radilcal leftist fringe group with no armed presence in Iran.
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...that we armed and trained for decades
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Feels like they fleeced us and never fired a shot.
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Isn't that what the Iran Contra scandal was about?
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Not even close
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We funded the Contras in Nicaragua, which ultimately led to democratic elections.
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Is this sarcasm?
Because we have had pretty damn tough sanctions on Iran for decades.
The mullahs don’t care how much their people suffer,
And the idea that we should be trying to bring 90 million people to the brink of starvation is awful policy. And it won’t work.
So I assume you were being sarcastic.
Should we ease sanctions on North Korea because their people are starving?
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Why not? The sanctions have utterly failed.
Kim is solidly in charge and they have nuclear weapons.
Sanctions also failed in Iran and Cuba. So…more sanctions!
Russia too?
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To my knowledge this time is different. I could be wrong. For the record I’ll admit it if I’m wrong.
Yes, Iran has developed many ways against our sanctions. But this time we will cut off all the channels they used to against our sanctions. We know these channels very well.
Sanctions won’t work on extreme dictatorship countries or self sufficient countries. But Iran is not one of them. Of 2 pillars of Iran government, its civilian government is democratic. The opposition party in Iran is and has always been strong. Just check what happened in January of this year.
Uh…more sarcasm?
Iran is not democratic.
They have elections - but all candidates have to approved by the mullahs.
There are no civil rights and no unauthorized civil society.
They have a secret police and a religious police.
So I assume you are kidding again.
Stop changing my point. I didn’t say Iran is democratic. I said one part of its government, i .e.
its civilian government is democratic. Iran is a country of dual system of governance. Stop using your propaganda stuff on me.
No part of the Iranian government is democratic
Again - they have elections but the mullahs get to decide who runs. There are no real opposition parties.
Almost every country has undemocratic institutions and unelected institutions have substantial power
Your “my democracy is the only democracy “ is self centered and self serving.
In case of the U.S., its president is elected by electoral college, not directly by voters. In Iran its president is elected directly by voters. Yes, screening candidates is undemocratic institution in Iran election. In U.S., the unelected US supreme court can effectively override elected government. The U.S. Supreme Court can invalidate laws passed by elected representatives. The Constitution gives federal judges lifetime appointments rather than popular elections. Montana has greater Senate representation than California, per person. They all are undemocratic institutions. But I support all these undemocratic institutions. Again, I am not saying Iran as a country is democratic. I am just against and ridiculing your self-centered point.
Stop. You’d be embarrassing yourself, if you had any self-awareness.
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In fairness to Eli, he thinks Russia is democratic
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Those are all reasons we should hope for liberation of the Iranian people.
We should have assisted their revolution before they slaughtered 30K brave protestors. We were late, and have made mostly stupid decisions since. It's too bad.
There has been no sign of revolt or even protest since the war started
Starving people will not inspire them to revolt.
The best option is to make a deal to let Iran run the strait. In the short term.
Iranian regime is like Hamas. The harm of war/sanctions to their people is perceived as a good thing
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Iran will break any deal before the midterms. Their goal is to get Dems in power.
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We can’t win long military war with Iran, but we can win long economic war with them. Iran
Understands it. They don’t fear to have a long military war with us. They know, in a long military war, time is on their side. But it’s opposite in economic war. We don’t fear a long economic war. Time is on our side, not on Iran side. Iran understands it too. I don’t think they have luxury to wait after midterms. The longer economic war lasts, the worse Iran will get.
Bessent is brilliant. I hope he becomes Secretary of State in Vance administration one day.
The Dems will remove the sanctions, apologize and send them pallets of cash.
Then it's back to funding terroirism all over the Mid East.
That is the Iranian angle....appeal to their allies.
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If a Democrat is elected POTUS, that seems like the inevitable outcome.
Anything for affordability.
When a regime has a stranglehold on their people, the only real way to remove them is to go in and
do it. That's a choice. It is not that we can't win, it is that it would be pointless and the populace would not even appreciate it. This is the muslim world.
So, I do agree with you that economic measures will work better....now that the nukes are off the table and they are suitably convinced that we have a POTUS willing to hurt them rather than appease them.
We had to act quickly before they got their weapon. There was not a good exit strategy, but I put that on the JCPOA people. Many of those people are now cheering for Iran (see conor).
Like one that takes 47 years, maybe?
Again, good sarcasm on Bessent. Brilliant! Good one.
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