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  1. You can feel them all going back to normal, like nothing ever happened. Like a couple the morning after a terrible row pretending they hadn’t revealed how much disdain they secretly held for one other.

    In the cold light of day, under the powerful narcotic of relief, everyone goes back to their usual roles. [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/trump-jesus-white-house-video-4327476?ico=in-line_link) acts like a used car salesman. “There will be lots of positive action!” he says. “Big money will be made.” [Keir Starmer](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/trump-starmer-chamberlain-perfect-reason-thinks-4340407?ico=in-line_link) has reverted to his default position as the secretarial function of geopolitical back-up plans, trying to organise a coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Nato chief Mark Rutte, the Theon Greyjoy of world politics, is jetting over to Washington to whisper obscene celebrations into Trump’s ear.

    They’ll all want us to forget what was said yesterday. It will no longer be convenient to remember. If we remember it, we will have to act on it and that would be inconvenient. So we should just let our principles die with our short-term memory – enjoy the sight of stock markets resettling, petrol prices stabilising, blink up at the sun and pretend the world is better than it is.

    But you can’t forget it. You mustn’t. A [moral boundary was crossed on Tuesday](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trumps-wild-claim-civilisation-suggests-considering-genocide-4341437?ico=in-line_link). Something was said which changes everything. And for us to go back on it, to pretend it didn’t happen, betrays every possible value upon which our society is based.

    The President of the United States threatened genocide. There are no caveats to that sentence. There are no legitimate counter-arguments, no definitional uncertainties. He did so with six words, which we must commit to never forgetting. “A whole civilisation will die tonight.”

    Trump will now tell us that these words worked, that they were a bluff, a feint. That he won. His acolytes and enablers will join in, insisting that his threats are some ingenious kind of strategic gamesmanship which secured his ideal outcome.

    No one has any real idea about what is being arranged here – probably including Washington and Tehran – but the initial picture does not bear out that interpretation. The Iranian account of their peace plan, which Trump accepted as a “workable” template, apparently includes a proposal for a roughly $2m toll for each ship they allow to pass through the Strait.

    If true, that will constitute perhaps the greatest humiliation for the US since the fall of Saigon. It will have gone to war needlessly, in the middle of negotiations, at the cost of thousands of lives, and billions in munitions. The ensuing counter-attack by Iran devastated America’s relationship with its Middle East allies. Now, the ceasefire will leave the enemy in a much stronger position than before the war, because it has discovered a devastating and viable form of geopolitical leverage.

    That is a strategic blunder of historic proportions. The American empire has been shown to be vulnerable, incoherent, illogical, highly emotional and profoundly unreliable.

    Yet for all the damage, nothing is as pertinent as what Trump said in those final moments.

    “A whole civilisation will die tonight”. There’s no coming back from that. There is no way to incorporate it into our existing view of the world. And yet that is what world leaders have effectively done.

    European leaders said nothing, did nothing, were useless. Starmer was silent. France’s Emmanuel Macron was silent. Germany’s Friedrich Merz was silent. European Council president Antonio Costa was silent. The closest thing we got from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was a riddle about horses. They “radiate an incredible calm and resilience, and I believe they are an ideal symbol for our tempestuous times”, she said.

    [Europe is the great anti-war project](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/putin-war-threats-desperation-europe-4081484?srsltid=AfmBOoroFCiM6vTukemqbjuWm2YAlqfLux1Ija7dDpRj3xuxthhlKTlG&ico=in-line_link) of the 20th century, the most determined and ambitious effort in history to make conflict impossible, built in the ashes of the last world conflict. It is now mute – utterly mute, utterly ineffectual and irrelevant – while those same conditions rise again. Hopeless.

    The only world leader who behaved appropriately yesterday was the Pope. “Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” he said. “There are certainly issues ⁠here of international law, but even more than that, it is a moral question for the good of the people.”

    Elsewhere there was silence. And in that silence, there was a betrayal of the promise we have told ourselves all our lives, while standing besides cenotaphs or reading history books, while listening to grandparents or visiting Holocaust museums: Never Again.

    What would Never Again look like, if we really believed it rather than simply mouthing platitudes about it?

    It would demand recognition and action. It would require, first of all, that we acknowledge the similarities between the world we live in now and that of the early 20th century: that there is a [madman](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/now-trumps-friends-appear-worried-mental-state-4190370?srsltid=AfmBOoqdnxiaTTBNN1OWGQStCIz3Bw2ZyEp_h54a-uR3CsNdEMtvavEu&ico=in-line_link) in power, motivated by grievance and conspiracy theory, issuing explicitly genocidal statements.

    It would require, second of all, that we then take every action possible to isolate, ostracise and restrain this leader. We would start by [cancelling the royal visit](https://inews.co.uk/opinion/kings-trip-massage-trumps-ego-should-cancelled-4327400?ico=in-line_link). We would continue by formulating a coherent short, medium and long-term strategy which extricates us from Washington’s defence ecosystem, no matter the cost. And we would commit, explicitly and wholeheartedly, to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s vision of flexible medium-power diplomacy outside of the traditional channels.

    Everyone will want you to forget this morning. The sun’s out, the immediate threat has passed, the coming economic crisis has been potentially averted, or at least partially restrained. They will all want to pretend that those words were never uttered, that it never happened.

    They were uttered. They did happen. The world cannot be the same again. And our personal moral standing, as citizens and leaders, will be based on what we do on the basis of them.

  2. playwdominika on

    The “historic events” per week ratio is getting a bit out of hand lately. Can we just have a normal Tuesday for once?

  3. We can say that all US wars have been unnecessary, but this one was particularly humiliating. There’s a reason why not even the great warmongers to have ever lived (Bush 1 and Bush 2) never attacked Iran, because it was a war they were going to lose badly.

  4. ArdaBerkBurak on

    They planned to bring about regime change by dropping a few bombs, like in Venezuela. But seeing that the situation was heading towards disaster, they backed down. Trump will now try to convince his base that he won a great victory.

  5. No-Tomatillo3698 on

    Ended up with a worse deal than the deal with Iran he quite literally bombed costing US taxpayers billions in the process and will cost them even more, but hey at least he got some insider deals out of it

  6. Electronic_Goose_986 on

    How can anybody claim this a victory is beyond me. The street is now open at costs! It was closed because of the war and was open before it. It‘s like setting a building on fire and others applaud because you show up with a small cup of water

  7. Wait until we see who bought Stock right before the US surrendered(don’t fool yourself we did). Stock market up big this morning

  8. More like: Making Russia & Iran Great Again – thanks to Putin’s puppet Agent Krasnov (Trump):

    * Oil and gas are more expensive = helps Russia and Iran
    * Trump lifted Russian oil sanctions (now Russia making tons of money, and helps fun Ukraine War)
    * Trump lifted Iran oil sanctions (Iran a proxy of Russia, and again making Russia more money)
    * Iran now collects $2 million per ship thru Strait of Hormuz
    * Iran now controls 20% of the world’s oil = higher prices across the board for all goods
    * Don’t forget Trump ended DOJ prosecution of Halkbank, which Iran has monetary interest in
    * NATO weakened – further isolation of USA = helps Russia immensely
    * American people weakened with higher inflation and cost of goods, less money for healthcare
    * American military weakened with all recent firings of generals and officers with Iranian intelligence

    This “Iran War” sets both Iran and Russia to come out far ahead, and screwed all consumers, thanks to Trump – it will be one of USA’s darkest moves in history.

    Donald Trump can kiss away any chance of a Nobel Peace Prize F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

  9. spagheddieballs on

    Billions of dollars spent, dozens of soldiers dead and injured, and what are the end results? Prices are higher. No regime change in Iran. Current deal is worse than the old nuclear deal. Literally nothing gained.

  10. Sufficient_Steak_839 on

    Has the US ever bungled a geopolitical interaction like this?

    Bombings on Lebanon and surrounding Middle East countries never actually stopped, Trump let Iran walk away believing they’d get everything they wanted, including the uranium enrichment that was the reason for the entire original Iran deal, and we are permanently worse off when it comes to oil delivery.

    Genuinely, how could this be any worse?

  11. ~~Started~~ followed Israel into an illegal war.

    War aims: unclear / contradictory.

    Iran gripped the global economy by the jugular.

    (*lots of bombings in all directions*)

    Trump makes threat.

    Backs down

    *(rinse and repeat)*

    …errr

    the end

    MEANWHILE: apparently nobody is looking while Israel Gaza’s Lebanon.

  12. shastadakota on

    I think they called Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe” because while he was President, you could sleep at night. Now it’s toss and turn, and check the news to see WTF he did or said now.

  13. snarquisnarquer on

    There’s a funny, as in interesting, thing about Narcissists (ie:Trump): In all their strutting and public preening; in all of their grandiose self inflating proclamations; in all their bullying, and their weird delusions of omnipotence and grandeur, they eventually, inevitably, bring down onto themselves the very shame and humiliation they fear the most. On their way to this moment of truth, they will, or will try to, destroy everything around them, in compensation or revenge. Others, possibly like Trump, are so well defended (ie: delusional), that the whole world can laugh and jeer to their face, and they will never even know it.

  14. frankduxvandamme on

    But does it even matter to Trump? He’s the ultimate example of failing upwards. He’ll continue telling lies to America and feel fine about it. In a couple weeks, maybe a month, he’ll find something else to fixate on and likely ruin it while saying he’s making America great again.

  15. The biggest humiliation in the history of the US. Sorry Americans, we know that plenty of you are good people but the US as a nation has lost all it’s standing among nations. No other country worth anything good will want to deal with you now. All that’s left for you is the likes of Hungary or Russia. You’ve lost the Europe, you’ve lost the ME, Canada, Mexico, Australia. China march to their own drum. Russia also at least as long as Putin is alive. Maybe he’ll fall out of a Whitehorse window during Trump’s 80th birthday bash.

  16. Because being a loser business man, con artist, convicted felon, pedophile isn’t humiliation enough?

    Remember the Epstein files and all of the women he has destroyed mentally.

    The biggest disgrace is that congress, the checks and balances part of the basis of democracy has done absolutely nothing to limit his power.

    So much disgrace. Are we winning yet?

  17. can we just start calling this war Trump’s Folly, he wants his name in the history books, and he is too stupid to know that folly is a bad thing.

  18. Overall_Curve6725 on

    Trump shit the bed on the international stage. The world has seen his failure on an epic level. His legacy is not salvageable. I love this for him

  19. the_gaymer_girl on

    Trump:

    – tore up the Iran deal

    – started a war for no reason

    – got a bunch of people killed

    – surrendered

    – agreed to a worse deal than the first bloody time *and* motivated and enabled Iran to get nukes

  20. middlechildanonymous on

    Congress should not get vacations. They need to get back to DC and invoke the 25th

  21. Showmethepathplease on

    the strategic consequences are far worse.

    America has been weakened significantly. Iran is just the culmination of 18 months of incompetence, hubris and corruption

  22. I doubt he feels humiliation & the GOP will still back him. They’re not going to try to remove him from office.

    The frustrating part of Trump is it doesn’t matter how bad or dumb stuff gets, it’s just going to continue.

    His cabinet isn’t going to 25A him, & the Senate won’t ever have the votes to convict even if they did, and too few GOP voters will stay home or cross party lines to change that senate reality (not to mention 2/3 of the senate isn’t even on the ballot in any given election, so you only have 1/3 of the Senate seats even in play.)

  23. It’s been thrilling to be entirely indoctrinated by propaganda as an American who graduated through the public school system. It was hammered into our heads that America is the most powerful nation who never loses. Then I grew up and have spent my entire adult life watching this country lose, be weak, and be embarrassing.

    Not only did we get nothing, blew taxes, murdered kids, and murdered our own people, now everyone knows we’re weak with no allies. Maybe a MAGA representative can grab the shared brain cell you all have and explain why this is a good thing, but you probably won’t have that talking point from Fox news memorized until at least Sunday.

  24. EunuchsProgramer on

    Calling this a Taco isn’t right. It’s a surrendered. The tariffs were a Taco. This would be like after Liberation Tariffs crashed the bond market and set the economy on a death spiral it turned out you could only remove them if Iran agreed. And, Iran got literally everything it ever wanted in exchange for Trump stopping shooting himself in the foot: ownership of the straight, 130 million in daily toll payments, right to enrich uranium, no restrictions on terror or missile funding, all sanctions going back to Bush ended. Art of the Squeal

  25. buzzfriendly on

    Pedo Prez and the people who voted for him are the absolute worst America has to offer.

  26. AThousandBloodhounds on

    This nation’s humiliation began in 2015 when a conman and sexual predator rode an escalator down to a podium to announce his clown-show run for the Presidency.

    Thus began the cult and gathering of deplorables to boost his insanity into the national spotlight and eventually to the most powerful office in the world. This nation has suffered a well deserved humiliation ever since.

    Hilary was right all along.

  27. Imagine China starts an invasion of Taiwan… and then a month later just ch!cken’s out and accepts

    Taiwan’s 10-point counter-offer:

    – Guarantee Taiwan will not be invaded again (including “just testing defenses” drills)

    – Permanent end to all “reunification by force” talk – not a pause, a delete

    – Recognition of Taiwan as “definitely its own thing” (wording negotiable but vibes must be clear)

    – Full lifting of all diplomatic pressure on countries recognizing Taiwan

    – Immediate end to airspace incursions (no more daily flybys for cardio)

    – In return, Taiwan agrees to keep making chips (you’re welcome)

    – Taiwan introduces a “semiconductor stability fee” of $2M per shipment

    – Fees split between Taiwan and… honestly Taiwan keeps most of it

    – Taiwan provides “safe passage guidelines” for anyone trying to not break global supply chains again

    Missing the 10th one but you get the point

  28. butterflybuell on

    He won’t know what humiliation is until he’s cuffed and doing the perp walk. Bring it on!

  29. when you look up Tour de France winners you will see no winner for the period 1999 to 2005 (lance armstrong was removed for doping). The same should be done for the list of american presidents – a blank space for number 45 and 47

  30. Do any of you remember when we had a POTUS that wasn’t rage/bait posting at every hour, every day? I do. They were named Obama & Biden.

    Somehow people that voted for this are ok with having wasted billions of dollars on an illegal war that was a net negative for US influence, military operations, and security in the region. How many interceptors were wasted again on this unnecessary conflict? And the price/cost ratio to iranian drones? How many military bases were attacked and the lives that it cost?
    When the racism is so deeply rooted in their political ideology (ie: we hurt brown people), one has to wonder if these people have any decency at all or any moral bearing.

    Fuck this timeline and the people that put us on this trajectory – The World.

  31. I’d say it’s the biggest humiliation since Hitler and Napoleon decided it was a good idea to go into Russia during winter.

    This is all of Trump’s own making, so let him live with it.

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