No. of Recommendations: 14
"Bibi" has been saying, all along, this war is not over.
So what? He doesn't get to decide what the U.S. does.
I should have been a bit clearer in my earlier statements. The active war between the U.S. and Iran is basically over. Trump could neither tolerate the high oil prices that came from the Strait being closed nor bring himself to do a full ground invasion - so he capitulated. We have ended our direct war, without achieving any of our goals.
Israel might continue to engage in combat with Iran or Hezbollah. But American forces won't be joining them in that combat anymore. Now that it's finally apparent to Trump that there is no easy legacy-burnishing win to be had by getting into direct combat with Iran - something all his predecessors knew immediately - that phase is over. Trump was willing, even eager, to do a "low-cost massive-reward" operation in Iran. Since that failed, he's not down for the long-term grinding struggle that Netanyahu might want.
Remember, Trump's defining quality is that he's transactional, not principled. The Middle East doesn't offer him the same opportunities for personal enrichment and glory anymore. Gaza didn't get him his Nobel Prize. Despite all the public pledges no one ever ponied up any money for the Board of Peace. There's no major rebuilding efforts in Gaza - no massive construction projects, no lucrative real estate deals. The Abraham Accords model isn't going anywhere further. Obviously the Iran war was a failure. And a lot of that easy Gulf State sovereign wealth fund money is now a lot less easy, since these countries now have huge holes in their pockets they need to fill.
So Trump's tapping out, and he'll find something else. Look out Cuba! But the U.S.' active war with Iran is done.
