Having slept on last night's news, I do think I was right. Trump's rhetorical escalation was the same as all his other verbal confabulations. If you believe he was going to nuke Iran, I presume you also believe that big, strong men with tears in their eyes routinely approach him, or that former presidents have privately praised him for starting this war with Iran.
Trump has zero credibility at this point, and Iran's current situation proves this. They called his bluff, he backed down and now negotiators have to unravel Iran's insane demands. Israel, I would guess, will have no part of Iran's demands to leave their proxies alone. Saudi Arabia won't stand for a toll on the Straits of Hormuz. The civilized world - which may or may not include the US at this point - cannot allow Iran to retain its nuclear program.
So the "ceasefire" allowed him a quick "victory" that was really a retreat. He has not, however, extricated himself from his mess. There's just no way the other regional powers can let this peace plan stand. If Trump relies on his usual cast of clowns - Jared Kushner and Howard Lutnick - to try and negotiate with Iran...yikes. Kushner is a fully owned and operated subsidiary of the Gulf Emirs at this point, so maybe he will hold a firm line.
This has all been very stupid, very pointless and very destructive.
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