Trump Calls On Starmer...

For once, I agree with Starmer sitting on the fence….


NATO is there to defend, not attack anyone who Trumpy picks a fight with. Besides, didn’t he say he doesn’t need any help with the war he was winning?
 
Besides, didn’t he say he doesn’t need any help with the war he was winning?
He's probably just got the invoice, $12B thus far, and counting.
They are gonna have to keep a significant presence in the Gulf region for the time being, it will cost them big bucks, the next government shutdown could be interesting.
 
For once, I agree with Starmer sitting on the fence….


NATO is there to defend, not attack anyone who Trumpy picks a fight with. Besides, didn’t he say he doesn’t need any help with the war he was winning?
Starmer has to walk a tightrope given the dependence the UK has on the US militarily wise...

But you are correct in your analysis of defence vs attack.

And overall, Europe seems to agree with Starmer :)
 
"A year of tariffs, threats and insults from the Trump administration towards its European allies has also burned through goodwill towards Washington."

FT.com
 
The leader of the free world - Donald Trump - has required our presence, as part of NATO, to defend democracy and freedom. Starmer has refused.

Let every drop of blood be on Stramer's hands. Let every price rise for vital fuel for the elderly and veterans who will die from the poverty he now creates be on Starmer's conscience. He has nowhere to hide. Every death - direct or otherwise - resulting from this conflict is now on him.

It is that simple.
 
"Donald Trump was warned of the danger to the strait as America and Israel prepared to attack Iran. But the US president waved away these concerns, predicting instead that the Islamic republic would swiftly capitulate.

A conflict with Iran that started with vague war aims now has one clear and overriding objective: reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Ironically and infuriatingly, the only reason the strait is closed is because the US and Israel went to war in the first place.

It is not in Trump’s power to reopen this vital sea passage by declaring victory and walking away."
 
The orange idiot - Donald Trump - has begged for our help, to attack a Middle East country.

Let every drop of blood be on Trump and Netanyahu's hands. Let every price rise for vital fuel for the elderly and veterans who will die from the poverty he now creates be on Trump and Netanyahu's conscience. They have nowhere to hide. Every death - direct or otherwise - resulting from this conflict is now on them.

It is that simple.
 
"Donald Trump was warned of the danger to the strait as America and Israel prepared to attack Iran. But the US president waved away these concerns, predicting instead that the Islamic republic would swiftly capitulate.

A conflict with Iran that started with vague war aims now has one clear and overriding objective: reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Ironically and infuriatingly, the only reason the strait is closed is because the US and Israel went to war in the first place.

It is not in Trump’s power to reopen this vital sea passage by declaring victory and walking away."
No-one could foresee that the Iranian regime would break international law by blocking access to an international shipping lane.

Trump has demanded our help. We owe it to him to provide it.
 
"Gideon Rachman
Published11 HOURS AGO

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is one of the most foreseen “unforeseen problems” in history. For decades, academics and game theorists have speculated about the possibility that, in wartime, Iran could choke off the narrow waterway through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil exports pass.

Donald Trump was warned of the danger to the strait as America and Israel prepared to attack Iran. But the US president waved away these concerns, predicting instead that the Islamic republic would swiftly capitulate."

FT.com
 


"

Trump Knew the Risk of Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He Still Went to War.​

The president told his White House team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait, the world’s most vital shipping lane​



Wall Street Journal
 
"The difficulties of reopening the strait are already very apparent. Iran does not have to sink or impede every tanker that tries to pass through. The spate of attacks already carried out — and the threat of new ones — has been enough to persuade ship owners, crews and insurers to steer clear.Intensive bombing of Iranian military infrastructure — or even a mooted US occupation of Kharg Island, which is crucial to Iran’s own oil exports — are not a direct solution to the Hormuz problem. The Islamic republic has many military options to threaten traffic through the strait, including deep-sea mines, missiles, inflatable boats equipped with limpet mines and drones. Iran has particular expertise in drone warfare. Its Shahed drones have been crucial in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Trump is now asking America’s allies to send their navies to break the Iranian chokehold on the strait. He has even appealed to Beijing. The UK, the EU and China do have a real interest in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. But they will be understandably reluctant to put their own forces at risk to solve a problem that they did not create and that the US navy cannot fix on its own.

A year of tariffs, threats and insults from the Trump administration towards its European allies has also burned through goodwill towards Washington. They also know that any navy operating in the Strait of Hormuz would be very vulnerable to Iranian attacks — and might have to keep the operation up over many months.

The US may be considering the use of land forces to try to secure the coasts just off the strait as well. But a decision to deploy ground troops in Iran would inevitably mean higher American casualties and would not guarantee even the limited objective of opening up the strait.Beyond the immediate crisis lies the longer-term problem. By assassinating the leaders of Iran — and making clear that regime change is a goal of the war — the US and Israel have permanently changed Iran’s incentive structure.

Before this latest war, the Iranian regime still had a motive to avoid the all-out confrontation with the US that would be the inevitable consequence of closing the strait. But now Iran’s thinking has changed. As Sir Simon Gass, a former British ambassador to Tehran, put it to me, Trump’s effort to overthrow the Iranian government “is the moment at which the regime concludes that this is potentially a fight to the death and that therefore they have to use all of the tools at their disposal and closing the Strait of Hormuz is one”.

Gideon Rachman
Published 11 hours ago

FT.com
 
The trouble with bring an orange idiot who surrounds himself with yes-men, and ignores or fires experienced and expert advisors, and allies whose help you might want, is that you end up making stupid decisions.

Who could have seen that coming?

Obviously not @James Carmichael
 
The trouble with bring an orange idiot who surrounds himself with yes-men, and ignores or fires experienced and expert advisors, and allies whose help you might want, is that you end up making stupid decisions.

Who could have seen that coming?

Trump is a failed businessman turned reality TV star and Hegseth is a former Fox news host. What were the chances of them ballsing this up.
 
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