Closing the Strait of Hormuz and sending their foreign minister to Russia to meet with Putin sounds like an unlikely route back to the negotiating table, wouldn't you say? Trump has grossly underestimated Iran and its allies. He's already begging China to intervene on our behalf. Pathetic.
"The deed is done, and cannot be undone." (Macbeth). Now the U.S. will face the consequences. First comes humiliation — begging China to persuade Iran not to close the Strait of Hormuz.
I’d say it’s a pretty good route back to the negotiating table. If the US is not averse to all-in naval war in the Gulf, then Iran (and all of us) are completely screwed anyway. If the US balks at that, or can be restrained by international pressure, then Iran has a strong negotiating hand.
I'm thinking that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, which seems likely, it is inevitable that our Navy will be dispatched to the Gulf. The danger of escalation, at least in the short term, seems much more likely than a diplomatic solution.
Trump wouldn't recognize "international pressure" if it knocked him on the side of his bewigged head. Or is it your opinion that Trump is not a psychopath? {Please understand, Alan, that I'm arguing against the assumption that Trump is a rational actor, not against you.]
Agreed.
Let me put it this way: can you define the term "holy war"?
Who says that combat can be restricted to the Gulf? The Iranians are capable people. They can venture out of their own neighborhood. After all, isn't that exactly what Trumpelstiltskin has done?