cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/47584733

Trita Parsi May 18, 2026

We should first recognize that restarting the war amounts to an admission that Trump’s previous escalatory gambit — the blockade of the blockade — has failed. That, in turn, was itself an admission that the war had failed. Which was an admission that the threats of war in January had failed. As I have argued before on my Substack, this relentless search for an escalatory silver bullet capable of bringing Iran to its knees is not unique to Trump; it has become a defining pathology of American Iran policy for decades.

Although negotiators have made meaningful progress on several fronts, talks have thus far failed to produce an agreement, largely because of irreconcilable differences over Tehran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile. And as Washington has come to realize that the blockade is backfiring, a new and dangerous dynamic has emerged: both sides now believe another round of fighting will strengthen their hand in the negotiations that follow.

  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 hours ago

    Only for it to “stop” again just before the deadline where Congress needs to vote on a war powers resolution. Convenient.

  • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    Total victory has been achieved! Now watch me start the war again! Restart the clock!

    🫲🍊🫱

  • zd9@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Yes. Please drag the country and the world into complete economic chaos. It’s the only way the cult will understand their actions.

    Eh… even then they won’t care as long as browns and queers are getting it worse.

    Side note: I made this exact comment on reddit and they removed it and gave me a warning for encouraging violence… Wow that site has gone to complete shit.

    • SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social
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      8 hours ago

      I’m so incredibly angry that the fucking economy is the only thing they care about. This is killing people, but nobody gives a shit.

      • YappyMonotheist@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        “I got the bag so fuck you” is like THE ideological cornerstone of Western civ. To call it how it is and be disgusted by it is radical and anti-West, unironically.

      • zd9@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        It still has the best niche subs though. Like /r/weeviltime, or any random hobbies, it has the largest community anywhere. Anything remotely about news or politics or anything is dogshit though and I try to stay away from all that (and keep it here).

        • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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          7 hours ago

          there are current subs, that are niche that people want to ask questions about, like trying to solve a specific issue. just not replicated on lemmy, if its even possible.

  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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    7 hours ago

    “poised to restart the distraction from epstein files, coming to light” which was prompted by the french investigation, and several individuals trying to “go on a tour” about it. and also hide the fact the most obvious person, other than trump is involved, todd blanche.

    • SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world
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      11 hours ago

      Harris would have opened a literal portal to hell and used the demons to kill infants so the rich could bathe in their blood.

    • KelvarCherry [They/Them]@piefed.blahaj.zone
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      11 hours ago

      Have you seen the Republican primaries this month? Trump’s endorsements won across the board. Even Thomas Massie; a Republican who rallied against data centers, big tech remotely controlling cars, and AIPAC; lost his seat because Trump bashed him. It doesn’t seem like voters regret backing Trump at all, as evident by how much shit Trump’s administration is getting away with.

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        any R that opposes P47 will get primaried immediately by the gop thats a fact, Mccains daughter for example, MTG quit before being primaried. kAZINGER is another one. nope none, they fully bought into the cult, to think otherwise is uncomfortable to them. 4 years of trump being aired 24/7 +manosphere helped cement his support, and all the gaffes he did prior to the election too, anti-vaxxers are just an extra cherry on top.

      • HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca
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        10 hours ago

        All the more reason to tell any American trying to say “but we’re not all bad” to shut up and get to work. This gets a lot worse the longer you leave it.

        • KelvarCherry [They/Them]@piefed.blahaj.zone
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          10 hours ago

          I feel the same. I just don’t see how we get this country to lock in. Even as people get upset—in January 2025 over the DOGE terrorism; more recently over these data centers—nothing ever comes of it. Progressive and rational voices speak up, but we’re drowned out.

          I fear there is just too much against us. There are too many distractions for the disillusioned. The only current movement that has overcome that is MAGA, with their ravenous hatred; but they obviously aren’t the solution.

          I’m not giving up—for I and many others USA politics isn’t something we can “log out” of—but I can’t ignore that all the introspection and analysis I’ve tried runs into the same seemingly-impassible pitfalls.

          • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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            7 hours ago

            MSM pretty much wont report on the actual fallout of doge cuts, trumps attack, or at least downplay it to death. since they are all owned by trump supporters. older people still consume MSMs in large amounts, and it gets distilled by right wing pundits on youtube, or social media, they never hear the actual bad that comes from trump, its all framed as a "non-issue, temporary issue or a positive thing.

            • 73ms@sopuli.xyz
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              7 hours ago

              One thing they have noticed and will keep noticing is the inflation and fuel prices.

      • rayyy@piefed.social
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        4 hours ago

        This is normal. Republicans can’t win a primary without the orange pedo. They can’t win a general election with him.