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Kushner is an 'informal advisor' and 'trusted trouble shooter' but neither an elected official or a civil servant.
The US Government has never worked like that though, POTUS gets to promote whomever he wants to whichever roles he sees fit. If the Iranians start 'demanding' who they talk to, what's the likelihood that Trump will pay any attention to it, or if he does, listen to what that persons says. It's puts any negotiation on the back foot from the get go, and adds unnecessary tension.
Govts need to engage with the world as it is, not how they'd like it to be, this is never more true when it's about diplomacy.
Kushner is an 'informal advisor' and 'trusted trouble shooter' but neither an elected official or a civil servant.
The US Government has never worked like that though, POTUS gets to promote whomever he wants to whichever roles he sees fit. If the Iranians start 'demanding' who they talk to, what's the likelihood that Trump will pay any attention to it, or if he does, listen to what that persons says. It's puts any negotiation on the back foot from the get go, and adds unnecessary tension.
Govts need to engage with the world as it is, not how they'd like it to be, this is never more true when it's about diplomacy.
The problem for the US is that they are on the backfoot, rather than the Iranians.
Iran feels "conned" by Witkoff and Kushner and wouldn't trust them again. Witkoff doesn't use an official team (he didn't even take a translator to Russia for talks about Ukraine) and reports disingenuous positions back
Some frustrated U.S., Ukrainian and European officials say part of the problem is the go-it-alone style of Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for peace missions and go-to negotiator on Ukraine. He has refused to consult with experts and allies, leaving him uninformed at times and unprepared at others, according to seven people familiar with internal discussions. Two said he misses the mark by viewing the conflict through a real estate lens, like a land dispute.
Trump’s unconventional fixer has met Putin five times over six months, but he has yet to translate his access to the Russian leader into any breakthroughs on Ukraine. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/29/steve-witkoff-russia-ukraine-00533390
Govts need to engage with the world as it is, not how they'd like it to be, this is never more true when it's about diplomacy.
Well, the USA government needs to learn that lesson, and get some hard headed diplomats involved, not their pet delusional unprepared unserious personal empire building idiotic family members and real estate buddies.
Witkoff doesn't use an official team (he didn't even take a translator to Russia for talks about Ukraine) and reports disingenuous positions back
When Trump claimed Starmer was 'No Churchill" he's quite right in this respect
Witcoff is the Lindemenn to Trump's Churchill
The real hazard with Wifcoff is he meets Russia in private, takes no notes and the US government can only take his word for what took place. Russia will of course both have the true record and can reveal it, and can equally create any false one and reveal that, and the US is defenceless against either scenario
I love that Iran are saying "Trump is negotiating with himself" because we can all picture the senile old c*** doing exactly that
From what has been reported about the "peace plan" it does look like he asked Putin for some advice about how to write it.
British troops shoot down a dozen Iranian kamikaze drones
Apologies for the crappy link, not happy UK forces are being put in harms way due to the orange buffoons 3 day war. Time he retired to Bournmouth and let the grown ups take over.
They both basically side step the whole US diplomatic and intelligence apparatus and whisper directly in Trump's ear - but they are only telling Trump what they choose to and not what they know.
TBH the way things are going we might see the Epstein files being released to distract us from the war in Iran.
Theres more chance of an attack on Cuba
Grandpa Simpson has given us yet another press conference, repeating the same old flannel again. Blah, blah, blah… their navy has been destroyed… blah, blah, blah… no leaders… blah, blah, blah… their weapons have all been destroyed
The evidence would suggest that that’s all total bollocks.
The orange toddler has done a great job of painting himself into a corner.
Meanwhile Netanyahu carries on and moves his murderous genocide into Lebanon, repeating what he did in Gaza. Channel 4 news are reporting that Israeli forces are specifically targeting paramedics and medical facilities, which is a war crime. But they know all about those, the ****s!
You reckon his chances of finally getting his much coveted Nobel peace prize have gone up or down? 🧐
Meanwhile Netanyahu carries on and moves his murderous genocide into Lebanon, repeating what he did in Gaza. Channel 4 news are reporting that Israeli forces are specifically targeting paramedics and medical facilities, which is a war crime. But they know all about those, the ****s!
Israel can get away with whatever warcrimes they wish to commit as they have the "holocaust" get out of jail card to throw around whilst the rest of the worlds so called "rules based order" stand by and wring their hands.
Shoot kids in specific areas of the body for their little daily scorecards
Double tap on rescuers
Shell a car, kill all the inhabitants even whilst they know a child is inside, pepper it with over 400 rounds, kill the emergency operatives that attend.
Shell and pepper ambulance crews then bury the bodies and vehicles and lie about it?
Lies....lies....lies....lies....lies...lies....lies...lies.....lies.
Its in their nature to lie regarding the war crimes they have carried out, no one is in court/jail for the well documented crimes
****-em
Netanyahu is just as evil, if more than Trump - or at least the military are. We're all expecting reprisals from this war, including Europeans, but there are three big war mongers at the moment. Russia, USA and Israel. The Israeli Leaders seem hell bent on war with their close neighbours, which the USA is backing. If certain communities 'elsewhere' around the world are feeling unsafe, then it's about time you tell your country's leaders to stop this nonsense.
Religion and oil are to blame for wars. I gave up religion as when I was old enough to appreciate you should only follow it as far as loving your neighbour ! The rest is bullshit. Live and let live.
As for oil...
Netanyahu is just as evil, if more than Trump
The episode of Origin Story on Netanyahu is good and there’s a lot to unpick, including his being the brother of a national hero.
The main issue as I understand it is that he can’t be prosecuted under Israeli law while he’s in office, and so to stay in power he’s allied himself with increasingly unsavoury right wing nationalists.
The main issue as I understand it is that he can’t be prosecuted under Israeli law while he’s in office, and so to stay in power he’s allied himself with increasingly unsavoury right wing nationalists.
Same can be said for Trump and Putin really
To back up what I mentioned above
No Israel prosecutions for killing Palestinian civilians in occupied West Bank since start of decade
Dozens of former Israeli military, police and spy chiefs describe situation as ‘organised Jewish terrorism’
Israel has not prosecuted its citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the start of this decade, , a Guardian analysis of legal data and public records show, creating impunity for a campaign of violence.
Attacks have spurred former prime minister Ehud Olmert to call for an intervention by the international criminal court (ICC), to “save the Palestinians and us [Israelis]” from state-backed settler violence, carried out with the complicity and sometimes participation of the police and military.
“I have decided not only to not remain silent, but to draw the attention of the ICC in The Hague so that it may take enforcement measures and issue arrest warrants,’” Olmert said in written comments to the Guardian.
You reckon his chances of finally getting his much coveted Nobel peace prize have gone up or down? 🧐
He's got one. He didn't win it in the usual way, but he's still got one🤣🙈
And a FIFA one too.
The orange toddler has done a great job of painting himself into a corner.
I'm waiting to see who helps Trump out of this latest blunder. So far he has been able to just make a mess, repeat more lies, then blunder into another mess that distracts from the previous .. is Iran where the buck stops?
*It's a given that Hegseth gets thrown under the bus. But I doubt he will be big enough.
is Iran where the buck stops?
There's Cuba on the horizon.
But ultimately, the mess isn't going away regardless and it's looking fairly likely that the US is engaging in a major strategic defeat, for itself and anyone stood nearby. And Russia is getting a windfall to fund killing Ukrainians as well.
The buck probably stops bucking with the optimistic assumption the GOP get trashed in the mid terms, next presidential elections. My breath isn't held.
For those on X, couple of weird White House posts kicking about.
yeah the crazy situation is that Iran is now charging a toll for anything to be shipped through Hormuz
Trump is an absolute tool
Latest news from some US media is that Trump (because he has dementia, and they don't want him agitated) is being shown a daily 2-3 minute montage of [as one staffer put it] "stuff blowing up". Which is partly why he gets upset when the actual news broadcasters tell him about things happening that he has no idea about, because he has no idea that what he's seeing is faked.
Leader of the free world ladies and gentlemen...
Harry's Farm has a video just out that talks about (after some dry stone wall chat) about the diesel and fertilizer price spikes
What do we reckon to the Russians ‘lending’ some of their hypersonic missiles to the Iranians for ‘trials’ just as the US Marine Expeditionary Force passes through the straits? It’s not like they haven’t had any notice.
Honestly if Hesgeth is actually planning on putting a MEU on Kharg island even if it is supported by the 82nd, it's going to be 1 pointless. The Iranians can just shut of the pipeline to the island, 2. a bloodbath: It's a very small island and easy to aim at, and 3. there are civilians living there, and they become your problem if you occupy the island.
I can't think that even he's that stupid. (which sounds like famous last words)
It seems that war isn't doing much for either President Trump's or Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity at home. Netanyahu has to push a successful budget through parliament in the next few days (31st) or face a snap election that he'd most likely lose. He's facing elections in October anyway and he needs to buy that time, so he is,
"That effort to avoid an early contest has included allocating funds to political allies to secure a majority vote for the budget in parliament..."
"JERUSALEM, March 25 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is racing to pass a state budget and stave off early elections he would likely lose, with the war in Iran so far doing little to improve his standing in the polls." https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-seeks-avoid-snap-vote-iran-war-gives-no-boost-polls-2026-03-25/
this war is not helping dementia don's blood pressure
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mhxevsgjek2q
He’s now just the online equivalent of that weird bloke at the end of the street who writes lots of letters to the local paper in green ink
this war is not helping dementia don's blood pressure
The irony is, he will have forgotten this by tomorrow.
Latest news from some US media is that Trump (because he has dementia, and they don't want him agitated) is being shown a daily 2-3 minute montage of [as one staffer put it] "stuff blowing up". Which is partly why he gets upset when the actual news broadcasters tell him about things happening that he has no idea about, because he has no idea that what he's seeing is faked.
Leader of the free world ladies and gentlemen...
Real Salazar energy there, then?
The irony is, he will have forgotten this by tomorrow.
Only realised he wasn't talking about the US until half way through reading that.
Long, but worthwhile read.
Long, but worthwhile read.
While I'm not going to try to defend targeting a school, that article is riddled with error.
It was that the people refining the technique of bombing stopped asking what the bombing was for.
This in a passage referring to WW2 'prescision bombing' errors and aiming capability were a well know problem after initially the USAAF thought that their systems were very accurate and realised that in fact they weren't. They very much stopped and asked what they were bombing, how they were bombing and its resulting civilian casualties. This is ahistorical.
Air power is uniquely vulnerable to this. The pilot never sees what the bomb hits.
This is just plain wrong. A B-52 dropping high altitude sticks of Mk83 maybe, but that's not how the vast majority of bombs are delivered.
It was well reported that Barron Trump bought a significant amount of oil before the strikes on Iran started
The inner circles all profited from this war. Easiest money to make.
TBH, it’s not a new thing.
This wasn’t exactly how I remember WW2 played out in those ‘70s films so beloved by the gammonati.
Slop script, slop voice, slop graphics slop animation, please stop.
Half a billion made from one trade over the weekend just before Trump suggested that the Strait was going to be open.
...........
Al Jazeera reporting that around a million Iranians have been called up and are prepariny for the potential US invasion.
Let the fun begin.
Jeremy Bowen was giving an update on the situation on Radio 4 this morning. Trump is sending another 10,000 troops to the region, to invade a country that has never been successfully invaded, with very good reason. Looks like boots on the ground is imminent. We'll see how that plays out when the body bags start arriving back in the US.
He was also reporting that Marco Rubio is apparently the only sane voice, who's urging caution, unlike Hegseth and all the other gung-ho loons who are itching for a ground war.
So much or no more wars Trump. Sounds like all these MAGA nutters have undergone a Damascene conversion and now fancy a blood-soaked Middle East quagmire to call their own. You've got to take your hat off to Netanyahu. He's been incredibly successful in getting these idiots to do exactly what he wants
Let the fun begin.
I'm guessing it's been the prologue up to this point.
Glad I have a bit of savings for when I lose my job soon.
You've got to take your hat off to Netanyahu. He's been incredibly successful in getting these idiots to do exactly what he wants
Bin Salman -of journalist dismembering fame- is also pushing hard for Trump to take out Iran with more bombs & troops, I reckon he sees himself as taking a big chunk of Iran for Saudi
I read an interesting article this morning that brought some reality to the potential success of the last few weeks of bombing Iran to surrendering - whilst USA/Israel may have been using even biglier bombs than in previous USA bombing of foreign lands .. those previous ones proved none too successful in hindsight, despite the initial claims. And what makes bombing Iran so difficult is the geography of the land (very mountainous fortress surrounding most of the country, and also the fact they have been preparing for this for decades).
As USA and Israeli bombs increasingly kill civilians and family members of those recently protesting against the Iranian regime, then regime change looks increasingly unlikely as the country will very likely come together against USA and Israel.
Its impossible to see how America fixes the damage Trump has done. Heads will literally need to roll to serve as lesson for any future corrupt takeover of the USA.
Glad I have a bit of savings for when I lose my job soon.
Hopefully they're safe.
Was surprised to see my portfolio is only down 6%..... Fear that might change soon.
Iran are trolling....
Among all the props handed out to the Iranian SM team, can we not lose sight of the fact that they are in fact part of a murderous Theocratic dictatorship that has warned its citizens all of just a few days ago that protesters taking to the streets will be shot on sight?
thanks