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It is beginning to look like the previous US presidents who for the most part did not bomb Iran were not just bleeding heart pacifists but had sound strategic reasons not to bomb them, and that attacking Iran was a mistake.
There is no quickload button in chess or international politics. If you make a mistake, you will find yourself in a worse situation than before.
Some strategic blunders come from noble motivations. For example, a (debatable sized) part of the motivation for the US-Afghanistan war was that the Taliban are terrible and nobody should be forced to live under their regime.
With Trump, there is not even a pretense of noble motivations. He was pretty open that the Venezuelan adventure was simply about securing their oil for the US, otherwise he does not give a fuck about who is in charge over there. Iran was just a desperate gamble to win the mid-terms.
Does the Iranian regime deserve to win this conflict? Fuck no.
But the US most certainly deserves to lose. Unlike Iran, their population had the luxury to elect the one who calls the shots. They picked Donald Trump out of all people, who turned out not to be a good steward of the American hegemony.
Do you still think that, now that political prisoners are being let go and foreign companies are starting to move back into Venezuela? Do you think that Venezuelans are better off now that the US is sitting on Delcy Rodriguez? Or not
The operation may have good consequences beyond oil whether or not Trump's sole motivation was oil.
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Rodriguez just made the erstwhile chief of the revolutionary secret police and notorious user of torture against regime enemies one of her top people and defense minister a few days ago.
Yeah it's complicated but if your appraisal is just "securing their oil" it's not clear you've thought about this seriously / outside the 24-second news cycle
American oil companies are private, yes.
Oil company executives are political prisoners.
Foreign investment in oil infrastructure.
The opposition loves oil companies.
Oil companies are enemies of the state.
EDIT: A big difference between Venezuela and Iran is that capitalist “exploitation” of Venezuela’s resources will improve the lives of the people living there, but continuous US/Israeli air strikes and CIA/Mossad-backed civil unrest will not.
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Hear ye!
More effort than this, please.
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