Trump is being presented with a binary choice:
cut a deal or escalate the war.
At this point, the reality we are in based on the conditions we have allowed means that either way, Trump will be criticized for cutting a worse deal than Obama’s or will be forced further into a war worse than Bush's.
But we have a third option, no deal required: just declare victory and walk away.
Until Israel is restrained, they will drag us back into war just like they did after Operation Midnight Hammer. Unless we reset the conditions on our terms, we will ultimately suffer an endless cycle of conflict at the behest of Israel.
Trump should reject the Obama/Bush binary and handle this his way—walk away, pull our troops out, cut aid to Israel, say he won, & quietly deal with the Iranians moving forward.
This way, Iran loses its incentive to choke the SOH, freeing up oil commerce & avoiding an escalation into a war no one wants and which we can’t afford.
Persia is an ancient and formidable geographic reality—we must deal with them as such.
BREAKING: A diplomat involved in US-Iran peace talks says Israeli strikes on Beirut, Lebanon, today have created issues with finalizing a deal, per Fox News.
The diplomat says the strikes are an attempt to "sabotage President Trump's deal and drag the US back into war."
Yesterday, President Trump said a peace deal was scheduled to be signed today.