The Iran War (was Nuclear Program) thread
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The money quote:
“One of the limits of madman theory is that you always have to be the craziest man,” Miller told Stein. “And right now, he's in a game of chicken with ... the craziest sons of b—— in the world. And so it's like, 'okay. So now... now what?' And you can see what happens, which is he says, ‘Oh, I'm gonna end their civilization,’ or, ‘Oh, I'm not gonna extend the ceasefire,’ or, ‘We're gonna go back at their power plants.’ And then when push comes to shove, it's like he doesn't want to do it.”
While the “madman theory” was popularized by another controversial Republican president, Richard Nixon, Trump’s predecessor used this approach only sporadically, only after deliberately plotting his implementation — and could point to achievements like ending the Vietnam War, preventing nuclear war in the Middle East and opening up relations with China. By contrast, as Stein and Miller noted, Trump seems to act impulsively.
The difference being that Nixon understood foreign policy, diplomacy and with whom he was dealing. Trump has no clue of any of any of the three.
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So Donald Trump is threatening NATO allies for not helping enough in a war they weren’t even consulted on, while Russia helps Iran target U.S. forces and gets waivers on oil sanctions.
Make that make sense
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/22/trump-nato-allies-consequences-list-00883619
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Iran refuses to come to more talks in Pakistan. President Trump cancels US personnel (Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner).
Was a bit surprised that VP Vance was not scheduled to go this time. Should I read more into that than I should?
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Vance wasnt on the agenda because Ghalibaf wasnt going. Steve and Jared are at the Aragchi level.
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