It seems that Reuters broke the story yesterday when they reported that Trump was sounding out the intel agencies as to what the consequences of a walkaway from his war on Iran might be.
This war is starting to escalate! I am sure this is not going in a peaceful talks and resolution oriented direction! This is the breeze before the storm…
In a rational world Trump would be backing away from his disaster, but this isn't strictly rational world. As Alastair Crooke has been arguing, we're in the grip of a messianic/apocalyptic cult/ideology.
Spoiler alert: Gaddafi trusted US promises and complied with all of US demands in order to participate freely with American markets and finance. He was betrayed by the USA. Everything Gaddafi built, and envisioned, for Libya and as a model and yeast for broader African development, died with him. That USA stole Libya's gold is only part of the treachery.
This from Simplicius: "Trump’s entire Iranian fiasco has been nothing short of a career-ending bathetic vanity project and failure of historic proportions, and what we’re witnessing now are its last idle dregs of denouement slipping away with a graceless whimper." Ouch! Who wants that on their CV?
Infant mortality rate in Cuba is up 148%, due to US blockade of Cuba. What kind of heartless beings are in the Senate chamber?! Write to Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski to thank them for their support against the inhumanity of the Trump administration.
Thanks, Mark, for the excellent recounting of how Trump steered us to where we are now, as well as for the excellent post overall that addresses the implications of that.
Thanks, IJM! Both are very good articles. One of the common threads between them, I think, is that power applied for destructive purposes cannot impose order. That is a lesson the Anglo-Zionists (including the U.S. Politicians and the MIC) know by now but they don't care. They would rather simply destroy societies and fragment them so that they pose no threat to U.S. hegemony. But as Mark has often noted here, you cannot destroy civilizations that are thousands of years old.
Iran is to Israel what Russia is to the UK (especially the UK) and Europe. They want to destroy Iran (and Russia) at all costs. They all want to use the US military and money as their battering ram to do it. In other words, we pay the price for their evil desires. And our politicians have been bought to go along with them despite all the negative consequences to the people they are supposed to be representing. They simply don't care about the damage to us or our country as long as they get theirs. The damage is not only monetary and political but moral and we will all pay the price for that.
As the excerpts below show, USDT will be weaponized just as the paper dollar was weaponized against Russia in 2022.
Lucy will keep moving the football because Lucy can’t help it. The interesting question is who’s still showing up to kick.
Sovereigns probably won’t. They’ll be shunning USDT the same way they’re shunning Treasuries - but quietly, steadily, they’ll be accounting for its political risk. Some might rotate into BTC, but the precedent has been set. A crypto is only as sovereign as long as the code allows.
The most telling detail in the whole story isn’t even the freeze. It’s what Tether does with its own profits.
The company made $10 billion in 2025. It holds $141 billion in Treasuries because regulation says it has to. But it also holds $17.4 billion in physical gold and $8.4 billion in Bitcoin, funded out of excess profits and accumulated at a rate of two tons of physical gold per week. Their CEO stood on a stage in San Salvador in front of a slideshow of literal storm clouds and predicted the end of the dollar system.
Tether is the largest non-sovereign buyer of US Treasuries on earth and is hedging against the collapse of the United States.
For those interested, Christopher Helali, of DD Geopolitics is currently in Iran. He has been reporting from Tehran, the Strait of Hormuz and other locations. This report is from Minab, where American bombs fell in the first hour of the war.
Give Trump credit, he found a shovel, a big wooden crate, and a gallon of gasoline plus a box of matches. What did he do with these simple resources? He dug himself into a really deep hole threw in the crate, then he poured the gasoline out inside of the crate, jumped inside and lit his whole world on fire.
Bibi provided Donald the excuse to set fire to his presidential legacy, then cheered at the resulting conflagration, all the while while pouring more gasoline and tossing lit matches.
Can there have ever been a more swift and spectacular implosion of a presidency? Vietnam took 3 years to destry LBJ. This has taken 8 weeks. Incredible.
"We know that all of Trump’s advisers urged him not to get into the war in the first place—characterizing the Jewish Nationalist arguments as “bullshit”, delusional, and exactly what US intel specialists expect from Jewish Nationalists. Because Jewish Nationalists are in the grip of messianic/apocalyptic fantasies that are impervious to reason. Trump went ahead and launched the war. That strongly suggests either that Trump is constrained to do the will of Jewish nationalists by blackmail or money or both, or that his narcissistic impulses to risk all in a gamble that utilizes the lives and resources of others know no bounds. And yet …"
Can we break the Zionist's hold on America? That is a key question.
If Trump won't back down, we're in for a world of hurt.
https://x.com/caitoz/status/2049643006547099868
This war is starting to escalate! I am sure this is not going in a peaceful talks and resolution oriented direction! This is the breeze before the storm…
In a rational world Trump would be backing away from his disaster, but this isn't strictly rational world. As Alastair Crooke has been arguing, we're in the grip of a messianic/apocalyptic cult/ideology.
I like that statement about the cult and ideology today!
What Iran confronts:
The Lesson of Gaddafi by Jeff Warnick
https://original.antiwar.com/jeffrey_wernick/2026/04/29/the-lesson-of-gaddafi/
Spoiler alert: Gaddafi trusted US promises and complied with all of US demands in order to participate freely with American markets and finance. He was betrayed by the USA. Everything Gaddafi built, and envisioned, for Libya and as a model and yeast for broader African development, died with him. That USA stole Libya's gold is only part of the treachery.
This from Simplicius: "Trump’s entire Iranian fiasco has been nothing short of a career-ending bathetic vanity project and failure of historic proportions, and what we’re witnessing now are its last idle dregs of denouement slipping away with a graceless whimper." Ouch! Who wants that on their CV?
He could've been a contender for one of the greatest ever. Now he's a contender for one of the worst ever.
It *will* get worse.
This is piling onto the pile:
Ukraine drones smash Russian oil refinery, causing likely ecological disaster--US supplied satellite and targeting info::
https://youtu.be/5HNlbtMv0-4?si=-qsECEshoXwjL7YG
The Senate blocked a Cuba War Powers Resolution from moving forward in a vote of 51-47
https://news.antiwar.com/2026/04/28/senate-blocks-effort-to-prevent-trump-from-attacking-cuba/
Infant mortality rate in Cuba is up 148%, due to US blockade of Cuba. What kind of heartless beings are in the Senate chamber?! Write to Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski to thank them for their support against the inhumanity of the Trump administration.
Thanks, Mark, for the excellent recounting of how Trump steered us to where we are now, as well as for the excellent post overall that addresses the implications of that.
From The American Conservative.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/israels-campaign-to-remake-the-mideast-hurts-america/
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-will-the-iran-war-end/
Thanks, IJM! Both are very good articles. One of the common threads between them, I think, is that power applied for destructive purposes cannot impose order. That is a lesson the Anglo-Zionists (including the U.S. Politicians and the MIC) know by now but they don't care. They would rather simply destroy societies and fragment them so that they pose no threat to U.S. hegemony. But as Mark has often noted here, you cannot destroy civilizations that are thousands of years old.
Iran is to Israel what Russia is to the UK (especially the UK) and Europe. They want to destroy Iran (and Russia) at all costs. They all want to use the US military and money as their battering ram to do it. In other words, we pay the price for their evil desires. And our politicians have been bought to go along with them despite all the negative consequences to the people they are supposed to be representing. They simply don't care about the damage to us or our country as long as they get theirs. The damage is not only monetary and political but moral and we will all pay the price for that.
"I got mine" comes to mind.
30 Yr Treasury just hit 5%. What could go wrong with Bessent’s plan?
What Dimon is talking about.
https://no01.substack.com/p/the-cbdc-we-already-have
As the excerpts below show, USDT will be weaponized just as the paper dollar was weaponized against Russia in 2022.
Lucy will keep moving the football because Lucy can’t help it. The interesting question is who’s still showing up to kick.
Sovereigns probably won’t. They’ll be shunning USDT the same way they’re shunning Treasuries - but quietly, steadily, they’ll be accounting for its political risk. Some might rotate into BTC, but the precedent has been set. A crypto is only as sovereign as long as the code allows.
The most telling detail in the whole story isn’t even the freeze. It’s what Tether does with its own profits.
The company made $10 billion in 2025. It holds $141 billion in Treasuries because regulation says it has to. But it also holds $17.4 billion in physical gold and $8.4 billion in Bitcoin, funded out of excess profits and accumulated at a rate of two tons of physical gold per week. Their CEO stood on a stage in San Salvador in front of a slideshow of literal storm clouds and predicted the end of the dollar system.
Tether is the largest non-sovereign buyer of US Treasuries on earth and is hedging against the collapse of the United States.
The problem with Trump just walking away from his war, is that it pushes Netanyahu closer to using nuclear weapons on Tehran.
For those interested, Christopher Helali, of DD Geopolitics is currently in Iran. He has been reporting from Tehran, the Strait of Hormuz and other locations. This report is from Minab, where American bombs fell in the first hour of the war.
https://x.com/i/status/2049507598928420987
Looks like the F15 Friendly fire incident in the skies over Kuwait has a new twist.
Credible reports that an Iranian F5, yes F5, did a bombing run over that Kuwaiti base.
The initial CENTCOM report stated there were Iranian aircraft in the area.
In any event, enjoy the latest incredible Iranian social media creation of the event.
Larry and Danny Davis discussed it today. As Larty said liscene was taken, but it's a really a well done ride
https://x.com/i/status/2049220632915623972
Give Trump credit, he found a shovel, a big wooden crate, and a gallon of gasoline plus a box of matches. What did he do with these simple resources? He dug himself into a really deep hole threw in the crate, then he poured the gasoline out inside of the crate, jumped inside and lit his whole world on fire.
Bibi provided Donald the excuse to set fire to his presidential legacy, then cheered at the resulting conflagration, all the while while pouring more gasoline and tossing lit matches.
Can there have ever been a more swift and spectacular implosion of a presidency? Vietnam took 3 years to destry LBJ. This has taken 8 weeks. Incredible.
I'd say that you nailed it.
"We know that all of Trump’s advisers urged him not to get into the war in the first place—characterizing the Jewish Nationalist arguments as “bullshit”, delusional, and exactly what US intel specialists expect from Jewish Nationalists. Because Jewish Nationalists are in the grip of messianic/apocalyptic fantasies that are impervious to reason. Trump went ahead and launched the war. That strongly suggests either that Trump is constrained to do the will of Jewish nationalists by blackmail or money or both, or that his narcissistic impulses to risk all in a gamble that utilizes the lives and resources of others know no bounds. And yet …"
Can we break the Zionist's hold on America? That is a key question.
If Trump won't back down, we're in for a world of hurt.
So’s the world.
Yes.
Trump is insane and must be removed if he doesn't TACO now!!
ANOTHER BRUTAL - TRUMP VIDEO
Brutal in that he embarrasses himself showing what an ass he is
Constantly ignoring all decency in human relations
whether cutting off the King and Queen
Or Now This
. - just doesn't know any better
Just does not think about anyone but himself
. Video attached
https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/2049574067661898105?s=20
.