As with all things involving Trump, things are never stable or decided but keep changing on him whims. After touting the Memorandum of Understanding that the US reached with Iran as a major achievement in creating a ceasefire and starting the process of normalizing relations with that country, the US is now back at war with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is once again closed, with both nations exchanging fire. So it appears that the MOU, wobbly from the beginning, is dead
Trump declared that ceasefire is over and that he has ordered hte resumption of bombing on the ‘Islamic Republic of Japan’. Yes, that is what he said at the NATO summit. He also referred to Ukraine’s president as Putin.
And then as often is the case when Trump is faced with an embarrassing setback, he creates a diversion, this time that old standby, the annexation of Greenland.
After months of silence on the subject, Trump kicked off the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday by making yet another wild threat to acquire Greenland. Public opinion in Greenland and Denmark toward the U.S. has plummeted amid Trump’s desperate bids to take over the territory, including bribing its residents.
This has once again infuriated the prime minister of Denmark.
“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters. “One of the reasons why we built NATO many, many years ago is if anything happens to one of us then everybody should stand up for each other.”
Even some Republicans are sick of Trump’s brinkmanship over Greenland, calling it ‘foolish’ and ‘stupid’.
The secretary general of NATO Mark Rutte keeps sucking up to Trump. I wonder if his nauseating obsequiousness is part of a plan, that he has been designated by the other NATO leaders to flatter Trump to keep him from withdrawing from NATO, or whether he is really such a toady. But I think Trump is bluffing and will never leave because NATO provides a useful cover for his illegal wars. Leaving NATO will be like the UK with Brexit, where the withdrawing nation will come to regret it.
The other NATO leaders treat him as if he were a child who will throw a temper tantrum if crossed.
Nato leaders have informally agreed not to mention the football World Cup to Donald Trump for fear of irritating the US president at a crucial time for the military alliance.
Officials said European leaders had discussed in the sidelines of the summit in Ankara how to keep Trump on side amid concerns he could further destabilise Nato with threats over defence spending.
…In the first open acknowledgment of the strategy, the Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever, told reporters in Ankara he would not be discussing his country’s 4-1 win over the US earlier this week.
The summit follows a row caused by Trump asking the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to review the red card shown to the US striker Folarin Balogun, meaning he could then play in the match against Belgium.
Before meeting Trump at the summit, De Wever joked to reporters that the US president “has the reputation of sometimes reacting a bit irritably to things that he doesn’t like, and I think this defeat will hit hard”.
De Wever said Belgium’s footballing triumph against the US had dominated his early discussions in Ankara. “Everyone’s talking about one thing, and that is congratulations for the well deserved victory of the Red Devils,” he said, the nickname for the national side.
One can imagine the scene, with all the leaders talking excitedly about the World Cup and then Trump comes on the scene and they all go either silent or abruptly talk about something else. It is almost like high school with Trump in the role of the rich but unpopular student whom no one likes because, in addition to being ignorant, he thinks that his money entitles him to dominate everything.
Back to the war with Iran, Republicans are becoming increasingly uneasy that if the war continues into the period of the mid-term elections to be held in less than four months on November 3rd, that will harm their candidates. But they have hitched their wagon to the Trump circus caravan and they cannot let go.
Hunter Biden summarised the situation well last week:
Roll on 39
It’s weird that The Guardian refuses to capitalize acronyms like NATO, FIFA, NASA and AIPAC. I guess their style sheet only acknowledges initialisms and ICE as worthy of all caps.
starting a war in itself should be one of the most abhorrent crimes. people save that part of their loathing for pedos, but i think blowing up a bunch of kids might be a slightly worse crime. of course shitler is all ¿porque no los dos?
Ridana @#2,
I too find that annoying. I read their policy once that stated that with acronyms that can be spoken like words, they would capitalize only the first letter. I suppose they make exceptions for acronyms like ICE which are also ordinary words.
It is a silly policy.
Bébé @#3,,
According to the Nuremberg Principles, “the crime of aggression is a crime under international law”.
United States Supreme Court Justice and Chief Prosecutor Robert H. Jackson during the post-WWII Nuremberg Trials argued that initiating an aggressive war is not just an international crime, but “the supreme international crime” that encompasses all other accumulated evils.”
@Mano #4, @Ridana #2:
I prefer it. I think capitals are overused, and while those Ridana mentioned were acronyms, they have become names (although not yet words; compare to asap). We say “nay-toe” not “enn ay tee oh”, fee-fah” not “eff eye eff ay”, “nass-ah” not “enn ay ess ay” etc.
Yes, ICE remains capitalised to avoid confusion, but I’m a great believer in the exception that proves the rule.
So both Pigseth and The Supreme Pathogen are viable to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and/ or starting a war of aggression.
🤨
Also , the latest round of shooting started when Iran fired (warning shots?) towards tankers that were taking routes they were not allowed to use, and controlling the path is apparently something Iran is allowed to do under the M.O.D.
Trump heard it and decided ‘if *they* get to go bang bang *I* should get to do bang bang’.
And this is how we ended up here.
It’s not whims, it’s dementia.