Khamenei, One of Most Evil People in History, is Dead
POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 2, 2026 05:42
VIEWED: 15626
PAGE 24 of 73
Politico reports:
President Donald Trump is counting on money from the Gulf Arab States to power his economic golden age. But as the war with Iran nears its fifth week and the regional economy enters a free fall, hundreds of billions of dollars that Middle Eastern governments have pledged for U.S. projects are under threat.
That has the Trump administration concerned that Gulf leaders may not be able to fulfill promises to invest heavily in the U.S., according to three people familiar with the internal conversations, including one former administration official, granted anonymity to discuss them.
“What has really freaked people out is that the Gulf Arabs have warned that they’re a couple weeks away from having to repatriate tens of billions of dollars in investments from the United States,” said one of those people. “When these guys do that, it is going to be immensely destabilizing and contradictory to the president’s investment goals.”
Any pullback on investments from Middle Eastern governments will limit the amount of capital available to U.S.-based tech startups, investment firms and big businesses that have come to rely on the region’s sovereign wealth funds and government-backed investment vehicles as a key source of cash.
But the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has largely choked off oil and gas revenue that support Gulf-based financial institutions that are a major source of global capital. And Iran’s attacks on critical infrastructure and flashy highrises have brought tourism to high-dollar destinations like Dubai and Doha to a standstill.
“The Middle East is essentially closed,” said a top executive at an asset management firm that’s received significant backing from the Gulf, also granted anonymity to speak candidly. Companies will be looking “outside of the Middle East for capital in the short run.”
Continue reading… https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/26/immensely-destabilizing-iran-
war-threatens-gulfs-us-investments-00845486
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Here's a truth-bomb for you, SIX: The biggest state sponsor of terrorism is the USA.
Israel is one of our henchmen. ISIS was another.
Khamenei is a saint by comparison.
Once a Russian propagandist always a Russian propagandist, aye comrade?
T
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The Worst and the Dumbest
Has the U.S. military been Kudlowized?
Paul Krugman
Mar 27, 2026
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-worst-and-the-dumbest
Has the US military already been Kudlowized? Hi, I’m Paul Krugman. I’ll explain what I meant by that in a couple of minutes.
It’s Friday morning. The war is continuing. A lot of what’s happened in the Iran war has sadly not come as a surprise. The fact that there was no planning, that there was no plan B in case a decapitation strike didn’t do the job, that Trump’s people didn’t seem to have gamed out at all what would happen if their fondest wishes did not come true — unfortunately, that’s par for the course.
There was a famous book in the Vietnam years about how all that went wrong, about how all of the sort of brains trust around LBJ led us into that disaster, and it was called “The Best and the Brightest.” In this case, it’s obvious: Everybody knows that we’ve got the worst and the dumbest. So we knew that the thinking about strategy was going to be nil, that it was going to be all very ill-conceived.
The surprise, and it’s an unfavorable surprise, is that the U.S. military has not been doing too well either. I mean, obviously, you know, they can blow up anything they want. There’s no question that the U.S. has unchallenged superiority in all of the conventional aspects of warfare. There’s no Iranian Air Force for, you know, there’s no Iranian Navy in any conventional sense. Unfortunately, it’s not that kind of war. The failure to have a prepared response to the modern world of drones and inferior powers which nonetheless have the ability to do a lot of damage, has been a bit of a shock.
Now, admittedly, that is something that I, like I think a lot of people who are amateur followers of military affairs, was worried about watching developments in Ukraine. You couldn’t help but wonder whether the U.S. military, with its emphasis on overwhelming force, with its historic superiority in technology, was actually ready for this new world of kind of democratized ability to inflict damage. And there were some straws in the wind suggesting that we were not, that maybe just the historical record of overwhelming dominance had made the US military complacent. But it still comes as a shock to find that U.S. bases in the region appear to be sort of completely unprotected, unhardened, that the U.S. went into this thing sending, you know, multimillion-dollar interceptors to shoot down multithousand-dollar drones.
It’s been really kind of shockingly overwhelmingly, I’m not sure incompetent, but unprepared. It’s just shocking how unready the world’s greatest military seems to have been for a war that was in many ways prefigured by what’s been happening in Ukraine for several years now. So how did that happen?
I was motivated to do this video by a report in The New York Times about what Pete Hegseth has been doing to the military, about the passing over of promotions for officers who happen to be black or female. It’s just been this shocking sort of anti, reverse DEI, otherwise known as racism and misogyny. But in general, I think it’s pretty clear, not just that Hegseth doesn’t like women, doesn’t like non-whites, but also he doesn’t like smart people. He doesn’t like people who are competent at their jobs. He wants people who are into lethality and dumb shows of force, which is not a good thing in a 21st century military. But I had thought that this would take longer.
And I’m wondering whether this is just Hegseth or whether this is a process that has been underway. And of course, it’s now accelerated drastically under current management.
And so let me explain about Kudlowization. In places where I do know something, do know what I’m talking about, which is economic policy making, economic discussion, there has been a long-standing dumbing down on the right wing, a dumbing down of economic thinking, a dumbing down of economic discourse. Which is a little odd because for an academic field, economics has a lot of conservative people, not extreme ri
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Quote:Donald Trump Is Losing the Iran War
Originally posted by second:
The Worst and the Dumbest
There was a famous book in the Vietnam years about how all that went wrong . . . it was called “The Best and the Brightest.” In this case, it’s obvious: Everybody knows that we’ve got the worst and the dumbest. So we knew that the thinking about strategy was going to be nil, that it was going to be all very ill-conceived.
Despite his constant declarations of victory, the truth about this conflict is clear.
By Séamus Malekafzali | March 27, 2026
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/trump-losing-iran-war/
After weeks of bombing Iranian military installations, naval vessels, and cities, President Trump declared the war against Iran “won” on March 24. Such a momentous achievement could have been announced in a grandiose speech—perhaps on an aircraft carrier with a banner describing the mission as having been accomplished—but Trump’s assertion passed without much fanfare.
Perhaps the reaction was so muted because Trump had already proclaimed that the war was won several times before—such as three weeks ago, when he said he thought the “war was complete, pretty much,” or two weeks ago, when he told a rally in Kentucky that America had won “in the first hour” of the war.
Perhaps there was a collective national shrug because, at the same time that Trump has declared victory, he has also claimed, against all Iranian denials, to have recently held “constructive talks” with unnamed leaders in Tehran who are “desperate for a deal,” but simply fear saying so because they will be killed, either by the government or by the US itself.
Or perhaps Trump’s words were ignored because everyone can plainly see that it is a lie. Despite such victories, despite such completeness, the war has somehow gone on still, as the Iranians will, unbelievably, not “accept they have been defeated militarily,” in the words of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The idea that the United States is in fact losing this war is completely out of the question. But there is no avoiding the truth: The United States is, in fact, losing this war.
Endless press conferences, statements to gathered reporters, and social media posts from the commander-in-chief tell of thousands upon thousands of strikes, the decimation of the Iranian Air Force, and the destruction of literally “100%” of Iran’s military capabilities. But, as anyone with eyes can plainly see, the Iranian military continues to fight, not just in a flailing and minuscule way as the president implies, but with consistent levels of ballistic missile fire towards both Israel and American bases in the Gulf. This has forced the White House into increasingly baffling turns of phrase to describe what is happening.
At the same time that the president claimed that in Iran “we have nobody even shooting at us,” an F-35, a stealth fighter jet thought to be the height of cutting-edge military power, was struck and disabled by Iranian anti-aircraft fire for the first time in the plane’s history (Five days later, Trump would claim Iran had “no anti-aircraft equipment). In the 12 days since Trump posted that Iran was now only sending “a drone or two” and “a close-range missile somewhere,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has launched more than 30 additional waves of attacks and shows no sign of stopping or even dropping the number of missiles and drones it fires. Despite claims of the destruction of the Iranian Navy, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to all shipping from nations the Iranian state deems to be hostile.
Seemingly all other objectives of the war, be they degrading the Iranian military’s capabilities or overthrowing the Islamic Republic, have fallen by the wayside as the American government desperately attempts to control the price of oil and reopen the Strait that was previously completely open before the war. The Trump administration has resorted to a routine cycle of market manipulation, claiming US Navy escorts of tankers that never existed
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Kuwait international airport suffers 'significant' radar system damage after drone attacks
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/kuwait-international-airport
-suffers-significant-radar-system-damage-after-drone-2026-03-28/
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Even John Bolton is against this Iran war
Bolton critiques Trump's Iran strategy
By Astead Herndon / Mar 28, 2026 at 7:03 AM
https://www.vox.com/podcasts/484166/iran-war-trump-john-bolton-regime-
change
How did President Donald Trump lose the Republican Party’s biggest Iran war hawk, John Bolton? And why?
For the past 20 years, there’s basically been one guy in Republican politics who was known as the Iran war guy.
For years, even decades, John Bolton has argued for regime change in Iran, and for America to take a proactive military role to make that happen. Bolton served as the US ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush and, later, as national security adviser to Donald Trump during his first term.
The partnership with Trump was fleeting, however. He did not leave the administration on good terms and has been a critic of Trump since. He’s even been indicted by Trump’s Department of Justice for the mishandling of classified documents. Despite that backstory, it is still a bit confusing to hear one of America’s foremost Iran critics break with the Trump administration on this war. How did Trump lose the Republican Party’s biggest Iran war hawk? And why?
Below is an excerpt of my conversation with Bolton, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full episode, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.
You’ve become known as one of the most prominent American advocates for military action in Iran over a set of decades. But in recent weeks, you’ve emerged as one of the sharpest critics of the Trump administration’s actions and how it’s conducting this war. I wanted you to walk me through your critiques.
What I support is a policy of regime change in Iran. And I’ve held that view for many years because I don’t think there’s any chance the current regime will change its behavior on two critical fronts.
It’s not going to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons, which threaten Israel, the United States, really the whole world. And it’s not going to give up on its pursuit of terrorism, its support of terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Shia militia in Iraq and conducting terrorist operations around the world.
We’ve got decades of evidence that their behavior is not going to change. So when you’re confronted with that kind of threat, danger, and behavior isn’t going to change, the alternative is change the regime. I think the regime is in its weakest position since any time after it took power in 1979. The economy is a mess. The young people are, they can see they can have a different kind of life. Two thirds of the population is under 30. The women are enormously dissatisfied since the death of Mahsa Amini. Ethnic groups are dissatisfied.
Conditions are ripe for regime change as a policy to succeed. And the question is, what role can the United States play? And here, I think Trump has badly misplayed his hand from the beginning, unfortunately.
Tell me how.
Well, Trump initially did nothing to prepare the American public for the steps necessary to affect regime change. Normally, when a president is going to take a dramatic action like Trump has, you explain that to the American people.
You make the case why it’s in our national interest to seek regime change, to avoid the threat of nuclear weapons, to avoid the continuing threat of terrorism. You don’t have to say anything about what your specific plan is. You don’t have to talk about timing, but you have to be respectful of our citizens and make the case to them that this is in their interest. I think he could have done it. I think there’s a very compelling case he didn’t do it.
Yeah, that didn’t happen.
A corollary to that is you need to prepare Congress, certainly on the Republican side, to get their support, but on the Democratic side too. I think there are a number of important steps that Congress is going to have to take, instead of leaving them in the dark. It doesn’t mean they would agree with you necess
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Quote:
US Suffers Heavy Casualties In Iranian Strike On Saudi Base As Houthis Enter War With Missile Launches On Israel
• Houthis enter the war: Houthis launch their first missile barrage on Israel since Operation Epic Fury. Red Sea shipping could once again be under direct threat.
• Serious US casualties in Saudi base assault: Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops: AP. Late-night strike targeted Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (for third time of war).
• Gulf states under sustained fire, casualties mount: Six wounded in missile strike on Abu Dhabi; Bahrain intercepts waves of missiles and drones near the United States Fifth Fleet base; Kuwait reports damage to Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and Shuwaikh Port.
• US expending billions on Operation EpicFuryFailure: "Battle damage and replacement of losses over the first three weeks of the war likely costs roughly $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion": WSJ
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/many-us-troops-wounded-iranian-
strike-saudi-base-houthis-open-new-front-missile
Quote:
Russia Warns Situation At Bushehr Nuclear Plant Deteriorating After 3rd Airstrike In Ten Days
Saturday, Mar 28, 2026 - 08:05 AM
On Friday Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that Bushehr nuclear power plant was struck by US-Israeli attacks for the third time since the start of the war.
At the same time, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has confirmed that the situation continues to deteriorate; however, there's as yet been no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation reported. It was the third strike in just ten days.
******
Iran - Vietnam analogies have a glaring critical flaw:
Vietamn was (and still is) insignificant to the world economy. The Gulf region is absolutely essential. So while the Vietnam and Iranian war strategies are both shambolic, the consequences of failure are polar opposites.
The key numbers to look at aren't the costs of oil and natgas, which fly around because of fear, hope, and speculation, but tons of oil and thousands of cubic feet (millions of BTUs) exported.
It's not made the western press, but Iraq has pretty much booted USA military occupation, and if Ansarullah (Houthis) truly enter the war, they can block Saudi oil shipments thru their only alternate oil terminals on the Red Sea.
SECOND, I can't but help notice that, aside from personal, monotonous attacks on "Trumptards" you're incapable of generating a single original thought. You may as well be a bot. As a self-proclaimed energy market and military affairs expert, you should have caught that.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
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Quote:Signym, even John Bolton is against this Iran war. Why? Read the article, but if you won't, he is against it because the way Trump went about it was always doomed to failure, although he imagined success. After all, he is the President and can do anything he wants in his imagination.
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND, I can't but help notice that, aside from personal, monotonous attacks on "Trumptards" you're incapable of generating a single original thought. You may as well be a bot. As a self-proclaimed energy market and military affairs expert, you should have caught that.
John Bolton's lesson applies to Trumptards. The way they live is destined to fail, even though they imagine success is their right as Americans. After all, Americans imagine they can do anything. See 6ixStringJoker for an example of a disappointing life caused by his overstimulated imagination and, most significantly, his erratic refusal to adapt to his environment. For Trump and his Trumptards, freedom means doing what you want, being irresponsible for what happens next. That's why Trump's life has been one misadventure after another. He has never been accountable for what happens to him, and he always complained about the unfairness of the world. Trumptards find his personality traits very attractive. I do not because those traits cause failure in ordinary Trumptard lives.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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If John Bolton is against something, everyone else should be for it by default.
You need to do a much better job picking allies.
Oh... nevermind. They're picked for you. Anybody who talks shit about Trump is your hero of the day.
Just realize that you're not going to convince anybody that we shouldn't have gone after Iran because John Bolton says so.
And remember that one of the last things that Dick Cheney did before shaking off this mortal coil and taking over Hell was to vote the same way that you did in November of 2024.
--------------------------------------------------
Be Nice. Don't be a dick. 
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Wow. True to form, you're still incapable of generating any original thoughts, SECOND. Even when it's been pointed out to you, you start quoting somebody and then squawk about "Trumptards" like a parrot.
So, here's an original thought: A "war on Iran" was NEVER going to win. If anyone had paid the slightest attention to what Iran was saying, they would have known that Iran was going to close the Straits of Hormuz and hold the Gulf's energy extracting infrastructure hostage.
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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger
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