(Nowhere in this article does the writer mention the blackmail Israel holds over Trump's head. A noteworthy omission as we continue to hear less and less about the Epstein files.)
from Mondoweiss
According to available reports,
the purported agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between
the United States and Iran to entrench the current ceasefire was ready
to be signed and presented to the public, and Trump was going to retire
to his “situation room” to confer with his people and announce it.
If that seemed too good to be true, it turns out it was, at least for the moment.
Eventually, Trump is going to have to
decide whether to accept an MOU that will be harshly attacked by Israel
and Iran hawks or resume the fighting. Choosing the former is out of
character for the beleaguered president, but resuming the fighting will
bury him deeper in this quagmire and will intensify the global economic
crisis.
It’s important to recognize that all this
MOU would do is formalize and expand the existing ceasefire. In
practice, ending the war can only happen if the negotiations stipulated
in the MOU come to a successful conclusion.
There’s no guarantee of that, from either
side. The mistrust, especially from Iran in the wake of the United
States and Israel twice attacking it at moments when diplomacy was
making real progress, is a gulf between the two parties. And the
political complications Trump faces in making the sort of deal he needs
to make are going to be difficult for him to navigate.
This mistrust is why Iran wants this MOU
rather than a comprehensive deal. They want to move slowly, confirming
American sincerity with actions, not words, every step of the way.
Trump, on the other hand, is struggling to
decide what to do amid conflicting, powerful political pressures. His
team has, apparently, negotiated the terms of the MOU, but he is
indecisive about implementing it. These are the consequences of a weak,
unqualified person in the White House.
This political quicksand that Trump
continues to sink into is another in the long list of reasons why other
presidents have refused to let Israel draw them into a war with Iran.
Now that Iran has the upper hand, it is dictating the framework of
ending the war...
read more here
