Yves Smith: Iran War: US Again Fabricates Talks On, “Deal Is Nigh” As Reuters Reports Even Greater Weapons Depletion; Iran Debunks Media Reports on Oman Negotiations v. “Opening”

Yves Smith gives her update on the Iran War: US Again Fabricates Talks On, “Deal Is Nigh” As Reuters Reports Even Greater Weapons Depletion; Iran Debunks Media Reports on Oman Negotiations v. “Opening”.

Smith is amazed that serious commentators fall for the same duplicity from the White House again and again. Maybe Smith should consider the point raised by Karam Nama in their article, "Tehran and Trump have Trapped us in a Forever War based on Fabulism", in which Nama argues that the fluid nature of American reality is a power play by Trump.

Smith lists several points of unreality from the US:

1. Whether negotiations are taking place;
2. The parties to negotiations;
3. Matters being negotiated;
4. Timetables for negotiations;
5. US Weapons Stocks.

Smith did note some cracks in the last point of Trump's fabulism:

However, this Reuters story [US Has Used ‘Virtually All’ Long-Range Missiles in Iran War – Reuters], even though widely reported in social and independent media, has not been taken up much by the major outlets. …

…

However, importantly, Fox News is also sounding alarms about the state of US munitions and even signals that US is not well able to restock quickly. This may sound like weak tea in comparison to Reuters but the contrast with the usual full-throated hawkery is noteworthy:

Emphasis Mine

The problem for Trump is that the US military is no longer seen as invincible. Henry Kissinger had forseen this problem fifty years ago after the Vietnam War. He proposed a new security architecture based on extensive US alliances and international institutions that enables the US to exercise real power behind the scenes instead of raw military power. In this way, US power would remain in place without being so blatant. Unfortunately, Trump has thrown away this security architecture and relied on raw US power. Now, the world is seeing the limits of US power, and this weakens USA.

Related Posts

• Karam Nama: Tehran and Trump have Trapped us in a Forever War based on Fabulism
• Why Washington’s Iran Policy Could Lead to Global Disaster

AI Disclosure

Image was generated by Gemini.

Read more!

Karam Nama: Tehran and Trump have Trapped us in a Forever War based on Fabulism

Karam Nama argues that Tehran and Trump have Trapped us in a Forever War based on Fabulism.

Nama writes that:

Trump does not conceal reality; he manufactures alternative realities and compels others to navigate them. This is not merely an ethical collapse; it is a transformation in the nature of authority itself. Power no longer requires coherence—only the ability to impose one’s narrative, however flimsy.

Emphasis Mine

And that:

For the Islamic Republic, denial is not a communication strategy; it is a survival mechanism. To admit negotiation would expose the regime’s foundational contradiction: a revolutionary rhetoric masking a deeply pragmatic, often desperate, diplomacy.

Emphasis Mine

With politics no longer concerned with finding common reality, the danger is that a manufactured falsehood has to be treated as reality which endangers the whole edifice. Reality has a dangerous habit of asserting itself.

Read more!