Practicing US economic sanctions and export controls.
Washington, DC
Joined June 2012
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Israel’s defenders are left arguing that Israel *only* killed ~5% of Gazans. It’s no defense to the genocide charge (what of Srebenica?), but it underscores there is no floor for these people, no moral obscenity Schama, et al., will dare not utter to defend Israel’s crimes.
Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics states population of Gaza before October 7th at 2.2 million; 2026 at 2.1 million. Of course there has been atrocious brutality and tragedy, during the war, not least because Hamas fought it in a densely populated civilian area. But this is not a genocide. The loss is 4.55% of the Gaza population. 70% of Tutsis were murdered in that genocide; probably 75% of Ottoman Armenians in the massacres, famine an death marches; 66% of European Jews in the war. Please read some history
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A great patriot, this one. Advising Israel how to evade future US sanctions.
The collapse in public support for Israel could trigger a financial and economic war against the Jewish state. The architecture for it is already taking shape.
My latest: fdd.org/analysis/2026/09/06/…
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I’ve always been a deep pessimist that a war with Iran would deliver any strategic victory for the US. But never did I think a war would be as devastating to US interests as this has proven to be. Even the (now-slim) prospect for a short-lived tactical victory is slipping away.
Iran is certainly under a lot of economic strain but the US can not afford to keep going for years (even months).
Global oil buffers are emptying, China is buying again, inflation expectations are rising, and yields on America's $40 debt are jumping. Not sustainable.
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Intended, as it always has been, to make peace impossible and war inevitable.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington will announced a “one-two punch” of economic measures against Iran next week.
“We are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country,” he told Newsmax in an interview.
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Well, this is how we got into the war with Iran, so not surprising Israel would keep playing to Trump’s vulnerabilities.
Some U.S. intelligence officials saw Israel’s sharing of the warning about threats to Trump’s life as designed less to inform than to influence the president’s decision-making and U.S. policy in the region, a current and a former U.S. official said
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Damn, whoever advocated for the policy that produced such result probably should suffer some serious professional consequence…
Reports about the Tehran–Oman deal suggest that Washington is prepared to make additional concessions to the regime over the Strait of Hormuz and the collection of tolls.
If accurate, it would be a total defeat for the United States.
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How we willfully forget Iran adhered to a nuclear deal for years while Trump proved the US a faithless party.
teapaw.org/AlbertoMiguelF5/status…
"U.S. officials argue that Iran's failure to honor such a straightforward commitment raises serious doubts about its willingness and ability to implement a far more complex nuclear agreement."
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Eric, why is Iran threatening freedom of navigation?
Understanding root causes is important. We didn't have this issue prior to the US aggression against Iran, and we won't resolve it until either Iran is defeated or feels secure.
teapaw.org/BrewerEricM/status/207…
I don’t disagree with some of this. But if you ask me if the U.S., despite its missteps, still has an interest in ensuring freedom of navigation, the answer is an easy yes. As I said in the original post, whether and how that’s done is a different matter. And to be clear, this is an interest that goes beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
It's only a "dilemma" if you make it so. Trump can signal US withdrawal and allow the regional diplomacy to take shape, all the while agreeing to a nuclear deal that does not begrudge Iran its treaty rights.
He can do these things. He chooses not to.
teapaw.org/AlArabiya_Eng/status/2…
"Trump is caught in a DILEMMA of his own making."
Former Clinton Speechwriter Paul Glastris analyzes Trump’s options as Iran holds onto the Strait of Hormuz.
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It's almost unthinkable (but good to ask why that's so): Trump can just walk away and question why the US must "care" so much about Iran in the first place.
teapaw.org/alexbward/status/20757…
The Trump admin believes a nuclear deal with Iran is growing increasingly unlikely, senior U.S. officials told reporters Friday, a rare acknowledgment that one of Trump’s core foreign policy goals of capping Tehran’s nuclear program might not be achievable through peace talks.
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No, the sanctions were primarily meant either to create the conditions for military conflict or to limit the flexibility a President may have for relaxing tensions with Iran. The sanctions have no success story here.
teapaw.org/NadavPollak/status/206…
For years the best sanctions and oil experts came up with ways to sanction Iran's oil industry in order to make sure Iran doesn't have the funds to finance its nuclear program, its missile program, and its terrorist proxies.
It was such an important job that took so much effort to put into place and it was actually quite effective (not enough though).
The Trump administration just broke it all down in one quick move, for nothing, absolutely nothing.
I have no words to describe this malpractice
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It’s odd but true: sanctions are as much about deterring a US president from being able to relax tensions with Iran as they are about imposing costs on Iran. Just look at the most strident hawks crow about how Trump can’t do this or that, it’s sanctions as trip-wire.
Iran’s ability to withstand sanctions so far exposes a hard fact for Washington: Economic pressure has largely failed to cow rogue regimes, as they game out more ways to sidestep U.S. restrictions on.wsj.com/4xHXnXK
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It’s certainly a dangerous game Israel is playing. Already viewed as antagonist by broad sections of both US parties, now very publicly threatening to entrap the US in a war that is widely loathed by US public, all the while risking responsibility for a global depression.
It strikes me as somewhat problematic if two states have agreed to negotiate and a third party that absolutely hates the idea of those negotiations has the power to disrupt them by taking actions it really wants to take anyway.
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I don't know, sounds a lot like ethnic cleansing.
teapaw.org/clashreport/status/206…
So Iran’s frozen funds are not so much a point of leverage for the US as a political vulnerability. We can’t finalize a deal because Trump, in an ever-shrinking political bunker, can’t afford the wrath of the Israelis by allowing the release of Iran’s funds.
This quoted post is unavailable.
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Good example why the US needs to dissociate entirely from Israel.
After Iran's missile salvo last night, I had a restless, fearful night. Like most people I know in Israel, I wasn't scared there would be more missile - I was scared there wouldn't be, indicating Israeli had not responded. The sirens this morning were comforting.
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A consequence of US tipping the scale so much: the demented view from Israelis that all problems will be (eventually, impossibly) solved militarily, so they don't have to accept objective realities like geography and deal politically with problems posed.
teapaw.org/mdubowitz/status/20637…
Open Hormuz militarily—or Tehran will use it as a perpetual blackmail tool.
Any deal that leaves Iran with the ability to threaten closure of the Strait gives the regime leverage over President Trump and every future president. The regime will exploit that leverage to rebuild the nuclear, missile, drone, and defense-industrial capabilities that U.S. and Israeli forces have successfully degraded. The goal should be to cripple the regime, not manage it.
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If ever there were a policy drafted in Tel Aviv, this is it. Just obviously intended to limit Trump's options.
teapaw.org/phildstewart/status/20…
BREAKING - U.S. WILL USE TOOLS TO MAKE IRANIAN ASSETS AVAILABLE TO GULF ALLIES TO SUPPORT REBUILDING AND REPAIRS FOR FUTURE DAMAGE CAUSED BY IRAN -SOURCE FAMILIAR
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT DIRECTED TEAM TO ASSESS CONDITIONS AMONG GULF ALLIES, ASSESS COSTS FOR DAMAGE INFLICTED BY IRAN -SOURCE FAMILIAR
U.S. TO CONSIDER WHETHER IRANIAN ASSETS COULD BE USED TO SUPPORT REPAIRS FOR PAST DAMAGES -SOURCE FAMILIAR
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