TACO TACO TACO

The U.S. has agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran proposed by Pakistan.Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran picked up momentum over the past 24 hours, with Pakistan serving as the primary mediator. Members of Trump’s team, including Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff, have advised him to take a deal if they could get one.

The Pakistani proposal, which came hours before Trump’s deadline to launch massive strikes if no deal was reached, involves a pause on Trump’s threat and a commitment from Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks. That two-week period would be used to negotiate a larger agreement to potentially end the war.

Iran has not publicly confirmed its acceptance of the plan, but Trump wrote that there would be a “double sided ceasefire.”

Israel has agreed to the ceasefire and will also suspend its strikes, a White House official said.

The same official said the ceasefire will come into force when Iran opens the Strait of Hormuz.

There have been discussions through mediators about potential in-person negotiations, likely to be led by Vice President Vance, though nothing has been announced.

Financial markets reacted with instant relief to the news. S&P 500 futures rose more than 1%, while oil futures quickly sank about 6%. Markets had been weak all day on fears of an escalation, before rallying late in the day on signs a deal might be at hand.

Trump posted to Lies Anti-Social: “Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East. We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate. Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated. On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

According to one expert, Trump just handed the Iranian regime a massive “strategic victory” after retreating from his previous threats. Col. Cedric Leighton, a retired military officer, explained that Trump’s announcement is a “strategic victory” for Iran. “This is a strategic victory for the Iranians, because if they know that they’ve proven that they can control the Strait, at least up to a point, they will then control commerce. They want to exact tolls on ships that go through there.”

The Iranians have confirmed they have agreed to the ceasefire agreement. Fars Iran adds that the US accepted its 10-point proposal as the basis for negotiations, including Iranian control of Hormuz, full compensation for war damages, and the withdrawal of American forces from the region.

The New York Times reported that some of the ceasefire provisions include the U.S. agreeing not to attack Iran again and lifting all sanctions on Iranian oil, including those that were put in place by the G.W. Bush’s administration. The details emerged after Trump announced Iran and the U.S. had agreed to a two-week ceasefire. “Wow. The biggest disaster of a president ever!” former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger posted on X.

This is a deserved defeat for Trump. Throughout this war, he has revealed his lack of skill, his lack of intelligence when he rejected U.S. intelligence that Iran would do everything the country has done in the war. The fact he convinced himself that they would not close the Straits of Hormuz demonstrated his complete unfitness as a military/political leader. That he is insane is now “conventional knowledge.” Everyone he “negotiates” with from now one knows he will

TACO, and the likelihood is his ongoing threats will now be answered with strength in opposition.

He has left the United States even more distrusted and detested internationally than we were before his war of choice. If the GOP is driven from office in 2028, they must be kept from office at least as long as they were following FDR’s victory in 1932 that saw them out of power till 1952. Given the nature of this contemporary “Republican” party, keeping them in the minority for the next 30 years will likely be barely enough to clean up their wreckage. They have shown they have no skill whatsoever in actually governing.

I am glad that this has happened, because Trump managed to put himself in a place with his escalating insanity to where he had no way himself to get out of the resulting disaster without a public surrender.

We now live in a world where the Iranians are far stronger than they were before this war. They have achieved world power status by demonstrating they would not bend to U.S. demands, and by the fact they have now demonstrated they can deny the rest of the world access to Persian Gulf oil at any time they choose. They have also demonstrated to the Gulf States that their alliance with the United States does not serve their best national interests. Ovr the course of the rmainder of Maladministration II we can expect to see an uncoupling; it won’t be announced and won’t be publicly visible, but changes will be made in the way the United Sttes is allowed to operate in those countries.

This Trump defeat is a victory for sanity. Like I said yesterday, we’re all going to be living in a different place tomorrow. Trump has destroyed his MAGA base, and Republicans in office now see he cannot help them in the looming defeat they face in the mid-terms. It isn’t going to happen fast, and it will not be publicly announced, but those Republicans known for “prive doubts” about him will increasingly act on those doubts.

That Trump is walking around with a big smile on his face and acting like he achieved something is proof he has no clue what he has done to himself.

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