Trump is going to hit Iran 'hard' now

Trump is going to hit Iran 'hard' now. From wanting to make Iran go back to the stone age six months ago, to just hitting 'hard' seems like a massive backtracking move. The moral of the story is never to make threats that cannot be put into practice. You lose credibility and trust and embolden the enemy.

What is Trump going to hit Iran 'hard' with anyway? With twits? Bombs are now obviously precious and in short supply, so just lobbing a few at a time just to show the world that USA is still fully loaded. The USA cannot even fool the world, least of all the Iranians.

Iran will always be in the Middles East. It had been in the Middle East for 2500 years, existing as a civilization that used to be called Persia. It did not collapse with all the revolutions, uprisings and external subterfuge. A civilization does not fall that easily, just like China. It endures, absorbs the disasters, manages the chaos, grow into it humbly and becomes stronger.

How strong is Iran today militarily is still a mystery. How strong has Iran grown in the face of the conflict with the USA is just speculative at best, but what we have seen is not imaginary but real. Each successive escalation by the USA is met with ever more destructive retaliation by Iran. Iran can honestly boast about having the bomb in a very short time, if not already there.

60% of Iran's enriched Uranium is reported by some sources to have already been removed to Russia for safekeeping. True or false is one thing, but there is no smoke without fire. Iran and Russia do not have to announce that move in twits. What is left in Iran could just be empty bunkers that the USA can keep bombing and sending IAEA inspectors to confirm. By the way, Iran has totally denied such IAEA inspectors to do the snipping on behalf of the USA.

I think the removal of Iran's enriched Uranium to Russia is a smart move, a game changer in fact. Even if they should fall into the hands of Russia for good, it is still safer than letting the USA have them and gloating about it.


Anonymous

What else is there to talk about?

All the 32 NATO countries pulling together could not defeat the Russians after more than four long years. What else is there to talk about?

All the might of the Israelis and USA could not defeat a rag-tag army of ferocious Muslim fighters called Hamas. What else is there to talk about?

All the might of the Saudi Arabians backed by the USA could not defeat comprehensively a rag-tag army of fighters called Houthis. What else is there to talk about?

And Trump thinks that Iran is just a piece of cake to be eaten withing 4 to 5 days. Now, it is more than 6 months, and the eater is losing its teeth. What is there to talk about?

And the USA thinks China is a pushover.


Anonymous

Why SIA should continue to plough its profit into loss making Air India - journalist Ven Sreenivasan

Walking away now would mean giving up that hard-won opportunity to get a piece of action in one of the world’s hottest aviation markets with a favourable combination of partners.

As the national carrier, Air India holds valuable international traffic rights and airport slots around the world. At home, it has a huge domestic network and enjoys strong brand recognition.

In the Tata group, SIA has a strong partner which brings to the table local knowledge, scale, brand and reputation. As Tata’s partner, SIA brings aviation expertise, operational discipline and customer service. In short, world class standards in airline operations....

SIA’s management must articulate the case clearly to its shareholders and the public here....

What kind of control will it take in the airline’s operations to ensure that its goals are met? How much operational control is Tata willing to give, and how much is the Indian government willing to tolerate?  CNA

The first three paragraphs are the reasons why SIA should continue to throw good money after bad money in Air India. The same narrative, India has a lot of potential for growth in the long long long term. With extraordinary Tata's strong local knowledge and everything Indian, and SIA's expertise, it is still failing and failing and failing and losing at least US$3 billion in the last two years and expecting to continue to lose in the next 10 years, meaning at least another US$10 billion assuming losing US$1 billion a year. Air India is admitting that despite Tata and SIA, nothing good will come from them to turn the ailing airline around.

Why so, after all Tata and SIA are the two knights in shining armour for the rescue? The answer is in the last two paragraph quoted above. It is about management control. SIA does not have management control to put its good management practices to run Air India. Tata did not have the expertise but still would not release control for SIA to do the job. These two points are the red herrings to dupe people into believing that with SIA and Tata, they could save Air India...when SIA will not be allowed to play any part. The Indians are so full of themselves, who is SIA to teach them how to such eggs? And Tata is anything but Indian and will do the Indian ways. If Tata can turn it around, the bleeding would have stopped or at least reduced. Both points are only good for talking rubbish.

LKY has been right all the time. If SIA cannot have management control, stay away. Don't be stupid. But someone thinks he is smarter than LKY and now stuck in this cowdung.  The Indian future, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a big IF. It is as good as fantasy. Even if SIA has complete control, the Indian culture and politics will make sure it will fail.

Oops, maybe follow DBS formula, pay up for the whole of Air India, called it Air India, SIA. And let the Indians to run it the way they know best and have remote control from Changi. Oops, oops, the Indians have been running it the way they think best and still losing money. There is no way no talent Singaporeans can help to turn it around if the smart Indians cannot do it. The Indians don't respect no talent Singaporeans. To them, they can teach Singapore how to become first world country. The only Singaporean that the Indians respect is LKY. Period.  

The bigger fear is for SIA to run and operate SIA with more Indian recruits for management, pilots and engineering team. This seems to be the thinking today, recruit more Indians to run SIA.

What do you think? Continue to dump its profit into the black hole for how long? What if the whole SIA is sucked into the black hole?

The USA uses negotiation colored by deception all the time

Not this time. Sergei Lavrov puts it in no uncertain terms. The USA uses negotiation colored by deception all the time. They negotiate, but deceptively they turn around and take advantage after agreeing. This visit by the CIA chief relates to efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy has no more ropes to hold and is desperate and so is NATO Europe. Zelenskyy can tell the whole world that Russia is collapsing, but the reality is otherwise. Zelenskyy is short of weapons and money clear and simple. The collapse of Ukraine is near.

Gorbachev was too naive to believe that the West would not move NATO an inch closer to the border with Moscow. A verbal assurance, no doubt, which gave the USA and NATO the perfect excuse to keep moving Eastward.

Even Putin had been blindsided in 2014 while negotiating with NATO after seeing NATO encroaching towards the Russian Border relentlessly, dangling a carrot in front of Zelenskyy and luring Ukraine to join NATO. This was Russia's red line that was to be the reason for the Ukraine War.

Agreements reached during negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the early days of the war were about to be signed, but sabotaged by NATO, actually by Boris Johnson on behalf of the USA undoubtedly. This is what led Sergei Lavrov to say that any negotiation with the USA is tinged with deception, and the Russians no longer trust the USA in any further talks. In fact, the CIA chief's visit coincided with a visit by the Vatican representative to Moscow to give what was interpreted by many as giving a religious dimension to moral and humanitarian support to the USA. Many are asking why the Vatican did not send representatives to start talks regarding Gaza all this time, when genocide was rampant.

Of course, that trip by the CIA chief ended in failure. Russia no longer wants to talk about negotiation to end the war in Ukraine. They know it is all wasted time and effort.


Anonymous

The economy that is collapsing is not China, but the USA on all counts

If you believe the anti-China bots on social media, everything in China is collapsing. I think they are barking up the wrong tree and making a fool of themselves. The economy that is collapsing is not China, but the USA on all counts. Things built on solid manufacturing ground do not collapse. Things built on hype and money printing from thin air will soon collapse.

Of course, one social media is famous for talking about China's tofu bridges and houses collapsing, EVs on fire all over China, jobless and homeless people living on the pavements. What is ridiculous is that those are from people who never set foot in China, while those who visited, worked and lived in China are saying exactly the opposite. Who do we believe? Those in absentia or those on the ground? Take your pick.

There are plenty of news about USA buildings built on tofu bases that are sinking, so do not assume that laughing first is going to win. He who laughs last laughs best, so they say.

Imagine a debtor buying back its own debt. Can this really be possible. How come Japan did not do it after chalking up debt more that are 250% of its annual GDP. Japan could have mitigated its position by selling its Treasury holdings of more than a trillion. But Japan's testicles, or boobs now, are squeezed tightly by the USA, unable to move as a result of the pain. That is the price to pay for being a close friend of the USA. The closer the friendship, the tighter is the squeeze. China has no such inhibitions, selling its Treasuries like hot cakes now and then.


Anonymous