Armchair warriors around the world seek to place blame on people and governments for the outcome of Israel and Iran's 12-day war. But it's not that simple.
I am really enjoying Ritter's Rants, and I think it is a great format. Short, articulate rants which encourage thoughtfulness over ignorant trigger-responses, and illuminates the depth of Scott's personality, and wisdom.
Also,a great way for Scott to relieve some of the stress of the many events he's involved with, and say it as he sees it. Ritter Raw in a sense.
If the war didn't go the way the Iranian's expected, neither did it go the way the Israelis expected. I would argue that Trump took the opportunity to play Netanyahu. The U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear sites was expensive theatre that did two things simultaneously. It prevented Netanyahu and the neocons/Israel Lobby from charging him with not supporting Israel at the same time that it prevented them from achieving their real goal of dragging the U.S. into a regime change war with Iran by eliminating the perceived threat that Iran was "about to get the bomb."
(I believe that threat was invented as a pretext for regime change, but that's not relevant if it's about theater.)
Trump and the Israelis know that America, and even much of MAGA, might well go to war if there was an immediate threat of nuclear attack by Iran, but very little chance of America going into a costly, uncertain and probably lengthy war to overthrow the Iranian government without such an nuclear imminent threat.
Trump may bad mouth Bannon and Carlson but he knows that they are right, that such a war would doom Trump's presidency and the rest of his "America First" agenda. At the same time, he had to defuse the alleged nuclear threat and allow himself to refuse Israel's regime change war plan in a way that would avoid political pressure from AIPAC and the neocons. The theatre of the B2s and bunker busters immunized him from political attacks that he had failed to protect Israel in its time of need or was afraid to risk war with the Iranians. (The Iranians were smart enough to play their part in Trump's drama and Netanyahu, given the beating Israel took from Iran's rockets, had to go along and give Trump unstinting praise.)
Had Trump not been able to create this theatre, he would have destroyed his presidency, with all sides against him. But, so far the theatre is working, based on the willing or unwilling help of both the Iranian's and Netanyahu, which is backed up by the facts on the ground: Iran's successful resistance and Israel's unsuccessful effort to destabilize the Iranian government and its inability to defend its vital infrastructure.
Of course, all this is fragile and it's not clear how Trump will manage to build on it and prevent the hardliners on both sides from sabotaging his improvisational handiwork.
Several pundits have agreed with you, most notably Alex Krainer.
Most others suggest that this is just a holding pattern and that the war will start up again soon. Douglas McGregor and Brian Berletic are in this group.
I follow all three and think they all make a lot of sense. One major difficulty is trying to make sense of Trump. He is clearly the wild card and figuring out how his unpredictable mind and actions will interact with the realities of an already very complicated situation is almost impossible and many otherwise solid observers either overestimate his personal and political abilities or dismiss him as a crazy or incompetent bull in a china shop no more predictable than a hurricane. I think it's important to see him more clearly, without hysteria and without wishful thinking, as an imperfect and lonely leader with a mix of strengths and weaknesses who finds himself trying accomplish something if the face of complex and constantly shifting realities. The stream of tweets and other comments we hear from him may seem hopelessly incoherent, contradictory and deceptive, but they are not detached from reality and provide a window to his thought process if we have the time and patience to map them onto the realities of the larger situation. However, even those trying to do this, including Krainer, Davis, Diesen, MacGregor, Ritter, Mahmood, Doctorow, Mercouris and Christofouro, all end up concluding these day, "but time will tell."
Yes I saw that angle as well but what happened last time bibi wanted full scale war and the American people weren't on board? We got dancing Israel's post carnage here in america. Joe already gave bi-bi the keys to the castle (our infrastructure security) in the heart of covid. Bibi is so happy because trumps theater moves the chess piece for "iranian" carnage in america. Witch also lines up with WEF plan.
Israel broke all international laws in beginning the war and USA colluded while trying to say they were negotiating Bad news for peace in future. Trust in USA is disappearing fast
I recall one of the harshest critics of Iran's decision to enrich to 60% was -- Scott Ritter.
It gave the US the opportunity to emphasize that Iran could have a nuke in a matter of weeks, something Scott has reported on.
Just saying, there's some "blame" being over looked.
Otherwise, the relationships between China, Russia and Iran seem to be to be exactly what each nation wants them to be.
I do wish Iran had not aligned itself with the cease file. The US and Israel are going to violate it again. The existence of Israel is just going to continue the strife. Jeffrey Sachs insisting that the two-state solution has to happen, well it isn't.
And here we are, still ignoring the terror of the Palestinians and the absolute evil of the American Oligarchy, which is desperately trying to maintain their position of empire.
It would be nice if Scott would stop discussing the "US" as if it was a homogeneous entity. He wants Americans to talk to Russians, sure. But he doesn't tell us who these evil corrupt men our who control our nation.
The way you describe it Putin IS wrong: "He recognizes Israel as an extension of Russia." Jeez. I thought its own master, an extension of the US/ CIA. If Israel is an extension of Russia, then Putin is also responsible for the Genocide of Gazans and not recognizing the evil of Netanyahu, the Israeli government, the settlers, and the defense establishment. They are terrorists. And the other way around, he can not protect his allies for fear off offending his Russian banking oligarchs and the journalists who run RT. There is a whole lot of sabotage going on inside Russia people don't talk about, and guess who? Why can't we criticize Putin when he went to Bilderberg with Tulsi and took the jab for the "Reset." Or maybe he is in on the plan, is in an alliance that has scripted the end to be on the side of Jerusalem, because everyone knows what happens there.
Also, in the video with the Judge you credited Israel for their (illegal) surprise attack (with no justifiable cause as they were in negotiations, and terrorist attack on civilians, scientists as well is military personnel. If you cannot distinguish the difference between Putin's legalistic approach, Iran's pro-non-combatant approach, and Israeli acts of terrorism in both Gaza and Iran. If the audience can not differentiate between immoral and moral acts of violence, lies or the truth, legal or illegal acts, it neuters the moralist and the legalist. Putin and Khamenei will lose. Netanyahu is is the greatest nuclear terrorist threat to the United States, Russia, and China. Just look at 911, USS Liberty, and the assassination of Kennedy, and something blew up inside China that Duff (Veterans Today) regarded as suspicious. If Israel is an extension of Russia, then Putin has a responsibility to end Netanyahu and company.
Well said Scott - common sense. And (of cours) there are Israeli Black Opps behind these blame games. Note the new Head of MI6 in the UK has Ukrainian Nazi roots and worked in the Middle East close to MOSSAD. Russia, China and Iran WILL increase cooperation for one over-riding reason: they have no option. The Iran/Israel conflict is a regional conflict in the context of a global conflict.
200000 settlers from russia who didnt wont to live in russia anymore ,are not nice people they have shown themselves as depraved and hienous to the core,they are not russian anymore . That goes for all the ukrainians who left the country and behave likewise. We are now living in a world full of hate and no more empathy.All the western polliticians are corrupted to the neck.Terrorism: deadly violence against humans ond other livings, usually conducted by goverment against its own people
Scott, you talk about Putin going easy on Israel because around 20% of its population are ethnically Russian, hence part of the "Russian Nation". But they are also Israeli citizens. Does it not concern Putin that all of these Russian-Israelis and their offspring at a certain age are conscripted into the Israeli army, which is flagrantly committing genocidal atrocities with impunity? For how many generations do they remain "Russian"?
I wonder why legalistic President Putin hasn't taken a stronger stance on Israel's countless violations of international law (including its "secret" and unmonitored nuclear weapons program) and distanced the Russian Federation both economically and politically from Israel.
Has he ever issued notifications to Russian-Israelis that their current preferred domicile is a pariah state where they can choose to remain at their own risk, and that they will always be welcome to return to Mother Russia?
Ben Giver was asked by an Israeli citizen, why did you attack Iran, as they looked on the destruction caused Iranian missiles, and Ben Giver confessed, we didn't know their missile capabilities. And they still don't know the full extent of those capabilities. Iran cannot be defeated from the air, it's too large, unless nuclear weapons are used. The goal of the Israelis was/is to draw the US into the confrontation under any pretense in the hope of an American invasion of Iran, which is not going to happen. The fighting is still going on in Gaza and more and more Israeli soldiers are dying without shutting down Hamas, which is just a militia- what were they smoking when they decided they could take on a real country like Iran? And the worst part is that they are still arrogant and will probably attack again...
Undoubtedly China, Russia, Iran are fighting a common enemy; the supremacist west. Aside from what you pointed out about 2 million Russian Jews living in Israel snd Russia feels obligated to protect them against all adversaries, evidently Iran had purchased some fighter jet or other military equipment that never got delivered till 10 yrs later, when it was outdated already. So, Iranians are hesitant to make military purchases from Russia at this time. Tho, they recognize they’re in the same side.
I am really enjoying Ritter's Rants, and I think it is a great format. Short, articulate rants which encourage thoughtfulness over ignorant trigger-responses, and illuminates the depth of Scott's personality, and wisdom.
Also,a great way for Scott to relieve some of the stress of the many events he's involved with, and say it as he sees it. Ritter Raw in a sense.
Thank you for sharing Scott.
Good point about Russian links to Israel.
If the war didn't go the way the Iranian's expected, neither did it go the way the Israelis expected. I would argue that Trump took the opportunity to play Netanyahu. The U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear sites was expensive theatre that did two things simultaneously. It prevented Netanyahu and the neocons/Israel Lobby from charging him with not supporting Israel at the same time that it prevented them from achieving their real goal of dragging the U.S. into a regime change war with Iran by eliminating the perceived threat that Iran was "about to get the bomb."
(I believe that threat was invented as a pretext for regime change, but that's not relevant if it's about theater.)
Trump and the Israelis know that America, and even much of MAGA, might well go to war if there was an immediate threat of nuclear attack by Iran, but very little chance of America going into a costly, uncertain and probably lengthy war to overthrow the Iranian government without such an nuclear imminent threat.
Trump may bad mouth Bannon and Carlson but he knows that they are right, that such a war would doom Trump's presidency and the rest of his "America First" agenda. At the same time, he had to defuse the alleged nuclear threat and allow himself to refuse Israel's regime change war plan in a way that would avoid political pressure from AIPAC and the neocons. The theatre of the B2s and bunker busters immunized him from political attacks that he had failed to protect Israel in its time of need or was afraid to risk war with the Iranians. (The Iranians were smart enough to play their part in Trump's drama and Netanyahu, given the beating Israel took from Iran's rockets, had to go along and give Trump unstinting praise.)
Had Trump not been able to create this theatre, he would have destroyed his presidency, with all sides against him. But, so far the theatre is working, based on the willing or unwilling help of both the Iranian's and Netanyahu, which is backed up by the facts on the ground: Iran's successful resistance and Israel's unsuccessful effort to destabilize the Iranian government and its inability to defend its vital infrastructure.
Of course, all this is fragile and it's not clear how Trump will manage to build on it and prevent the hardliners on both sides from sabotaging his improvisational handiwork.
Several pundits have agreed with you, most notably Alex Krainer.
Most others suggest that this is just a holding pattern and that the war will start up again soon. Douglas McGregor and Brian Berletic are in this group.
I follow all three and think they all make a lot of sense. One major difficulty is trying to make sense of Trump. He is clearly the wild card and figuring out how his unpredictable mind and actions will interact with the realities of an already very complicated situation is almost impossible and many otherwise solid observers either overestimate his personal and political abilities or dismiss him as a crazy or incompetent bull in a china shop no more predictable than a hurricane. I think it's important to see him more clearly, without hysteria and without wishful thinking, as an imperfect and lonely leader with a mix of strengths and weaknesses who finds himself trying accomplish something if the face of complex and constantly shifting realities. The stream of tweets and other comments we hear from him may seem hopelessly incoherent, contradictory and deceptive, but they are not detached from reality and provide a window to his thought process if we have the time and patience to map them onto the realities of the larger situation. However, even those trying to do this, including Krainer, Davis, Diesen, MacGregor, Ritter, Mahmood, Doctorow, Mercouris and Christofouro, all end up concluding these day, "but time will tell."
Yes I saw that angle as well but what happened last time bibi wanted full scale war and the American people weren't on board? We got dancing Israel's post carnage here in america. Joe already gave bi-bi the keys to the castle (our infrastructure security) in the heart of covid. Bibi is so happy because trumps theater moves the chess piece for "iranian" carnage in america. Witch also lines up with WEF plan.
Israel broke all international laws in beginning the war and USA colluded while trying to say they were negotiating Bad news for peace in future. Trust in USA is disappearing fast
I recall one of the harshest critics of Iran's decision to enrich to 60% was -- Scott Ritter.
It gave the US the opportunity to emphasize that Iran could have a nuke in a matter of weeks, something Scott has reported on.
Just saying, there's some "blame" being over looked.
Otherwise, the relationships between China, Russia and Iran seem to be to be exactly what each nation wants them to be.
I do wish Iran had not aligned itself with the cease file. The US and Israel are going to violate it again. The existence of Israel is just going to continue the strife. Jeffrey Sachs insisting that the two-state solution has to happen, well it isn't.
And here we are, still ignoring the terror of the Palestinians and the absolute evil of the American Oligarchy, which is desperately trying to maintain their position of empire.
It would be nice if Scott would stop discussing the "US" as if it was a homogeneous entity. He wants Americans to talk to Russians, sure. But he doesn't tell us who these evil corrupt men our who control our nation.
The way you describe it Putin IS wrong: "He recognizes Israel as an extension of Russia." Jeez. I thought its own master, an extension of the US/ CIA. If Israel is an extension of Russia, then Putin is also responsible for the Genocide of Gazans and not recognizing the evil of Netanyahu, the Israeli government, the settlers, and the defense establishment. They are terrorists. And the other way around, he can not protect his allies for fear off offending his Russian banking oligarchs and the journalists who run RT. There is a whole lot of sabotage going on inside Russia people don't talk about, and guess who? Why can't we criticize Putin when he went to Bilderberg with Tulsi and took the jab for the "Reset." Or maybe he is in on the plan, is in an alliance that has scripted the end to be on the side of Jerusalem, because everyone knows what happens there.
Also, in the video with the Judge you credited Israel for their (illegal) surprise attack (with no justifiable cause as they were in negotiations, and terrorist attack on civilians, scientists as well is military personnel. If you cannot distinguish the difference between Putin's legalistic approach, Iran's pro-non-combatant approach, and Israeli acts of terrorism in both Gaza and Iran. If the audience can not differentiate between immoral and moral acts of violence, lies or the truth, legal or illegal acts, it neuters the moralist and the legalist. Putin and Khamenei will lose. Netanyahu is is the greatest nuclear terrorist threat to the United States, Russia, and China. Just look at 911, USS Liberty, and the assassination of Kennedy, and something blew up inside China that Duff (Veterans Today) regarded as suspicious. If Israel is an extension of Russia, then Putin has a responsibility to end Netanyahu and company.
You purposely mischaracterize what Putin meant and what Scott said.
Thank you Scott for all your hard work. I greatly appreciate all that you do and learn a lot from your analyses. Wishing you a lovely summer!
Well said Scott - common sense. And (of cours) there are Israeli Black Opps behind these blame games. Note the new Head of MI6 in the UK has Ukrainian Nazi roots and worked in the Middle East close to MOSSAD. Russia, China and Iran WILL increase cooperation for one over-riding reason: they have no option. The Iran/Israel conflict is a regional conflict in the context of a global conflict.
200000 settlers from russia who didnt wont to live in russia anymore ,are not nice people they have shown themselves as depraved and hienous to the core,they are not russian anymore . That goes for all the ukrainians who left the country and behave likewise. We are now living in a world full of hate and no more empathy.All the western polliticians are corrupted to the neck.Terrorism: deadly violence against humans ond other livings, usually conducted by goverment against its own people
I would never avoid any Ritter project, Not one!
Scott, you talk about Putin going easy on Israel because around 20% of its population are ethnically Russian, hence part of the "Russian Nation". But they are also Israeli citizens. Does it not concern Putin that all of these Russian-Israelis and their offspring at a certain age are conscripted into the Israeli army, which is flagrantly committing genocidal atrocities with impunity? For how many generations do they remain "Russian"?
I wonder why legalistic President Putin hasn't taken a stronger stance on Israel's countless violations of international law (including its "secret" and unmonitored nuclear weapons program) and distanced the Russian Federation both economically and politically from Israel.
Has he ever issued notifications to Russian-Israelis that their current preferred domicile is a pariah state where they can choose to remain at their own risk, and that they will always be welcome to return to Mother Russia?
Ben Giver was asked by an Israeli citizen, why did you attack Iran, as they looked on the destruction caused Iranian missiles, and Ben Giver confessed, we didn't know their missile capabilities. And they still don't know the full extent of those capabilities. Iran cannot be defeated from the air, it's too large, unless nuclear weapons are used. The goal of the Israelis was/is to draw the US into the confrontation under any pretense in the hope of an American invasion of Iran, which is not going to happen. The fighting is still going on in Gaza and more and more Israeli soldiers are dying without shutting down Hamas, which is just a militia- what were they smoking when they decided they could take on a real country like Iran? And the worst part is that they are still arrogant and will probably attack again...
As a key board worrior. I must say, I stand with the old man who sands on our high Street every day begging. So there. 🤔
Undoubtedly China, Russia, Iran are fighting a common enemy; the supremacist west. Aside from what you pointed out about 2 million Russian Jews living in Israel snd Russia feels obligated to protect them against all adversaries, evidently Iran had purchased some fighter jet or other military equipment that never got delivered till 10 yrs later, when it was outdated already. So, Iranians are hesitant to make military purchases from Russia at this time. Tho, they recognize they’re in the same side.
Thank you Scott