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Comment by ggm | Hacker News Reader

The low bar path out for Iran is not to charge US ships insurance. The people most likely to complain would not complain if America has an exception.

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Does anything America imports through the Strait travel on U.S.-flagged vessels?

The US import very little from Hormuz on any ship. Most buy ers are in asia or europe.

If the only recourse is to spend tens of billions on another bombing campaign, or even more on a land war, why would Iran be looking for a path out of anything?

Americans are fueled by spite, though.

I see

Spite against whom? Like most Americans, I have a number of grave concerns about the Iranian regime and the terrible things they've done. But on a personal level, Donald Trump has done a lot more to make me feel spiteful than either Masoud Pezeshkian or Mojtaba Khamenei have. I think everyone involved is well aware of this fact and it's going to continue to severely constrain Trump's options.

Americans have zero concerns about Iran, they care more about inflation and gas prices, it is evident in all surveys.

the only people who have grave concerns over Iran are the ones who have monetary incentive to do so, or ethnical tribalism reason

It sounds like you agree with me that Americans do not feel that fighting theocracy in Iran is a particularly high priority, and that people who care about it care more about domestic issues. So I'm not sure why you've chosen to express that in such a confrontational tone. Perhaps I've misunderstood something.

>>Like most Americans, I have a number of grave concerns about the Iranian regime

I didn't agree with "most Americans" part. This kind of rhetoric is false and is used to whitewash and launder war crimes and escape responsibility, for example for murdering 160 Iranian school girls in in Minab.

You don't think most Americans would say, if you asked them about the issue, that the Iranian regime is bad and oppressive? I don't think this has anything to do with whitewashing or escaping responsibility for war crimes; obviously we're getting beyond the level of detail most Americans would know, but I personally find it quite easy to believe that both Ahmad Vahidi and Pete Hegseth should be arrested and sent to the Hague.

do Americans care enough about Iran, to murder 160 innocent girls ??

there are many ways to phrase a question and make it seem like very low stakes, while it causes actual human lives on the other end of the globe

No, they don't. Perhaps that's where the confusion lies? Americans mostly did not want to bomb Iran in the first place, which is why their representatives in Congress didn't agree to; the regime in the White House just issued illegal orders to start bombing without Congressional authorization. Even had Hegseth not murdered those schoolgirls, the war would still have been illegal, and I would still be calling (perhaps a bit less vehemently) for him to go to prison over it.

This is empty rhetoric, WW2 was the last war where Congress officially declared war. Vietbam, Iraq, GWOT wars had some form of congress authorization, but the rest of the wars never had any authorization

America been droning and murdering people around the globe with impunity, for example Cambodia bombing which literally put Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge in power and led to genocide. The list of US war crimes is simply too big and I have zero tolerance for whitewashing or excusing this behavior

Your "zero tolerance" attitude is preventing you from understanding that I agree with you. I'm not going to talk to you any further, but I would encourage you to reflect on whether your reflexive hostility here has been an enjoyable or productive use of your time.

Yeah, this is an amusing but incredibly stupid thread.

The GOP in Congress on multiple occasions voted down restrictions on Trump's activities in Iran. So there's plenty of representatives that do agree with Trump's plan. This isn't anywhere near as clear cut as you're implying.

If they agreed with Trump's plan they would pass a bill affirmatively authorizing it. Many would, of course, but I'm confident many others don't actually agree and simply fear Trump's revenge if they're seen actively opposing him. (Which does not excuse them, I should emphasize, history will record their shameful cowardice.)

I don't think this is accurate. If you agree with what is already in motion, you do not need to take any action for it to continue. You need to take action if you disagree in order to get it to stop.

It affects global prices and sets a precedent against rules on international waters and freedom of navigation.

What does it tell us that current leadership in Washington lacks the credibility to make that argument? The tariffs and threats to sovereignty of our erstwhile allies have already damaged international norms at least as much as closing the straight of Hormuz.

There is zero commercial shipping through the Strait with US flags, everybody uses flags of convenience.

The US could also get into this racket then by offering US ship registrations at a very reasonable price...

> US ships

What US ships?

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