The Versailles MOU
The Knicks had a parade but the Mamdani pall, and the general classlessness of sportsmen (and women) nowadays dampens my enthusiasm. I listened to a bit of Mamdani’s speech. He mentioned many players from the team’s past, and some from their last championship team - but not one white player. No Bradley. No Debusschere — a fan favorite. Jalen Brunson (a JBM — Jew by marriage —) seems like a nice guy but he gave a crass speech. Still, congrats to him.
I’m in the insane position of being relieved that a stupid war is over, and horrified by the way it was ended.
Here’s a link to the Versailles MOU. These are the parts that jump out at me.
The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war are signing this MOU to declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon and other provisions of this paragraph.
The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.
The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral US sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons
The Islamic Republic of Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program, and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.
The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU.
The DSA should be very pleased with this betrayal of every principle that the US has ever stood on.
Andrew Fox is a supposedly pro-Israel commenter whose post mortem, Anatomy of a Debacle, could have been written by Graham Platner.
Allegedly, Netanyahu arrived at the White House with Mossad director David Barnea on screen, Israeli military officials arrayed behind him, and a theory of victory tailored to a president who favours audacity, speed, and historical drama.
Tellingly, Fox uses the phrase “regime collapse” first, although he later switches without explaining why to “regime change” — quite a different thing.
American officials claim they saw the weak point almost immediately. The CIA assessment reportedly broke the Israeli presentation into four components: decapitation, military degradation, popular uprising, and regime change. The first two were achievable with American and Israeli capabilities. The last two were judged fantasy. John Ratcliffe reportedly called the regime-change scenario farcical. General Dan Caine warned that the Israelis were overselling…
Either way, it appears the United States and Israel embarked on a campaign whose political success hinged on assumptions that their own intelligence process had already downgraded
Of course it was fantasy, and farcical. I could have told you that. Can I get a job at the Joint Chiefs? I’m available. This manufactured conventional wisdom is now everywhere:1
I don’t believe that Trump was some naif that got sold a bill of goods by Bibi.
I think that’s a fantasy and farcical.
Here’s my theory.
Trump has a burning hatred of people who humiliate him. I don’t know if Trump ever liked Bibi but he surely hated him from the summer of 2025 during which Netanyahu bombed the Syrian Defense Ministry on July 16 and Doha in September. Remember? Assad fell and our guy, Jolani, was installed in Damascus. Very delicate stuff. In the middle of doing that, Bibi bombed the Syrian Defense Ministry. This was in the middle of beefing between factions in south Syria which, of course, got turned into a second Holocaust by the usual suspects. Eventually it got sorted out.
Trump went ballistic. The “Gaza famine” became top of the news. The timing’s interesting, no?
Mike Huckabee, of all people, criticized Israel’s treatment of Christians right after the Syria bombing. This was all Trump. Then came Doha and the shit really hit the fan.
Hating Bibi didn’t stop Trump from allying with him to achieve a shared objective: regime collapse in Iran. Not change — collapse.
Neither Trump nor Netanyahu ever believed they could replace the IRGC or trigger regime change; that was for the Pahlavi-tards.
Both men interpreted Iran’s post‑protest fragility as an opportunity to push a fragile but dangerous and pesky entity off a pier.
Their shared goal was to hit Iran hard enough to push it toward internal conflict, ideally a prolonged, grinding civil war.
Netanyahu saw a drawn‑out Iranian civil war as strategically ideal: Iran would be distracted, bleeding resources, and unable to project power into Lebanon, Syria, or Gaza.
Trump saw the same scenario as a geopolitical “win” he could narrate as strength, without needing to manage the aftermath.
Neither man cared that the likely long‑term outcome of such a conflict would be a military strongman emerging from within the security apparatus — a more coherent and potentially more dangerous adversary.
The short‑term benefits of Iranian paralysis outweighed any concern about the eventual shape of a post‑war Iranian state.
Their cooperation was not based on trust or affinity but on a shared enemy they believed was vulnerable enough to push into chaos.
They both succumbed to confirmation bias, reinforced by analysts who overstated Iran’s brittleness and understated the unifying effect of external attack.
They miscalculated the core psychological reality: populations under foreign assault tend to unify, not fracture.
It wasn’t even a gamble on Trump’s part. Things didn’t work as planned (do they ever in wars?) and as the war ground on with no regime collapse, Trump forfeited and left the poker game. Heads he wins, tails Bibi loses. He doesn’t care.
And here’s where thoughtful commentators like Tom Nichols get it wrong. Even the name is wrong: Trump Does Not Understand the War He Lost - The Atlantic.2
Trump didn’t lose because he was never out to win. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t give a damn that this looks like a betrayal. This is the way he operates. Once a plan sours, he walks away and “makes a deal.” Because he never believed in the stated goals of the war to begin with, there was nothing for him to defend when it soured. And it offered the added benefit of screwing someone he really hates. In his mind, that isn’t inconsistency, it’s dominance. It’s the moment he gets to flip the table and outsmart the other guy. That’s winning to Trump.
If you don’t believe me, have a look at Trump’s “optics.”
I’ve been around for a while and I’ve never seen such a public “flogging” although “cuffing” would have been my preferred verb.
At the G7, this included:
Trump told Netanyahu (publicly and in private) that he needed to be “more responsible” with respect to Lebanon/Hezbollah, criticizing strikes on Beirut that he saw as risking the Iran talks. He said things like “You don’t have to knock down buildings in Beirut” and expressed sympathy for Lebanon (”I feel bad for Lebanon”).
He also stated variations of “Without the U.S., there’d be no Israel.” Thanks for the reminder, Mr. President.
Earlier in the week (before or around the G7), Trump had a heated private call where he reportedly used profanity, called Netanyahu “crazy,” said he had “no fucking judgment,” and was “pissed off” about an attack. Trump later referenced telling Netanyahu this directly.
Etc.
Today, Vance piled on.
Trita Parsi approves.
I think I’ve proved my point: this betrayal is not an abrupt turnaround. It’s been brewing since at least September 2025 and perhaps before.
The whole war stunk from the start.
Literally everyone is saying this on X. That’s another thing Trump doesn’t care about. He doesn’t care that it makes him look gullible, just as long as it makes Bibi look like the evil wily Zionist devil, willing to fight to the last American. As Dolly Parton said: “I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know I'm not blonde."
It’s a good read, though for the Trump gems, such as: ““We’re dealing with people that I think are very rational people. And they were nice to deal with.” The mullahs, that is.