Kudos To James Clander For Pointing to Pepe's Excellent ...

 ... piece today at SCF. This is for those two-bit commenters who have the attention span of Joe Biden (or DJT). US was BEGGING Iran for negotiations since March 16th at least--three weeks! So, Pepe puts the record straight. 

The Epstein Syndicate begs for a break

We had arrived to a point where the death cult in West Asia was being crushed simultaneously by Iran and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon; no matter the avalanche of spin, their cries begging for help played a significant part into Trump’s pivoting to a ceasefire. The Epstein Syndicate as a whole begged for it. Nothing to do with geopolitics, but with operational hell: the Empire of Chaos has run out of military resources. The ultimate give away was when the USS Tripoli retreated – under fire – to the depths of the southern Indian Ocean, complete with its 2,500 Marines on board. That meant the US Navy out of the war theater – except for subs with Tomahawks, roughly half of which go off-target with staggering (non)precision.

And the problems are far from over. Financial hell looms, whatever is decided in Islamabad and beyond, with $10 trillion in Treasuries to rollover in 2026. And the petrodollar is fast on the way to the dustbin of History. Enter, once again, the demented death cult. No one should ever forget. The Epstein Syndicate is non-agreement capable. And the death cult doesn’t do ceasefires: it does at best loopholes that allow it to keep killing everyone in sight. The writing is already on the wall. If the death cult blows up the ceasefire – which is already the case – Iran and Hezbollah will counterpunch, massively, without attacking American assets. Still, it’s way too early to affirm that the Baboon of Barbaria lost his war under every possible metric: moral; legal; political; economic; strategic.

This is for those who still cannot wrap their brains around what strategic initiative is. Iran has it, not the US, nor this peep-squeak Israel. I have to disagree with Pepe on the last point though. US degeneration into the at best second-rate power has been happening since at least 2008. It accelerated in 2014 and now, as Pepe himself notes:

So Civilization survives – for now. A few facts too. Fact One: the US is not a superpower anymore. Fact Two: Iran is back as one of the world’s top powers. Fact Three: Most of the gutless Gulf petro-monarchies will end up kicking out US military bases for good. Fact Four: Qatar and Oman will work out a security arrangement with Iran.

Per role of China--China IS vulnerable and she will remain vulnerable--it is a hard cold fact of Chinese geography and economy. In this case it needs to be stated that Iranian 10 Points are indeed peremptory and Iran was not going to allow for any type of a ceasefire unless all conditions are met. Teheran can count military resources extremely well and they know pretty well how many stand-off weapons are remaining in the US arsenal, especially against the background of the US (lack of) air defense. And here is an analogy which is not only inescapable but warranted--SMO. Witkoff can go to Moscow "to negotiate" whatever he and his orange clown want, but SMO continues uninterrupted. 

Related. We should not forget also that Vladimir Putin stated this on June 19, 2025: 

"You know, we once offered our Iranian friends to work in the field of air defense systems. The partners did not show much interest then, and that's all. As for the agreement you mentioned, on the strategic partnership [between the Russian Federation and Iran], there are no articles related to the defense sector. This is the second point. And thirdly, our Iranian friends are not asking for this. Because there is practically nothing to discuss," Putin said.

Guess from three times whose AD systems Iran has chosen, from July 2025. 

Iran will soon receive from China a batch of HQ-9 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) and Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles under an oil barter agreement concluded between the countries. As reported on July 8 by the Middle East Eye (MEE) portal, citing several diplomatic sources, Tehran needed urgent purchases of these weapons to accelerate the restoration of its air defense forces, which were seriously damaged as a result of the June Israeli raids. U.S. Arab allies are aware of Tehran's measures to "support and strengthen" its air defenses, and the White House has been briefed on Iran's progress on the issue, the MEE said. The HQ-9 is considered an upgraded analogue of the Russian S-300PMU1 air defense system, but using Chinese radars and electronics. The system uses a two-stage solid-propellant missile with a declared maximum range of 260 km and an altitude ceiling of 27 km. The estimated cost of one air defense regiment (27 launchers) is $1.5 billion.

"Considered" IS NOT actual combat performance. Pakistan's HQ-9s preformed dismally against Indian AF and its missiles, unlike S-400 with India buying five more batteries of S-400 based on combat performance and record. This is for those who want to look at actual combat data. Just saying. 

Does Iran feel lucky? 

This Is The President Of The United States Of ...

 ... America. 

Marjorie “Traitor” Brown’s (GREEN TURNS TO BROWN UNDER STRESS!) seat in Congress has been taken over by a wonderful and talented man, Clay Fuller, who won convincingly, and right from the beginning, despite many people running for that “TRUMP” +37 seat, and despite the stench left by Greene. Congratulations to Clay Fuller, a very large improvement over his deranged predecessor! President DONALD J. TRUMP

He is not a man, he is a sanctimonious vengeful teenage middle-school girl. Impeach, convict and remove from the office he (together with its previous occupier) discredited and humiliated. Unlike this orange coward, MTG is a true fighter and a woman with principles, she is also a real patriot.

Meanwhile, a very critical discussion and a statement from Nathan Apffel which needs to be repeated non-stop.

"Christian Zionists are Talmudic Jews wrapped into Christianity". Yes, Dispensationalists are NOT Christians. In Russian tradition they are called (as are most Evangelicals) жидовствующие, literally--Judeizers or Yideizers. And the number of "denominations", that is 40,000, of these so called "churches" is astonishing. It is strictly money, power and ambition of those heretics who constantly subvert Bible for personal gain. Paula White, Trump's "spiritual adviser" is into Prosperity Gospel--she is a money maker (or rather extortionist from congregation using a collection of one-liners from Bible) and not a Christian. She is a charlatan as is DJT. As are most America's mega-churches and their so called Pastors.

Word of God, man! Praise the Lord! 

It Has Been Posted ...

 ... in comments, but it is worth repeating by Dmitry Medvedev. 

The U.S.–Iran conflict has been put on hold. Predictably, both sides are claiming victory. So who won? First of all, common sense did – though faith in it was badly shaken when the White House started talking about wiping out Iranian civilization in one day. Still, the very fact that Trump agreed to discuss the 10-point plan is a win for the Iranians. The question is whether Washington will accept it, since it includes, among other things, compensation for the damage inflicted on Iran, the continuation of its nuclear program, and Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz. The answer is clearly no. That would be humiliating and would amount to a real victory for the Islamic Republic. So what then? Back to war?

That’s possible. But there is also another option. Trump neither wants nor can sustain a long war, and he won’t find support in Congress for one, either. This means he must maintain the fragile ceasefire and pretend that everything is fine. Because every step on this board pushes the situation closer to zugzwang. But this is a game of chess with three players, not two: there’s also Israel, which is not playing on the U.S. side. It has no use for a ceasefire, and it has not achieved its objectives. It could very well make its own move: simply sweep all the pieces off the board. That makes the situation highly uncertain. Which also means the pigheaded European Russophobes will have to live in austerity mode for a long time. Because there is no cheap oil in sight…

Highlighted is the crux of the matter. I want to remind you:

A particular strategic policy must be devised for every war; each war is a special case, which requires its own particular logic, rather than any kind of stereotype or pattern, no matter how splendid it may be. The more our theory encompasses the entire content of modern war, the quicker it will assist us in analyzing a given situation. A narrow doctrine would probably confuse us more than guide us.

That's Svechin. The US "strategic policy", strategy and operational art is the always the same--launch whatever you have in stand-off weaponry (long range fires) and see what, like that proverbial substance, sticks. Svechin continues:

The first duty of the art of politics with respect to strategy is to formulate the political goal of a war. Any goal should be strictly coordinated with the resources available to achieve it. The political goal should be appropriate to one’s war-waging capabilities. To meet this requirement, a politician must have a correct conception of the relations of friendly to hostile forces, which requires extremely mature and profound judgment; a knowledge of the history, politics and statistics of both hostile states; and a certain amount of competence in basic military matters. The final statement of the goal would be made by the politician after an appropriate exchange of views with strategists, and it should help rather than hinder strategic decisions. 

As you might expect, it is not a secret, American politicians do not know what resources are, how they affect operational issues and, of course, average American politician thinks that he (she) is the brightest, most powerful and knowledgeable strategist because he (she) graduated Harvard or similar degree mill's political science or law school, while denying the same to their opponents. The fact that most people in US decision circle are highly uncultured, primitive uneducated hacks who know only apparatus games and staying elected (or appointed) doesn't occur to them. 

Rephrasing old military truism that "while amateurs discuss tactics, professionals discuss logistics", while amateurs discuss capitalization and stocks, professionals discuss tons, units, kilowatt-hours and correlation of forces and means (COFM). So, Medvedev is spot on here and if hostilities resume (it may happen), they will resume with Iran dominating the battlefield even more and being able to inflict much more pain on the US and that chihuahua in Levant which without its nukes and American welfare is a third rate power. 

This guy, however, was pushed to sue for ceasefire by his Israeli masters because neither could take it anymore. So, will wait and see what comes out of it in the long run. 

I Had A Very Good ...

 ... exchange today with Waqas Ali. 

Yes, Iran Is In Full Control ...

 ... of the Strait of Hormuz and Zionists and their Shabbos (shoeshine) goy DJT can do NOTHING about it. 

Meanwhile in Israel ...

So, you see--have a nice stock of stand-off weapons and ... This is a historic victory for Iran and heroic Iranian nation. And one factor we should not forget here--Zionists got crushed by Iran and by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, and they (Zionists) most likely sued for peace. Israel can't take it anymore. Neither can the US. 

Garland and Yours Truly ...

 ... live in 20 minutes. 

War Crimes Inc.

Here it is.