I think a lot of observers could have predicted that we were swiftly heading toward some kind of cease-fire once Donald Trump was talking about destroying a civilization in a single night. He has been doing this for a few weeks now, making bombastic threats and then talking up a big deal to end it all.
While I appreciate and genuinely accept Dan’s point that democracies like ours want to fight wars with clear, objective end states in mind, I have had to remind myself several times not to put too much stock in the various ten-point plans that have been floating around. Yes, Donald Trump did seem to endorse one with shared revenue for Iran. My immediate thought is that this is just another of life’s great comedowns. First, we had ad-free streaming services. Now, that’s a premium service. Same with freedom of the seas?
But I do think the number is important. Those who supported this policy and have been trying to get the rest of us to exult more in the destruction of Iran’s military capabilities won’t be satisfied unless there is no nuclear program and no missile program, and I doubt they’d like to see the mullahs collecting “pallets of cash” each month in tolls for reconstruction.
But again, we’ll see. These are early days.