/CIG/ Telegram | Counter Intelligence Global

(...) I don't know if America has the appetite to do what I would really much prefer doing. We've lost 13 soldiers in two wars — none in Venezuela, and we took over the country. In Iran, we lost 13. In Vietnam, we lost hundreds of thousands. They go crazy because I've been in Iran for three months—I've decimated the country. They said you said you'd be out of there faster. Well, it's a much bigger situation now because we've done a better job than anybody anticipated you could do in such [time]. Look, we were in Vietnam for 19 years, and we didn't do the job because we didn't have the right leadership, to be honest. If it were me, I would've had that war done in 3-4 months.

We actually sent them weapons, and we were very disappointed by the Kurds, to be honest with you. The Kurds let us down. I disagreed with the decision. You know, I was saying, "No, I don't believe they'll deliver them." I think they kept them for themselves. I think it's a disgrace. But I'll remember that, Kurds. I'll remember that.

My preference has always been to take Kharg Island. I don't know that America has the stomach for it, to be honest with you. You'd make a fortune. I'm not sure that America has a long time. You know, it's a little longer process, something that's a guarantee if I want to do it.

They're dying to make a deal. They want to make a deal so badly. We dropped $250 million of bombs on them last night — the whole thing is crazy. They're really in submission. They just don't know it yet.

The Iranian regime will lose the zero-sum game it is playing. Any damage it inflicts on our allies in the Gulf will be paid for with funds extracted from Iranian Accounts. Any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts. Every attack Iran launches will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces.

"The unhinged U.S. president imagines that bombs can get him out of the quagmire he himself created. But Iranian missiles will sink him even deeper into it. Washington must choose between accepting Iran’s terms and losing the last shred of its credibility in the world"

What we're really learning is not simply that Trump is a spotty commander-in-chief and certainly no diplomat and obviously not a dealmaker. If you announce a deal 38 times and it doesn't materialize, you're not a dealmaker. What we're beginning to understand, unfortunately, for the rest of us, are not just the limits of Trump, but the limits of American power.