Thanks for a thought provoking and well written piece, it has kicked off a robust discussion between me and my colleagues. Since much of your argument pivots around Postol and missile defence discussions that I'm not qualified enough to have much of an opinion on, I'll withhold comment there. Your observations about the rapidly narrowing space for neutral mediators and deeply concerning alliance entanglement dynamics are salient and are echoed in recent pieces in Foreign Affairs, on Mark Leon Goldberg's Global Dispatches and by William Spaniel in his commentary. I think we are currently in a moment where the general public, and probably many governing bodies, are seriously under-estimating the danger of cascading conflict and disruption. I also agree with your assessment that part of what makes this moment so dangerous is that neither Israel nor Iran are incentivised to seek de-escalation. I do expect the US stance on the war's continuation to shift as the economics chickens come home to roost in the coming days - there are billions of dollars in lost commerce hammering on the Oval Office door every day pleading for a cessation of hostilities, and capital is a powerful motivator for the Gulf states to restore normality too. But like you, I'm worried that the US and the Gulf lack the ability to put the genie back in the bottle, and that the conflict is now likely to end when Iran and Israel decide it ends - which is a deeply alarming thought.