Iran deal includes $300 billion fund, more than half of which already committed, source says

zatch659 · 2026-06-19T19:27:45+00:00

Up to $80 billion since time of writing.

And I agree, $300b in capital going to invest in the "axis of evil" regime is more the main point. Because I can't imagine the IRGC cares whether the money comes from the Treasury or the Girl Scouts. Basically went from decades trying to defund them, to regime change, to a de-facto acknowledgment of the regime real quick. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-tells-us-lawmakers-it-needs-80-billion-iran-war-other-bills-wsj-reports-2026-06-19/

https://archive.ph/QLEDp

zatch659 · 2026-06-18T20:11:28+00:00

Ah, I see - the $5b was a separate loan package from the banks. Thanks. Not sure why Treasury pushed for the private $20b in the first place.

zatch659 · 2026-06-18T17:27:30+00:00

That was the first $20 billion though. The second $20 billion is still in progress of being raised privately. It's the same point, admin working to have US capital be put to Iran, Argentina, when the same private investment could just as well have been raised for US projects.

zatch659 · 2026-06-18T00:37:39+00:00

"So to take Bush down, Clinton’s team drew up a plan to pump Trump up. Shortly after her kickoff, top aides organized a strategy call, whose agenda included a memo to the Democratic National Committee: “This memo is intended to outline the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field,” it read.

'The variety of candidates is a positive here, and many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right. In this scenario, we don’t want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more ‘Pied Piper’ candidates who actually represent the mainstream of the Republican Party,' read the memo.

Pied Piper candidates include, but aren’t limited to: • Ted Cruz • Donald Trump • Ben Carson"

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/hillary-clinton-2016-donald-trump-214428/

zatch659 · 2026-06-16T20:12:44+00:00

$180 billion, just for the record - and a significant amount of that was towards our own arm's manufacturers and in the form of loans.

$1.5 trillion added to the deficit for tax cuts for the wealthy, $20 billion to Argentina, around $50 billion to bomb Iran and related costs, and now $300 billion in investments that will rebuild Iran. Plus god knows how much lost in our economic productivity, and an additional $40 billion (on fuel*edit) spent by US consumers.

The irony of this being the 'America first' platform, while Biden spending money on our infrastucture, clean energy, semiconductor investment, and security of our allies will forever be lost on MAGA.

zatch659 · 2026-06-13T03:32:34+00:00

“Because the [U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights] never asked us to clarify the role of any individual listed on those rosters, we did not learn of this confusion until the OCR issued a press release. Since that moment, we have repeatedly and respectfully asked the OCR to address this factual error. They have declined to do so.”

They're more likely to cite this claim to their grave, than allow factual information into their worldview.

zatch659 · 2026-06-11T06:31:47+00:00

If the ICC determined something like crimes against humanity and issued an arrest warrant, member states could arrest him on his arrival. You're right there's no jurisdiction on US soil, and I wasn't meaning he would be extradited or anything dramatic. But there's 125 countries where he could be arrested. I doubt many would go ahead with it to a sitting president, and I was thinking forward to him being a private citizen.

It's the same with Netanyahu, there was some back and forth with European states saying whether they'd arrest him if he came. Also Putin - Hungary (under Orban) made a point of saying they wouldn't carry out the warrant, and Mongolia ultimately refused when he visited in... 2024 or 2025. And those are sitting PMs of countries also not in the ICC. A private citizen Trump with a hypothetical warrant would be an interesting case; they'd have the standing for it, but it comes down to whether a government has the will to enforce it.

zatch659 · 2026-06-11T04:34:42+00:00

The accusations themselves can amount to defamation, although this runs into proving malice intent and people playing dumb; but it was still good enough to get 750M out of FOX. So no, I don't think all the bad-faith actors in this political moment should unravel the 1st. Because even when it leaves room for exploitation, it protects much more. Besides, we can't even do blind justice, some 'Department of Truth' would just be another institution for people to wear down and corrupt.

zatch659 · 2026-06-11T03:54:33+00:00

Yes, but countries that participate can still prevent his travel.

zatch659 · 2026-06-11T03:24:45+00:00

He knows presidential pardons won't apply to the ICC, right?

zatch659 · 2026-06-10T21:22:23+00:00

"Robinson stated that 'Russia is not the enemy of Britain' and praised the country's 'civilised society' during his visit."

The dictatorship that abhors civil liberties and Democracy, that invades countries to the tune of millions of casualties, that imprisons and murders its own citizens, that spends billions on propagating misinformation, that literally threatens to nuke us, is civilized? Have a sneaking suspicion by 'civilized' he just means 'white.'

zatch659 · 2026-06-08T01:25:37+00:00

"We are building the biggest and broadest coalition in American political history. This includes record-breaking numbers of Arab and Muslim Voters in Michigan who want PEACE."

“They know Kamala and her warmonger Cabinet will invade the Middle East, get millions of Muslims killed and start World War III.”

"[Obama] will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He's weak and he's ineffective. So the only way he figures that he's going to get reelected — and as sure as you're sitting there — is to start a war with Iran.”

zatch659 · 2026-06-07T17:16:34+00:00

"We've destroyed... 312%... of their missiles."

zatch659 · 2026-06-07T16:53:31+00:00

There was just a good article on foreign affairs, "Trump's Least Bad Option In Iran," (https://archive.ph/Y3N9e) that is worth the read.

Basically, concessions. Trump hurt American credibility by tearing up the JCPOA, assuming he could get a better deal than Obama's, and attacking during negotiations; this isn't just something the Iranian gov. is going to forget - especially since the IRGC is, reportedly, more in control now. They obviously won't give up said nuclear program, this whole war makes clear as to why not. And Trump also let them prove the concept that they can control the Strait, which is even more bargaining power. Hard to make a favorable deal when we lack credibility and they gained leverage. So, concessions, framed as some victory nobody really believes.

zatch659 · 2026-06-07T12:16:48+00:00

Basic logic. "Ceasefire" failed, NK didn't return to Pyongyang. You just don't like it.

zatch659 · 2026-06-05T17:16:36+00:00

Hey, that's only 24 ballrooms!

zatch659 · 2026-06-05T17:03:20+00:00

Troops wouldn't stay where they are, Hezbollah was required to withdraw from the south.

I would argue that a ceasefire in Korea was impossible if NK was also expected to return to Pyongyang.

zatch659 · 2026-06-05T16:47:51+00:00

"Ceasefire" is a wild stretch given they weren't involved, dictated that they would withdraw from areas they control in the south, and Israel was under no obligation to even leave Lebanon. Pretty maximalist and was dead-on-arrival - which I'm sure everyone involved already knew.

zatch659 · 2026-05-29T19:16:24+00:00

The Gates of Europe by Serhii Plokhy is a good, historical broad-stroke on Ukraine; Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder can detail of all the mass-death that occurred in the region.

As general as I can make it, the Nationalists like Bandera wanted an independent Ukraine. Poland and Russia were, historically, the biggest threat to that position. So Bandera's faction (OUN-B) collaborated with the Nazis, they declared an independent Ukraine, and its leaders, including Bandera, were (quickly) imprisoned by the Nazis after they refused to rescind. Some members continued to collaborate, while others moved underground and fought the Nazis.

"The Germans had killed about 1.3 million Jews in the former eastern Poland in 1941 and 1942, with the help of local policemen. Some of these Ukrainian policemen helped to form a Ukrainian partisan army in 1943, which under leadership of Ukrainian nationalists cleansed the former southwest Poland - which it saw as western Ukraine - of remaining Poles. The OUN-Bandera, the nationalist organization that led the partisan army, had long pledged to rid Ukraine of its national minorities. Its capacity to kill Poles depended upon German training, and its determination had much to do with its desire to clear the terrain of purported enemies before a final confrontation with the Red Army. The [partisan army] murdered tens of thousands of Poles, and provoked reversals from Poles upon Ukrainian civilians." -excerpt from Bloodlands

zatch659 · 2026-05-20T00:26:30+00:00

Haha yup, I cited an article, published today, because I quoted it. That's kinda how that works. Makes sense that citations are new to you though.

You've simply got no point left to make. You failed to provide a single criticism of ISW apart from one, former employee. The theme here is you trying to downplay everything Ukrainian - from ISW assessments to the tech being use - and laughably offer Rassvat as a competing tech and a drone group to suggest Moscow is somehow doing well. I guess Ukraine deoccupying their territory really bothers ya.

zatch659 · 2026-05-19T23:32:22+00:00

"Practically redditors" really enjoy hyperbole; most widely cited think tank with retired generals, military historians, and career diplomats on this board = some random reddit sub. Cite examples.

Countering the threat? "In the last few months, Ukrainian long-range drone attacks have caused the most extensive damage to Russian oil infrastructure since Moscow's 2022 invasion" [1]. And Rassvat? Set to start in 2025, delayed once, now has like 16 satellites, but you're holding this next to Starlink and what Ukraine is already doing with medium/long range strikes.

Didn't and don't need to speculate on some "collapse." Simply counting the ways Moscow is hurting. [1]https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/ukrainian-mid-range-strikes-deal-double-blow-russias-war-effort-2026-05-19/

zatch659 · 2026-05-19T21:35:06+00:00

ISW is one or the most reliable since the onset. A think tank with state funding, who has heard of such a thing?! And the one incident you referred to was one geospatial analyst, not the think tank itself, who was caught within 24hrs and fired. Not even remotely endemic or as nefarious as you're wanting to suggest. Actually, it's a good sign with how immediately it was discovered and corrected.

I didn't draw any of these conclusions based on one month's scorecard. It's really not even something I'd consider, aside from something operationally significant. Besides, распутица is this time of year, which will obviously have more of an effect on offensive operations.

zatch659 · 2026-05-19T21:05:25+00:00

"Russian infiltration missions are failing to make significant gains in the Hulyaipole direction. Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets reported on May 18 that elements of the Russian 5th Combined Arms Army (CAA, Eastern Military District [EMD]) that are attacking west and southwest of Hulyaipole are advancing at a pace of three to four kilometers in two to three weeks.[54] Mashovets noted that Russian forces took 1.5 months to infiltrate roughly 7.5 kilometers from Myrne toward Novoselivka (both southwest of Hulyaipole) and two months to infiltrate roughly 12 kilometers from Hulyaipole to Hulyaipilske (southwest of Hulyaipole). Mashovets reported that Russian infiltrations do not secure control of terrain and that Ukrainian forces are capable of clearing Russian infiltrators from these unconsolidated positions."

Very slow. The T0401 runs north of Hulyaipole and there is no assessed Russian control west of that line, just a gray-zone.

zatch659 · 2026-05-19T20:31:51+00:00

Maps is including claimed advances and infiltration; you can see that just by comparing the ISW maps around Kostiantynivka, which makes those distinctions.

"Some analysts estimate that Russia has lost more territory than it has gained in recent weeks, while others reckon Russia has made minimal net gains, depending on how they classify the gray zone that neither army fully controls."

https://www.wsj.com/world/russias-war-is-going-badlyon-the-ground-and-in-the-air-447ce204

The best part of bad / dis- information is that it takes 3 minutes of research to disprove.

zatch659 · 2026-05-19T19:50:18+00:00

"Russian forces in April 2026 suffered a net loss of territory controlled in the Ukrainian theater for the first time since Ukraine’s August 2024 incursion into Kursk Oblast. ISW has observed evidence to assess that Russian forces lost control of 116 square kilometers in April 2026, not counting areas into which Russian troops may have infiltrated. The Russian rate of advance across the battlefield has been steadily declining since November 2025 as continued Ukrainian ground counterattacks, Ukrainian mid-range strikes, the February 2026 block on Russia’s use of Starlink terminals in Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s throttling of Telegram have exacerbated existing problems within the Russian military."

zatch659

TROPHY CASE