Monday, August 3, 2026

The Persian reckoning

A richly detailed fantasy illustration inspired by Persian court art. At the centre stands an elegant queen wearing an emerald-green embroidered robe over an ivory gown adorned with elaborate gold filigree, gemstones, and layered jewellery. She holds a curved ceremonial sword while a defeated, richly dressed captive kneels at her feet, connected to her by delicate golden chains. Beyond the ornate palace arch, a dramatic naval battle rages at sunset, with burning warships and smoke rising across a narrow strait. Intricate tilework, patterned carpets, fruit, and gilded vessels complete the opulent royal setting.
image generated via ChatGPT

View from aboard — ‘America has suffered a strategic defeat against Iran’. {Jake Wallis Simons, The Telegraph 3 August}

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/1ed6179039fa6012

How grand for Donald Trump to have committed one of the most egregious foreign policy blunders in American history, and as with everything else he will not be held accountable by the American people or any other entity in this dying, gaslit empire of cowards, fools, and malevolent brutes. FTA

The final nail in the coffin of America’s hopes came on Sunday, when Trump called off “the biggest attack since World War Two” (yeah, right!) amid talks that could hand Tehran at least partial control of the Strait of Hormuz.

He also expressed his hopes that the latest “deal” – how many deals have there supposedly been now? – would lead to “an end to Iran’s nuclear threat”.

How exactly? This is a foe that has always been bent on apocalypse and the downfall of the West. It is hardly going to roll over and let Trump tickle its tummy, especially when it has its jaws clamped around his groin.

Full details are yet to emerge, but it is likely that we will see a new entry-exit system for the strait that could hand some control of the waterway to the worst regime on Earth.

So the principle of mare liberum, or freedom of the seas, a core tenet of international law, commences its slow death on Trump’s watch.

What option had the president left himself? Inexorably, the White House is coming face-to-face with the consequence of taking military action without a proper plan.

What y’all voted for, #Murica. Even if none are forthcoming, reasonable and moral people must continue to demand answers from all of those — from Republicans, to the grifters in the realms of media and entertainment, to the churches, and especially to those in our personal lives and everywhere in between — who have enabled this putrid state of affairs. Quite simply, it is the greatest mass lapse in judgement that any of us alive today shall ever witness first-hand. Things can — and typically do — always get worse. Yet when this nightmare finally ends, I fear there may be very little left either to rebuild or to destroy. Good going, folks.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.