Stuck, really stuck in Hormuz

"I know, I know. I am just an old retired sailor, who listens to the news every day. There is much more which I don't know than I do know on this war. That being said, I still believe we have the firepower in theater to end this thing. Our president said he would prefer not killing any more people. That is like water off a duck's back to the Iranians. If Trump said he was going to grind each and every one of the IRGC members into dust, now that - might get their attention." 

There is an old saying in the world of negotiation. When things get stuck in a protracted negotiation, after a while, it seems as if you are only negotiating with yourself (and/or with your team), and not the other guys. I hate to say it, but the best negotiator in our land appears to be stuck. How do I know? Iran the other day said their negotiations with Oman on how to manage the Strait of Hormuz were about done. Wait - what? Oman has nothing to do with anything here! The negotiations on opening the Strait back up is between us and Iran. What gives?

The "deal" which has been reached between Iran and Oman (you are going to love this one), is for one shipping channel to be controlled by Iran, and a shipping channel going the other way to be controlled by Oman. The United States and Israel (and maybe Saudi Arabia) will be persona non-grata. No US ships, or Israeli ships will be allowed to use the Strait. Say what?

Correct me if I am wrong, I thought the war started out with us telling Iran they must give up any idea of having a nuke. Israel went into this war with one objective - decapitation of the IRGC regime. After Iran started to muck up the shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, we had an additional objective - open the Strait to international shipping traffic. We figured that we were on the side of the angels on that one, since the Strait has been determined by a world court, to be open and free, for all to use. In the eyes of Iran however, they are telling us and the world to "stick it".

Then I thought POTUS gave these guys until Wednesday to agree to our terms or all you know what was going happen after Wednesday. Here it is Friday, the Strait is still closed, and the nuclear "dust" remains in Iran. The "big attack" to finish the job? I guess not. 

Maybe the new strategy is to kills these guys by a thousand cuts. In other words, the economy in Iran is in tatters right now, and keeping our boot on the neck of Kharg Island (via our blockade) is putting the big hurt on them. Meanwhile, Israel keeps hammering away at Hezbollah in Lebanon and the IRGC in Iran.

Here is the interesting part of where we are right now. We think we have Iran over a barrel. We are just waiting for them to cry "Uncle" and surrender. Iran knows that Trump's ratings fall every week the Strait is closed and the price of gas stays high. The IRGC does not give a tinker's dam on how much this hurts their people. Just so long it hurts us more.

I know, I know. I am just an old retired sailor, who listens to the news every day. There is much more which I don't know than I do know on this war. That being said, I still believe we have the firepower in theater to end this thing. Our president said he would prefer not killing any more people. That is like water off a duck's back to the IRGC. If Trump said he was going to grind each and every one of the IRGC members into dust, now that - might get their attention. 

Meanwhile, as we would say in the Navy - hurry up and wait.