The art of the “Epic Fury” deal: unconditional surrender
One of the principles Trump outlined in The Art of the Deal was the willingness to walk away from the negotiations when appropriate. And recently, when it became crystal clear that Iran was not negotiating in good faith and there was no hope of their meeting his terms or anything resembling them, the talks ended and the attacks began.
You can’t say he didn’t warn them.
The Iranian leaders were accustomed to deal-making, too – with Obama, for example. If they thought Trump would ultimately be like Obama, they read the room wrong. But you almost can’t blame them for making that error; after all, Trump had said many times he didn’t want to start wars. What they forgot was that it was their predecessor Khomeini who had started this war nearly 50 years ago, and they themselves had followed in his footsteps.
I don’t usually pay much attention to the names given to military operations. But when I heard that this one was called “Epic Fury,” it struck me as especially apt. Maybe it takes having been old enough in 1979 and 1980 to remember how this war began. For example, the fact that the left seems to be allied with the mullahs would be no surprise to anyone who remembers how the Iranian Revolution went down. It seemed improbable to me back then, but the left thought they could use the mullahs to overthrow the Shah and then be the ones to emerge victorious and run the country. It didn’t quite work out that way, did it?
We who are old enough remember. But even more vividly, we remember when Nightline began, with its count of the days of “America Held Hostage.” Many of us felt angry then; why weren’t we doing enough to free our people? And a baby-faced man named Donald Trump – already famous for other things – was furious about it.
That’s certainly not the only reason we attacked Iran. Iran has done a great many bad things since, to us and to our allies. And Iran had no intention of stopping – in fact, it was upping the ante. So Trump’s motive was not solely this sort of thing, but it was part of it:
An epic is a long saga. This one is not over. But according to Trump, the deal-making is over for the duration of the conflict:
President Trump told Axios Friday that his demand for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” could mean the complete destruction of the regime’s military capabilities — not necessarily a formal surrender.
“Unconditional surrender could be that [the Iranians] announce it. But it could also be when they can’t fight any longer because they don’t have anyone or anything to fight with,” he said in a phone interview.
Leaving anything resembling the current power structure in place would almost certainly be a recipe for disaster. However, it may be that there have been moles in the Iranian government right along, feeding the US and/or Israel intelligence that has helped us. So it may be that a person like that – if such a person exists – could continue on in a new government. But first, we have to win militarily.
[NOTE: Israel doesn’t call its operation “Epic Fury.” It calls it “Lion’s Roar.” But Iran was involved in the preparation for 10/7, although Iran wanted a more coordinated attack that included Hezbollah forces, and instead Sinwar went ahead alone. And Iran has made it clear for decades that its goal is to destroy Israel. So Israel’s fury is epic, too. In fact, Netanyahu has said that this operation, “allows us to do what I have been hoping to do for 40 years — to deliver a crushing blow to the terror regime.”]
Read other day the Iranian negotiators said they were not negotiating so get ready to rumble.
Unconditional surrender can also be a new government who gives up world domination.
They asked for it the last 47 years since I was in the military.
Re: Unconditional Surrender
It’s the right call.
Given what we know about Trump, I’d be surprised if “unconditional surrender” was actually his final position. It’s the maximum that can be demanded, so he demands it at the outset.
But I imagine that the primary challenge would be to find someone who can even credibly agree to any terms on behalf of all forces in Iran, whether negotiated or dictated, conditional or unconditional, for some time to come.
It’s the right call against the mullahs, who must never, ever be allowed close to power again.
Things just ESCALATED – USA vs. Iran LIVE COVERAGE
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2026/03/things-just-escalated-usa-vs-iran-live.html
@SD:Things just ESCALATED
I’m not sure how good a fit this word is. Our government a week ago launched a pre-emptive attack in anticipation of retaliation for a future pre-emptive attack it was expecting would be launched either by us or by our ally. I’m not saying it was wrong to do so, but the level of escalation had already gone way up before the thing your link links to happened.
See youtube, “Your Job In Germany”, 12-minute version.
Orientation for occupation troops.
Germany didn’t have to merely be defeated. That was WWI. Didn’t work. Germany had to be remade.
How do we remake such aggressive Islam?
Germany didn’t have to merely be defeated. That was WWI. Didn’t work. Germany had to be remade.
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Germany wasn’t remade. It was defeated to such a degree that ‘stab-in-the-back’ discourse was no longer credible. It also had allied and Soviet troops on the ground which constrained its freedom of action. The East German government was an extension of Soviet policy. Over the period running from 1914 to 1932, the German establishment in government made one wretched decision after another, leaving the country a humiliated wreck. In 1945, the country was a thorough wreck in a literal and not metaphorical way. The situation in West Germany was such that economic recovery and reconstruction was possible, tamping down any latent revanchist sentiment.
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People commonly speak of the period between November 1918 and January 1933 as if it were an integral whole and the course of events pre-determined. Not sure why.
Many Israelis are also convinced that unconditional surrender – and forced emigration – is the only solution for Gaza. Israeli Lefties and American “old policy hands” have stymied that. Maybe we will get some relief now.
There is no deterrence without conclusive victory… Palis and other Islamists view survival as victory. Kinda like Lord Voldemort for Harry Potter fans.
It’s a different mentality. Egypt still spins the Yom Kippur War as a glorious victory:
https://www.presidency.eg/en/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3/%D9%83%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AF/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_of_October_Panorama
We who are old enough remember. But even more vividly, we remember when Nightline began, with its count of the days of “America Held Hostage.”
When I was working in Argentina, an Iranian employee of the company delivered and installed an important computer part. At a local cafe, an Argentine asked him about a theocratic government in Iran. He replied that if that was what the Iranian people wanted, so be it. (He did not strike me as a Mullah-lover.)
Several days after he left to return to Houston, the “students” took over the American embassy in Tehran. Strange coincidence.
The mullahs calculate that they can wait out Trump. A Democrat Party President will certainly not try to defeat the mullahs. Which means that if Trump’s actions don’t result in the destruction of the nuclear-aspiring theocracy, the mullahs will have won.
Ben David, Tiny Url shortens links. https://tinyurl.com/
For example, here is the shortened links from your post.
https://tinyurl.com/4jj6ee6u
Ben David, when we lived in Cairo we often drove past the 1973 victory monument. Pathetic.
I have more hope, actually, for the secularization of Iran than I do for Gaza, if the regime falls. Israel is pounding IRGC and Basij sites across the country. If that grip were to be broken, the largely non-observant Muslim and non-Muslim population might be able to control the extremists. See Egypt, for instance, where the military rulers suppress the Brotherhood and Salafi to maintain power.
In Gaza, there appears to be little difference between Hamas supporters and the total population. The violence and hatred are deeply imbedded in the people.
The Hashemite’s Arab Legion performed satisfactorily in 1948-49. Egypt and Syria in 1973 managed to avoid humiliating losses. Otherwise, the performance of Arab armies contra the IDF and the Haganah has been unedifying.
I suspect religious instruction and practice in Iran would benefit from religious officialdom above a certain rank being taken off the government payroll. Have prayer rooms in public buildings, have mosques enveloped by universities and the like, have in public institutions teachers and chaplains drawn from clergy of a certain rank. Have in various localities endowments financed by local government bond issues whose income assists in maintaining the physical plant of local mosques. As for public policy, ideally it follows common preferences at different levels of political organization – standards of indecent exposure the subject of local ordinances; labor law, family law, inheritance law, school curricula, and public holidays the subject of regional legislation; banking law the subject of general legislation.
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The influence of Islamic precepts per se I’ll submit has not been the issue. It has been the incorporation of the most vicious revanchism into the animating force of the state which has been the issue. Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state and society; they still have businesslike relations with the rest of the world.
I am more worried about the behavior of the Democrats and our “allies.” The Demorats have sided with an evil regime and nurtured it during the Obama. Biden flooded it with billions, without the approval of congress nor the people. Worse our allies have done zero at best. The British refusal to insure merchant shipping (they control 90% of that market) is just another slimily British diplomatic trick that was designed to promote economic chaos.
We need to treat our friends well and our enemies as they deserve. By this I mean those both Demorat and GOPe that have tortured the meaning of Congressional notification. Further I have one question for you folks, who believes the world will be a better, safer place if Iran has nukes.
Variation of ask for all and settle for some.
Art
Germany didn’t have to join WW I. But it’s what they do–Prussia and the Hohenzollerns and Moltkes being the templates–and off they went.
After that, they were allowed to go their own way, compared to post WW II, when every inch was occupied by Allied troops for decades. They had no chance to do it again. And after WW i, the big shots who’d gotten them into it weren’t hanged or suicided.
The Hapsburgs and Honenzollerns got away with it the first time. They’re still duking and princing, make the society pages, marry money, don’t need a 9-5 to put bread on the table. The European Usual. WW II was “unconditional surrender” because whatever happened in the first interregnum –evitable or in–wasn’t going to happen again.
Whatdo we need from Iran? At the least, somebody who doesn’t make trouble, We can enforce that by dropping a bomb in the relevant heads. We’ve done it.
What would we like? A Norman Rockwell version of Islamic governance. How far do we get with that? Don’t know, but it’s our choice how much effort we want to put intot it. We can always back off to what we need.
I was stationed on board the USS Halsey (CG-23) on a Wespac cruise when the Iranians stormed our embassy in Tehran. We all thought we were going to war.
We ended up cruising picket in the Straits of Hormuz for two months, then they sent us home. Jimmy goddam Carter, huh?
“Seems to be allied with the mullahs”?