(03-15-2025, 11:57 PM)homebiscuit Wrote:

(03-15-2025, 09:18 PM)mikesez Wrote: Hopefully there won't be any way to see which one of us is right. Hopefully the rich Arab countries lead a good effort to clear the area out, maybe the US chips in, maybe not, and we can say Trump goaded them, but it we'd have no way to know if he was bluffing, as you say, or serious, as I say.

If nothing changes over there, that's a bad outcome and I'd be wrong.

If our country's military and military police lead the effort to clean up the area, that's also a bad outcome and you'd be wrong.

My view is Trump has no intention of dedicating ground forces there. He's using the carrot and stick approach to gauge response from surrounding countries. All he has to do is build a small consensus and then sweeten the pot by, as you suggest, chipping in some funds. Getting the remainder of the hostages out and agreeing on an oversight authority will be the hardest part. Then start the process. I'm sure Israeli intelligence will keep tabs, as well. The critical part is to get the rebuild started as quickly as possible or it will become a festering point.