The seizure of an Iranian oil tanker, bound for a non-EU country, seems enormously egregious to a lot of people, Europeans especially. People remember when England and the USA formed alliances to relive colonial dreams of empire, pretty recently, and resent being abused as a consequence.
The warmongers in Britain may have miscalculated however, as there's no momentum for war with Iran, given the mainstream media no longer has a grip on the North American psychology.
A tiny oligarchy of dim bulbs may entertain the fantasy that owning media is their ticket to glory, but that's far from clear at this point.
What was NATO's role in all this? The "coalition" since the invasion of Iraq under Bush 2 has been steadily shrinking. Invading Iraq was seen as momentous and Europe had to be on board. Attacking Iran is more the senile fantasy of nursing home candidates and their moneyed friends. There's little patience, including in the armed forces, for dunderhead bosses.
Where does the White House come out in the wash? Trump seems to agree with Tucker about the tapeworm infestation. He played his usual role in the speech-making, but when there's no last minute save-the-day diplomacy opportunity, as in the case of the DPRK, he tends to lose interest.
Iran has chosen the safest course for itself: denounce nuclear weaponry, but make clear there's no deal if the EU can't live up to its side. The EU is calculating furiously, wondering if it needs to stay on the far right, with the warmongers. The unilateral seizure of the supertanker may have tipped the scales. The Brits are no longer welcome members. They're too into reckless spazing out.
People question Trump's sanity and he's able to take the brunt, by staying outrageous. Bolton's sanity is more tender. They say he's heartless, but is he also mindless? That does seem likely at the moment. I've done some more commentary on Youtube.
I realize "hard Brexit" means something else to most people. My angle is psychological. The EU is now sufficiently alienated to be glad of Britain's leaving. But where will Britain go? The island won't budge.
