MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: Iran’s Long Game, and Trump’s Too.

UPDATE: Also read Richard Fernandez this morning. “US energy independence has given Washington a far more powerful option than merely reprising an updated version of Preying Mantis. From a position of self-sufficiency Trump might use the prospect of oil disruption to organize ‘international convoys’ among the energy dependent as a kind of FONOPS in the Gulf. Or it could harness the fears of the Asian giants to add teeth to its sanctions regime against Iran. Either outcome would be both devastating to Tehran yet nonkinetic.”

Now that’s what I call smart diplomacy.