Trump signs the MOU on Iran at Versailles. Screengrab from video posted to X.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 19 times …” What are we even talking about?!
Why are we swallowing one bit of the “peace deal” allegedly negotiated between the U.S. and Iran? Have we lost our minds?
We are a year-and-a-half into Second Empire Trump, and we haven’t figured out yet that every word out of his mouth is a lie or a manipulation? Every action a distraction or deception, or even pure fiction? When are we going to realize that Trump is the post-truth era incarnate? He will say and do anything, and I mean anything, for effect, to manipulate the markets, to produce gasps or outrage and incredulity, and above all to engorge himself on wealth.
I’ve lost track of how many “Iran peace deals” there have been, or almost been, or being “negotiated,” or whatever. Nearly everyone has been followed by a surge in the stock markets. What we know is that these “peace deals” are anything but. We can say with 100% confidence that the following things will happen:
+ Trump and his crew will continue making threats against Iran. (Oops, already happened!)
+ Trump and his crew will resume bombing Iran.
+ Israel will bomb Iran.
+ Israel will continue bombing Gaza and Lebanon and extirpating Palestinians from the West Bank.
+ The U.S. will continue supporting Israel and supplying it with arms.
+ The U.S. will not stop until Iran is incapacitated, its infrastructure destroyed, and some Western-backed regime change leaves it a husk of a country.
+ Israel will not stop until the last inhabitant of Gaza is exterminated or displaced, every city and town in Lebanon is turned to rubble, and the West Bank is a safe haven for Israelis only.
If I played the odds on Kalshi or Polymarket, I’d probably make a fortune. Unless, that is, everyone else with half a brain knew what I know and lowered the odds to trivial.
If I see one more article describing this as a done “peace deal,” I’m going to puke. It’s not real!
The post We Are Being Played appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Fred Baumgarten.
Fred Baumgarten | Radio Free (2026-06-19T05:49:47+00:00) We Are Being Played. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/06/19/we-are-being-played/
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