‘The U.S. Lost’: Jim Cramer Gets Hit With Wicked Community Note for Advocating Vietnam-Style Bombing of Iran

CNBC’s Jim Cramer invoked the Vietnam War while calling for Iran to be carpet-bombed to bring the country’s leaders to the negotiating table.

Crude oil hovered near $100 a barrel on Thursday, having surged since the U.S. and Israel started their bombing campaign of Iran, which has responded by attacking Israel, U.S. military assets in the region, and vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil is transported. For all intents and purposes, the strait is closed. Iran has signaled it aims to disrupt the oil markets to the tune of $200 a barrel.

Frustrated with the situation, Cramer tweeted that the U.S. should go “Hanoi” on Iran:

If the infrastructure is not taken out and the money is not taken away why should Iran come to the peace table. They are taunting us with $200 oil. They do not have the cards; our military must be unleashed. Time to do what we did to Hanoi…to get them to the table

A community affixed to the post links to Wikipedia’s article on the Vietnam War, during which the U.S. carpet-bombed North Vietnam and its capital city of Hanoi:

The US lost the Vietnam war and had to withdraw

In three posts sent a few hours later, Cramer clarified, sort of.

“Understand i do not want a North Vietnam situation,” he wrote. “That will be terrible. Things would be getting totally out of hand. What matters is safety of our warfighters and a resolution.

“It is vital that this war end, and if possible, on our terms, if we can get them,” Cramer stated in a subsequent post. “I am saying that Kissinger had a solution, but it was a horrible solution. We want something that is not horrendous. But we need an off ramp.”

“And i am very sorry if i offended,” he said in the third clean-up post. “That’s wrong to do. I simply wanted to remind people what could happen. NOT WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN. I protested then to that solution. it was horrendous. I apologize if anyone thought i favored that solution.”

It is worth noting that when the U.S. and Israel commenced bombing Iran last month and last summer, the U.S. and Iran were engaged in negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program.

On Tuesday, Cramer criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the war.

[W]e seem to be indiscriminate, and indiscriminate doesn’t get us anywhere,” he said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.

Since the war began on Feb. 28, more than 1,300 Iranians have been killed, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of other top officials. Iran has responded by attacking Israel, U.S. military installations in the region, and effectively closing the vital Strait of Hormuz, which has roiled oil markets. Seven U.S. service members have been killed so far, with dozens wounded.

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