Yet another war, this time with Iran

[jonatha]

Who knows. Its bizarre that a regime so hated within and without, while also being a dysfunctional and preposterously corrupt shit show of a nation, with a collapsed economy, manages to cling to power.

It reminds me of USSR towards the end. That's the level of dysfunction

It reminds me of the United States.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Some good news:
Ali Larijani, Iran's top security official, killed in airstrike, Israel says. Here's why his death is significant.

The only good news would be if Trump, Netanyahu and the new Ayatollah all assassinated each other.

Aint gonna happen. Trump would send Eric to represent him. The only quasi-military demise for Donald will be if he's done in by Cap'n Crunch and Colonel Sanders.

 

[Derec]

Aint gonna happen. Trump would send Eric to represent him. The only quasi-military demise for Donald will be if he's done in by Cap'n Crunch and Colonel Sanders.

Colonel Sanders == Bernie, but who is Cap'n Crunch? Cory Booker?

 

[DrZoidberg]

Who knows. Its bizarre that a regime so hated within and without, while also being a dysfunctional and preposterously corrupt shit show of a nation, with a collapsed economy, manages to cling to power.

It reminds me of USSR towards the end. That's the level of dysfunction

It reminds me of the United States.

It reminds you of the wealthiest country on Earth with the most efficient and effective economy to have ever existed at its very peak of power, and is getting more powerful? Really?

 

[DrZoidberg]

Some good news:
Ali Larijani, Iran's top security official, killed in airstrike, Israel says. Here's why his death is significant.

The only good news would be if Trump, Netanyahu and the new Ayatollah all assassinated each other.

That's something worth praying for

 

[bilby]

at its very peak of power, and is getting more powerful

Pick one. If it's at its peak, it cannot be getting more powerful; If it is getting more powerful, it is not yet at its peak.

 

[steve_bank]

What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump's counterterrorism chief

The Trump counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of the president through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

apnews.com

The U.S. counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

But Trump’s war in Iran and his alliance with Israel against the Islamic clerics who led the Tehran government were too much for Joe Kent.

Resigning as director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Kent said Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation,” and he asserted that “we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

 

[Colonel Sanders]

it's also funny if you know Islamic history. Islam has a universialist and egalitarian creed.

You really think that?!

I hate to admit it, I agree with Swizzle.

Are you serious? Without invoking history the Mid East Arabs do not get along. Persian Muslims o not ike Arab Muslims. In Saudi Arabia I think there is sill a death penalty for apostasy.

Apostasy (leaving Islam) is a criminal offense in Saudi Arabia, regarded as a deviation from Sunni Islam, and is punishable by the death penalty . While capital punishment is legally permitted, court-ordered executions for apostasy are rare, with courts sometimes imposing prison sentences instead, according to reports from Human Rights Watch and U.S. Department of State.

Years back I looked at the online papers of state for Muslim majority states. Typically there is freedom of religion and speech, as long as it does not conflict with the Quran.

Sooooo, there's no freedom of religion. Well, I guess there is except for all of them.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Some good news:
Ali Larijani, Iran's top security official, killed in airstrike, Israel says. Here's why his death is significant.

The only good news would be if Trump, Netanyahu and the new Ayatollah all assassinated each other.

Aint gonna happen. Trump would send Eric to represent him. The only quasi-military demise for Donald will be if he's done in by Cap'n Crunch and Colonel Sanders.

Hey now, don't put that evil on me Ricky Bobby.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump's counterterrorism chief

The Trump counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of the president through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

apnews.com

The U.S. counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

But Trump’s war in Iran and his alliance with Israel against the Islamic clerics who led the Tehran government were too much for Joe Kent.

Resigning as director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Kent said Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation,” and he asserted that “we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

I ain't one to entertain anti-Semitic conspiracy theories... so I won't. What I have found interesting, however, is the US is targeting just military in Iran. The assassinations are Israeli attacks. The US is currently spending a lot of money to destroy relatively very small offensive positions. The less Iran can impact Israel the better, but these sites weren't really impacting Israel. Yes, the rockets would occasionally fly, but the US/Israel/allies (former?) would dust the ones that were of interest.

So again, it becomes the question of, what are we doing in Iran at this point and why? Israel isn't benefiting enough from our strikes at this point. We are running out of places to target.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Who knows. Its bizarre that a regime so hated within and without, while also being a dysfunctional and preposterously corrupt shit show of a nation, with a collapsed economy, manages to cling to power.

It reminds me of USSR towards the end. That's the level of dysfunction

It reminds me of the United States.

It reminds you of the wealthiest country on Earth with the most efficient and effective economy to have ever existed at its very peak of power, and is getting more powerful? Really?

As a reminder, US economy effectively imploded in 2008 and took the global economy with it. It cost a fortune to kind of pretend it didn't happen.

 

[steve_bank]

it's also funny if you know Islamic history. Islam has a universialist and egalitarian creed.

You really think that?!

I hate to admit it, I agree with Swizzle.

Are you serious? Without invoking history the Mid East Arabs do not get along. Persian Muslims o not ike Arab Muslims. In Saudi Arabia I think there is sill a death penalty for apostasy.

Apostasy (leaving Islam) is a criminal offense in Saudi Arabia, regarded as a deviation from Sunni Islam, and is punishable by the death penalty . While capital punishment is legally permitted, court-ordered executions for apostasy are rare, with courts sometimes imposing prison sentences instead, according to reports from Human Rights Watch and U.S. Department of State.

Years back I looked at the online papers of state for Muslim majority states. Typically there is freedom of religion and speech, as long as it does not conflict with the Quran.

Sooooo, there's no freedom of religion. Well, I guess there is except for all of them.

Tat is why modern liberal democracies are revolutionary. The idea of separation of church and state and freedom of beliefs

 

[steve_bank]

What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump's counterterrorism chief

The Trump counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of the president through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

apnews.com

The U.S. counterterrorism official who resigned Tuesday had been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump through his 2020 election defeat, the Jan. 6 riots and years of conservative media advocacy and failed congressional bids.

But Trump’s war in Iran and his alliance with Israel against the Islamic clerics who led the Tehran government were too much for Joe Kent.

Resigning as director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Kent said Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation,” and he asserted that “we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

I ain't one to entertain anti-Semitic conspiracy theories... so I won't. What I have found interesting, however, is the US is targeting just military in Iran. The assassinations are Israeli attacks. The US is currently spending a lot of money to destroy relatively very small offensive positions. The less Iran can impact Israel the better, but these sites weren't really impacting Israel. Yes, the rockets would occasionally fly, but the US/Israel/allies (former?) would dust the ones that were of interest.

So again, it becomes the question of, what are we doing in Iran at this point and why? Israel isn't benefiting enough from our strikes at this point. We are running out of places to target.

That Israel has long had an American propaganda campaign and a well funded PAC is not a secret.

My guess is Netanyahu has played Trump like a fiddle. He tried to coax Obama into attacking Iran.

It is all well beyond an issue of antisemitism. Israel has played the victim to US conservatives while colonizing the West Back pushing Palestinians off their land. Jews from around the world have gone to Israel to get 'free' land.

Tom e Israeli Zionists are as crazy as the Musl;m zealots.

In Netanyahu's own words, Jews have a god given right to the land. He says Israel is the protector of the 'holy land' and courted American Christians. Holy land tours. American politicians him Bibi.

 

[Playball40]

Yesterday, Trump said he spoke to a former President. All four living POTUS's denied it.

Trump said he spoke to a former president about bombing Iran. Four denials suggest otherwise.

Trump said twice Monday that he spoke to one of his predecessors about the Iran war and that the former president said he wished he had taken the action Trump did.

www.nbcnews.com

Among the statesmanlike and dignified things he said in regards to the current farce in Iran:

“I’ve spoken to a certain president — who I like, actually. A past president, former president, he said: ‘I wish I did it. I wish I did.’ But they didn’t do it. I’m doing it. Yeah?” Trump said at a lunch for Kennedy Center board members.

Later in the day, Trump repeated the claim in the Oval Office, saying: “I spoke to one of the former presidents who I actually like.”

“I actually speak to some,” Trump said. “And he said, ‘I wish I did what you did.’”

God damn. I hate to admit it, but his bullshit still gets to me sometimes despite my commitment to not let it.

He was talking to John McCain.

He was talking to himself in 2017

 

[ZiprHead]

Trump said "we totally demolished Kharg Island, but we may hit it again just for fun."

Our president is a psychopath.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Brent Crude up to nearly $110 a barrel. This isn't a spike, this is a relatively slow and steady increase the last few weeks after the initial panic.

The Trump Admin show no interest in changing anything. Israel is targeting whatever leadership they can. Iran continues to throw stones and make the oil price go up.

And Iran is shipping oil just fine through the Strait of Hormuz. Waiting for Hegseth to blow one of those ships up in the channel and look deer in the headlights when asked how they'll reopen the straight with the damaged ship there blocking the channel.

 

[laughing dog]

If the goal is to kill all the Iranian hardliners, this is a forever war.

 

[southernhybrid]

Trump said "we totally demolished Kharg Island, but we may hit it again just for fun."

Our president is a psychopath.

He's also a malignant narcissist with symptoms of dementia. How the fuck did this happen? I guess just like any other dangerous cult, way too many people drank the Kool-Aide and now the world economy is in jeopardy due to this madman and his cult.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump nukes Iran after Fed holds rate steady.
Link

Oh and in the barely more discernible real world, Gabbard says kind of status quo in Iran, leadership-wise.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers Wednesday that the regime in Iran “appears to be intact but largely degraded” after almost three weeks of war in the Middle East, but she faced intense scrutiny over the Trump administration’s preparation for the conflict and how she advised the president about the risks it posed.

 

[DrZoidberg]

it's also funny if you know Islamic history. Islam has a universialist and egalitarian creed.

You really think that?!

Yes. Within the Muslim community. I should perhaps have added that qualification.

Islam has a radical egalitarian and meritocratic creed, within Islam. They have always struggled with living up tp their own ideals. But it is very much an Islamic creed

There's numerous examples of capable slaves who came into the caliphate, had their abilities noticed, converted and went on to have great careers.

There was always a tension between the ummah and ruler. I'd say its an inevitable and inbuilt tension.

In the west the tension was between the king and pope. I'd say the Islamic model is better. Since the Quran acts as a constitution, that can stop a misbehaving caliph. The members of the ummah was and is a meritocratic institution that always was, pretty much open to anyone who wanted to devote time to it.

I've studied both the Quran and Bible. I personally think the books are interchangable. People make a big thing about doctrinal differences. I can't see it. Or that Islam doesn't separate state from religion. Yes, they do. The caliphs, in general, got involved in religion less than the western kings did. They were busy running their absolutely massive empires. They didn't have time to get involved in theological hairsplitting. Most of them spent every waking hour on a horse galloping towards the nearest rebellion to crush.

Shia Islam has old roots. But the Shiism of Iran is a 15'th century syncretistic religion cobbled together with Zoroastrianism and tengrism. You can’t really blame that one on Mohammed. Its something that arose from the ashes after the Mongols absolutely devastating invasion.

Another thing, the Muslim expansion, when it gobbled up Persia and half of Rome. It coincidenced with Heraculous stepping up marginalisation of Syriac Christians and tried forcing all Jews to convert to Christianity. If you look at the map, the Muslims managed to conquer exactly those parts that were Syriac Christian and Jewish. I don't think that's a coincidence. Islamic theology is extremely similar to Syriac Christian theology. They're basically the same.

The Muslims didn't force anyone to convert. They just let the Jews and Christians get on with it. That was extremely progressive by the standards of the day

At the same time the Persians tried forcibly converting all Persians to Zoroastrianism. Christianity and Judaism had spread in the empire. While the army mostly consisted of Syriac Christian Arabic mercenarys. You don't need to be a tactical genius to see what the flaw in the Persian plan was.

The Jews and Christians of Persia were super happy about the Muslims taking over

Anyway.. I can say a lot more. I'll stop there