Current Affairs Iran

[Noisy noise annoys]

As I say, there is already enough info out there to indicate that Gaza has been a useful move in a much wider play.

Defo, but their misery did not start on 7th october

 

[tsubaki]

These people?

You should really get off twitter by the way, it’s a cesspool of nonsense and misinformation.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

You should really get off twitter by the way, it’s a cesspool of nonsense and misinformation.

Sorry it didn't fit with your narrative, mate, but don't let it upset you.

 

[tsubaki]

Sorry it didn't fit with your narrative, mate, but don't let it upset you.

It didn’t affect my narrative at all, I just fear for your senses given that most of your posts on this forum are from that site.

 

[ChesterBlue]

Posts like this crack me up. It’s like you honestly don’t understand why the people are pissed off with the west. That their resistance and reaction is unjustified

Also, if it wasn’t a trade route, no one would care however, big business corporations don’t want their profits to drop so we send in the heavies.

We are the terrorists here

Literally this - the west consistently spins the “good guys” narrative when it has consistently interfered either militarily (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan etc) or politically/economically (Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Chile etc) with sovereign nations either for financial gain or to preserve their own hegemonic power.

Trying to decry Russia when supporting Israel is a completely contradictory position to take ethically - same as decrying the treatment of women in Iran or Muslims in China while cosying up to the Saudi regime, or Duterte in the Philippines (when he was in power) or, you know, trying to build a literal concentration camp in Rwanda and calling it a safe country when it is about to go to war.

 

[Mutzo Nutzo]

I 100% assure you that, had it not been utter slaughter in Palestine backed by the west, the houthis would not be doing what they’re doing.

They’re being played by Iran. They’ve become pawns in a much bigger game

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

It didn’t affect my narrative at all, I just fear for your senses given that most of your posts on this forum are from that site.

Maybe once you have defined what social media we can use outside of GOT (I assume it's still.Ok here?) you can let everyone know.

Might be worth tweeting Corbyn, Chomsky et al and telling them to stop using twitter/X too. lol

 

[tsubaki]

Maybe once you have defined what social media we can use outside of GOT (I assume it's still.Ok here?) you can let everyone know.

Might be worth tweeting Corbyn, Chomsky et al and telling them to stop using twitter/X too. lol

They don’t seemingly get all of their information from that site, though?

 

[Billy Dean]

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

They don’t seemingly get all of their information from that site, though?

Apology accepted

 

[Noisy noise annoys]

They’re being played by Iran. They’ve become pawns in a much bigger game

I really don’t think they have
Both have a common ideology due to their circumstances. Did Iran embolden hamss? Possibly, but hamas did what hamas wanted to do

 

[Martin Alvito]

I really don’t think they have
Both have a common ideology due to their circumstances. Did Iran embolden hamss? Possibly, but hamas did what hamas wanted to do

And Iran made it possible, with financing and arms.

 

[Mutzo Nutzo]

I really don’t think they have
Both have a common ideology due to their circumstances. Did Iran embolden hamss? Possibly, but hamas did what hamas wanted to do

Iran doesn’t like to get its hands dirty and so uses proxies to do their dirty work for them.

Via its IRGC Quds force it provides advance weaponry, planning expertise, targeting info, finance and training for its proxy forces.

We know for a fact that Iran has provided all of this support for the Houthis and is using them to attack US and western naval assets in the region. It monitors the outcomes and establishes an understanding of western military procedures in dealing with swarm type UAV, USV and missile attacks to enhance and tweak its own military tactics.

The Houthis are simply expendable assets to Iran, as are all of their proxy forces.

Hamas may have done exactly what Hamas wanted but Quds force provided all the support they needed.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

And Iran made it possible, with financing and arms.

And training, and planning.

 

[tsubaki]

The thing that keeps a great power from having to use its military all the time  is its reputation for doing something. What keeps the US and UK from stomping on fires all over the globe all day, every day is the expectation that when they say they'll do something, they'll do it. That limits the conflicts to just the ones where the small fry says, "We don't care what you do to us." That happens, but not all that often in the grand scheme of things.

If the US and UK turn a blind eye to piracy, you can expect it to be used as a political tool whenever feasible going forward, and you can expect non-state actors in failed states to add it to their organized crime toolkit. Neither the US nor the UK wants that, because in our infinite wisdom we created an economy where we import raw materials from elsewhere and produce finished goods from the imports, and we exported entirely the pollution from lighter industry like clothing and electronics.

So we tell prospective pirates that we will hunt them down like we're Liam Neeson in Taken, then do it, because otherwise it's the supply chain disruptions from COVID all over again. It doesn't matter whether the problem is longshoremen unable and unwilling to work, or empty berths in port because shipping companies can't find people willing to take on the safety risks at wages low enough for the companies to operate. The political masters take the heat from failed policy either way.

I disagree - yes, being willing to use force to protect your interests is something that states must do but they have to do it effectively, with a clear assessment of what they want to do and a realistic plan of how to achieve it.

The past thirty years have been full of incidents where something was done that proved to be utterly ineffective at best and positively dangerous at worst. We've either used too little force or its been applied in the wrong place, and the rapid evident failure has resulted in further entanglements because otherwise the leaders would look stupid. The buildup to Iraq in 2003 was full of such incidents - and eventually our own interests, the interests of our allies, the interests of the Iraqi people, common sense and ultimately international law itself were sacrificed on the altar of doing something.