In a cruel twist, Iraq must remain Iraq.
It’s really difficult to look like the “good guys” in a conflict, when you’re the Islamic Regime of Iran. Somehow the current United States are making the Iranians look more and more reasonable.
The defining characteristic of Trump’s foreign policy is that keeping promises, integrity, consistency, truthfulness, morality, and legality have no benefits for the US. Only raw power matters, and dollars, according to Trump. Trump has done his level best to destroy US soft power.
Which is pretty much how Iran itself works. E.g. 2026 Iran massacres. So if you don’t cheer for the US, fair enough, but please don’t cheer for terrorist Iran.
I think that’s the tragedy of this war. If Trump had involved the world, especially the UN, then it would have seemed more justified. It would have given cover to Iranian dissidents to overthrow their regime.
But as a solo act by Israel and the USA? You’d have to declare yourself a traitor to side with those two countries of all on the planet against your government. I found it baffling that Trump seemed to think now that Khamenei was dead the Iranians would rise up - but then I remembered he doesn’t really understand he is not widely liked anywhere.
I think that’s the tragedy of this war. If Trump had involved the world, especially the UN, then it would have seemed more justified.
Trump basically salted that option, when he shamefully reneged on Obama’s deal with Iran.
I found it baffling that Trump seemed to think now that Khamenei was dead the Iranians would rise up
Like Putin, Trump thinks that everybody in the world are motivated by selfishness only. Trump thought that the replacement leader would know he was dead if he didn’t surrender to Trump. And hence Khamenei’s successor would surely surrender.
According to Russia/Putin experts, Putin is also genuinely convinced that the Orange Revolution in Ukraine was orchestrated by the West. Because it is not possible that local idealists could have done it, because there are no real idealists in the world.
He’s also destroyed a good bit of hard power by firing anyone competent leading to the deaths and destruction of trained personnel and expensive equipment.
They’ve always been reasonable. And they’ve always been the victims in modern history.
The Iranian government killed 7,000 protesters. I think the Iranian people are by and large good people, but neither of our governments are any good. Iran’s government just looks less crazy than the US government right now.
Iran’s government just looks less crazy than the US government right now.
Iran’s government is objectively less crazy than the US government. In perfect game theory style, Iran had set up the Hormuz threat as MAD (mutually assured destruction), with a completely rational and realistic threat. To deter the US from attacking.
The crazy government here is the US administration, who seemingly was too stupid to understand the extremely simple game theory behind MAD. Trump is not a “rational actor” in the game theory sense.
3k, let’s not use CIA produced numbers. We should be better than that as a species.
Also given it was proven it was a Mossad generated ‘protest’ meant to inspire a colour revolution… maybe don’t blame Iran for defending their sovereignty against a foreign attack.
You people didn’t like it when Russia did the same thing in Ukraine resulting in Ukraine killing hundreds of protestors.
For sure. Women and LGBTQ people in particular find the morality police to be very reasonable when they’re being beaten in the streets and arrested.
are we talking about the US or Iran now?
Iran has greater protections for trans women than the US or UK btw.
… because they’ve forced their gay men to get trans surgery under threat of a death sentence
You racists come up with the weirdest conspiracy theories sometimes. Then again you people believe Iran is a dictatorship so I guess you just believe whatever Israel tells you.
Yeah, Iran is a trans paradise.
…Yes they’re actually recognized under the law, protected from violence, and treated as women equal to AFABs… and have been for decades.
This isn’t even a controversial thing to bring up. You’re just racist.
treated as women
Yeah, about that…
You’re just racist.
What’s race have to do with anything? It’s a theocracy with morality police and you’re defending it like it’s some bastion of freedom and liberty.
It’s not a bastion of freedom, but it is better than the US and UK and especially Israel at this one category that you incorrectly said it wasn’t.
That was called a correction.
As far as race, you people don’t tend to know anything about Iran but you lump it in with Arab and Muslim culture and assume all things true in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or Dearborn Michigan must be in common with Iran because they’re all the same right?
Nothing in islam is anti-lgbtq. Nothing in Arab or Persian culture is anti-lgbtq. There are some states that have rules banning it, Iran isn’t one of them.
Hell the ‘morality police’ that you israelis call it don’t even exist across the country. Each region has its own rules and the rules aren’t universal, much less universally enforced. Women aren’t forced to cover in general, but muslim women don’t have to cover in Tehran whereas Umira they do. And that’s awful that region is like that, but pretending it’s the whole country because you’re too lazy, too stupid, too racist, or all of the above to even try to understand a country you’re bombing is ridiculous.
It’s a good day for paint and flag dealers in the region. Maybe for some IT guys with knowledge about AIS transponders, too.
It’s not quite that simple. This is closer to a more reasonable version of the Houthi blockade; there are more criteria than just which country’s flag is flying.
