The Iranian Connection - "With the recent Houthi attacks on international shipping and the retaliatory bombing of military targets in Yemen by the US and UK, the conflict that commenced with Hamas’s 7 October attacks has broadened into a wider field of operations. The links between the Houthi, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran may at first glance seem opaque: these actors are all from different parts of the Middle East and some are Sunni, others Shi’a. Furthermore, even within the context of the century-old Arab–Zionist conflict, Hamas’s attacks were startlingly savage. Any reasonable person could have foreseen the fierce Israeli response to the atrocities of 7 October and the likelihood that, as a result, Palestinian statehood would be delayed for another generation at least. Even Hamas’s former Minister of Communications, Yosef Almansi, has denounced the attacks, claiming that they set the organisation’s cause back 200 years and were “the opposite of the religion of Islam. It is heresy, madness… not accepted by logic, religion, or common sense.” So, why did Hamas attack and what is holding together the alliance of their allies? It is difficult to discern a rationale for the attack when we consider it entirely within the scope of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—especially given that terrorist groups often lukewarm to the Palestinian cause, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi, have also joined the fray against Israel, while militias in Iraq have simultaneously stepped up attacks against American targets there. Clearly, Hamas’s actions are merely a component of a wider Middle Eastern conflict. To understand the events of 7 October, we must begin by considering the timing of the attack. In the preceding months, Saudi Arabia had been moving towards a rapprochement with Israel... The Israeli defensive response to the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust rekindled widespread opposition to the Jewish state throughout the Middle East. Citing support for the Palestinian people, Bahrain recalled its ambassador to Israel, while other signatories to the Accords have faced growing support for Hamas within their own populations. The US-brokered Israel–Saudi deal is now reportedly “in tatters.” A domestically produced Saudi bomb leading to the realignment of power across the Persian Gulf now seems like a distant prospect. Iran remains ascendant. This raises a couple of questions. The first is whether the Hamas massacre of 7 October was a strategic act designed to preserve Iranian nuclear hegemony in the Gulf. The second question is more puzzling. Given the growing desire many Middle Eastern countries have shown to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, why is Iran a holdout? If traditional foes such as Saudi Arabia and Israel can countenance a peace agreement, then why not Israel and Iran? The answer to the first question seems clear: Hamas probably undertook the massacre at the behest of Iran. The Islamic Republic provides Hamas with training, weapons and nearly $100 million in annual funding. Furthermore, not only did the highest levels of the Iranian government give the go-ahead for the attack, but Iran also provided special training in the months leading up to the attack—such as in the use of paragliders—as well as additional weapons and funding specifically earmarked for the commission of the atrocity... To understand the rationale for 7 October, we need to go back to the birth of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. When Ayatollah Khomeini ascended to the role of Supreme Leader of Iran during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, he promulgated his fiercely anti-Israel philosophy—a worldview that was both anti-Zionist and antisemitic. Khomeini used the familiar tropes common among Arab countries at the time. Israel, he maintained, was a colonial-settler state, a lackey of the United States, and the usurper of Islam’s rightful claim to Jerusalem. But while such anti-Israel rhetoric has become more moderate in much of the Arab world over the last few decades, Iran’s posture has become ever more fanatical and strident. Iran’s annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day (held on the last Friday of Ramadan) features missile parades, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic speeches, the trampling and burning of Israeli flags and chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” Iranian anti-Zionism has far less to do with the plight of Palestinians than with hatred of Israelis and Jews. In fact, the Islamic Republic is deeply suspicious of the Palestinian liberation movement... The Iranian government uses anti-Israeli and anti-American propaganda to galvanize domestic support for the regime and provide external scapegoats for the country’s ills. Such rhetoric can also boost support for Iran among those in the Muslim world who share its antipathy towards Israel. But Iran’s hatred of Israel is more than just sloganeering and rhetoric: the Islamic Republic actively seeks the destruction of the Jewish nation, even at the cost of both money and lives... Middle Eastern geography plays a crucial role in the story of Mahdi’s return. Many of the countries that play important roles in Twelver Messianism have also been the focus of contemporary Iranian-sponsored terrorism... In Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic visions, Jews and Israel are the primary obstacles to Mahdi’s return. Senior Iranian clergy have also declared that Israel and the Jews must be vanquished to pave the way for the return of the Hidden Imam and the redemption of the Ummah... Any explanation of 7 October that views the atrocity merely as part of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict will be incomplete. The rationale for the massacre—and for the parallel actions of terrorist groups in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen—is to be found within a complex tapestry of Middle Eastern politics, antisemitism, Shi’a theology, and eschatological visions of an Islamic Jerusalem. If a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians were ever to be achieved, this would not guarantee the Jewish state’s security, so long as Jerusalem remained central to the Islamic Republic’s ambitions... There is tragic precedent for the idea that a nation might sacrifice itself to fulfill its genocidal fantasies. Even as it faced defeat, Nazi Germany devoted manpower and resources to the murder of six million Jews, resources desperately needed for the war effort. Germany prioritized dreams of a world without Jews over its own survival. Israel’s struggle is also our own. From Tehran to Yemen, chants of “death to Israel” are always accompanied by chants of “death to America.” And by “America,” they mean not just the United States but the entirety of western society, a society that many radicals hope will be destroyed in a future global Islamic caliphate."
Left wingers love to slam evangelical Christian support for Israel as trying to bring on the end times, but brown people have no agency
OSINTdefender on X - "U.S. President Biden during a Press Conference earlier today was asked how Imminent he thought an Attack on Israel was, for which he stated, “I don’t want to give away Secure Information, but my Expectation is sooner than later” with his Message to Iran being “Don’t.”"
AG on X - "After the US took out Soleimani, arguably the second most important figure of the terrorist regime, Trump came out and announced the US had 52 targets picked out in Iran if they respond overly aggressively. Iran launched a retaliatory strike on bases in Iraq, but warned Iraq beforehand and limited their attack in a way that was unlikely to cause casualties. Weakness lends itself to misinterpretation and escalation. That’s what we face now."
AG on X - "Even the message is weak. Notice rhetoric presumption that Iran will attack soon and nothing can be done about it. No clear explanation of the consequences of doing so. Just general statements about Us defending Israel. Only the terrorists Israel took out were our enemy too."
Matan Hazanov on X - "He said in prior statements that the US defense of Israel is "ironclad" in the case of a direct attack by Iran. They have also moved warships & prepared US forces to respond. I doubt Iran is not getting the message. But Biden clearly doesn't speak well & appears weak. That's true."
Aaron Smith on X - "We were supposed to be ironclad allies of Israel against Hamas, as well. However, now those votes in Michigan and Minnesota have rusted the heck out of that iron"
American Anti-War Activists Cheer for Iran’s War - "About 300 anti-war activists crowded into the basement of the Teamsters Union’s headquarters on Saturday to hear organizers from all over the country describe their plans to disrupt the Democratic National Convention this August. Joe Biden’s backing of Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attack has turned these left-wing radicals against their own party. “It’s really inspiring to see that people are just as enthusiastic, and maybe even more enthusiastic, to march on the DNC as they are to march on the RNC,” says Omar Florez, a Milwaukee-based activist. “We can thank Genocide Joe and our movement for that.” But then a man stumbles to the podium, wiping sweat from his forehead. He grabs the microphone to announce that the Islamic regime of Iran has launched missiles and drones heading straight toward Israel... The crowd, all wearing black N95s, erupts into applause. Someone in the back lowers their mask to send a celebratory whistle soaring throughout the room. The man at the podium, Hatem Abudayyeh, heads the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, “a purported community group which, on information and belief, is an affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror organization based in Gaza”... “This is when this country and the world needs us because the United States is going to, quote unquote, defend the criminal Israeli state,” says Abudayyeh, whose home was raided by the FBI in 2010 as part of an investigation “concerning the material support of terrorism.” “We have to assume that the United States is going to try to retaliate against Iran.” After the boos and calls of “shame” subside, Abudayyeh says it is “incumbent” upon Americans to “stop the United States from expanding this war and hitting Iran.” “We’ve got to be the strong, powerful anti-war movement that we are,” he says, placing the microphone down and exiting the stage. The crowd immediately began chanting, “Hands off Iran.” A woman in a hot pink gas mask, wielding a matching neon cane and dressed in a “Protect Trans Kids” t-shirt, throws her fist in the air. Nearby, a service poodle is taking a nap under the chair of his owner, who is wearing a leather harness over his t-shirt. Then the group that has joined here from cities across America—Seattle, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles—cheers and claps in celebration. Joe Iosbaker, an organizer with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, which called October 7 a “good turn of events” in its press release about the terrorist attacks, tells me he supports Iran. His organization has since released a statement backing Iran, where citizens gathered to shout “Death to America” during their nation’s strike against Israel... before news of the attack broke, at a “breakout session” on “the anti-war movement,” Shabbir Rizvi, an organizer with Anti-War Committee Chicago, taught participants how to chant “death to Israel” and “death to America” in Farsi... “Iran is part of the resistance,” said the woman, who flew in that morning from New Orleans, where she’s been part of an effort to disrupt Israel-bound shipments in her hometown. “Yemen and Iran and Hezbollah, who are also a militant group in Lebanon, and the Syrian government are all parts of the arc of resistance.” A smile creeps across her face as she tells me: “They’re part of the arc of resistance because the enemies are Israel and the USA.”"
The terrorism supporters once again admitting that they want Israel's enemies to be able to kill as many Israelis as they want, but Israel is not allowed to defend itself
Pro-Palestinian protesters chant 'death to America' and light US flag ON FIRE while NYPD cops seemingly stand idle - as demonstrators flood streets after Iran's missile attack on Israel - "Outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, another protester burned an American flag to cinders amid cheers of jubilation on Monday. In the background, a man chants: 'America falls today. America falls now. America will forever fall.'... Video of the dramatic scene in the Bay Area showed a large group of police standing in front of the stuck vehicles as protestors held up a large sign that said: 'Stop the world for Gaza.'... The protest, which was organized by Chicago Dissenters, said that they decided to block the airport because it is 'one of the largest in the country' that should not be in business 'while Palestinians suffer at the hands of American funded bombing by Israel.' They decided to target the airport in an attempt to 'disrupt Boeing's operations,' because the airplane manufacturer is 'sending fighter jets and bombs to support Israel's bombardment of Gaza.'... People took to social media and commented on the protest as one said: 'It's past time to criminalize obstructing interstate highways. 30 days in county jail is more than appropriate,' and tagged Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Others commented on police officers doing 'nothing.' A person commented: 'Why do the cops just stand there, every time, and allow these upsets? Every. Single. Time.'"
Clearly, just because you criticise your country does not mean you hate it, so if you criticise protestors who shout "Death to America", you're just a fascist who doesn't accept dissenting opinions
Blocking vital infrastructure is only terrorism when the left disapproves of the cause
Libs of TikTok on X - "BREAKING: Pro-Palestinian protesters just blocked the entrance to Seattle’s International Airport as police stand by and do nothing. People are forced to get out of their cars and walk to the terminals. Today they blocked O’Hare airport, the Golden Gate Bridge, a highway in Oregon, the Brooklyn Bridge, and held protests in NYC."
Caroline Glick on X - "Iranian reporter @Vahid_Beheshti revealed an internal IRGC document between two senior commanders admitting that the efforts to cripple transportation and shipping on April 15 is an IRGC operation. These people are literally operating as Iranian regime agents. https://x.com/Vahid_Beheshti/status/1779786659229298775 I discuss in my latest IN FOCUS. https://youtube.com/watch?v=tNQK3L"
Brianna Wu on X - "I protested Bush and Iraq War II so much I ended up on his ludicrous terrorist watch list that targeted mainstream anti-war organizers. I CERTAINLY never chanted “Death to America.” I never worked with anyone that chanted “Death to America.” And if I had, I would’ve asked them to leave. Something different and sick is growing in our movement."
Why did Israel force Iran to attack it?!
If you are anti-war and yet still want to destroy Israel and the US, the cope must either be that you don't really mean "Death" or that you want them to destroy themselves on their own (then again, at least for the US, that strategy seems to be working)
Melissa Chen on X - "True progressives, rationally speaking, should be Western chauvinists. Because the West remains the only place where progressive ideas flourish. Instead Western progressives stan for the most intolerant, illiberal leaders around the world and actively root for the demise of the nations not just willing to tolerate them but actually celebrate them."
Rio Veradonir on X - "This is because “progressive” is a euphemism for regressive NeoMarxism. The actual goal of most so-called “progressives” is the deconstruction of liberal institutions. The people who are and should be “western chauvinists” are classical liberals."
Lama Bob on X - "They hate white judeo-christians more"
Woo AF on X - "It's a virtue signal; if 90% of Muslims had a Nordic phenotype, they wouldn't be doing this."
Joe Moore ⚡️ on X - "Progressive take the worst possible societies with the least progressive culture and pretend to be shocked that they haven’t achieved and blame the west."
Andrew Wong 🇺🇸 on X - "Pay attention to how these "progressives" mock, hate, loathe, and despise Judeo-Christian civilization aka Western civilization aka Jews and Christians. Yet, they open their arms to regressive followers of Islam and warmly embrace this religion. It's weird but not surprising that they keep shouting Islamophobia if you question how regressive some parts of Islam and how it's followers practice their religion but never shout out or invent Christianophobia or Judeophobia when many of their fellow left wing activists attack Jews and their synanogues and Christians and their churches."
Swann Marcus on X - "In the last Gallup poll, Iran had a 1% "very favorable" rating in the US and every one of those people tweets 100 times a day"
Wilfred Reilly on X - "This is one of the best summaries of twitter I have every heard. Almost literally every high IQ neurotic who holds a position like "Tired sex with your lover is rape" or "I still double-mask for COVID" has a twitter account."
Piers Morgan on X - "Israel must show restraint. I fear Netanyahu won’t."
Joe Walsh on X:"- Huh? Israel is under attack right now, sirens are going off in Jerusalem, this is Iran’s first ever direct military attack on Israel, and you tweet this? What a horrible, cowardly, anti-Israel thing to tweet. What “restraint” did Iran show tonight? Shame on you @piersmorgan."
Piers Morgan on X - "Hi Joe, always good to hear your thoughtful & intelligent contribution to global debates. Israel nullified 99% of the missiles. It’s time for calm heads to prevail to avoid a wider war in the region, and for war-mongering, ignorant & inflammatory twerps like you to pipe down."
Noam Blum on X - "Your bullet proof vest stopped the bullets and that should be punishment enough for the person who shot you."
John Rasco on X - "Let's see how Iran deals with 300+ missiles and drones, in a completely proportionate Israeli response. We stand with Israel!"
Thread by @sfrantzman on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App - "Today the narrative among some is that Iran’s unprecedented massive attack with missiles and drones is just “symbolic” and didn’t harm much so therefore it can be shrugged off. That was the same mentality about the rocket fire from Gaza two decades ago and also the Hezbollah rocket fire and the Houthi attacks. The always change the goal posts so hundreds or thousands of missiles are no big deal. And then when Hamas massacres 1,000 people and takes 250 hostage then they are surprised. If you don’t take one missile being fired as a threat then it becomes two and then ten and 100 and 1,000. The fact is that systematically Iran has been allowed to spread drone and missile terror around the Middle East and also sent drones to Russia to terrorize Ukrainians. Did the same people who say it was just “symbolic” say that when missiles and drones rain down on Ukrainian civilians? The fact is that the decision to ignore Hamas rockets and then Hezbollah rockets and then Houthi attacks and then Iraqi militia attacks and now Iran’s attacks is destroying the region. Air defenses are not a magic wand OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGY. Countries that dismiss these attacks will find they get worse and worse. That’s what happened with Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel’s answer has been to evacuate the borders but it has no strategy to defeat them and end the threat. And these groups know this. It always starts with self delusion and 3D chess of saying “well no one was harmed in the attack” but eventually people are harmed and then one evacuates the borders and surrenders part of the country to these attacks and then hostages are taken and people massacred. It’s a bad cycle to enter Hamas was emboldened by a decade of wars where Israel didn’t retaliate and just “managed” the conflict or wanted to “shrink” the conflict until it blew up. Conflicts can’t be managed forever. It’s not a policy, it’s attrition and it’s a losing prospect. Israel has to find a way to break this cycle. Entering into the Hamas-Hezbollah equation with Iran and the Houthis and PIJ and the PMU in Iraq has emboldened all of them and let them dictate the time and place of attacks and surrenders initiative on all fronts under the delusion that air defenses are enough and that they alone are a strategy and policy. The fact is that having walls is not a strategy. Athens learned this during the Pelopenssian war and so did Byzantium. Walls are just a way to postpone the inevitable defeat. Israel must rethink this absence of a clear strategy because while it looks phenomenal now to intercept 200 drones and missiles, the larger picture requires a next step. One the one hand April 14 was important for air defenses and an unprecedented defeat of drones and ballistic missiles but that’s just a tactic, the next step is to form these various fronts into a strategy and stop letting Iran have the initiative on every front."
Left wingers defend attacks on Israel by claiming that they don't do (much) damage, so they don't matter (weird, given how they judge left wing policies on their intentions, not their outcomes). Then when October 7th came along, the mask dropped and they celebrated the deaths
Visegrád 24 on X - "More and more videos coming out of Iran revealing that a lot of drones and missiles malfunctioned and fell down on Iranian towns and villages. The Islamic regime is a risk to the lives of all decent Iranians who don’t want the Mullahs to rule their lives"
Damn Zionists! Why would they do this?!
Israel B. Bitton on X - "Anyone who thinks Saturday’s Iranian drone-missile barrage against Israel was “the big attack” is mistaken and obviously not paying attention. It was merely a test. What did Iran learn? A few very useful facts. Iran can, without any immediate consequence, shut down the airspace of nearly the entire Middle East. Iran can paralyze Israel as the entire country is forced to wait in/near shelters and brace themselves for an unknown onslaught. And Iran knows that with only some 200 drones and missiles, with Israel on high alert, and the attack telegraphed to the world days in advance, it managed to do the above but not really penetrate Israel’s defensive umbrella. Yet, this was NOT a military failure. It was a military operation to both save face and back up their belligerent tone in the aftermath of Israel’s elimination of a top IRGC general, and to test how many drones and missiles it’ll take to overwhelm Israel’s and its allies’ defenses. 200 drones and missiles fired. How many came from Lebanon during the Iranian onslaught? 50 or so. Yet Hezbollah posses more than 10,000 rockets! Anyone still convinced that this was “the great attack” Iran has been promising rather than a prelude to something far more devastating?! What this means is that those folks like @JoeBiden parading the idea that Israel ought to “pocket the win” for having successfully defended itself against a major (but relatively minor) onslaught are simply telling Israel to set the stage for the next round which will be inevitably worse and exact a significant human toll. Because if Iran was brazen enough to attack Israel with pathetic slow-flying drones waiting to be shot out of the sky although they possess a massive arsenal of far more sophisticated missiles, why the hell would anyone assume, let alone promote the notion that this is as far as Iran will go and therefore Iran should be let off the hook with no consequence?! Israel knows this. America does too. But politics is politics so electoral decisions will determine how far Israel’s retaliatory hand can officially extend. That said, considering Israel is in a Catch-22 — no response emboldens Iran, too harsh a response weakens the anti-Iran coalition — we can expect to see sabotage at Iran’s nuclear facilities on a level we have never seen before, ie nearly total destruction to the point of being unusable (or maybe that’s just wishful thinking). Either way, none of that will change the simple fact that what we saw on Saturday is a drop in the bucket compared to what Iran is actually capable of, which isn’t to boost Iran’s Napoleon-sized ego but to reinforce why the corrupt and genocidal Iranian regime under @khamenei_ir must be dismantled and disabled! Remember, children: Any regime that mercilessly beats and abuses their own wives and daughters in the name of bettering their society is one guaranteed to fall and the world is always better off when they do. The days of reckoning approach…"
Spetsnaℤ 007 🇷🇺 on X - "Have you ever seen a larger traitor to the Muslim world than the king of Jordan?"
Sofia 🥔 on X - "Why would a Jordanian king support Iran? Do y’all even understand what’s going on around you?"
Meme - Richard Hanania @RichardHanania: "Knocking off Iran would not be like other wars. The regime is hated by its people, and the main opposition is liberal. In other Muslim countries we've tried to overthrow the main opposition has been Islamists. Completely different situations. We should stand with brave Iranians."
David Sacks @Davidsacks: "Everything old is new again.
'I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.' - Dick Cheney"
Clearly Cheney was wrong and we now know Iran better than we knew Iraq
‘You Distorted The Story To Make The Islamic Republic The Victim’: Iranian Attorney Blasts Iran Sympathizers In Viral Video - "a young female British-Iranian attorney condemning supporters of the despotic, theocratic Iranian regime, the world’s largest state supporter of terrorism. Elica Le Bon... saying, “It’s become very apparent that you haven’t been listening to anything that we’ve had to say for the past two years... “We’ve had to watch over the past 24 hours people clambering onto the internet to exclaim that Iran has the right to defend itself,” she stated. “In what capacity have you distorted the story to make the Islamic Republic the victim? That’s I think what we’re most curious about. When we were screaming for the past two years that they were lynching us, where were you? When we were screaming that they were killing Iranian women for not wearing a hijab, where were you? When they were lynching Iranian men from cranes for protesting, where were you? When we were explaining that this is a terrorist-occupying force, where were you?” “But all of a sudden, everyone’s graduated from Instagram school of law to say that this is a violation of international law and Iran has the right to defend itself,” she snapped... “If you want to talk about an act of war, just a few days ago a federal court determined that the attacks on Israeli embassies and Jewish centers in Argentina were conducted by the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah. That was in the ’90s. That was in the ’90s. Was that an act of war?” “How about the terror proxies that the Islamic Republic has created to foster regional instability? What did you think that they were there for? What did you think Hezbollah was there for? Hamas. Houthis, the militia groups in Iraq and Syria: Did you think that they were there to instigate a system of public schooling, education, to feed the poor, house the unhoused? What did you think that they were there for?” “Is that an act of war? Was October 7 an act of war? Are the rockets that Hezbollah fires into Northern Israel on a near-daily basis an act of war? And so when the senior IRGC commanders meet up with Hezbollah in an IRGC military base, okay, not an Iranian embassy, and Israel strikes, your response is to say that that is an act of war?” “If you would listen to us for the past two years, much less the past 45 years, you’d know that Iranians don’t want war with Israel,” she declared. “We want peace with Israel. Iranian people inside of Iran have come out and said this over and over and over again. It is you that wants war with Israel. It’s your hatred for Israel and your hatred for Jews that’s pulling us into a war that we didn’t ask for. Have we not suffered enough for the past 45 years that we now have to be used as pawns for your fantasies about war with Israel? Leave us alone. We don’t want that.” “So if you want to support the Islamic Republic in putting Iranians’ lives at risk, and everyone’s lives at risk, they just killed a 10-year old-Bedouin boy for this, is that what you wanted? Then just come out and say that with your whole chest. Say you support the Islamic Republic in their continued aggressions that put everybody’s lives at risk But don’t say Iran. For two years we asked you to come out and say free Iran and now you want to speak up to put our lives at risk and say go to war, Iran. You are no friend to the Iranian people for that,” she concluded."
Elica Le Bon الیکا ل بن on X - "Message to the world, if they’ll hear us now."
lelemSLP on X - "I've never seen anything more embarrassing than this. When it was about Hamas - many people in the world don't know that "Gaza occupation" agenda is a total lie. But now, these STFU (Students of TikTok Facts University) supporting Islamic Republic of Iran... When only few years ago, the fight for freedom of Iranian people against Islamists Regime was trending on TikTok! "Resistance is justified when people are occupied" - and that's why these TikTok experts are supporting the Occupier of Iranian people - Islamic Republic of Iran??? The Islamists government of Iran (the ones who hang people on cranes, who execute women for not wearing hijab) is the poor victim resisting the oppression and occupation? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I guess Western adults who were confused by Hamas propaganda and supported these idiotic agendas, now don't know where to hide from embarrassment... #IRGCterrorists"
leekern on X - "The world always puts pressure on Israel to do nothing because they know Israel and the Jews are the sane rational ones they can actually talk to They know Islamic fundamentalists are fucking whack jobs who jump up and down shouting Allahu Akbar like a jukebox for twats They know they are dick heads with the minds of tantrum throwing children But just because Israel is an adult country and the regime in Iran is unhinged, doesn’t mean you let their transgressive behaviour go unchecked The more you give in to the huffs and puffs and tantrums and unacceptable actions of Islamic fundamentalists - the worse their behaviour will become They must be stood up to and put in their place when they act out of line"
Israeli retaliation against Iran was necessary - "Following Israel’s April 18 limited strike on Isfahan, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asked that “calm heads” prevail and that all parties avoid “significant escalation.” Israel’s action is in fact the best way to avoid further escalation and restore the deterrence of Iranian attacks on Israel that prevents it. The war in Gaza is as much about Iran’s regional ambitions as about the plight of the Palestinians... It was inevitable that Iran and its Palestinian proxy Hamas would try to provoke an Arab-Israeli clash to fracture the incipient coalition. The October 7 attacks, which would not have occurred without Iranian approval, were the result... Mishandling of Israeli-U.S. relations on both sides had strengthened the temptation for Iran to escalate. Prime Minister Netanyahu had unwisely drawn attention to disagreements with Washington which more deft diplomacy would have minimized, not least by cancelling and then restoring a planned visit by Israeli officials to Washington. President Biden’s repeated calls for Israeli “restraint” in Gaza, unwisely made in public, reinforced the impression of daylight between Israel and the U.S. That Israel foolishly struck Damascus without informing the U.S., despite the danger of subsequent retaliation against U.S. forces, and that the U.S. made this public, further magnified the apparent gap. Finally, Biden’s warnings to Tehran not to attack Israel pledged help in Israel’s defence but stopped short of threatening American cooperation in any retaliatory action. Tehran could now risk an attack on Israel without fear of U.S. reprisals. Of course, Iran took steps to reduce the consequences of its attack. It was telegraphed in advance, enabling Israeli air defences, with assistance from traditional allies and discreet cooperation with Arab states, to down almost all Iranian drones and missiles with minimal damage to Israel... There were grounds for seeing the Iranian attack as “symbolic” or “performative.” And Iran has engaged in “symbolic” retaliation before, responding to the 2020 U.S. assassination of an Iranian general with a retaliatory strike on U.S. forces that killed nobody. Many military actions are symbolic in the sense that they convey a political message to the enemy or to third parties. But part of the symbolism of Iran’s attack is that it set a precedent of direct attack on Israeli soil. Iran could have attacked from Lebanon with Hezbollah’s rockets, with shorter flight times, and against which air defences would have been less effective. But that would not have made the essential political point. So far, Iran has enjoyed immunity from direct Israeli retaliation as long as it refrained from direct attack itself. Extending that immunity from retaliation to direct attack below a certain threshold, would in itself be a substantial escalation. Tehran’s public statements after the attack that it saw the matter as “concluded” were also intended to discourage Israeli retaliation and generate international opposition to it. Unwisely public, pressure on Israel from its allies and others to do nothing could only encourage Tehran to think that calibrated attacks could continue, with international pressure preventing Israeli reprisals. Successful pressure along these lines would not be unprecedented. During the Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush persuaded Israel not to retaliate against Iraqi Scud attacks lest this fracture the coalition for repelling Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. But it is unclear whether Iran would necessarily calculate correctly. The success of air defences on April 13 was unprecedented, and even a marginal reduction in their effectiveness would have entailed substantial loss of Israeli lives. Accepting the possibility of a repetition that might be more destructive was inevitably unacceptable to Israel. So, Israeli retaliation was not just permissible but necessary... Israel’s restoration of deterrence against direct Iranian attack actually limits the current conflict. Iran’s pursuit of regional hegemony and its proximity to a useable nuclear capability means that a military reckoning with Tehran may be inevitable."
Iran's intentions have been known for decades. Why hasn't anyone listened? - "despite the fact Iran has repeatedly issued threats of wiping Israel off the map, many analysts, scholars, and politicians seem taken aback by Iran’s brazen attack. This feigned surprise isn’t fooling anyone. The West’s willfully blind approach to Iran not only enabled this assault on Israel, it also led to the barbaric terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7. If these atrocities and belligerent acts of aggression aren’t enough to wake us up to the dangers of Iran then what will? For over forty years, Iran has spent every ounce of its social, political, economic, and military capital on exporting its radical ideology, harvesting terrorism, and obtaining the nuclear bomb—all with two primary objectives in mind: eroding American influence and destroying Israel. Since at least the 1960s, when Iran’s first Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini began nudging his country towards an obsession with antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American thinking, Iran’s ruling elite has sought to mobilize regional support around the idea of Tehran as a transformative force committed to Muslim liberation across the globe... without Iranian weapons, financial support, training, and aggressive propaganda campaigns, everything from the Second Lebanon War to October 7 would have never happened. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, Western nations have, by and large, turned a blind eye to Iran’s deadly fundamentalist ideology and the regime’s appalling activities—activities that have led to the loss of untold thousands of lives throughout the Middle East and beyond. This is not to suggest our collective approach to Iran—or lack thereof—is motivated by nefarious intentions. Rather, it is likely due to a combination of factors, including existing beliefs that Israel is more powerful than it really is, a deep-seated view, conscious or unconscious, that Jerusalem is to blame for regional hostilities, and an issue that has plagued Western decisionmakers for ages: ignoring or belittling what our enemies tell us. From Adolf Hitler’s antisemitic diatribes which he issued for years before the Holocaust, to Osama bin Laden’s jihadi declaration against America half a decade before 9/11, to Putin’s rhetoric on Ukraine, our adversaries tell us time and time again what they plan to do—and then they do it. Nearly twenty years ago, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said “The occupying regime of Jerusalem must be disappeared from the page of time.” Yet, in the time since, virtually no attempts have been made to curb Iranian aggression towards Israel. Ultimately, it would appear that most in the West either aren’t listening to Iran or they aren’t taking Tehran’s words seriously. In the same way, we would never suggest Russia is Ukraine’s problem to address alone, we cannot expect Israel to confront and contain Iranian acts of war in isolation"
Meme - Marina Medvin @MarinaMedvin: "Incredible. She wrote this up so that it appears that Israel is responsible for the injuries to the 7 year old child, as opposed to Iran. Absolutely incredible."
Rep. Ilhan Omar @Ilhan: "Rep. Omar's Statement on Iran's Attack on Israel:
WASHINGTON-Congresswoman Ihan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement following Iran's attack on Israel. "I condemn the attacks by the Iranian military on Israel, as well as Israel's military attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria that further escalates tension in the region. I am grateful no deaths were reported from the attack and am praying for Amina al-Hassouni, the 7-year-old Bedouin civilian who was severely injured in the attack, to make a complete recovery. As leaders in Washington jump to call for war with Iran and rush additional offensive weapons to the Israeli military, we need to exercise restraint and use every diplomatic tool to de-escalate tensions, Civilians in not only Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, and Iran but also Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are bearing the brunt of this escalation, and there must be a ceasefire on all sides. I will continue to calll for de-escalation, restraint, and lasting peace."
Meme - i/o wire service @iowireservice: "Retard Index Rating: 7 (out of 10). The US does not operate bases in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Turkmenistan. Also, it no longer operates bases at some of the other points indicated on the map. This popular meme is a magnet for retards."
Jake Shields @jakeshieldsajj: "why do we have 30 military bases surrounding Iran? Iran isn't a threat to America but America is a threat to Iran"
"IRAN WANTS WAR. LOOK HOW CLOSE THEY PUT THEIR COUNTRY TO OUR MILITARY BASES"
Meme - Elder of Ziyon: "Don't squander all of this goodwill!"
"See? The vest stopped most of the bullets from the crazed psychopath who promises to keep trying to murder you. Don't respond! Take the win!"
