Iran Catch-All | IRAN WAR

[Calheel]

Yes, but that doesn’t mean the post about CENTCOM is a misinformation. It could be a legit projection based on whatever Trump said to someone 6 hours earlier.

Anything is possible in this F'ed up administration. We've already had 20 explanations for the war, itself. The line between incompetence and malevolence is thin, indeed.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

You guys love getting your political thoughts from celebrities

 

[wmheel1287]

tig, I don't fault anyone for disagreeing on the issue of attacking or not attacking. There are rational arguments to be made for either decision. I support the 4 to 5 week plan (6 - 8 weeks giving a little latitude). My reason for supporting a short term engagement is based on the interview with Witcoff and the comments he made as negotiations began. I never believed the first bombing obliterated their nuclear program. Damaged, yes. But then I have learned to speak trump. Applying common sense nobody would believe his rhetoric hours after the bombing with giving no time for assessment. Again, that's trump beating his chest which is consistent with his personality. Those getting all bent out of shape by him and saying he either lied then or now are absolute idiots and are ignorant on this topic. They can't seperate trump from whether or not to attack iran was good or bad and why.

1) Iran admitted they had 60% enriched uranium. They also manufacture their own centrifuges. So, it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to understand how quickly they could go from 60% to 90%. They continually denied inspections to sensitive areas. No country only pursuing nuclear energy needs uranium enriched to 60% and hidden a mile underground. So, I believe they were fairly close to having enough uranium for a bomb.
2) They were also focused on growing their missle program for the delivery of a bomb. It isn't just about the nuclear program.
3) Iran vs iraq isn't the same thing. Iran was / is bat shit crazy in their well stated intent of their purpose on earth. It is America first and the world first to keep them from getting nuclear weapons. It isn't just about protecting Israel. What happens to the world economy and life in America if Iran used a nuke?
4) Hating trump doesn't mean he is wrong about the timing of the attack. Israel was going to do it with or without us. They had made that decision. trump has built a pretty strong coalition in the ME. More so than any president in history. Outside of iran and its proxies, the ME has been pretty calm historically speaking. Attacking with support from the rest of ME was better than Israel doing it alone and undoing all the good that had been done which would have drawn us into it anyway. Attacking now gave better control than having to be involved later. The US is in a far better position control wise.
5) This does nothing but hurt the pubs politically in the short term. Why risk a guaranteed loss in the house and possible loss in the Senate for bravado? trump knows if he loses both he likely gets impeached. It wasn't an insignificant decision driven by ego. If he is correct and we are out in 4 or 5 weeks with minimal loss of life then maybe he gains some political capital but it is a massive gamble.
6) Regime change is much less clear in my opinion, and not justification alone for attacking. If it happens, great but I'm not going to say the thing was a failure if it doesn't happen because preventing iran's ability to obtain nukes and wage war was justification enough for me. I absolutely consider a short term blip of gas prices and a slight drop in the market worth the effort because the alternative for not acting would have much greater negative impacts on American's lives than what we will see if we are out by mid april.

No issues with anyone disagreeing with my opinions but it is laughable to go back and read the comments of supposedly educated and intelligent people and see that the comments are just "trump bad". 10% discussion of the actual pros / cons and 90% trump hatred and mindless reposts of social media influencers who's comments are as dumb as the people influenced by them. I respect your opinion so if you think I am wrong, please share where you disagree.

You consistently insult anyone's opinion on here that doesnt align with your own. The minute someone says something you disagree with, your default is that "you've just been brainwashed by the media you consume".

 

[Callatoroy]

You mean blind hatred of Trump? Even if Biden or Obama started this 'war' with Iran, I'd have exactly the same opinion.

you mind sharing why?

 

[CFordUNC]

As I've shared many times in my history n this board, I grew up a hardcore conservative in a hardcore conservative family in a hardcore conservative part of the state. I have also always been a military history nerd, specifically World War II, and so I distinctly remember being in middle school and being excited about the war in Iraq. We were going to get to use the big, bad U.S. military and go blow up the bad guys! I remember being excitedly glued to the TV in March 2003 on the first night that hostilities commenced, and I used to come home from school every afternoon and excitedly turn on the news to watch the coverage of the war.

Later the next year, after the second battle of Fallujah, what was left of one of my favorite cousins came home in a casket. That was the first taste of the horrors that come from war that I experienced.

In 2019 after my wife's medical school graduation we spent 6 weeks before she started residency traveling in Southeast Asia- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. We went to the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and in Vietnam went to the Son My Massacre museum, the reconstructed My Lai village, and the nearby mass grave site. It's really difficult to even articulate how distressing and disturbing the images and artifacts were in each of those places, a painful reminder of war's unfathomable death and destruction. My wife has an uncle with whom I am particularly close, who was an Army Ranger in Vietnam in the 75th Infantry, who arrived at My Lai shortly after the massacre. Naturally he will not talk about it other than to say that he still sees the haunting images every single day in his mind more than 5 decades later.

I say all of that to say that I've long ago lost whatever bloodlust I had growing up as an ignorant, brainwashed asshole conservative who thought nothing of the U.S. bombing the shit out of people on the other side of the world. There is no justification for doing what we are currently doing in Iran. I don't necessarily have an issue with targeted, pinpoint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities or missile batteries. I do have a major issue with indiscriminate carpet bombing of Tehran, a city of 10 million innocent people. I do have a major issue with the bombing of an elementary school (whether accidental or otherwise). I do have a major issue with the sinking of an unarmed Iranian naval vessel thousands of miles away from home, and then abandoning drowning sailors to their fate in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. I do have a major issue with the notion that yet again we are facing the prospect of putting American boots on the ground in the Middle East that will lead to the shedding of American blood, all in the name of a conflict that the overwhelming vast majority of Americans staunchly oppose.

I don't have all of the answers by any means, but I do know that the answer is not what we are currently doing and how we are currently doing it.

 

[Callatoroy]

You consistently insult anyone's opinion on here that doesnt align with your own. The minute someone says something you disagree with, your default is that "you've just been brainwashed by the media you consume".

Not at all. I disagree on most political issues with Tig and Dr. Bob. I'm not insulting their opinions. I have a genuine interest in their opinions. What I mock is the mindless reposting of social media influencers who's sole intent is to stoke division and generate clicks / followers. Some of the stuff reposted on here is completely void of any intelligence but you guys seem to lap it up. If you disagree with my reply to Tig then explain where. I listed several reasons for my opinion. You obviously disagree with them so explain why. Simple.

 

[wmheel1287]

Not at all. I disagree on most political issues with Tig and Dr. Bob. I'm not insulting their opinions. I have a genuine interest in their opinions. What I mock is the mindless reposting of social media influencers who's sole intent is to stoke division and generate clicks / followers. Some of the stuff reposted on here is completely void of any intelligence but you guys seem to lap it up. If you disagree with my reply to Tig then explain where. I listed several reasons for my opinion. You obviously disagree with them so explain why. Simple.

I have responded to you hundreds of times. I have also never once posted a tweet, a truth, or a quote. I dont use any of the social media services and I don't listen to or exist in the media ecosystems you refer to. However, it must be dozens of times at this point thay you've characterized me and my opinions as being "as angry as the influencers want you to be" or something of the kind. It is your default.

 

[heelslegup]

So Trump is rumnining a Jan 6 pardon program for Bibi and a lethal Apprentice reality show for leaders he can pick

 

[tallheel95]

Not at all. I disagree on most political issues with Tig and Dr. Bob. I'm not insulting their opinions. I have a genuine interest in their opinions. What I mock is the mindless reposting of social media influencers who's sole intent is to stoke division and generate clicks / followers. Some of the stuff reposted on here is completely void of any intelligence but you guys seem to lap it up. If you disagree with my reply to Tig then explain where. I listed several reasons for my opinion. You obviously disagree with them so explain why. Simple.

The truth is that none of us are immune to the confirmation bias. We all do it. You are not different... you just believe that you have the reasonable point of view and the rest of this board is blindly following the liberal train of thought. Confirmation bias and tribalism are at the root of partisan politics and are very difficult to overcome. We all need to challenge our biases... including your bias that Trump is a reasonable, thoughtful, intelligent leader who has the nation's best interest at heart.

 

[ChileG]

Some of the stuff reposted on here is completely void of any intelligence but you guys seem to lap it up.

If I’m not mistaken, people have said the same about some of the opinion pieces you post here.

 

[tarheel931]

As I've shared many times in my history n this board, I grew up a hardcore conservative in a hardcore conservative family in a hardcore conservative part of the state. I have also always been a military history nerd, specifically World War II, and so I distinctly remember being in middle school and being excited about the war in Iraq. We were going to get to use the big, bad U.S. military and go blow up the bad guys! I remember being excitedly glued to the TV in March 2003 on the first night that hostilities commenced, and I used to come home from school every afternoon and excitedly turn on the news to watch the coverage of the war.

Later the next year, after the second battle of Fallujah, what was left of one of my favorite cousins came home in a casket. That was the first taste of the horrors that come from war that I experienced.

In 2019 after my wife's medical school graduation we spent 6 weeks before she started residency traveling in Southeast Asia- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. We went to the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and in Vietnam went to the Son My Massacre museum, the reconstructed My Lai village, and the nearby mass grave site. It's really difficult to even articulate how distressing and disturbing the images and artifacts were in each of those places, a painful reminder of war's unfathomable death and destruction. My wife has an uncle with whom I am particularly close, who was an Army Ranger in Vietnam in the 75th Infantry, who arrived at My Lai shortly after the massacre. Naturally he will not talk about it other than to say that he still sees the haunting images every single day in his mind more than 5 decades later.

I say all of that to say that I've long ago lost whatever bloodlust I had growing up as an ignorant, brainwashed asshole conservative who thought nothing of the U.S. bombing the shit out of people on the other side of the world. There is no justification for doing what we are currently doing in Iran. I don't necessarily have an issue with targeted, pinpoint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities or missile batteries. I do have a major issue with indiscriminate carpet bombing of Tehran, a city of 10 million innocent people. I do have a major issue with the bombing of an elementary school (whether accidental or otherwise). I do have a major issue with the sinking of an unarmed Iranian naval vessel thousands of miles away from home, and then abandoning drowning sailors to their fate in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. I do have a major issue with the notion that yet again we are facing the prospect of putting American boots on the ground in the Middle East that will lead to the shedding of American blood, all in the name of a conflict that the overwhelming vast majority of Americans staunchly oppose.

I don't have all of the answers by any means, but I do know that the answer is not what we are currently doing and how we are currently doing it.

Very well said CFord. I come from a long and distinguished line of military men. My paternal grandfather and his brother both served in WWII. His brother was wounded in Burma, and my grandfather was wounded in southern France in August of ’44. Both of my moms’ brothers served. Her oldest brother was drafted and fought in Vietnam. Her younger brother was one of those crazy individuals who thought it was cool to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. He jumped into Panama during the ouster of Noriega. Both of them left the service raging alcoholics (both are sober now and dealing with the trauma of their service).

I joined the Navy in April of 1999 and was on back gate watch at Corry Station when the first plane hit the trade towers. My former LPO, who was a submariner by rating, was diagnosed with MS and permanently disqualified from submarines and reassigned to the Pentagon about a month before Flight 77 crashed into it. He died that day.

I spent over 24 years in the Navy, and the entirety of my sea time was spent onboard a submarine. I volunteered for that duty. The mission and the crews I was fortunate enough to deploy with are second to none. As a CT (it’s unclassified that CTs ride submarines), I spent many a deployment berthed down in the torpedo room sleeping next to a Mark 48. For those not fortunate enough to have been hot racking in the “bomb room”, it’s always hot. Those damn torpedoes are cool and I would drape my sleeping bag over it when not sleeping to keep it somewhat cool.

Anyone can google the destructive power of those weapons. There are videos on the internet using them to sink decommissioned ships to make artificial reefs. These are not the torpedoes of WWII. These don’t ram into the ship and detonate. These weapons are designed to come up from underneath the target and explode. The concussive blast is what does the damage. A single Mark 48 has an unmatched lethality rate. You can see from the video from the periscope of the US submarine, the aft end of the ship come up out of the water from the enormous blast of that terrible weapon.

Like you CFord, I grew up idolizing the machoism of those who fought. It wasn’t until I joined the Navy did I realize that deployments and wars are nothing like what the movies show. It’s not glamorous. In fact, when my mom’s oldest brother received his 1-year sobriety chip did I learn some of what he endured when he gave his testimonial. Later on, he began to open up about the horrors he saw and some of the horrific things he did in the name of freedom. That video of the sinking Iranian Frigate, IRIS Dena, is hard to watch. I feel for the men who died on that ship. I’ve been awakened in the middle of the night on a sub when she experienced an “unexplained depth incursion” and the down angle tossed me from my rack. That scared the shit out of me. We went from a safe depth to well beyond advertised safe depth in the span of less than a minute. It was dark in berthing, and I knew then the sense of terror former Sailors experienced on the diesel submarines of WWII. I can only imagine the nightmare scenario that torpedo unleashed. We should not be celebrating the sinking of that ship or the extraordinary loss of life. There was nothing macho about that.

 

[lawtig02]

The truth is that none of us are immune to the confirmation bias. We all do it. You are not different... you just believe that you have the reasonable point of view and the rest of this board is blindly following the liberal train of thought. Confirmation bias and tribalism are at the root of partisan politics and are very difficult to overcome. We all need to challenge our biases... including your bias that Trump is a reasonable, thoughtful, intelligent leader who has the nation's best interest at heart.

From what I recall, Calla, unlike Ramrouser and Pandemic Blue, doesn't think Trump is reasonable, thoughtful or intelligent. I believe Calla can't stand Trump, but thinks most of Trump's policies are better than what would have happened under a Kamala administration. He and I have gone back and forth many times on whether that belief has merit, and even if it does, if that justifies supporting a narcissistic idiot like Trump, but Calla's strain of contrarianism here is unique from our other conservative posters.

 

[lawtig02]

tig, I don't fault anyone for disagreeing on the issue of attacking or not attacking. There are rational arguments to be made for either decision. I support the 4 to 5 week plan (6 - 8 weeks giving a little latitude). My reason for supporting a short term engagement is based on the interview with Witcoff and the comments he made as negotiations began. I never believed the first bombing obliterated their nuclear program. Damaged, yes. But then I have learned to speak trump. Applying common sense nobody would believe his rhetoric hours after the bombing with giving no time for assessment. Again, that's trump beating his chest which is consistent with his personality. Those getting all bent out of shape by him and saying he either lied then or now are absolute idiots and are ignorant on this topic. They can't seperate trump from whether or not to attack iran was good or bad and why.

1) Iran admitted they had 60% enriched uranium. They also manufacture their own centrifuges. So, it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to understand how quickly they could go from 60% to 90%. They continually denied inspections to sensitive areas. No country only pursuing nuclear energy needs uranium enriched to 60% and hidden a mile underground. So, I believe they were fairly close to having enough uranium for a bomb.
2) They were also focused on growing their missle program for the delivery of a bomb. It isn't just about the nuclear program.
3) Iran vs iraq isn't the same thing. Iran was / is bat shit crazy in their well stated intent of their purpose on earth. It is America first and the world first to keep them from getting nuclear weapons. It isn't just about protecting Israel. What happens to the world economy and life in America if Iran used a nuke?
4) Hating trump doesn't mean he is wrong about the timing of the attack. Israel was going to do it with or without us. They had made that decision. trump has built a pretty strong coalition in the ME. More so than any president in history. Outside of iran and its proxies, the ME has been pretty calm historically speaking. Attacking with support from the rest of ME was better than Israel doing it alone and undoing all the good that had been done which would have drawn us into it anyway. Attacking now gave better control than having to be involved later. The US is in a far better position control wise.
5) This does nothing but hurt the pubs politically in the short term. Why risk a guaranteed loss in the house and possible loss in the Senate for bravado? trump knows if he loses both he likely gets impeached. It wasn't an insignificant decision driven by ego. If he is correct and we are out in 4 or 5 weeks with minimal loss of life then maybe he gains some political capital but it is a massive gamble.
6) Regime change is much less clear in my opinion, and not justification alone for attacking. If it happens, great but I'm not going to say the thing was a failure if it doesn't happen because preventing iran's ability to obtain nukes and wage war was justification enough for me. I absolutely consider a short term blip of gas prices and a slight drop in the market worth the effort because the alternative for not acting would have much greater negative impacts on American's lives than what we will see if we are out by mid april.

No issues with anyone disagreeing with my opinions but it is laughable to go back and read the comments of supposedly educated and intelligent people and see that the comments are just "trump bad". 10% discussion of the actual pros / cons and 90% trump hatred and mindless reposts of social media influencers who's comments are as dumb as the people influenced by them. I respect your opinion so if you think I am wrong, please share where you disagree.

Thanks for the response. The main Iraq comparison that I see here is on the "facts" about Iran's uranium enrichment and its development of delivery systems. This smells like another big batch of yellowcake to me. Among other things --

• The IAEA director said in a press conference on March 2 that the Iranians were not close to having a bomb.
• There's no evidence Iran has resumed enrichment of uranium since last June's strikes. In fact, the two sites that had the capacity to do that were heavily damaged and, according to satellite imaging, have not resumed operations.
• If there are activities so deeply buried at Esfahan or some other location that they're operational now, our bombs have no ability to impact them. The only way to get rid of those capabilities is to put boots on the ground.
• There's no evidence Iran is anywhere close to developing a ballistic missile that could fly more than about 2,000 km, which means the continental US and most of Europe are not at risk of a missile fired from Iran.

The evidence we have seen so far is overwhelming that this war has little, if anything, to do with Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs. It DOES appear to be motivated by Israel's long-term plan for regime change and the US's decision to fight that battle with Israel. I agree we can disagree as to whether that justifies what we're doing, but I do think we need to be clear-eyed about why we're doing it. Failing to do that led to an absolute shitshow in Iraq, and this one has the potential to be much worse than that.

 

[Bobfripp]

you mind sharing why?

Sure. If the POTUS can't provide an explanation/justification for going to war with Iran other than the mixed messaging that Rubio and Trump gave (please see Trump, Rubio offer conflicting reasons for US entry into Iran war), and without congressional approval, why would anyone support it? At least Dubya gave a justification, albeit wrong, for going to war with Iraq. And I definitely didn't support that war.

Last I heard, Iran's nuclear capability was 'obliterated.' Is this not the case?

It's pretty clear Bibi/IDF wanted to take the opportunity to bomb Iran while it's weak, and the US got dragged into what should be an Israeli-Iran war. The US can still sell arms to Israel, but let Israel do the fighting, along with Saudi Arabia and any other ME state that feels threatened by Iran.

 

[Callatoroy]

As I've shared many times in my history n this board, I grew up a hardcore conservative in a hardcore conservative family in a hardcore conservative part of the state. I have also always been a military history nerd, specifically World War II, and so I distinctly remember being in middle school and being excited about the war in Iraq. We were going to get to use the big, bad U.S. military and go blow up the bad guys! I remember being excitedly glued to the TV in March 2003 on the first night that hostilities commenced, and I used to come home from school every afternoon and excitedly turn on the news to watch the coverage of the war.

Later the next year, after the second battle of Fallujah, what was left of one of my favorite cousins came home in a casket. That was the first taste of the horrors that come from war that I experienced.

In 2019 after my wife's medical school graduation we spent 6 weeks before she started residency traveling in Southeast Asia- Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. We went to the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and in Vietnam went to the Son My Massacre museum, the reconstructed My Lai village, and the nearby mass grave site. It's really difficult to even articulate how distressing and disturbing the images and artifacts were in each of those places, a painful reminder of war's unfathomable death and destruction. My wife has an uncle with whom I am particularly close, who was an Army Ranger in Vietnam in the 75th Infantry, who arrived at My Lai shortly after the massacre. Naturally he will not talk about it other than to say that he still sees the haunting images every single day in his mind more than 5 decades later.

I say all of that to say that I've long ago lost whatever bloodlust I had growing up as an ignorant, brainwashed asshole conservative who thought nothing of the U.S. bombing the shit out of people on the other side of the world. There is no justification for doing what we are currently doing in Iran. I don't necessarily have an issue with targeted, pinpoint strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities or missile batteries. I do have a major issue with indiscriminate carpet bombing of Tehran, a city of 10 million innocent people. I do have a major issue with the bombing of an elementary school (whether accidental or otherwise). I do have a major issue with the sinking of an unarmed Iranian naval vessel thousands of miles away from home, and then abandoning drowning sailors to their fate in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. I do have a major issue with the notion that yet again we are facing the prospect of putting American boots on the ground in the Middle East that will lead to the shedding of American blood, all in the name of a conflict that the overwhelming vast majority of Americans staunchly oppose.

I don't have all of the answers by any means, but I do know that the answer is not what we are currently doing and how we are currently doing it.

Your opinions seem to be born out of emotion, ignorance, and fear

Emotion - visited war torn sites and graves - lost bloodlust, think we are carpetbombing 10 million people, no justification despite having no knowledge, no answers but what we are doing is wrong
Ignorance - Nobody is carpet bombing (but iran - indiscriminate bombing of civilian sites), no knowledge or info on school bombing, no knowledge of the aftermath of sinking the WAR ship, no knowledge of iran's nuke capability at time of attack, no justification for bombing
Fear - prospect of putting American boots on the ground.

Not a single shred of any signs of knowledge or logic because your social media masters have you programmed to think like they want you to. Congratulations Dolly.

 

[CFordUNC]

Your opinions seem to be born out of emotion, ignorance, and fear

Emotion - visited war torn sites and graves - lost bloodlust, think we are carpetbombing 10 million people, no justification despite having no knowledge, no answers but what we are doing is wrong
Ignorance - Nobody is carpet bombing (but iran - indiscriminate bombing of civilian sites), no knowledge or info on school bombing, no knowledge of the aftermath of sinking the WAR ship, no knowledge of iran's nuke capability at time of attack, no justification for bombing
Fear - prospect of putting American boots on the ground.

Not a single shred of any signs of knowledge or logic because your social media masters have you programmed to think like they want you to. Congratulations Dolly.

Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry! You seem to keep laboring under the delusion that I give a shit what you think or that you bring any value to this thread, this board, or- and this is just an assumption- anyone in that angry and miserable little life you have, champ. Heavens to Betsy, please disabuse yourself of that notion as soon as you can. And try to find some peace- you seem to be struggling mightily lately. Praying for you.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Everything you just typed is wrong.



Population (Persians vs. Pashtuns, Tajiks), education, history, modernization, capability, isolation, population, civilization, military might (Iran has a military of > 600K), training, accessibility, topography are all absurdly different

The Persians owned a massive empire in flux with Babylonians, Greeks, etc. for thousands of years and later a major stop on the Silk Road.

I realize that many Americans (especially in the political party I left) can barely tell the difference between Semitic people (Arabs, Hebrews), Persians, Turks, Armenians, Pashtuns, Kurds, Punjabs, Ancestral North Indians and Ancestral South Indians)...but don't be so American.

I've worked with students and faculty from all over the Middle East and South Asia. The ancient rivalries/divides run deep.

What exactly are you saying is wrong? It looks like you just cut and pasted a Wikipedia article and a clip from Star wars.

That's about as insightful as your last comment that Iran is not afghanistan. I realize the students and faculty might be nice to you when you empty the trash cans in their classrooms but that doesn't make you a scholar on that region.

 

[CFordUNC]

Your opinions seem to be born out of emotion, ignorance, and fear

Emotion - visited war torn sites and graves - lost bloodlust, think we are carpetbombing 10 million people, no justification despite having no knowledge, no answers but what we are doing is wrong
Ignorance - Nobody is carpet bombing (but iran - indiscriminate bombing of civilian sites), no knowledge or info on school bombing, no knowledge of the aftermath of sinking the WAR ship, no knowledge of iran's nuke capability at time of attack, no justification for bombing
Fear - prospect of putting American boots on the ground.

Not a single shred of any signs of knowledge or logic because your social media masters have you programmed to think like they want you to. Congratulations Dolly.

For the rest of the board, just wanting to point out here the absurdity that this very small, very angry little man is somehow furious that I am afraid of putting U.S. boots on the ground in a country on the other side of the world where the scope, size, and terrain of the country alone makes tactical victory impossible, let alone the cultural catastrophe that it would cause.

Notice that he’s belittling someone for being emotionally moved by seeing a family member come home in a wooden box and expressing concern that many other young men and women may soon befall that same fate. Notice, too, that he’s belittling the emotion that comes with seeing firsthand some of the sites of the gravest wartime atrocities committed in the modern world.

This man is angry, bitter, and insecure- but more than that, he’s callous, cruel, inhumane, and generally just a nasty person. If prayer is your thing, join me in praying that he is soon relieved of the hatred and hostility that consumes him.

 

[superrific]

Not at all. I disagree on most political issues with Tig and Dr. Bob. I'm not insulting their opinions. I have a genuine interest in their opinions. What I mock is the mindless reposting of social media influencers who's sole intent is to stoke division and generate clicks / followers. Some of the stuff reposted on here is completely void of any intelligence but you guys seem to lap it up. If you disagree with my reply to Tig then explain where. I listed several reasons for my opinion. You obviously disagree with them so explain why. Simple.

What wmheel said.

The idea that the lawyers and intellectuals on this board are mindlessly regurgitating social media influencers is comical. That's how your people work. I don't form opinions without researching topics, without reading as much primary literature as possible, without looking at reality with my own eyes guided and informed by my experience and the work of experts who have contributed knowledge.

I can tell you why tariffs are bad. I know the economics cold. I know trade law. I don't hate tariffs because Trump. I hate tariffs because in the late 90s, as a free-trade skeptic, I read the economics literature. There is just no good argument for general tariffs. They are stupid. Full stop.

I can of course tell you why Trump's legal strategies are garbage. Again, I would be -- and occasionally am, when the situation arises -- critical of any liberal putting forward this stupid shit theory. It just doesn't come up very well.

You desperately, desperately want to view us as brainwashed in order to validate your own relative ignorance and lack of education. Tell stories to yourself all you want; it won't make you more informed.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Say what?

Iran actually shares a large border with Afghanistan. That's what I meant when I said that Iran is right next to afghanistan. They both share a somewhat similar geography in much of their land mass, mountainous and arid. And they both have a large Persian population. Afghanistan has like 30% of their population that would probably identify as Persian and Iran has about 60% of their population that would identify as Persian.