๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Every time someone trots out the Crusades to lecture Christians or the West, they leave out four centuries of history. I'm putting it back on the record.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ
Muhammad died in 632. Within three years, Muslim armies had taken Damascus (635). The next year, Antioch (636). The year after that, the entire Holy Land (637) โ the spiritual center of Christendom, gone. Armenia became the first Christian nation fully conquered (639). Egypt, the Coptic Christian power, fell two years later (641). By 650, Muslim forces had reached southern Italy and Cyprus, taking thousands of captives as "๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด" and "๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ถ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด." Then came Spain โ Muslim armies crossed from North Africa in 711 and overran most of Iberia by 715.
In roughly 80 years, Christianity lost the Middle East, North Africa, and most of the Iberian Peninsula.
๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ โ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ
This was not exploration. This was conquest. In 717, Muslim forces besieged Constantinople itself โ the capital of Eastern Christendom. The siege lasted a year before they were repelled. Had it succeeded, the path into Europe would have been wide open.
In 730, they invaded France. Charles Martel stopped them at Tours. In 792, the ruler of Al-Andalus called for a second invasion of France. Repelled. In 848, a third invasion of France. Repelled again.
In 827, Muslims invaded Sicily and Italy, persecuting monks and pillaging Christian communities. Sicily would remain under Islamic rule for 250 years. In 846, they invaded Rome itself and forced the Pope to pay tribute. By 909, they had taken Sardinia.
This was relentless, coordinated, and existential.
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ
In 937, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher โ built over the site Christians believe is the tomb of Christ โ was burned to the ground. More churches in Jerusalem were torched alongside it. In 1009, the Church of the Resurrection was destroyed. By 1012, Al-Hakim's oppressive decrees against Christians had begun in earnest.
Christian pilgrims could no longer safely visit the sites of Christ's ministry. The holiest city in Christendom was ruled by a hostile power systematically destroying the faith itself.
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ
In 1071, Muslim Turkish forces shattered the Byzantine army at Manzikert and occupied most of Anatolia. Constantinople was now directly threatened.
In 1094, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent envoys to Rome begging Western Christendom for military aid.
In 1095, Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade.
๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐. ๐๐ก๐ซ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐. ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ.
First observation: there will be no deal. The ceasefire will end & the war will re-commence.
Second observation: the US has been flooding the Theater with reinforcements, resupplies & performing maintenance on air assets non-stop, & re-arming warships. The force is ready & its larger than its ever been.
Third observation: every key player left in the regime surfaced from their hide holes & safe houses during this ceasefire. The regime โnegotiationโ team sent to stall America. The IRGC thugs who showed up in Islamabad to stop the Iranian Regime delegation from making any deals. The midlevel staffers going between the IRGC thug leadership & the IRGC cannon fodder still shooting at ships.
All of them broke cover & came back up on the grid. From that point on, they were visible to the human intelligence networks watching them, the persistent ISR assets watching 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without pauseโ spy satellites, stealth & non stealth drones, manned reconnaissance aircraft. From the moment this ceasefire started, everyone who is a key player in Iranโs continued resistance came back on the grid & have been surveilled ever since.
The intelligence mosaic is fully fleshed out & these targets are being tracked in real time, and the strike plans created with the help of AI are already set & planned.
When the ceasefire ends, the strikes will be begin with such rapid speed, & precision it will be much more savage & fearsome than the first round.
Fourth observation: Iran received drones, SAM missile systems & radars & intelligence from China during this ceasefire & this is still ongoing. This is whatโs driving the remnants of the IRGC to continue the war. They do not fully comprehend what is set to take place, or how completely unable to counter it or survive it they are. Thatโs partly due to history, partly due to institutional arrogance of IRGC, & partly & most importantly because China & Russia simply do not understand our full capabilitiesโ in terms of intelligence collection, planning, speed we can act on those things, & how good our situational awareness of the battlefield is.
That last one is the key: the disconnectโ how clear & complete our granular picture all the way up to the grand strategic picture is, compared to how blinded & how fragmented the situational awareness of the Iranians is.
That last part is what really, really scares Russia & Chinaโ the vast gap in cognitive capabilities & situational awareness capabilites between the US & them scares them because its a gap they cant bridge, & beyond that the speed we can act on that clear picture is something they cant match.
This war is going to restart after the ceasefire ends, & all hell is going to break looseโ & the ferocity of what comes next is going to genuinely surprise the IRGC fanatics driving events in this direction.
๐จ SPOT THE DIFFERENCE?
Biden:
Pushed abortion
Jailed pro-lifers
Promoted child mutilation
Men in womenโs spaces/sports
Trans ideology on Easter
Trump:
Overturned Roe v Wade
Spoke at March for Life
Banned men in womenโs sports
Banned child mutilation
Pardoned pro-life activists
Yesterday we watched Trump claim that Iran has "agreed to everything": uranium handover, indefinite nuclear suspension, open Strait, blockade ending on signing.
Then Iran denied most of it, which might be confusing to you. Let me explain what Trump is doing, because its next level negotiating.
Trump is practicing what I call an Affirmative Close. Think affirmations, but for high-stakes deal making.
Instead of saying โIran will agreeโ or โWeโre trying to reach a deal,โ Trump is framing the entire outcome as if it has already happened. Trump is declaring everything done deal, repeatedly and confidently, in front of the world.
This isnโt accidental or delusional. Itโs a deliberate psychological technique. By stating the agreement as an established fact over and over, Trump is doing several things at once:
- Heโs shaping the narrative and controlling the conversation. Once something is repeated often enough as truth, it starts to feel inevitable to observers, and even Iran.
- Heโs putting enormous public pressure on Iran. When Trump announces to the planet that Iran has already conceded on their most sensitive issues, it becomes politically and diplomatically costly for Iran to walk it back without looking weak or dishonest.
- Heโs creating momentum. In negotiations, momentum is everything. By acting as if the deal is sealed, Trump makes it psychologically harder for Iran. Trump is framing it as the deal is closed, so is Iran really going to go back and choose more bombings?
- Heโs signaling strength and confidence to his own base, to allies, and to adversaries alike. It projects total dominance: โThis is happening. The only question is how gracefully you accept it.โ
Iran is denying the exact things Trump is claiming they've agreed to. You should view this as Iran entering Trump's frame. That's what Trump wants. When your opponent enters the frame, your moving them closer to accepting what you want.
Every time you see Iran deny a point Trump has made publicly, what they are doing is signaling that they are ready for the next round of talks- whether they know that or not.
You also need to see Trump's Affirmative Close comments as setting the negotiation table for the next round of these talks.
You will see this pattern repeat every time an international deal is about to close.
Things are going to accelerate fast now. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
@NormalDemocrats No. Because NGOs and fraudulent government subsidies that come back as political donations have been shut down. Including (illicit) funding through ActBlue is now being scrutinized and traced to (illegal) source.
@YossiAmar_ All thisโฆ
But if you listen to @megynkelly or @TuckerCarlson and their ilk, it all simplifies to โthe Strait was open before and now itโs open againโ. lol
@david_eng_mba โShare of global portfolios todayโ metric is grossly overrated given how few people have any exposure at all. Most bitcoin is still concentrated in very few hands.