John

IRL occupied

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

WHY I SUPPORT ISRAEL’S RECENT ACTIONS IN IRAN
By Cynical Publius

As a veteran who frequently rails against what I call “useless, endless wars,” I feel a duty to explain my seemingly contradictory position of supporting Israel’s recent kinetic actions in Iran.

First, by “useless, endless wars,” I am specifically referring to the expenditure of American blood and/or treasure in a war that ultimately does not serve the national security interests of the USA.

Examples:

-Squandering American lives in a futile and unwinnable effort to transform a medieval society of deranged, violent goat herders and opium growers (who also practice actual slavery and bacha bāzī (Google it), and who have an utter disregard for human life) is a “useless, endless war.”

-Invading Iraq with zero plan to install a new government, and then dragging out a guerilla conflict for over a decade under the inept leadership of generals trained to fight the Soviet Union in the Fulda Gap, and then cutting and running when it was finally possible for strategic, pro-USA objectives to be achieved, is a “useless, endless war.”

-Sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to the steppes of Ukraine in an effort to interject NATO into a war between two corrupt oligarchies (in a conflict that has literally spanned thousands of years, on and off), while never promoting a single, meaningful strategic national security objective of the USA, while simultaneously increasing the chances of a humanity-destroying global, thermonuclear war is a “useless, endless war.”

So how are Israel's actions in blowing up Iran’s nuclear and command/control capabilities any different?

I’ll explain:

1. There are no American boots on the ground in Iran, nor are there likely to be. America’s only direct involvement in the conflict is to assist the Israelis with purely defensive, land- and sea-based missile/drone defense units and ships, in or near Israel.

2. America has been engaged in low-intensity military conflict with the Iranian regime continuously since 1979.

3. Iran has killed many American troops, and by that I mean MANY AMERICAN TROOPS. I vividly remember sitting in Iraq in 2003 as CNN and Democrat politicians assured us on satellite television that Iran was not supplying Iraqi insurgents, while LITERALLY AT THE EXACT SAME TIME AS THAT BROADCAST I was staring at cases of RPGs and 82mm mortar rounds we had just captured from Iraqi insurgents, all with Iranian Army markings on the wooden cases.

4. Iran literally has a national holiday called “Death to America Day.”

5. Iran has been working feverishly for years to produce nuclear weapons and has been absolutely unwilling to enter into any international agreement that would fully prevent them from gaining such capability. Specifically, they have been unwilling to accept an inspection regime that would fully prevent them from achieving nuclear capability.

6. Iran’s leadership has specifically and repeatedly pledged to use nuclear weapons on Israel. A nuclear war between Iran and Israel is in no one’s interest. Moreover, given Iran’s desire for “Death to America,” it is not unreasonable to assume that our nation would also be the target of an eventual nuclear attack, killing many millions of American citizens.

7. There is no “realpolitik” here. The Iranian mullahs cannot be reasoned with from a position of rational self-interest, as could even the Soviet Union in its heyday. Instead the Iranian government is solely motivated by a vision of Shia Islam forcibly dominating the world. Moreover, they believe that the “Twelfth Imam” (Google it) will someday come to usher in the end times. An apocalyptic religious death cult is not a group you want possessing nuclear weapons, plain and simple.

8. Israel’s attacks have been limited to military and nuclear targets. Unlike the unguided missiles randomly launched at civilians in Israel by Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel is not launching terror attacks against the civilian population in Iran.

9. There is a non-zero chance that Israel’s actions will result in an internal overthrow of the mullahs by peace-loving Persians, ending the threat this nation has represented to world peace since 1979, and helping Iran rejoin the family of nations.

In summary, Israel is putting its OWN BLOOD AND TREASURE on the line in a military effort that clearly and unequivocally serves the USA’s national interests.

Iran’s government (not its people) is a crazed long-term foe that is centered on apocalyptic religious zealotry and seeks capabilities that could literally end civilization.

Israel is doing the USA, the world and civilized peoples everywhere a huge favor by eliminating that risk, and it is bearing the cost almost exclusively by itself. Israel is putting its civilian population at risk as a worldwide public service, truly. (Don't believe me? Witness the Tel Aviv civilian apartment complex wrecked a few hours ago by unguided Iranian ballistic missiles.)

I salute Israel's actions, and I do so as a patriotic American veteran who hates war. Eradicating Iran’s nuclear capability and military command and control infrastructure is for the benefit of Israel, of course. But it is also to the great benefit of the USA and all of humanity. It’s not a “useless, endless war.”

If you are someone who despises Israel for whatever reason, I urge you to consider this conflict objectively, and realize what a great service Israel is doing for the USA.

Thank you Israel.

[John @antiwarwarvet]

#FreeRoss

[John @antiwarwarvet]

@dash_eats This fatwa payout better not be 70’s thrift yields

[John @antiwarwarvet]

@michaelmalice Time, Clots, and Shots: Brain Death and The Second Enlightenment

[Titania McGrath @TitaniaMcGrath]

This could go on for some time...

[Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi]

How is this not a huge story?

[The Anarchist Anabaptist (cody cook) @CantusFirmusCC]

I was recently a guest on @Way4th podcast to discuss why theologically conservative Christians like myself should be Christian anarchists who support nonviolence. Other recent episodes included my friends @antiwarwarvet and Aree Spivey. Check it out!

https://t.co/E7xpFQKYn6

[John @antiwarwarvet]

I see what you did there queen! #murdershewrote

[John @antiwarwarvet]

State propaganda is so pernicious bc of Ivy-wrapped water-carriers at NYT, etc

Trump roasts Hillary and we’re to drip with righteous indignation for “decorum!”

Scranton-scented mafioso swats Trump on pretenses so lame you forgot his aviators?

5k CIA OK words standing by

[John @antiwarwarvet]

“The previously unreported volume of the sensitive material found in the former president’s possession in January helps explain why the Justice Department moved so urgently to hunt down any further classified materials he might have.”

Published with a straight face on Aug 22

[John @antiwarwarvet]

Not to mention that if this were the fruits of a frenetic fed working to secure NatSec documents from the debauched orgy that is Mar-a-Lago - following facts no matter the cost - it took 30 odd agents 8 months to mobilize and 12 hours to come up empty-handed without an inventory?

[John @antiwarwarvet]

To be clear:

seeing how’s I’m terribly naive and uninitiated in matters of high-minded legal matters

the explosive collection of Jan. documents that spurned 8 manic months of stone-turning drama and culminated in Hail Mary swat raid on former POTUS, was itself secured by raid?

[Eric Weinstein @ericweinstein]

The most powerful idea I’ve had to liberate us all from the endless tyranny of cancel culture: Authoritarians really have only *one* single trick that works. For some reason I was never able to explain this properly.

That just got fixed by @JakeOrthwein:

https://t.co/8s8vRKlcxk

[John @antiwarwarvet]

“Republicans are worse than ISIS,” says retired spy chief 🤡

[John @antiwarwarvet]

…”And it even stands in contrast to her amended statement that she never knowingly sent or received any classified information.”
@ChrisCillizza

[John @antiwarwarvet]

Brazen attempt to spin political operative lawyer into Platonic ideal? Sad!

Rationalizing FBI raid of Trump over ? of mishandled classified docs though he won POTUS, in part, bc of Hillary’s exoneration for doing so knowingly and lying about it?
Winning! https://t.co/72PTrXpP3d

[John @antiwarwarvet]

https://t.co/WktlnS1N2f

“Most importantly, Comey said the FBI found 110 emails on Clinton's server that were classified at the time they were sent or received. That stands in direct contradiction to Clinton’s repeated insistence she never sent or received any classified emails.“

[John @antiwarwarvet]

@thatjenmonroe Probably right. I’ll take a performer over a true believer in statecraft like McCain quietly occupying the other two thirds.