S. McMetal

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Just finished reading Craig Whitlock's The Afghanistan Papers, a book I believe will go down as the definitive account of the war in Afghanistan for generations to come. I'll be sharing some excerpts of the book in this thread.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

@MesoAnglic @MarkGaleotti

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

This is literally the best book ever btw

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Of all the things islamists can get worked up over, it's the clothing and behavior of women that they tend to fixate on the most. Islamism as actually practiced is usually just incel proclivities dressed up in a religious garb.
https://t.co/a63W03ZPUr

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

If you're smart and well read like me, then that stuff obviously shouldn't be surprising. From an evolutionary perspective, it makes perfect sense for men to police women's vaginas, particularly if they're dumb and low on socioeconomic status. https://t.co/35dMOj8kJv

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

@RichardHanania They're so conscientious when it comes to enforcing rules about rest and vacations. Would be funny if it didn't have such a terrible effect on their economy.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Bureaucracy, tariffs, and import restrictions hindering reconstruction in East Syria. Reminder that Syria's transition to a liberal market economy is more imaginary than real.

[Naher Media - نهر ميديا @nahermedia]

ارتفاع أسعار مواد البناء يثقل كاهل العائدين من النزوح في #دير_الزور.
#نهر_ميديا
رابط يوتيوب :
https://t.co/lxqPebCDs7

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

@TheNCSmaster Same for physical discs probably. The normies will care about that as much as they did about phones ditching headphone jacks.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

@3_bm15 Wonder why they're using drones instead of submarines or ship launched missiles.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

The guy had a very visible presence as this audacious face of regime propaganda, but that's all he had going on for him. Hardly anyone took up arms after listening to his sermons.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

I'm not really sure what grounds there is to put this guy on trial, other than people just not liking him. Brazen regime shill, yeah sure, but the guy didn't really have much impact on the ground.
https://t.co/cdjyfpFbBQ

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

The vast majority of ordinary Syrians, including those on the government camp, were indifferent to government propaganda beyond the earliest stages of the war, which at this point is just ancient history.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Typos is how you know all my tweets are real at least

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Pet, not pit 🫪

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

A pit peeve of mine is people sharing and amplifying accounts like this. There are no links, and no known individuals affiliated with this account. Their content is likely entirely AI generated.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

They seem harmless enough I guess, but it just feels off to me. Why not follow real journalists and real researchers instead?

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

A pit peeve of mine is people sharing and amplifying accounts like this. There are no links, and no known individuals affiliated with this account. Their content is likely entirely AI generated.

[The Hormuz Letter @HormuzLetter]

BREAKING: Trump has formally restarted the war with Iran, in a letter sent to congress on Friday July 10th.

Trump said minutes ago the US will hit Iran "hard" tonight and tomorrow, adding "the MOU was only a test for Iran."

Trump also announced he will address the nation on Thursday evening at 9 PM ET.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

I bring this up because military strength is the most accurate proxy for a nation's economic and scientific might. Pre-modern Persia was slightly superior to its neighbors, and vastly inferior to Europe. Kinda just like today!

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Iranians have a massively overinflated sense of their country's historical achievements. At its historical and civilizational peak, Persia failed to conquer a squabbling coalition of much smaller Greek states, and was then causally conquered by Alexander not too long afterwards.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

When fighting the Persians, the troops Alexander's armies feared the most were the Persian king's Greek mercenaries. Without them, the empire would've probably come down even quicker.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Everywhere you go you see shops and small residential buildings popping up. Worrying about how to catch a bus to Damascus is now a thing of the past.

[S. McMetal @cryptochondrion]

Despite the economy still being terrible, you constantly see little improvements in life in Syria. Today for example, a new garbage truck started operating in the town where I live. The supply of electricity has improved massively in the past few weeks