At the Acropolis, Marco Rubio (mis)presents the history of the West - from ancient Greece to the contemporary United States - as a single, seamless continuum. This is the logic of anachronism: a distortion of historical time produced by the careless fusion of categories such as Greece, Rome, Christianity, Europe, America, and, ultimately, “America First.” It is as if America has finally discovered that 'intimidation' can be staged more effectively beneath the neon lights of a philosophy of history than in the bare idiom of the cowboy.
Rubio lifts the Greek concept of 'thumos' out of its historical and philosophical setting and recasts it as a celebration of power - of force exercised without law or justice - along with competition and national will. That reading misses a constitutive half of the Greek inheritance. Greece was not only a theater of power and glory. It was also the birthplace of the tragedy of hubris and aggression, from the myth of Troy and Homer’s Iliad; of the critique of imperial ambition in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War; of political philosophy in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics; and of enduring meditations on the limits of power, moral responsibility, and human fate in Sophocles’ Antigone and Oedipus Rex.
This other half of the Greek legacy is deliberately omitted from Rubio’s narrative. History is thereby converted from a field of inquiry and critical reflection into an instrument of political legitimation. What emerges is not a philosophy of history, but a manufactured narrative designed to authorize U.S. militancy and to construct a convenient political myth: a distorted reconstruction of the past in which the politics of the present are made to appear inevitable and historically ordained. Once history is pressed into the service of legitimizing power—the unlawful and unjust use of force—its purpose is no longer to understand the past, but to glorify power itself.
Vasily Vereshchagin’s The Apotheosis of War offers a stark counter-image. Its pyramid of skulls, left behind by conquerors, confronts the mythology of glory with the material residue of conquest. It recalls what remains when history is reduced to the exaltation of power.
At such a juncture, Western thinkers have a responsibility to defend history itself - and the philosophical complexity of Western civilization - against a distorted and apologetic reinterpretation by an aggressive power prepared to sacrifice a civilization’s human achievements in order to legitimize the unrestrained exercise of force.
The danger lies not merely in misreading the past, but in appropriating it to authorize that force, and to aggrandize it, in the present.
@imetatronink The US military is little more than a glorified PMC now. Every level of it is privatized and its private producers are detached in objective from it's enlisted/commissioned personnel. The producers could care less what or how the buyer does, only their profit margins matter.
@bonzerbarry Venezuela's oil infrastructure is in such bad shape that it would take a ton of investment and time to make it export viable again. It's unlikely any Western companies would be interested in that task.
@FouadHalwa97474@bonzerbarry Not necessary to go that far. Taking out Akrotiri would be even more effective since support aircraft for Israeli ops in Gaza fly from there.
The US Secretary of the Treasury has boasted of “suffocating” Iran through economic sanctions.
Beyond its sheer pathos, the claim is a stark testament to America’s compulsive addiction to sanctions. Whenever Washington proves itself incapable of pursuing diplomacy, it retreats into sanctions; and whenever those sanctions fail to produce results, it simply increases the dose.
This is no longer 'policy'—it is 'habit'; and more dangerously still, it is an addiction that has displaced thought itself.
Iran has demonstrated over decades that it will not be strangled by these exhausted refrains. The real risk is that American politicians, clinging to this bad habit, will instead strangle their own remaining chances of a less humiliating exit from a crisis of their own making.
@BowTiedLobster@bonzerbarry The only real way Trump could shake things up is to use nukes and that's not happening because the US capitalist class are not willing to accept that level of risk which would hit closer to home. The US' conventional options are too limited at this point.
@shreddedshredz@DoctorDolittl14 Diego Garcia would not only be much farther away it is also a very isolated island chain. Running their whole war effort from there would be a major logistical problem for the US.
@bonzerbarry Pakistan won't do anything. They're having enough trouble fighting Afghanistan and don't have the financial or logistical ability to operate that far away.
@amalsaad_lb The Lebanese military is a joke and the Christian militias disbanded decades ago. The US not only tried this before during the civil war but also sent its own personnel. Hezbollah is far stronger now and the US/Israel far weaker. Don't confuse desperation with strength.
"People in the UAE have always respected Muslims living in the West."
The UAE paid €5.7 million to a Swiss intelligence firm to compile secret dossiers on 1,000+ European Muslims and label them extremists. The European Parliament opened an inquiry into it.
A Dubai investment firm co-owns GB News, the channel that calls for Muslims to be deported from Europe. This is not a fringe opinion. This is UAE foreign policy.
With respect, you don't get to say this with a straight face.
To our people in Gaza,
We want to alert you to a new project called “Adam” that has recently been launched. It claims to help you receive donations for your appeals. However, this project is being set up by a “former” Israeli Unit 8200 officer, with the goal of building a large network of contacts inside Gaza. He requires people to go through his project’s verification process before he will share their appeals.
Please do not participate in this. There is no need to be verified by this former Israeli intelligence officer, and we strongly advise you against it. Many well-established and trustworthy initiatives are already successfully sharing and promoting appeals from Gaza.
May God protect you and keep you safe from harm as you navigate these difficult times.
After leaving OPEC, the UAE can now freely increase its oil production, thanks to the Fujairah Pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.
The Emirates had planned and developed this independent export route for years, enabling it to add up to 2 million barrels per day.
A strategic game-changer in global oil markets that could help break the grip of high prices 😎
Fascinating footage released by the IRGC of a class at the org's staff college in the 90s, where future IRGC leader Hossein Salami teaches a course on asymmetric warfare, teaching officers how to drag out a war with the US by driving up economic costs and political turmoil.
@bonzerbarry Expect to see further eroding of UAE relations with Saudi Arabia. They were already at odds over Yemen, this will make it worse. Wouldn't be surprised if it creates a sort of GCC "cold war" between these two.
Hadashot BezMen: For over a week now, the IDF has been withdrawing armored forces from Lebanon while telling you fairy tales about conquering territories.
In reality, they are flattening them as they did in Gaza, not conquering or holding them.
Honestly, we left from there the same way we entered — Hamas controls and is strong!!!!!!!
So Hezbollah will remain strong and in control, and so will Iran.
The lies they sell us about heroism and battles — Hezbollah fights and does not run away. These are stories from the government and the IDF spokesperson, and I won’t elaborate.
The naval commandos disaster almost happened again about two weeks ago; by a miracle, we came out with only one soldier killed, and the Litani operation was almost canceled!!!!!
Hezbollah’s ambushes with mortars and anti-tank weapons are no less dangerous than our planes with half-ton bombs.
The residents of the north have again been sold out for political survival by politicians who incite them and others.
I once wrote that it’s better to die for Netanyahu; I was not wrong.
Our soldiers do not die for the country; they die for the regime.
And that’s sad. Both in Gaza and Lebanon, it’s the same strategy.
Did you think we won?
I don’t think we won by destroying villages and residential areas; it’s only temporary until they are rebuilt, even if the reconstruction takes several years.
In the end, Hezbollah and Hamas will return to the borders and their combat and rocket capabilities.
Don’t believe the stories about annihilation, victory, etc.
Maybe the “absolute victory” is up Netanyahu’s annoyed ass.
Tunnels crossing the border into Israel? I heard there was only one in some speech...
There were many tunnels that were sealed, and maybe there are more, including at Rosh Hanikra, where soldiers were also killed in a tunnel.
Censorship?
The enemy knows almost everything; it mainly exists so you won’t know how dangerous it still is to live on the northern border today.
Blind faith in the authorities is the greatest enemy of the truth!!!
In 80% of the information coming in recent years, Hezbollah and Hamas are more reliable than all the security spokespersons of the Prime Minister’s Office!!!
Censorship!!!
They are not allowed to tell you the truth, even in the numbers of wounded in clashes, they manipulate and reduce reports so your spirits won’t fall!!!
They call it resilience on the home front.
And the saddest thing is that senior journalists cooperate so you won’t know the truth, and in return, they get scoops or visits to the squadron.