SpankyMcFarland

So here’s progress. The IDF now accepts the health ministry figure of 70,000 dead Palestinians as being substantially correct after disputing it for years. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-believes-70000-gazans-killed-in-war-as-claimed-

To answer the original question, ask them. We didn’t start the current trouble.

Russians have tended to be more authoritarian than Europeans farther west. The conquest of Poland was a disaster. The Russian empire never fully accepted the new subjects it absorbed, both Christian and Jewish but especially Jewish. We can see how Russia regards its non-Russian citizens in the current war. Their casualties don’t matter.

And who might I ask ‘shattered’ the Ottoman empire or did it fall off a sideboard and break of its own accord? The British invaded Palestine. What happened after WWI was rank hypocrisy - freedom for some imperial subjects, especially in Eastern Europe on the losing side, but precious little for those nations ruled by Wilson’s buddies. The British prevented the Irish delegation from formally presenting its case.

It began under the British.

Let’s be honest about other governments in the region across the Persian Gulf. Their biggest difference with Iran is in their enemy. They are theocratic tyrannies too.

History is full of discredited zombie regimes which go on ruling their unfortunate countries. Look how long the Assads lasted in Syria or the family outfit in North Korea. Belarus is another example. All three had powerful backers. Iran has never wanted to be a satellite - its suspicion of Russia runs centuries deep - but the conflict with America has forced the mullahs into close relations with first Putin and now the godless PRC. So far the government seems to have a near monopoly on deadly force and, unlike Assad and Lukashenko, it still enjoys some support among less educated people who fear change. These are two powerful advantages. Combine them with Chinese-made surveillance and you have a formula for years more of misery. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Something that needs to be faced - America is in relative decline. This is behind a lot of the aggression we are seeing at the moment. Their country is in the Anglo-Boer War stage, picking fights with much smaller countries. They need to acknowledge what’s happening down there before they get to a Suez Crisis.

North American expectations have become unreasonable. We may mock tv commercials but we absorb the deeper message that we can have everything we want right now. This is a contributor to many problems we have on both sides of the border - deficits, housing, opioids. We live for today and way beyond our means. Instead of sorting out Europe, let’s fix ourselves first.

It’s like how nobody in China dares call Xi a dictator because he hates it …and he’s a dictator. Hoekstra claims he can’t understand why we are getting so emotional up here as he openly threatens us.

The Arab states don’t want to be involved in a strike on Iran: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2026/01/26/762978/UAE-will-not--allow--airspace-territory-used-anti-Iran-attacks Iran could retaliate against them with missile strikes. Also many have restive Shia populations. I’d say they prefer a weak theocracy to a vibrant democracy next door. That freedom message could spread and who would want that?

We are not the 51st state yet. Anybody who can’t clearly and unequivocally reject that slander as loudly as possible should leave our country. We have allowed ourselves to become too dependent on one foreign state and now we are paying for that because they have betrayed our trust and are cynically exploiting that vulnerability. Now is the time to adjust our trade practices - not surrender to a foreign power. My own trans support page. C’mon people, your trolling needs to improve.

We are still a sovereign nation last time I looked. Let’s not throw the game before it starts.

Something is deeply wrong with the world when the US president seems angrier with an ally for trading with China than he is with China itself.

I agree a secular democracy would be far better. Iranians have suffered enough. Their wishes are pretty clear at this point.

River to the sea? You know Likud was keen on something of that sort for a very long time? In their original party platform it was right at the top of the agenda: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/original-party-platform-of-the-likud-party Personally, I think actions are more serious than words.

In 1979, a terminally ill ruler lost control against a united opposition. Khomeini was a brilliant tactician, up there with Lenin, and was able to keep the socialists and liberals, whom he hated with a passion, on board until he longer needed them. The subsequent government was exquisitely aware of these events and has spent decades ensuring there would be no repeat. Indeed, maintaining power has been its outstanding achievement among a litany of failures. One key advance has been in control of the Internet which must have involved assistance from China. Expect a level of surveillance in the future that will rival that seen in China or Palestine. One hope would be that the regime’s own leaders reject a future as an impoverished Chinese satellite and move to a more secular state. This may well be authoritarian, however.

I believe in secular social democracy as the best form of government but the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. As in the US, many Iranians are deeply religious. Most have known nothing but theocracy their entire lives. Have you followed Sistani’s conduct in Iraq and compared it to the mullahs in Iran? Perhaps you should examine that first. From Google AI: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the most influential, non-state political actor in post-2003 Iraq, acting as the supreme Shiite religious authority (Marja’iyya) that provides moral guidance, political stability, and legitimacy to the government . While not holding office, he has influenced constitutional development, endorsed elections, and mobilized against ISIS in 2014. Key Roles and Influence: Ultimate Arbiter: Sistani intervenes during critical crises to guide, calm, or legitimize political action, including mediating during the 2004 Najaf standoff and urging the appointment of new leadership in 2014. Constitutional and Electoral Authority: He played a pivotal role in ensuring that Iraq’s transition was democratic by demanding elections for a constituent assembly over an appointed council in 2003-2004. Anti-ISIS and National Unity: In 2014, his fatwa for "defensive jihad" against ISIS galvanized Iraqi security forces and volunteers, crossing sectarian lines to prevent further fragmentation. Political Accountability and Reform: Sistani has consistently criticized corruption and, in 2019, supported protests demanding reforms, putting pressure on the ruling political class to improve service delivery and governance. Check on Foreign Influence: As a senior cleric based in Najaf, he acts as a counterweight to Iranian influence, emphasizing a nationalist, independent Iraqi trajectory. Sistani maintains a "quietist" approach, avoiding daily governance, but acts decisively to prevent national collapse or major injustice. So unlike Khamanei he is not involved in the day to day running of the country and cannot be described as slaughtering people. Indeed he has had a polite but public disagreement with Iran on this very matter, preferring a quietist role as described above. Somebody like him would be a distinct improvement in Iran, not ideal but moving in the right direction. In this way Iran might avoid a civil war along Libyan lines, terrorism along Iraqi lines etc. and perhaps the break-up of the state.

Not to quibble but isn’t 20% of our total area just under 2 million square kms, closer to Mexico or Indonesia than France and not far off Greenland’s size?

What a load of cliches, the sort of thing Charles Krauthammer made popular decades ago. He has the gall to criticize Carney standing up for Canada after Trump has repeatedly threatened our very existence? Behind the fancy words, he’s just another supporter of a foreign power telling us we should do as we are told. Unfortunately, there seem to be quite a few surrender monkeys on this side of the border all too willing to fall in line. I see in another tweet he mentions how clever the people are in Trump’s cabinet. Yet these geniuses tell preposterous lies on a daily basis for their grotesque master. What Americans need to understand is that the competition with China is primarily over technology rather than territory. This isn’t 1920. All the oil in Venezuela, minerals in Greenland and land in Canada will mean nothing if Chinese scientists leap ahead. Also bear in mind that the arrogance of Athens was resented by many Greeks and contributed to its defeat by Sparta.

Trump just keeps on behaving somewhere between a ten year old and Tony Soprano, referring to Governor Carney and how we should be grateful in Canada. I’m not sure how we can negotiate a trade deal with a person who doesn’t respect our institutions or even our country.

So if fertility rates stay down would you like to see an increase in immigration?

How do the Trumpsters rationalize that?

After the Greenland saga and the utterly disgraceful comments about European soldiers in Afghanistan, I hope the oddly persistent delusion that Trump is a friend of Europe’s is well and truly gone from the mind of any reasonable person. Relying on US military equipment or high tech is no longer a safe option for any country.

It’s all our fault. We are to blame for anything America does to us.