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Monitoring the situation in Iran

Uhhh, not gonna agree with you on this one. Clausewitz wrote On War in the 1830's, 200 years ago. Sun Tzu and his fellow strategists were over a THOUSAND years ago. Many many writers link policy and war as a single operation, just with different tools and objectives. Alexander the Great wasn't waging war for the thrills, he was doing it in order to subject new lands to his rule, supplant leadership with ones favorable to him, and to extract treaties and tithes.

Bombing anything military looking with a IRG flag on it isn't gonna do shit to Iran except throw it into lawless chaos in which a worse, far more aggressive, demon will emerge. Trump ABSOLUTELY should have political goals in mind and be directing his generals/admirals to develop and complete military objectives that work to achieve those political ends.
Fair enough. I never thought at that saying much before but it has merit

I guess my statement was more that for the military people who are doing the fighting, all they care about is the military objectives. I wasn't trying to imply that Trump doesn't have more to think about beyond blowing the IRGC up but I'm also interested in seeing what he wants to do with Iran after the bombs stop falling
 
Bombing anything military looking with a IRG flag on it isn't gonna do shit to Iran except throw it into lawless chaos in which a worse, far more aggressive, demon will emerge. Trump ABSOLUTELY should have political goals in mind and be directing his generals/admirals to develop and complete military objectives that work to achieve those political ends.

They state the goal isn't regime change when it obviously is. They want a change in leadership, and they want this political goal without inserting Americans on the ground in Iran. I'm not sure how feasible it is to blow everything up and then merely hope that the right people take over. Trump and Hegseth are either lying about not putting boots on the ground, or are going to slowly ease the narrative into that direction. I can't imagine that they actually believe that hoping their political goals will be achieved without boots on the ground is remotely possible. But maybe I'm wrong and it actually is.
 
Trump/Rubio has said multiple times in press interviews the goal is to eradicate Iran's missile and nuclear capabilities. This includes destroying the manufacturing of missiles/drones/etc during the opportunity while we currently have complete air/intelligence superiority. Trump has said this will take several weeks but are ahead of schedule on those objectives. Regime change is up to the Iranians and while the US would prefer it happens now during this time and under their terms, they may have to settle for the IRGC being more compliant after weeks of infrastructure/leadership massacres.
 
They are laughing and having a good time watching their city getting bombed. What a hell.
Their family members are summarily executed, their wives, daughters, stoned to death for speaking out, showing their bodies, made to marry men they do not want to, etc.

So much more, brother. It's hard to imagine living as a slave to older men who can use you and abuse you at will. Your life is somewhat meaningless. My first dets to the Middle East and once you get out of places like Baghdad and Ramadi, or Mazar and Kandahar in Afghan, everything is remote, with mostly no running water, electricity, no bathrooms, showers, schools, hospitals, police, there is absolutely nothing but them folks and the wild around them.

The women constantly asked to be taken from those places along with the children, their faces that they know there future is nonexistent. It is a very hard existence or those folks and life can be short lived, depending on the wind shifts, what tribes are warring. Looking in their eyes everyday was pure hurt for them.

This is a world you have probably never seen up close and they see no living for the future, they only see living in the moment for survival.

They hope, they pray, the beg for someone to come and help them make freedom more than a whisper between children in a classroom.

Millions of good folks over there, that are trapped every second in of their lives in fear of being beaten to death, or executed or TV as an example to others.

My apologies, so long. There is much more to say, but I'm sure you get the point. One of the greatest honors and privileges of my life was living with these folks in remote villages and helping them see their children the next day.

Often terrorist would go through the villages out there and any men that wouldn't fight with them, they would behead them in front of their families, nice and slow, then cut the breasts off of women that had newborns so they couldn't feed their newborns and they would often starve.

Again, sorry for the rambling. Some people would just give anything to fill your lungs with free air, just once.
 
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I'm so glad Middle Eastern military types are incredible arrogant and delusional. Makes the job way easier.

Same story from the gulf war. "The gulf will flow with rivers of American blood." lmao, they didn't last hours, a million man army wiped the fuck out begging to surrender.

Begging.
 
The missile output is ofc dropping as they lose the means to fire them, but there may also be an element of them deciding its a better option now to keep what they have left until the current conflict is over, rather than keep deploying them only to get immediately destroyed from the air with very little benefit.

The conflict not necessarily being existential for the regime allows for this. This could be good in one sense if it reduces the volume of missile fire having to be faced now, but bad in the sense that it will make achieving the stated objective of destroying their missiles harder.

Regime change so far seems to be considered a 'nice to have' rather than a critical objective of the mission. If the regime is overthrown, great, and this seems to be the preferred outcome. If the regime remains in power but with a devastated leadership class and ruling over a pile of rubble, it seems that will be considered an acceptable outcome too.
 
The missile output is ofc dropping as they lose the means to fire them, but there may also be an element of them deciding its a better option now to keep what they have left until the current conflict is over, rather than keep deploying them only to get immediately destroyed from the air with very little benefit.

The conflict not necessarily being existential for the regime allows for this. This could be good in one sense if it reduces the volume of missile fire having to be faced now, but bad in the sense that it will make achieving the stated objective of destroying their missiles harder.

Regime change so far seems to be considered a 'nice to have' rather than a critical objective of the mission. If the regime is overthrown, great, and this seems to be the preferred outcome. If the regime remains in power but with a devastated leadership class and ruling over a pile of rubble, it seems that will be considered an acceptable outcome too.
We basically black bagged Maduro and left his entire government in place, so it's not like there isn't precedent for this. Now we have his former Vice President doing exactly what we say and there are elections planned for later this year to fully transition to a new government there

But Iran won't be quite as easy, we will most likely need to take out most of the upper ranks of the IRGC before it will be possible to form a new government there and the possibility of a civil war is very high. We don't want another Syria, that is the absolute worst case scenario here
 
Trump/Rubio has said multiple times in press interviews the goal is to eradicate Iran's missile and nuclear capabilities. This includes destroying the manufacturing of missiles/drones/etc during the opportunity while we currently have complete air/intelligence superiority. Trump has said this will take several weeks but are ahead of schedule on those objectives. Regime change is up to the Iranians and while the US would prefer it happens now during this time and under their terms, they may have to settle for the IRGC being more compliant after weeks of infrastructure/leadership massacres.
Is this a "two-weeks-to-slow-the-curve" few weeks, or is it a literal few weeks? I hope it's the latter because I don't want it to be another Operation Iraqi Freedom that lasts for years and years.
 


$779 million in ordnance expended on the first day alone.

Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.
 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.

Or none of that, because a terrorist nation nuked us into oblivion because everybody just thought they were bluffing, even when they told us during negotiations they could produce 11 nuclear bombs and we have proof they were enriching uranium to bomb levels all the while chanting about destroying the USA.

Just saying.
 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.
How much is it worth to protect the homeland from an Iranian ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead? Its too late to do anything about little rocket man at the source but wasnt too late to take care of Iranian threat. For rocket man we need ballistic missile defense and the odds of success are like 50:50 or something like that.
 
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It is ironic that a gigantic country in that region was the result of so much culture and study, especially in the Middle Ages with the Caliphs and Moors (theology, technology, history, etc.). I think they stopped in time and those are the consequences... Personally, I don't support this war, but I won't be the judge either.
 
Or none of that, because a terrorist nation nuked us into oblivion because everybody just thought they were bluffing, even when they told us during negotiations they could produce 11 nuclear bombs and we have proof they were enriching uranium to bomb levels all the while chanting about destroying the USA.

Just saying.

Or that perhaps your leaders scared you for the last 30 years about a boogeyman of their own creation in order to line their own pockets. If they've been gaslightning you this entire time, why do they have any credibility left? We've already been through this scenario multiple times in recent history, but fear and money always wins.

 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.

Not much tbh.
 
Last night my city got hit by a drone, nothing major just an old US army base that was abandoned like 13 years ago, and that is Iranian intelligence for you while the Mosad knows where the Ayatollah is taking a shit they attack a building that no one has used for 13 years
 
It is ironic that a gigantic country in that region was the result of so much culture and study, especially in the Middle Ages with the Caliphs and Moors (theology, technology, history, etc.). I think they stopped in time and those are the consequences... Personally, I don't support this war, but I won't be the judge either.
I think you mean the moops.
seinfeld GIF
 
It is ironic that a gigantic country in that region was the result of so much culture and study, especially in the Middle Ages with the Caliphs and Moors (theology, technology, history, etc.). I think they stopped in time and those are the consequences... Personally, I don't support this war, but I won't be the judge either.
Time didn't stop. Oil was discovered under the feet of the most barbaric and conservative tribes in the region. Saudi oil revenues allow them to export their extreme conservative Islam. Muslims either shape up or don't get to make Hajj since Islam functions on a king of the hill system for rule. Progressive/chill Muslims as far away as Malaysia and Indonesia are gradually being arab-ized through Saudi influence.
 
Time didn't stop. Oil was discovered under the feet of the most barbaric and conservative tribes in the region. Saudi oil revenues allow them to export their extreme conservative Islam. Muslims either shape up or don't get to make Hajj since Islam functions on a king of the hill system for rule. Progressive/chill Muslims as far away as Malaysia and Indonesia are gradually being arab-ized through Saudi influence.
I don't really agree. Sufism gave us a great idea surrounding the "ego death", that is understood as Fana—the annihilation of the selfish ego and individual will before "god". It represents a spiritual state of self-effacement, where one surrenders personal desires to align completely with divine will, often described as "dying before you die". The ideas of Ibn 'Arabi on the Middle Ages were miles ahead from Christentum, for example.
 
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I don't really agree. Sufism gave us a great idea surrounding the "ego death", that is understood as Fana—the annihilation of the selfish ego and individual will before "god". It represents a spiritual state of self-effacement, where one surrenders personal desires to align completely with divine will, often described as "dying before you die". The ideas of Ibn 'Arabi on the Middle Ages were miles ahead from Christentum, for example.

The conservative Wahhabism sect became the main Islamic movement of the Arabian peninsula between 500 and 600 years after the works you cited. The previous major powers in Islam (Turks, Iranians) were far more reform oriented. Their offshoots (mughals, etc) followed Persian tradition of pluralism even going so far as to remove jizya and allow scholars from other faiths to participate in society. Wahabbism came about as a direct counter to those movements.

Things were going pretty well until oil boosted Saudi influence and made them the predominant influencer of global Muslim culture; both Turkyie and Iran had even started discouraging/restricting headscarves as early as the 1920s, 1930s.
 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.
I haven't seen you complain about the $19 billion in known Minnesota fraud caused by the Somali immigrants
 
Wow, so I come into this thread and either people are arguing over semantics with Islam, or somehow Somali fraud with Sofia security in the IS is relevant to the war (sorry - special military operation) with Iran.

I think it is really difficult for people to understand you have elected a sociopath that exposed how little democratic locks and controls mean if you plan to dismantle them that just plunged a country into a second conflict in two months because…he wants to. And nobody in your quasi-monarchy system can or wants to stop him.
 
Wow, so I come into this thread and either people are arguing over semantics with Islam, or somehow Somali fraud with Sofia security in the IS is relevant to the war (sorry - special military operation) with Iran.

I think it is really difficult for people to understand you have elected a sociopath that exposed how little democratic locks and controls mean if you plan to dismantle them that just plunged a country into a second conflict in two months because…he wants to. And nobody in your quasi-monarchy system can or wants to stop him.

What did your, foreign non-US citizen, self say about the Lybia war (sorry-special military operation) under former President Obama?

I anxiously await your answer. Thanks.
 
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Or that perhaps your leaders scared you for the last 30 years about a boogeyman of their own creation in order to line their own pockets. If they've been gaslightning you this entire time, why do they have any credibility left? We've already been through this scenario multiple times in recent history, but fear and money always wins.



I am aware of you stance from our past conversation. I just want to add that the risk of being wrong, in your scenario, comes with grave consequences for the free world.

I prefer to air on the side of caution with terrorist, personally.
 
I am aware of you stance from our past conversation. I just want to add that the risk of being wrong, in your scenario, comes with grave consequences for the free world.

I prefer to air on the side of caution with terrorist, personally.

So Batman logic?



I just want to add that the risk of being wrong, in your scenario, also comes with grave consequences for the free world, as we've seen in the last 50 years of doing the same shit and seeing the same shit result.

I haven't seen you complain about the $19 billion in known Minnesota fraud caused by the Somali immigrants

This is relevant to the conversation about starting more unnecessary wars because...?
 
The conservative Wahhabism sect became the main Islamic movement of the Arabian peninsula between 500 and 600 years after the works you cited. The previous major powers in Islam (Turks, Iranians) were far more reform oriented. Their offshoots (mughals, etc) followed Persian tradition of pluralism even going so far as to remove jizya and allow scholars from other faiths to participate in society. Wahabbism came about as a direct counter to those movements.

Things were going pretty well until oil boosted Saudi influence and made them the predominant influencer of global Muslim culture; both Turkyie and Iran had even started discouraging/restricting headscarves as early as the 1920s, 1930s.
Hmm. Fair enough. So they stagnated way before I thought.
 
Or that perhaps your leaders scared you for the last 30 years about a boogeyman of their own creation in order to line their own pockets. If they've been gaslightning you this entire time, why do they have any credibility left? We've already been through this scenario multiple times in recent history, but fear and money always wins.


Tucker has been caught red handed blatantly lying about Israel. I wouldn't rely on his analysis on this matter.

Iran has been moving forward with their nuclear program for many years, and part of the reason it took them this long was because of multiple military operations to set them back over that time.

What is your response to the video from earlier this week where Iranian officials admit that their intentions are to develop weapons?
Are you going to say the weapons aren't a threat because of the 1953 British/CIA coup? Two wrongs don't make a right.
Would you have been arguing against toppling Hitler during WW2 because of the humiliation Germany suffered in the Versailles Treaty?
 
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Felt like Iranian missile attacks were reducing and they were losing their ability to hit targets, but just now they landed a hit on the US base in Qatar (no casualities reported).

Need to really see them lose their remaining missile and attack capabilities over the next few days.

I hope this is now the focus.

As well as their nuclear facilities.
 
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This is relevant to the conversation about starting more unnecessary wars because...?
Presumably because you made it a conversation about financing additional child care etc. If you are looking for additional funding for those things, the 'gifts for foreigners' expenditure may be a better place to start rather than cutting military spending.
 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.
Will Ferrell Lol GIF

Spend on the American people?? Lol the old white dudes that run your government, corporations and the military industrial complex have to replace their aging 2024 super yachts and buy bigger Hollywood hills mansions... The peasants don't need universal healthcare
 
Tucker has been caught red handed blatantly lying about Israel. I wouldn't rely on his analysis on this matter.
Would you trust Matt Walsh?



Iran has been moving forward with their nuclear program for many years, and part of the reason it took them this long was because of multiple military operations to set them back over that time.

So every single time they were on the "brink" of a functional nuclear weapon, they got shut down militarily? Every single time going back 30 years?





Netanyahu's recent remarks about the conflict line up perfectly with that clip montage of him.


Netanyahu said Sunday in a statement that the U.S. involvement "allows us to do what I have been hoping to do for 40 years — to deliver a crushing blow to the terror regime."



What is your response to the video from earlier this week where Iranian officials admit that their intentions are to develop weapons?

I'm not sure what video you're referencing, but of course they're trying to develop nuclear weapons. That's the only thing that keeps North Korea and Russia safe, so why wouldn't they want some of their own when they're getting constantly messed with and threatened? They say "Death to America" and we threaten to destroy them. We say "Death to Iran (i.e. regime change)" and they threated to destroy us. This stupid cycle of violence doesn't help any of either countries' citizens, and only serves to line the wallets of the military-industrial complex.



Are you going to say the weapons aren't a threat because of the 1953 British/CIA coup? Two wrongs don't make a right.

No.

Would you have been arguing against toppling Hitler during WW2 because of the humiliation Germany suffered in the Versailles Treaty?

No.


Presumably because you made it a conversation about financing additional child care etc. If you are looking for additional funding for those things, the 'gifts for foreigners' expenditure may be a better place to start rather than cutting military spending.

Whattaboutism aside, a lot of our military spending is also 'gifts for foreigners' that doesn't actually make us safer.
 
Whattaboutism aside...
It is not whataboutism to state that your desire to fund additional child care etc. does not have to come from military spending. In fact it is necessary to expose it as a false dichotomy. All expenditure is related by nature of how budgeting works and we do not have to choose between only those two things.

If we concluded that additional child care is more important than maintaining military spending, it would be reasonable to then consider if there is expenditure less important than either which could be cut instead in order to allow the funding of both of the more important things.

...a lot of our military spending is also 'gifts for foreigners' that doesn't actually make us safer
I'm not sure that's the case here. Given you acknowledge the weapons as a threat, is there not a national benefit in removing that threat? Or is your position that the military action has increased the overall threat?
 
Imagine if we instead spent that on child care assistance for working families. Or job training for our out of work and undereducated citizens. Or financial assistance for our farmers and manufacturers who are on the verge of bankruptcy. Or another James Webb Space Telescope. Or treatment and health care for our wounded and PTSD-stricken veterans from our previous silly wars.
At the end of the day, humanity is just sad and a cancer on this planet.
 
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