quote:

Originally posted by sooma:
What fallout? Iranian gov is in the top 10 of most incompetent in the world, they had 40 yrs to build a nuke for example.

I don't understand the hand wringing.

quote:

Originally posted by Tonydec:
It would be fitting if the Operation Name was related to or in honor of the soldiers lost in Eagle Claw. RIP, and your loss has finally been avenged.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

Originally posted by sooma:
What fallout? Iranian gov is in the top 10 of most incompetent in the world, they had 40 yrs to build a nuke for example.

I don't understand the hand wringing.

Well… for starters, I guess we’ll find out in the next day or two whether concerns about sleeper cells in the U.S. were justified.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
https://x.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1936604019771781162

"History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime, the world's most dangerous weapons."


Amen.
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quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
There's utterly no comparison "between Ukraine and Israel".

The Ukraine issue is self inflicted, limited and could end today.

Israel is fighting an existential threat against religious fanatics who know no bounds. Consider the 1994 Iran-backed Hizballah bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenos Aires.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
“Senseless war?!?” You count yourself a member of a small group if you consider the Allied effort against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan “senseless.”

Of course Churchill begged Roosevelt for assistance from the U.S., Germany was marching, unimpeded, across Europe and it would not be wrong to say that Britain alone stood in opposition.

Is the decision to suspend elections in the Ukraine “broadly supported across the political spectrum?”

Speaking of “intellectual honesty,” it seems that the decision to suspend elections in Britain was not Churchill’s, but a wartime action of Parliament. You may say Wiki is an unreliable source, but then you are free to dispute with unimpeachable sources.

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Article 19 of Ukraine's "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" bans presidential, parliamentary, and local elections under martial law,[11] while Article 10 states that the powers of the president, parliament, and Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine cannot be terminated under martial law.[12][13] Article 108 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that "The President of Ukraine exercises his or her powers until the assumption of office by the newly-elected President of Ukraine",[14] allowing incumbent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to legitimately remain president until the next president is sworn in, even after the expiration of the five-year term to which he was elected in 2019.[15]

Apart from the legal prohibition, both government and opposition politicians in Ukraine questioned the feasibility of a 2024 election, citing concerns over security and displaced voters[2][15] as the Russian invasion continued. [...]

A poll released by KIIS in October 2023 reported that 81% of Ukrainians did not want elections until the war was over,[19] and more than 200 civil society institutions, NGOs, and human rights groups have formally opposed wartime elections.[17] In November 2023, Zelenskyy said "now is not the right time for elections", in response to a claim by European Solidarity MP Oleksiy Goncharenko that Zelenskyy had decided to hold elections on 31 March 2024.[20] Later in November, all political parties represented in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament) signed a document in which they agreed to postpone holding any national election until after the end of martial law[21] and agreed to work on a special law that would regulate the first post-war election, which would take place no earlier than six months after the cancellation of martial law.[22]

On 26 February 2025, after a previous failed vote on a similar resolution,[25] the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution reaffirming that elections should not be held during martial law, and also pledged to hold a presidential election upon the conclusion of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[26] On 6 March 2025 opposition politicians Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, after having confirmed that they had held discussions with United States representatives, confirmed that they still opposed elections held during wartime.[27]

quote:

The Israel-Ukraine Synchronicity: Critics in Crisis

With the now open outbreak of war between Israel and Iran and the continuation of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, two military conflicts coincide that polarize international opinion. Yet, the sympathies within the Israel-Ukraine constellation appear quite congruent: those who politically support one country usually do so for the other, and vice versa. At the most fundamental level, both are in a quite similar situation after all: nominally Western democracies that must assert themselves against hostile camps with far larger populations which, due to centuries-old conflicting claims to land and culture, would prefer to wipe them off the map. And they can only assert themselves with ingenuity and, yes, massive Western support.

Critics would point out that both share similar shortcomings, too. These include internal conflicts between politically and ethnically distinct population groups, leading to their discrimination or even oppression by the majority government. Or autocratic tendencies in general, as well as corruption — whereby the autocratic nature is also a product of the state of siege in which both states find themselves. Certainly, some political forces have also adapted quite well to this situation. Criticism motivated more by ideology than by facts generally doesn't bother with such subtleties, however. It fundamentally condemns both as frontline states of a variously imperialist, globalist, or colonialist world order that serves solely to oppress and exploit other, freedom-loving peoples.

Antisemitism and the causes of war

Since anti-Semitism is never far away at this point, certain people also quickly point out the Jewish ancestry of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and some of his supporters. Thus the latest iteration of the Anglo-Zionist world conspiracy along the Washington-London-Kiev-Tel Aviv axis is complete. It's no coincidence that the complaints about the actions of Israel and Ukraine sound similar: instead of simply complying with the opposing camp's land demands in order to make peace, they'll trigger World War III – with our money! Though of course, one doesn't necessarily has to trust the Israeli justification for the strikes against Iran. After all, Benjamin Netanyahu has been claiming for at least ten years that the mullah regime is only weeks away from building a nuclear bomb.

So one might well ask: why only now, or right now? The answer is: because we are now politically and militarily capable. However, Israel and Iran have actually been at war for decades. During this time, Tehran has financed, armed, and trained various terrorist groups in their fight against Israel. Including Hamas and its allies, which carried out the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. This was the direct trigger for the current escalation, which was preceded last year by mutual rocket and air strikes between Iran and Israel itself. And remember: the Ukraine War also actually began in 2014 with the first Russian intervention in Crimea and the Donbas.

The “careless conservatives” and the consistent anti-globalists

In the eight years leading up to the full-scale invasion, Russia also supported the separatists there in their fight against Ukraine. Of course, this does not automatically mean that Israel's wars in the Gaza Strip and against Iran are proportionate – while Ukraine has little choice of means in its fight for survival on its own territory. On the other hand, the mere existence of the State of Israel still triggers a reflex of resentment across the political spectrum that no other country, including Ukraine, experiences in this way. Conversely, American conservatives in particular are largely socialized in their solidarity with Israel. At the same time, they are susceptible to propaganda driven by Russian interests against Ukraine as an undemocratic, corrupt puppet state of a globalist elite that is exploiting the US taxpayer.

Someone once described this group as "careless conservatives in search of self-affirmation." They are unaware, or indifferent, that on Ukraine they are aligning themselves with critics of American leadership from around the world, including orthodox communists and anti-Semites. It is interesting to see how, in Donald Trump's electoral base, traditional and "careless" conservatives are now clashing with staunch anti-globalists. For the latter, Israel is just another — or even worse — ungrateful ally that has its wars financed by the USA, if not even fought by American soldiers. The same applies for them here as to Ukraine: America First, no money for endless wars abroad, and certainly no getting involved militarily.

Maneuvering in support of Israel

The "careless conservatives", on the other hand, always make an exception for Israel, even though they emerged from the same disappointment with the course of the 20-year "War on Terror" following the attacks of September 11, 2021. Manwhile the traditional conservatives are already among the most consistent supporters of both Israel and Ukraine. Trump himself is currently maneuvering between the two camps, stating that the US could, of course, intervene on Israel's behalf if the need arises—but that he will decide within the next two weeks. Coincidentally, this is the timeframe Israel indicated for the expected duration of Operation Rising Lion against Iran at the start.

[Here is where I really need to rewrite and expand ...]

The Israel-Ukraine conflict of populism as an opportunity

A similar split to that in Trump's base also pervades other right-wing populist movements in the West that like to align themselves with his policies. This can be observed here in the AfD: as after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, it cannot bring itself to adopt a clear stance for or against the strikes on Iran because its electorate represents a similar mix of "careless conservatives" and consistent anti-globalists. Meanwhile the Left has its own conflicts between its "anti-imperialist" and "anti-German" currents. It is not yet clear in whose favor these internal disputes will turn out here, in the US, or in the West as a whole. Or whether this will remain a permanent conflict, simply waiting for the next opportunity after the current war.

However, this also presents a chance for the consistently pro-Western political camp. Experience has shown that the consistent anti-globalists, who are steeped in conspiracy theories and even anti-Semitism, will not be won back to the liberal Western value system, which they view as their sworn enemy. The "careless conservatives," on the other hand, may be – if the current conflict can make them aware of the company they are keping. For that to happen, one doesn't even have to find the Israeli attack on Iran justified by facts or even effective. As always, doubt is certainly permissible. The unequal treatment of Ukraine, contrary to all rational basis, is less so. However, some irrationally anti-Israeli supporters of Ukraine could also learn from that.