Althouse: Soy.

January 1, 2020

Soy.

lol this is the most display of soy in a breach attempt in history https://t.co/5YJgbu7KyB
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) January 1, 2020

208 comments:

1 – 200 of 208 Newer› Newest»

Michael K said...: I miss the smell of napalm in the morning.; 1/1/20, 9:45 AM
mccullough said...: Protestors?

Poor word choice by this reporter; 1/1/20, 9:46 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: What is "soy"?; 1/1/20, 9:48 AM
traditionalguy said...: This is all being used by actors on a sound stage for making Propaganda for the Iranians to see. The Mullah's need to get some support or they will soon be gone.; 1/1/20, 9:49 AM
Jersey Fled said...: "Furious" over U.S. attacks.

Right.; 1/1/20, 9:51 AM
Birches said...: I noticed that most of these guys had one hand filming and one hand centered on "mayham."; 1/1/20, 9:52 AM
Molly said...: Tommy Duncan: I find this, which seems relevant. " the term soy boy means: “Slang used to describe males who completely and utterly lack all necessary masculine qualities. This pathetic state is usually achieved by an over-indulgence of emasculating products and/or ideologies"; 1/1/20, 9:54 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Soy=shame on you; 1/1/20, 9:54 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: One tear gas grenade would have cleaned these guys out. Not exactly super macho types.; 1/1/20, 9:55 AM
Pillage Idiot said...: The safety glass contractor for the embassy obviously fulfilled their contract to exceed the design specs.; 1/1/20, 9:55 AM
Lincolntf said...: 40+ years of attacks on the West and people still don't get it. Sanctions don't do shit. If you are not for the total destruction of the Iranian military, particularly their Navy, then you are one of those craven simpletons who yearn for perpetual warfare. And that's what you're getting.; 1/1/20, 9:56 AM
Leland said...: Thousands? These guys should have seen Hong Kong, but alas that wasn't worth their time to cover.; 1/1/20, 10:01 AM
Francisco D said...: That is not exactly a powerful scene. It looks like a bunch of incompetents trying to break into a closet.; 1/1/20, 10:03 AM
J. Farmer said...: If you are not for the total destruction of the Iranian military, particularly their Navy, then you are one of those craven simpletons who yearn for perpetual warfare. And that's what you're getting.

The threat inflation of Iran has truly reached imbecilic proportions.; 1/1/20, 10:03 AM
Lincolntf said...: And right on cue, the enablers and apologists for the Iranian aggressors search for excuses to permit decades more of violence. Warmongering shitheels.; 1/1/20, 10:06 AM
Beasts of England said...: They’re mourners, dammit!! The AP said so...; 1/1/20, 10:08 AM
Jeff Gee said...: We can see the hinges, so the door opens out. Totally possible it's not even locked.; 1/1/20, 10:09 AM
narciso said...: it's called asymmetrical, or full spectrum warfare, that involves propaganda as well military action, now if one read the placards in Arabic, as Weingarten noted, you would see those are the chants supporting general suleimani, chief of the pasdaran, Thomas friedman, made the same sort of mistakes in his first big story,; 1/1/20, 10:09 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Antifa!; 1/1/20, 10:10 AM
narciso said...: the ap and the times, are just blank pages,; 1/1/20, 10:10 AM
narciso said...: black bloc, Antifa and resistance just flatters their ego,; 1/1/20, 10:11 AM
Lincolntf said...: The Boston Herald (a shell of it's former self) actually had an accurate front page today. "Iran-backed Iraqi militia strikes at U.S. in Baghdad". No mention of mourning protesters.; 1/1/20, 10:11 AM
wildswan said...: When absurd and violent go hand in hand, how do you respond?

Iranian militias and soy boys taking a break from killing RealIraqi protesters go over to the Embassy and try to open the door the wrong way. Hindered by having on hand on Iphone, filming "My day of rage at the American Embassy", a school project. Marines arrive. "Ragers" slink away to film classes, Iranians go back to killing unarmed RealIraqi protesters in Tahrir Square. RealLeft in America sorry RealAmericans weren't killed. NYT misreports all the RealIssues.

I am very sorry for the real Iraqi protesters who only appear in our fake news as a fake part of an anti-Trump story. Their deaths are real and unreported.; 1/1/20, 10:17 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Thomas Joscelyn
@thomasjoscelyn
It's unsurprising to see Qais al-Khazali among the Iranian proxies leading the charge on the US embassy in Baghdad. Khazali was behind the kidnapping & murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in Jan. 2007. Released in 2009.

https://twitter.com/thomasjoscelyn/status/1212160851458904065; 1/1/20, 10:17 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Can you feel the America left siding with those who would kill our people?
I can.; 1/1/20, 10:18 AM
narciso said...: it's the model pioneered by Hezbollah in the 80s, Charles glass, robin wright, Thomas friedman, all pretended it was an organic movement, it was just a Iranian proxy enabled by qaddafi disposing of imam sadr, hence allowing his amal movement to splinter, see Somalia 1993, which was al queda's first big audition, the attack on Benghazi, did much the same in 2012, in north Africa,; 1/1/20, 10:23 AM
Mattman26 said...: Jeff Gee made me laugh.; 1/1/20, 10:23 AM
J. Farmer said...: And right on cue, the enablers and apologists for the Iranian aggressors search for excuses to permit decades more of violence. Warmongering shitheels.

Did you forget to take your medication this morning?; 1/1/20, 10:23 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: F* the Iranian Islamic Supremacist Mullahs. Death be upon them.; 1/1/20, 10:25 AM
J. Farmer said...: F* the Iranian Islamic Supremacist Mullahs. Death be upon them.

If you were forced to live in either Saudi Arabia or Iran, which would you choose?; 1/1/20, 10:26 AM
narciso said...: I look at the larger pattern, they've been playing this game since 1979; 1/1/20, 10:26 AM
SGT Ted said...: "Can you feel the America left siding with those who would kill our people?"

Feel it? The left is openly stating it. They are siding with Iranian backed factions at war with the US.

The unit I was in guarded the UN Teams who excavated and investigated the mass grave sites of people killed by Saddam Hussein outside of Karbala, Iraq in 2003.

When progressive idiots who didn't want Saddam Hussein removed by US Forces prate on about how they care about the people of Iraq, it makes me want to slap them, because they are shitty, garbage people.; 1/1/20, 10:28 AM
Darrell said...: I wonder if the Democrats contacted the Iranians directly to have them stage this farce before the end of the year. Comments on media worldwide are making this about the failure of Trump policy.; 1/1/20, 10:31 AM
narciso said...: shia and sunni elements, juhayman tried the latter instance in the grand mosque siege that year, he lost the battle, but the kingdom in it's concessions lost the war, acceding to Salafist demands, which still branded the regime infidels, only sotto vocce,; 1/1/20, 10:33 AM
Darrell said...: I would have deployed the crowd control technology that would have the protesters violently vomiting in seconds. Maybe followed up with the "shitting their pants" variant.; 1/1/20, 10:34 AM
rcocean said...: Soy boy = pajama boy = effeminate loser.

CF: Brian Stelter or Chuck Todd.; 1/1/20, 10:34 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Farmer - forced?

Like Sophie's choice? Iran I suppose. What does that have to do with the corrupt snakes at the top? The Iranian people would be freer without them.
Why drag the Saudis into this? You have a point you want to make about the Saudis?; 1/1/20, 10:35 AM
Ken B said...: Buried the lede. Lol is the lede. What is funny?; 1/1/20, 10:36 AM
Lincolntf said...: I see that we are sending about 600 new troops from the 82nd Airborne Division over to Iraq. It's Groundhog Day, and a fulfillment of decades of feckless and cowardly Iran policy. The same policy that the Left demands be continued, even financed. Absolute scumbags.; 1/1/20, 10:36 AM
Iman said...: Loved the use of the wimpy, yellow lay-up stick as a battering ram! Looks like we’ve flooded the country with estrogen-laden Impossible Burgers...; 1/1/20, 10:40 AM
Ken B said...: Farmer
In the day I’d have rather lived in the USSR than Albania. That says exactly nothing about which was a bigger threat to the USA.; 1/1/20, 10:42 AM
J. Farmer said...: @BleachBit-and-Hammers:

Farmer - forced?

Like Sophie's choice? Iran I suppose. What does that have to do with the corrupt snakes at the top? The Iranian people would be freer without them.
Why drag the Saudis into this? You have a point you want to make about the Saudis?

Just a small thought experiment. All of these places in the region have "corrupt snakes at the top" and all the people in the region would be "freer without them."; 1/1/20, 10:43 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

Farmer
In the day I’d have rather lived in the USSR than Albania. That says exactly nothing about which was a bigger threat to the USA.

That is true. But the fact that most of the threat from Islamic terrorism that the US has faced has been with has emanated from the Salafism officially endorsed, financially backed, and spread through the madrasas by the Saudis than by the Twelver Shiism of the Iranians.; 1/1/20, 10:47 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Farmer
Darn - I was hoping for the Saudi angle.; 1/1/20, 10:48 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Are those Saudi men breaking down the doors of our embassy?; 1/1/20, 10:49 AM
n.n said...: Soy boy = pajama boy = effeminate loser.

Emasculated, too. In a "boy" context, yes. However, the imputed negative perception of feminine is only viable as a sociopolitical construct designed to normalize a conflict between the sexes. The masculine gender has certain qualities in a context. The feminine gender has certain qualities in another context. Each set of attributes are sex-correlated, and neither is weaker or stronger in a human context. Equal and complementary.; 1/1/20, 10:50 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’We can see the hinges, so the door opens out.’

Reminds me of the Far Side ‘School for the Gifted’ cartoon.; 1/1/20, 10:53 AM
n.n said...: And so concludes another ill-conceived foray into quid pro bos and elective things. Exoneration for instant or immediate gratification but with long-term collateral damage.; 1/1/20, 10:56 AM
J. Farmer said...: Darn - I was hoping for the Saudi angle.

Apologies. Here you are:

From my perspective, the Saudis and Iranians are two sides of a similar coin. No need to insert ourselves between them and get involved in their squabbles. Much better to take the Russian and Chinese approach, maintain relations with both, trade with both, and balance them against each other to our own self-interest. We need to accept that the Islamic Republic is the government of Iran, no matter how much we may like it, give up on trying to overthrow it, and conduct business accordingly. We similar do not have to like the military dictators or kleptocratic monarchs that dominate the remainder of the region.; 1/1/20, 10:57 AM
Ken B said...: Farmer
I don’t disagree about salafism. But it’s not really relevant to the case at hand.; 1/1/20, 10:58 AM
chuck said...: There is less to this event than meets the eye.; 1/1/20, 11:02 AM
narciso said...: it's act of war, disguised as a protest, the media almost entirely buys the subterfuge, again and again, part of their oikophobic streak,; 1/1/20, 11:04 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Farmer - OK. Sounds great.
The problem with the leadership of Iran is their refusal to let go of their terrorist sponsorship in the region.; 1/1/20, 11:06 AM
narciso said...: well not the expected result,

https://twitter.com/JimmyPrinceton/status/1212379296603488256

or maybe it is,; 1/1/20, 11:12 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: The Middle East is hard. Maybe we should come home and let the Israelis sort it out. They have to live there.

But don't get me wrong. I think it's OK if we give someone a shove once in a while, and the Iranians are prime candidates for that. Pallets of cash--no! Disruption of Iranian domestic tranquility--yes! And if we do it right, the mullahs will never know why things keep breaking.; 1/1/20, 11:15 AM
narciso said...: had we done so in 1979, maybe this long train of horribles might not have happened, it china or Russia, took over they would certainly not spare any reservation,; 1/1/20, 11:17 AM
Big Mike said...: We can see the hinges, so the door opens out. Totally possible it's not even locked.

OMG, Jeff Gee is right. It's right out of Gary Larson's Far Side cartoons.; 1/1/20, 11:18 AM
narciso said...: about the most dyspeptic buds graduate since jesse ventura https://twitter.com/jabeale/status/1212199581381021697; 1/1/20, 11:28 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Ken B:

Farmer
I don’t disagree about salafism. But it’s not really relevant to the case at hand.

It is relevant. Our Iran obsession distorts our entire strategy in the middle east. And the decision to launch an airstrike against Iraqi targets was sure to inflame tensions within Iraq.; 1/1/20, 11:28 AM
J. Farmer said...: @BleachBit-and-Hammers:

Farmer - OK. Sounds great.
The problem with the leadership of Iran is their refusal to let go of their terrorist sponsorship in the region.

Again, deploying violence through proxy forces in standard operating procedure in the region. What do you call giving money and guns to Syrian rebel groups to make war on the Assad government? What do you call giving money and guns to Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula?; 1/1/20, 11:31 AM
Big Mike said...: Our Iran obsession distorts our entire strategy in the middle east.

Well that explains Farmer's blunder. It is not we who are obsessed with Iran, it is Iran who is obsessed with us. They keep forcing us to pay attention to them with their attacks, otherwise we'd be glad to let them rot.; 1/1/20, 11:35 AM
narciso said...: he never learns, yes the Syrian rebels, who we paid 500 million for, are now working for Erdogan, well that worked out well,; 1/1/20, 11:35 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Farmer - but the Iranian Mullahs exceed at terrorist sponsorship. Saying "But they all do it" is nice.
AS far as our giving aid and weapons to ____ fill in the blank, yeah - you'll get no argument from me that it's time to stop.
And the place where democrats go to get rich is most important. Ukraine. Enough. and yes - I want some quid pro quo and answers for past corruption if we are to give aid to anyone, anywhere.; 1/1/20, 11:38 AM
Birkel said...: I will never trust the CIA to perform useful functions in these matters.

The military is competent at their core functions. Excellent, even.

So Iran will continue as it has until the internal contradictions of its own leadership cause its implosion.

Here's hoping that's sooner rather than later and the new leadership is less militant.; 1/1/20, 11:38 AM
narciso said...: we've made many of the same mistakes, Afghanistan, Libya Syria, aiding the Islamic militants, that's why the footprint led to Benghazi, why they still don't want to open up that barrel, no matter how much damage was incurred from north to equatorial Africa,; 1/1/20, 11:41 AM
Seeing Red said...: Some “Protestors” wearing uniforms. There are different rules for them and GTMO has availability.; 1/1/20, 11:42 AM
Seeing Red said...: India’s been dealing with Kashmir over 70 years, they finally decided to do something about it.

This has been going on 40 years, and I think Iran’s claiming everything around the Straits.

They need a push.; 1/1/20, 11:44 AM
narciso said...: well known moderate rouhani, was part of the security council that approved attacks from Mykonos to argentina, yes the first concerned Kurdish dissidents,; 1/1/20, 11:46 AM
stevew said...: Protest, mourning, and attempted breach of the facility by graduates of the Midvale School for the Gifted.

https://www.2ndfirstlook.com/2012/09/gary-larson.html; 1/1/20, 11:49 AM
Seeing Red said...: Thomas Joscelyn
@thomasjoscelyn
It's unsurprising to see Qais al-Khazali among the Iranian proxies leading the charge on the US embassy in Baghdad. Khazali was behind the kidnapping & murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in Jan. 2007. Released in 2009.

Obama met him at the WH 2011.

Our Iran obsession?

OUR?; 1/1/20, 11:53 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Jeff Gee said...

We can see the hinges, so the door opens out. Totally possible it's not even locked.

Hooray for Palliwood!; 1/1/20, 11:55 AM
Caligula said...: "From my perspective, the Saudis and Iranians are two sides of a similar coin."

Aaah, bring back the good ol' days, when Iran and Iraq were locked into that suicidal war with each other. It was sorta rough on those boys promised eternal paradise for their walk-to-clear minefield service, but far easier on the rest of us.; 1/1/20, 11:55 AM
Spiros said...: These people are always a mob.; 1/1/20, 11:56 AM
narciso said...: a wider perspective, now abu muhandis, goes back to the da'wa attack on the embassy in Kuwait, and does ameri of the badr corps

https://www.aei.org/the-qayis-al-khazali-papers/

we can charitably say we didn't know who we were dealing with in post saddam Iraq,; 1/1/20, 11:58 AM
Rusty said...: "Our Iran obsession distorts our entire strategy in the middle east."
You seem obsessed with Iran. I'm not. Maybe you've always acquiesced to bullies. Maybe you're afraid of getting hurt. That attitude got us Benghazi.
Obama gave the mullahs his lunch money. Now they know they can take what they want and we won't interfere. Trump has either got to knock em down or hand over more money. That's not starting a war.; 1/1/20, 12:00 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: The Yellow and Green Flag were of an Iraqi Shai Militia.

Notice the camouflage many protesters were wearing.

Good try by the Iranian Government to embarrass the US, with some deniability, and take the attention of their own mass killings of demonstrators.

The problem is Iraqi's are becoming more and more unhappy with the Iranian's meddling in Iraqi affairs.

Interesting the US on Dec. 6th offered a $15 Million Reward on the Karbala attack, that was carried out by Iranian Proxies.

And a leader of the protesters was a guest of the Obama Whitehouse.

What a strange mess!

Good news is fracking is making this area of the world less important, and reducing the leverage of the area. Note how the so called Yemen Houthani (Iran actually) Attack on the Saudi's that took 50% of their oil processing offline, had negligible effect on oil prices. Same with the attack by mines on two tankers in the Gulf by Iran. And the taking of two British tankers. Again, very little impact on the price of oil.; 1/1/20, 12:00 PM
Lincolntf said...: Obama's slavish obeisance to the Iranian tyrants will be his lasting legacy.; 1/1/20, 12:01 PM
narciso said...: and on cue, the dems want to take that tool out of our case,

https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1212418302707929089; 1/1/20, 12:02 PM
Seeing Red said...: IDK who Razor is, but

We sent a hundred Marines to beef up security at the US embassy in Baghdad, and our ambassador didn't even have to send 29 cables begging for them first.

You’ll make Iran worse,” said the guy who engineered non-bribe to non-enemy in non-treaty to release U.S. non-hostages from non-extremists bent on using nuclear energy for a non-bomb.
Quote Tweet

Ben Rhodes
@brhodes
· Dec 31, 2019
Trump sanctions on Iran have done nothing to change Iranian behavior except make it worse. This is what happens when your foreign policy is based on Obama envy, domestic politics, Saudi interests, and magical right wing thinking. https://twitter.com/amichaistein1/status/1211731826890412033

Ban guns because shootings happen a lot, but don’t let good guys carry guns because shootings are rare.

Person injures 5 at Rabbi's house: PROTECT JEWS

Person kills dozens at mosque: PROTECT MUSLIMS

Person kills two at church before being shot: BAN GUNS

Many people wounded.. OH NO
..at Rabbi’s home.. TRUMP’S AMERICA
..on Hanukkah.. MAGA COUNTRY!
..in New York.. WHITE NAZIS!!
..by black man.. BAN ALL GUNS!!!
..using machete. IT’S COMPLICATED, CHG TOPIC; 1/1/20, 12:02 PM
John henry said...: "Get the rhythym, get the rhythym, there you go, there you fucking go"

-Ben Kingsley

These guys seem totally incompetent. That looks like a piece of PVC, plastic, pipe they are using to try to break down the door.

I also liked the guy who throws a cinde block from 3' away. Too stupid to run to the window and get his body weight behind it.

John Henry; 1/1/20, 12:05 PM
Rusty said...: "Good news is fracking is making this area of the world less important, and reducing the leverage of the area."
And THAT is the best middle east foreign policy.; 1/1/20, 12:07 PM
narciso said...: re larger stakes,

https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/31/5-predictions-for-the-next-five-years-of-global-power-struggles/; 1/1/20, 12:08 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Our CIA and FBI top brass are useless. They are Clinton money grubbing money whores. Who wish to be Biden money grubbing money whores.; 1/1/20, 12:15 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

Well that explains Farmer's blunder. It is not we who are obsessed with Iran, it is Iran who is obsessed with us. They keep forcing us to pay attention to them with their attacks, otherwise we'd be glad to let them rot.

The US has spent the last three years attempting to economically strangle Iran into submission. Our leadership regularly boast of the economic damage the sanctions have done to Iran. It is entirely predictable that increasing sanctions would to lead to more tension and conflict. They are practically guaranteed to.; 1/1/20, 12:18 PM
narciso said...: some like david gilbert and john bair, are scrambling upon buttigeg's train,; 1/1/20, 12:18 PM
John henry said...: Lincolntf,

We probably should not have interfered in German internal affairs in 1939 either.

The murder of 12mm Jews, Poles and others was not our problem.

We should have learned in ww1, or in 1898,that isolationism is the best American policy.

Right?

And now pdjt is, short of putting the kibosh on Nordstream 2.

We should leave nato tomorrow and let the Europeans go to hell in the manner of their own choosing.

John Henry

Right?; 1/1/20, 12:19 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Lincolntf:

Obama's slavish obeisance to the Iranian tyrants will be his lasting legacy.

Obama's policies towards Libya, Syria, and Saudi Arabia were all vastly more consequential and destructive than his Iran policy. In fact, a lot of Obama's policies were meant to placate the anti-Iran foreign policy blob. Supporting rebel groups to overthrow Assad was seen as a way of breaking the so called "Shia crescent." Huge weapons sales and support for the war on Yemen were both sops to the Saudis.; 1/1/20, 12:22 PM
Sebastian said...: "protesters"

There they go again. More fake news promoting the pro-Iranian narrative.; 1/1/20, 12:23 PM
Lincolntf said...: Sanctions were intended to be an alternative to war in the face of Iranian aggression/expansion. They have failed miserably. It would take us until dinnertime tonight to sink the better half of the Iranian Navy, and that would be more effective and efficient than the decades of U.N. brokered appeasement deals.; 1/1/20, 12:23 PM
narciso said...: No they were designed to topple non islamist regimes.; 1/1/20, 12:24 PM
Birkel said...: Hahaha.
J Farmer thinks the US should do nothing.
And, at the same time, do what is in the US's best interest.

Do or do not. There is no foreign policy.
-Yoda Farmer; 1/1/20, 12:27 PM
chuck said...: >> Our Iran obsession distorts our entire strategy in the middle east. <<

What obsession? Iran is annoyed that we are ignoring them.; 1/1/20, 12:29 PM
Big Mike said...: The US has spent the last three years attempting to economically strangle Iran into submission.

Tighten the rope until they stop twitching. From where I sit they picked the fight with us, not us with them If the mullahs didn’t want to die they not have lived the fight. Does the 8th amendment apply to foreign nationals or can we smother captured Iranian mullahs in a bucket of pig shit?

While we’re at it we need to spread a rumor that American security guards use hollow point 9mm rounds packed full of bacon grease and that our 5.56 rounds are lubed with lard.; 1/1/20, 12:31 PM
Birkel said...: The Iranian-backed terrorists are Hez b'Allah.
Another army of Allah.

Now Smug will get mad at accurately translating into English.; 1/1/20, 12:31 PM
J. Farmer said...: @John Henry:

We probably should not have interfered in German internal affairs in 1939 either.

The murder of 12mm Jews, Poles and others was not our problem.

We should have learned in ww1, or in 1898,that isolationism is the best American policy.

Right?

So long as you want to play counterfactual, we could just as easily say that had the US and UK not gotten involved in WWI, there would not have been a Hitler to worry with 20 years later.

We should leave nato tomorrow and let the Europeans go to hell in the manner of their own choosing.

They are already going to a hell in the manner of their own choosing. The question with NATO is do we want to be on the hook when the check comes due.; 1/1/20, 12:33 PM
narciso said...: Egypt, Libya, Syria, you could throw yemen into the mix if you wish, world war one was probably ill considered, looking at all the angles,; 1/1/20, 12:39 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Lincolntf:

Sanctions were intended to be an alternative to war in the face of Iranian aggression/expansion. They have failed miserably.

What "expansion?"

It would take us until dinnertime tonight to sink the better half of the Iranian Navy, and that would be more effective and efficient than the decades of U.N. brokered appeasement deals.

Spending 40 years trying to overthrow a regime is not appeasing them. And the Iranian Navy is already a rather minuscule force.; 1/1/20, 12:40 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

Tighten the rope until they stop twitching. From where I sit they picked the fight with us, not us with them If the mullahs didn’t want to die they not have lived the fight.

Sanctions don't strangle the mullahs. They strangle Iranian civilians. The entire logic of the strategy is that you create misery among the population, which breeds discontent and anger towards the leadership. Of course, authoritarian regimes often have clever methods for crushing popular discontent. But even if sanctions did unleash some kind of mobilization of the population for revolutionary change (something most Iranians don't want or wouldn't support), how could you possibly know what kind of regime would be created in its place?; 1/1/20, 12:43 PM
chuck said...: Next stunt, Iran will hold its breath until it is blue in the face.; 1/1/20, 12:44 PM
Lincolntf said...: You think the sanctions over 40 years have been effective at deterring the Iranians? You live in a parallel universe. In the real world, these "sanctions" have kept the Iranian people poor and the Iranian regime strong. Sanctions as currently administered are the tools of cowards and fools, and I include virtually all of the "international community" when I refer to fools and cowards. Maybe in the Eighties there was some realistic chance of using economics to rein in Iran, but their decades of recalcitrance have educated those with their eyes open.; 1/1/20, 12:46 PM
Birkel said...: Drilling and fracking is the greatest sanction ever offered.
It's worked quite well against all the petro-states.; 1/1/20, 12:49 PM
Seeing Red said...: Via Rantburg: about 4 hours ago the pro Iran militia withdrew

took their injured with them; 1/1/20, 12:49 PM
narciso said...: no they haven't almost from the word go, too many parties were willing to trade, because they wanted iran's oil, they supplied them with arms and dual use technologies, timmerman's fanning the flames, tells the sad tale, now Iraq won the first rule in 1988, and we reaped the result in 1990-1, of course the mopping up of the marshes and the anfal were the canary in that coalmine, after the Safwan rebellion was suppressed, the Iranians extended a hand to the shia and to a lesser degree the kurds,; 1/1/20, 12:51 PM
narciso said...: the village has misplaced their idiot, although Blumenthal has yet to be heard from,

https://twitter.com/JimHansonDC/status/1212188320509370374; 1/1/20, 12:56 PM
John henry said...: So long as you want to play counterfactual, we could just as easily say that had the US and UK not gotten involved in WWI, there would not have been a Hitler to worry with 20 years later.

Yup, I've discussed that in more depth here in previous threads over the years. WWII was really just WWI part 2. We were only in the fighting of WWI for about about 5 months but lost almost as many troops dead (53m) than in Vietnam. We had no business in the war and have been suffering the consequences ever since. It is also what I had in mind when I said, in the comment you are responding to "We should have learned in ww1, or in 1898,that isolationism is the best American policy."

We also had no business getting involved in WWII starting in 1939.

(One can make a case that Anglophile JP Morgan, afraid for his investments in England, got us into WWI. Once can make the case that FDR got us into WWII mainly because he could not see any other way of ending the Depression which had been going on for almost 10 years by that time. There were no US interests at stake in either war. But that's another discussion for another thread.)

They are already going to a hell in the manner of their own choosing. The question with NATO is do we want to be on the hook when the check comes due.

Yes, they are and there is nothing we can or should do to stop it. The problem with NATO is that we are obliged to step in when the shooting starts. We can't stop the shooting, we can only get caught in the crossfire. I assume this is what you mean when you say we are "on the hook".

It is why the US has no business having anything to do with NATO. Not money, not troops, not weapons. Not anything.

To paraphrase PJ O'Rourke about the Middle East, Europe is just a quarrel with borders and has been for 2,000 years. If they can't manage to keep the peace, it is not in any way our problem.

John Henry; 1/1/20, 12:57 PM
narciso said...: as niall ferguson, pointed out, in pity of war, the german and uk economies were intertwined and yet they still went to war, part of that Thucydides trap, so commerce is not a solution, of course the Hapsburgs were the provocateurs, yet germany ended up without a chair in the end, of course there was also the Schlieffen plan, once it got underway,; 1/1/20, 1:02 PM
Quaestor said...: What is "soy"?

This is silly fruit-flavored soy.

And this is devious, rancid old soy.

Soy is like your brain on drugs... except it makes a nasty breakfast.

Any questions?; 1/1/20, 1:05 PM
Big Mike said...: about 4 hours ago the pro Iran militia withdrew

Notice that lack of discussion within the media of any possible effect that Trump's dispatch of additional marines and the quick reaction brigade from the 82nd Airborne might have had on the militia's decision to withdraw.; 1/1/20, 1:16 PM
narciso said...: Stephen king in his alt history, tried to make it look like the failure of the Iranian revolution would be worse, so did grimwood in replay, where he posited the assassination of qadaffi would trigger a whole host of horribles,; 1/1/20, 1:16 PM
Quaestor said...: Just a small thought experiment.

Here's another: If you were forced to choose, would you prefer Althouse with or without Framer's Utne Reader irrelevancies filling up the page?; 1/1/20, 1:17 PM
rcocean said...: Reading Herbert Hoover's memoirs. He stated that economic sanctions were overrated in keeping the peace or in deterring aggression. Either the sanctions were TOO effective and resulted in war, or were too weak and simply increased the Dictator's hold on the country. They worked in South Africa, because it was a Democracy that knew Apartheid war wrong. Against a dictatorship their record in mixed to say the least.; 1/1/20, 1:18 PM
FullMoon said...: Jeff Gee said... [hush][hide comment]

We can see the hinges, so the door opens out. Totally possible it's not even locked.

Probably already said, but a cordless drill, a hammer ,a punch and average blue collar high school drop-out and the door comes off in about six minutes, even allowing time for a cigarette break.; 1/1/20, 1:21 PM
Lincolntf said...: The last thing that those "protesters" wanted was to get through that door. Their instructions were no doubt explicit. Make a mess, cause a scare, but don't do anything we can't back away from.; 1/1/20, 1:24 PM
narciso said...: did it really, yes the boers surrendered, in part because de klerk, was elected, but one can imagine a different future, where the country really imploded, they might have gotten azania sooner,

so because the soviets held out for 74 years that made it more legitimate, or just a measure of their brutality,; 1/1/20, 1:25 PM
narciso said...: had the Nazis not been challenged how far would their body count have gone, forget about Jerusalem, how about sub-Saharan Africa, all the way to india, although bhose might have ceded that authority to the Japanese,; 1/1/20, 1:28 PM
FullMoon said...: Here's another: If you were forced to choose, would you prefer Althouse with or without Framer's Utne Reader irrelevancies filling up the page?

Sometimes you feel like a nut.
Sometimes you don't..

Blog Killfile – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)

Blog Comment Killfile 0.2.11 CRX for Chrome; 1/1/20, 1:28 PM
Big Mike said...: @Lincolntf, you might very well be right.; 1/1/20, 1:28 PM
narciso said...: self immolation on this scale is rare,

https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/01/germany-to-do-everything-humanly-possible-to-fight-climate-change-say-merkel/; 1/1/20, 1:30 PM
chuck said...: >> of course there was also the Schlieffen plan <<

It was the German invasion of Belgium that triggered the British entry into WWI. Britain could not allow a hostile power to hold channel ports and they were also bound by the 1839 Treaty of London. It was unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman telegram that brought the US into the war. Bismarck was the last German chancellor of any strategic competence, German strategic thinking in the 20'th century was remarkable for its idiocy. And I'm not convinced that it has gotten better in the 21'st.; 1/1/20, 1:37 PM
Lincolntf said...: The small base where I was stationed in Germany had been a French, German and American asset and then a German asset again and then an American asset again by the time I got there. And it's not even one hundred years old. Europe has always been fluid, it seems.; 1/1/20, 1:43 PM
narciso said...: that's why the eu is the economic proxy for political domination, much that could not be acquired through two wars, has been accomplished here,; 1/1/20, 1:45 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/1/20, 1:47 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Yo soy.; 1/1/20, 1:48 PM
Michael K said...: But even if sanctions did unleash some kind of mobilization of the population for revolutionary change (something most Iranians don't want or wouldn't support), how could you possibly know what kind of regime would be created in its place?

When did you get back ? I assume you were recently in Iran and not just reading Unz Review.

Such experts we have here !; 1/1/20, 1:56 PM
Nichevo said...: J. Farmer said...
@BleachBit-and-Hammers:

Farmer - forced?

Like Sophie's choice? Iran I suppose.

Why? Based on what? Food? Architecture? Pay? Sex? Internet access?

BB, for you as a woman I don't know who's worse between chador & veil or burqa. For JF, I doubt either is great for gays. For me as a Jew and an American? Jews are traveling to and doing business in KSA. Our CEO made numerous trips, and he's ex-Israeli military.

KSA can be reasoned with. And, being an American in KSA is worth something. Iranians to my amazement come to the US freely, but any American in Iran is at constant risk.; 1/1/20, 2:11 PM
Roughcoat said...: Oh, golly, are we really going to have another go-round with assigning responsibility for starting World War I?

Please, no.; 1/1/20, 2:17 PM
Roughcoat said...: Because if you we are, I'm going to have to turn this car around. I mean it, kids.; 1/1/20, 2:18 PM
Howard said...: Blogger J. Farmer said...*total destruction of the Iranian military, particularly their Navy*

The threat inflation of Iran has truly reached imbecilic proportions.

Doesn't it make more sense to hit hard military targets of nation-states rather than obliterating civilians inorder to liquidize a few terrorists who hide amongst them?; 1/1/20, 2:20 PM
narciso said...: how alliances ultimately lead to contemplation,

https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/peloponnesian-war; 1/1/20, 2:22 PM
narciso said...: confrontation, military targets are often among major cities and civilian concentrations,; 1/1/20, 2:23 PM
daskol said...: We can see the hinges, so the door opens out. Totally possible it's not even locked.

A fantastic scene in The Big Lebowski where the joke is, for the highly observant, we see the Dude preparing his home defense, failing to realize that his door swings out.; 1/1/20, 2:24 PM
daskol said...: Oh, here's the scene.; 1/1/20, 2:25 PM
Birkel said...: https://www.rferl.org/a/iranian-president-says-us-sanctions-have-cost-country-200-billion/30354022.html; 1/1/20, 2:26 PM
Howard said...: J Farmer is right. Sanctions don't work on 2nd tier totalitarian powers. They worked on the Soviet Union because of the arms race and the Cold War was vital to their perceived national security and they spent themselves into Oblivion. I think the only way sanctions would work against Iran would be a total blockade and shut down all their trade and starve them out. In order to do that we should declare war in my opinion; 1/1/20, 2:27 PM
Nichevo said...: Howard said...

Doesn't it make more sense to hit hard military targets of nation-states rather than obliterating civilians inorder to liquidize a few terrorists who hide amongst them?

Indeed, Howard. How much more so should we hit the bastards in charge rather than the poor dumb SOBs loving their crap country and following orders? Why don't we do a decapitation strike? Take out their gaggle of ruling mullahs. The Masjid or whatever they call it. If the Ayatollahs were so favored of Allah, they wouldn't have their guts blown out their noses, would they?

Hit them till they figure out what we want. Hit them till they dig out everybody involved in the Tehran and Beirut attacks, and Argentina, and all the IED help in Iraq, and anything else you can think of, and drag them out into the public square and chop off their heads. Then we can talk.; 1/1/20, 2:29 PM
narciso said...: before that you would have to take out every airbase every missile battery, before you get to the ruling councils, this a macro version of what Israel tries to do with hamas and Hezbollah,; 1/1/20, 2:32 PM
n.n said...: "rather than obliterating civilians inorder to liquidize a few terrorists who hide amongst them"

drag them out into the public square and chop off their heads. Then we can talk

Sodomize them in the streets. Abort them for social justice. Libya revisited. Perhaps immigration reform and an Arab Spring, #MeToo. #HateLovesAbortion; 1/1/20, 2:36 PM
Howard said...: I don't think decapitation is doable or necessary.; 1/1/20, 2:37 PM
Lincolntf said...: That's why you go after the Navy. A dozen warships at most. Give them warning, drop leaflets, and then sink half of their dozen-warship-strong-Navy in one fell swoop.; 1/1/20, 2:38 PM
LA_Bob said...: "If you were forced to choose, would you prefer Althouse with or without Framer's Utne Reader irrelevancies filling up the page?"

I rather like Farmer's comments. I don't have to agree with any or all of them to recognize their quality. He reminds me thinking is important.; 1/1/20, 2:42 PM
daskol said...: Me too. And it's more Unz than Utney Reader.; 1/1/20, 2:44 PM
narciso said...: and then they still strike bases on the other end of the gulf, refineries, pumping stations what not, now they would probably have the equivalent of spetnaz, stay behind forces, willing to sabotage and target civilians,; 1/1/20, 2:49 PM
chuck said...: Folks, it's over. Onto the next world shaking event that will shatter Trump and American hegemony.; 1/1/20, 2:56 PM
John henry said...: Re the hinges:

HoDe sells security hinges which have horizontal pins on one plate (normally mounted on the door) and matching holes on the other plate.

When you swing the door shut, they mate and no matter what you do to the pins, the won't open.

Cost about as much as regular front door hinges.

Do it yourself by using regular hex head lag bolst to mount the doors ide hinge and drill matching holes on the jamb side plate.

I don't imagine that pulling the hinge pins will open that door.

John Henry; 1/1/20, 2:58 PM
n.n said...: It's not "decapitation". The socially just, progressive humane, vernacular is "planned", perhaps a rite. However, disarming is the first step. A swipe here. A snip there. Some crushing force liberally redistributed should exonerate the region of a persistent burden.; 1/1/20, 2:59 PM
Big Mike said...: I don't imagine that pulling the hinge pins will open that door.

@John Henry, I do. That door was built by the lowest bidder.; 1/1/20, 3:02 PM
Big Mike said...: @Farmer, Howard agreeing with you should be an incandescent red flag that you are wrong.; 1/1/20, 3:03 PM
Ray - SoCal said...: Interesting comment:

> J. Farmer said...
> In fact, a lot of Obama's policies were meant to placate the anti-Iran foreign policy blob.

Obama's Syrian Policy did result in Syria being devastated, and no longer a threat to anyone in the area. Think Germany after the 100 Years War. Plus a lot of Jihadis got killed there, and ISIS over reached. Huge cost/destabilizing to surrounding countries, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq.

A negative was the huge refugee flow to Europe.

Libya I blame Italy and France in the lead, and the US under Obama allowed it to happen.

Obama had the most pro Iranian policy of a US President, under the current Iranian regime.

I'm so glad Fracking is making the importance of this mess (the Middle East), less and less important to the US.; 1/1/20, 3:12 PM
Howard said...: No fucking warning and stealthy as shit.; 1/1/20, 3:15 PM
narciso said...: it made Syria more reliant on it's old ally, Russia and it's slightly newer one, Iran, did it become less of a threat against Israel, possibly, was irans forward capabilities weakened to some degree also possible,

It made Europe more eloi in some parts, but it probably inadvertently accelerated Brexit and the eastern European rebellion,; 1/1/20, 3:21 PM
chuck said...: >> Libya I blame Italy and France in the lead <<

Italy was feeling nostalgic about its old colony. France has always regarded itself as possessing diplomatic genius for some reason, especially concerning the Middle East. Must be a left over from Napoleon's misadventures in the region.; 1/1/20, 3:26 PM
Hagar said...: I do. That door was built by the lowest bidder.

I hate it when I see this from an otherwise intelligent person.

The construction contract did not just call for a "door," but specified exactly what kind of a door, size, materials, finish, and required hardware and the owner was supposed to have a qualified inspector on site to see that it was properly installed.
That is how construction contracts work.; 1/1/20, 3:33 PM
narciso said...: yes Sarkozy, thought it would make him a player on the world stage, it was general younis, who first defected that encouraged the support of the European powers, it ironically helped undue him with the merah incident, and the corrupt dealings he had made to get to power, caught up to him, Berlusconi let a minor dispute with qaddafi trigger his involvement, his retreat from politics would take a little longer,; 1/1/20, 3:35 PM
Hagar said...: Entrance doors on commercial buildings swing out so that employees and customers will not be trapped inside in case of fire.
Residential entrance doors swing in so that it will be easier for firemen (or cops) to break in when necessary.; 1/1/20, 3:40 PM
narciso said...: wasn't he a character in cloud atlas (that film gave me a headache)

https://twitter.com/BDSixsmith/status/1212475558896033792; 1/1/20, 3:44 PM
narciso said...: https://twitter.com/omriceren/status/1212461392579760128; 1/1/20, 3:45 PM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/1/20, 3:45 PM
eric said...: Blogger J. Farmer said...
Darn - I was hoping for the Saudi angle.

Apologies. Here you are:

From my perspective, the Saudis and Iranians are two sides of a similar coin. No need to insert ourselves between them and get involved in their squabbles. Much better to take the Russian and Chinese approach, maintain relations with both, trade with both, and balance them against each other to our own self-interest. We need to accept that the Islamic Republic is the government of Iran, no matter how much we may like it, give up on trying to overthrow it, and conduct business accordingly. We similar do not have to like the military dictators or kleptocratic monarchs that dominate the remainder of the region.

1/1/20, 10:57 AM

What the hell does all this Anti-War bitching have to do with an attack on our embassy?

Squirrel!; 1/1/20, 4:01 PM
Gospace said...: We could, in a single large scale surprise attack using air and naval assets, take out 90% of all air force and naval units of any third world nation, and over 50% of their armor, if not more. Armor dependent on how concentrated or distributed it is.

That would leave then almost defenseless against their neighbors.

There wouldn't be much need for us to do anything else. Chaos would rule the day until things got straightened out by local boots on the ground. Remaining military might decide to take out the leaders. No need for our boots to be there.

Would it make things better or worse? Nobody knows. But - I do imagine whoever ended on top would take care not to p--- us off.; 1/1/20, 4:14 PM
Big Mike said...: @Hagar (3:33), first of all, I was (obviously, I thought) being facetious. Secondly, the fact that a contract should call for something doesn’t mean that it did call for that thing. That’s how the federal government winds up with dhammers that shatter the first time you hit a nail.; 1/1/20, 4:18 PM
Michael K said...: Nice to see Howard and Farmer planning the foreign policy for Bloomberg,.; 1/1/20, 4:21 PM
Gospace said...: John henry said...
.....
Do it yourself by using regular hex head lag bolst to mount the doors ide hinge and drill matching holes on the jamb side plate.
.....
Did that with the door going from my mother's house to her garage so that if someone forced the garage door open it would delay entry into the house proper. Anyone with outward facing residence doors ought do it.; 1/1/20, 4:21 PM
Ralph L said...: Residential entrance doors swing in

I noticed they often swing out in Scandi and Russia TV shows. You'd think they'd get trapped by deep snow.; 1/1/20, 4:24 PM
Hagar said...: It is not funny.
Show me a contract, federal or otherwise, that does not call for "that thing."

In the case of federal contracts, they very specifically call out federal standards, and in the case of military contracts, military specifications ("mil-spec") to be followed.

But on any construction contract, if properly administrated by the Owner or his designated Representative (architect, engineer, or construction manager), the Contractor should not be able to move a finger without being observed and it being noted that the construction in place meets the specified Standards.; 1/1/20, 4:34 PM
narciso said...: well they could brainstorm, that's how he came up with the soda tax, right,; 1/1/20, 4:36 PM
Hagar said...: "Entrance doors" are all entrance doors. Look through your house, and all the entrances to your interior rooms also swing in, no matter how inconvenient that maybe for you.; 1/1/20, 4:38 PM
Ralph L said...: Obama had the most pro Iranian policy of a US President, under the current Iranian regime.

Since Carter, before the hostages.; 1/1/20, 4:41 PM
JML said...: I do. That door was built by the lowest bidder.

I hate it when I see this from an otherwise intelligent person.

Also, a good many contracts no longer go to the lowest bidder. Past performance, technical expertise, etc are all valid considerations when determine what the best value to the Government is. A fair and reasonable price is often not the lowest price.; 1/1/20, 4:47 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Michael K said...
But even if sanctions did unleash some kind of mobilization of the population for revolutionary change (something most Iranians don't want or wouldn't support), how could you possibly know what kind of regime would be created in its place?

When did you get back ? I assume you were recently in Iran and not just reading Unz Review.

Such experts we have here !

1/1/20, 1:56 PM

Maybe they are experts in influencing non-hateful comments into hateful comments considered, in which case they are winning. And your arrogance plays Biblical parts.; 1/1/20, 4:47 PM
narciso said...: see it all began with the narrative which has been started to be dispelled here,

https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Heaven-Pahlavis-Final-Imperial/dp/0805098976; 1/1/20, 4:58 PM
Iman said...: I long for the days when it didn’t matter one bit if one knew the difference between Shiite and Shinola...; 1/1/20, 5:16 PM
Gospace said...: In commercial buildings, sliding entrance doors, if not locked, also hinge outward. If power fails, and you press them in the middle, they open. It can be a pain to put them back in the track. They may be marked entrance or exit, but in new commercial building, they're almost all exit doors.; 1/1/20, 5:44 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Michael K:

When did you get back ? I assume you were recently in Iran and not just reading Unz Review.

Such experts we have here !

Every Iran discussion with Michael K ends with him claiming that I am not an "expert" in Iran. Considering the foreign policy the US has pursued for the last 30 years, perhaps the "experts" he is so in thrall to do not know as much as he believes (or they believe).; 1/1/20, 6:31 PM
J. Farmer said...: @Big Mike:

@Farmer, Howard agreeing with you should be an incandescent red flag that you are wrong.

Facts are an incandescent red flag that I am wrong. Perhaps you can muster some.; 1/1/20, 6:32 PM
Hagar said...: Also, a good many contracts no longer go to the lowest bidder. Past performance, technical expertise, etc are all valid considerations when determine what the best value to the Government is. A fair and reasonable price is often not the lowest price.

An open invitation for skullduggery.

The only way is open bidding, bids publicly opened and read, and lowest bid wins.; 1/1/20, 6:58 PM
Birkel said...: Fact:
Iran has financed proxy wars across the Middle East using money provided by Obama.

Fact:
That money will run out unless they are able to capture greater control of Middle East oil production.

Possibility:
Iran is in a desperate situation that will see them recklessly push for control of oil fields.
(As the Nazis did when pushing for Soviet oil fields in WWII?); 1/1/20, 7:14 PM
J. Farmer said...: Iran is in a desperate situation that will see them recklessly push for control of oil fields.
(As the Nazis did when pushing for Soviet oil fields in WWII?)

In response to running out of money to fund proxy wars, they will launch a more expensive and difficult endeavor to seize oil fields?; 1/1/20, 7:45 PM
Hagar said...: One reason I liked it better in the field is that you meet a better class of people out there.; 1/1/20, 7:50 PM
narciso said...: Where do you think the shia reside in the kingdom along hasa in the east and the arabian sea.; 1/1/20, 7:53 PM
Howard said...: Funny, I thought I was mostly disagreeing with J Farmer. Maybe because I wasn't hysterically slamming him, it confused the Mikes, both Big and Doc.; 1/1/20, 7:56 PM
ken in tx said...: "Probably already said, but a cordless drill, a hammer ,a punch and average blue collar high school drop-out and the door comes off in about six minutes, even allowing time for a cigarette break."

Probably not true.

I recently researched anti-theft hinges for my gun closet. I learned that all public buildings in the US are mandated to have outward opening doors for fire evacuation safety. Non-removable hinges have been developed for such doors. Even with the hinge pins cut off the door, the door cannot be opened from the outside because of internal pins that engage the door frame when it is closed.; 1/1/20, 8:17 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Does Trump need to deliver secret mid-night pallets of US dollars to Iran so Iran will pipe down?

Are US tax payers the world's source for bribe money?; 1/1/20, 8:32 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: We're here to watch Howard's balls drop.; 1/1/20, 8:32 PM
Nichevo said...: Blogger Howard said...
Funny, I thought I was mostly disagreeing with J Farmer. Maybe because I wasn't hysterically slamming him, it confused the Mikes

Indeed. We would all do better not to operate off reflex.

Howard, why don't you think we could execute a prompt strike on their leadership? CIA worthlessness?; 1/1/20, 8:34 PM
J. Farmer said...: Does Trump need to deliver secret mid-night pallets of US dollars to Iran so Iran will pipe down?

Are US tax payers the world's source for bribe money

The talking point that will never die. The settlement money was a pittance. It dwarfs by orders of magnitude the amount in arms we send to authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states. During Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran received more than $800 billion in oil revenue alone, and even that did not seriously alter the balance of power in the region.

The Arab Gulf states and Turkey already form of constraint on whatever regions ambitions Iran may harbor. Iran does acts as the other powers in the region do. It supports outside groups and jockeys for influence and power. It is a caricature to see it as uniquely menacing or aggressive. It acts like the rest of those countries and should be treated like the rest of those countries.; 1/1/20, 8:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Here's the deal. Would it help if we stopped flying Rainbow flags from our embassies? Would it help if we didn't jam feminism down other cultures throats, in our effort to 'educate' them. Last I checked, Americans are pretty sick and tired of feminism, wokeness, and deviance. And yet, we export the worst of 'who we are'. That's not who we are. That's not who any human civilization is. It is a sickness. What man would not fight to the death against a foreign invader who brought feminism and deviance? It is not truth. Truth cannot not be opposed. Sickness must be.; 1/1/20, 8:45 PM
J. Farmer said...: Obama had the most pro Iranian policy of a US President, under the current Iranian regime.

The Obama administration lobbied hard for the passage of UN 1929, which vastly increased the sanctions regime against Iran and achieved the same sort of damage to the Iranian economy that current "maximum pressure" enthusiasts boast about. The Obama administration supported arming and training rebels to bring down the Assad government, a close ally of Iran's in the region. Obama authorized huge arms sales to Saudi Arabia and backed Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen, both on the premise of checking's Iran's ambitions in the region. The $100 billion in frozen assets that Iran received as part of the JCPOA was only frozen in the first place because of international sanctions the Obama administration supported and pursued.; 1/1/20, 8:53 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Ok - why secret deliveries on pallets?; 1/1/20, 8:54 PM
J. Farmer said...: Ok - why secret deliveries on pallets?

Clearly a political decision in a bungled attempt to avoid bad press.; 1/1/20, 9:08 PM
narciso said...: Which were canceled by the iran deal, the money to the syrian rebels was a waste most was embezzled or with tebels who defected to al queda,; 1/1/20, 9:08 PM
narciso said...: By abandoning egypt which was a favor to qatar, which fielded militias in libya and syria, he angered the kingdom, the drone strikes were mostly ineffective except at proviking unrest in yemen, which led to the revolution in 2015.; 1/1/20, 9:13 PM
Birkel said...: Iran tried to harm KSA oil production.
So the signs of desperation may be showing.
Attacking tankers, too.

Let's play "Deny the Obvious" some more.; 1/1/20, 9:39 PM
Birkel said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/1/20, 9:42 PM
Birkel said...: Smug has thrown Occam the fuck overboard, LOL.

Not sure if Smug thinks Occam is an Israelite or a Saudi.; 1/1/20, 9:42 PM
narciso said...: That was their behavior in thetamker war, they had less advanced missilesin that era, so abquiaq wasnt so easy.; 1/1/20, 9:50 PM
J. Farmer said...: Iran tried to harm KSA oil production.
So the signs of desperation may be showing.
Attacking tankers, too.

Let's play "Deny the Obvious" some more.

As I said, all of the relevant powers in the region resort to whatever means are at their disposal to jockey for influence and gain advantage. On what basis you differentiate "good guys" from "bad guys" or "friends" from "enemies," I am not entirely sure.; 1/1/20, 10:36 PM
J. Farmer said...: p.s. On what basis you differentiate "good guys" from "bad guys" or "friends" from "enemies," in that region, I am not entirely sure.; 1/1/20, 10:37 PM
narciso said...: So attacking civilian tankers is alright does the iranian regime ever do anything wrong in yourbook, the one that runsbu velayat al fagih rule of the clerics.; 1/1/20, 10:57 PM
J. Farmer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/1/20, 11:00 PM
J. Farmer said...: So attacking civilian tankers is alright does the iranian regime ever do anything wrong in yourbook, the one that runsbu velayat al fagih rule of the clerics.

Yes, the Iranians do things wrong. And the Syrians do things wrong. And the Turks do things wrongs. And the Qataris do things wrong. And the Saudis do things wrong. And the Emirates do things wrong. And the Egyptians do things wrong. And the Lebanese do things wrong.; 1/1/20, 11:02 PM