Caltrops - Balance of Power - You called out so I'll respond, can't wait to be told to never post again

Forum Overview :: Balance of Power

by Til the next time u demand I respon Yesterday, 11:23pm PDT

ITT: a cease-fire! wrote:

I look forward to Saltpork explaining how necessary this all was three and a half weeks from now.

For starters, not a big fan of the Iran war in general. It's easy to see where, if everything works out just right, it'll be much better for everyone--the Middle East, the West, Iranian civilians in particular--in the long run, but even then it's going to be horrible. That's war. It's ugly and it's terrible. That's been true for...6,000 years? Longer than that of course, but that's how long we've documented humans killing of each other.

Unfortunately, for the purposes of this discussion, you undermine your own outrage by claiming Iran is "pivoting from targeting military infrastructure." Iran has conducted widespread attacks on civilian targets, striking residential areas, hotels, airports, and financial districts across the Middle East in response to U.S. and Israeli military operations. These attacks involved thousands of drones and missiles targeting Gulf Cooperation Council countries resulting in significant civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction.

In GCC countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman), Iranian strikes killed a dozen civilians and injured hundreds by March. In Israel, missile attacks from Iran killed 24 civilians between February and April; half of the missiles that penetrated defenses carried cluster munitions, causing indiscriminate harm in populated areas. The Iranian president (sorry, I can't spell (or pronounce) his name) apologized for the attacks on neighboring countries but the IRGC continued operations claiming economic centers were valid targets. Everything is further complicated by the fact that Iran has a habit of systematically deploying personnel, weapons, and command operations inside civilian hospitals and schools.

Does that mean I think we should sink to their government's level? No. I'd prefer we withdraw from most of our foreign entanglements to focus on domestic issues (of which we have plenty--look at the interactions between a handful of us here). I don't know a lot about the Artesh but I think killing conscripts is, from both a strategic and moral standpoint (in this specific conflict), a Bad Thing. So I'll leave it to Iranians to address that issue:

...you really think Iranians on the ground 'respect' the Artesh? Artesh is literally just an arm of the IRGC...

These guys were conscripts, i.e. forced to be in the military against their will. That's the only tragedy here. Everything after that is just a natural consequence.

A ton of the people in the Artesh are just doing their mandatory military service. My cousin is literally doing it right now. I can’t imagine finding out he’s been airstriked by the US.

And he’d been in the streets protesting in January.

...[people] voicing grievances with the artesh, which rightfully so is an insanely corrupt organization that is complicit in the massacre of our protestors and the state of our country, doesnt mean they are celebrating the deaths of these specific conscripts. They...condemned the army and rightfully so.

So yeah, ugly. It would be nice if humans didn't just love defaulting to tormenting/killing each other.

Tell me honestly, what would you like to happen to Trump voters with whom you disagree? I already know your virtuous "Well, ideally..." answer. Give me your, "Well, if we gotta..." solution.

The disaster that is the attacks against Iran by ITT: a cease-fire! Yesterday, 3:38pm PDT NEW

It's just the billionaires! Rank & file Republican voters never crave violence! NT by Mike dumbfucker Yesterday, 7:35pm PDT NEW

Thanks Gaige, always enjoy reading your contributions NT by Saltpork Today, 12:44am PDT NEW

You called out so I'll respond, can't wait to be told to never post again by Til the next time u demand I respon Yesterday, 11:23pm PDT NEW