Israel

[SirAndrewD]

^Good.

Only partly.  He's done a good job of setting himself up as a little tyrant.  Those secular movements are mostly concentrated in the western parts of the country and the east is increasingly Islamist.

The extreme Islamic right in Turkey is pushing hard for an eventual Iran style Islamic Revolution. 

Never forget that even today a large segment of Iran is secular and has mostly what would be considered Western values but live in a nightmare police state.  I've got a lot of friends who are Iranian ex-pats who are from that group.  They dream of a life where they can return to their homes and families and live in a freedom they believe Iran deserves.

[Gusington]

^I do too. The Iranians that I am friends with here in New York are some of the warmest, kindest people I know.

And some of the women...hubba hubba. That's Persian for 'hawt.'

[SirAndrewD]

^I do too. The Iranians that I am friends with here in New York are some of the warmest, kindest people I know.

And some of the women...hubba hubba. That's Persian for 'hawt.'

Yeah, same.  We have a "Little Persia" here in Montgomery, that's mostly moved off to Pike Road.  I had a lot of those kids as my students and parents as friends.  They're heavy into local business ownership here and a few of those guys and girls were people I've known since High School. 

Extremely decent people.   They hate what's happening in Iran with a white hot fury that I can't even comprehend.  They feel like the birthright of their entire nation and culture has been taken from them.

[Gusington]

Most of the people I know here are through my wife's family. The patriarch and his wife fled here in 1979 and were extremely wealthy in Iran. Here the man became a surgeon. One of their daughters is pretty well known:

https://www.instagram.com/yasminvossoughian/?hl=en

[Uberhaus]

Can't locate the thread for posting hypocrisy, so I'll post it here.  https://ca.rogers.yahoo.com/news/russia-says-israels-gaza-bombardment-114134986.html

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Israel's bombardment of Gaza runs counter to international law and risks creating a catastrophe that could last decades.

Maybe Lavrov will end up being the joker in the deck of cards.

[SirAndrewD]

Maybe Lavrov will end up being the joker in the deck of cards.

Send Lavrov to Gaza to put a flower in the barrel of an IDF soldiers' gun.

[GDS_Starfury]

ok hive mine, go aggregate info on sponge bombs.

[al_infierno]

looking for confirmation on this statement.

News: USMC Lt. Gen. James Glynn, dispatched by Pentagon to advise Israel on risks inherent in an invasion of Gaza Strip, has returned to the US.

"Make no mistake: what is, has or will unfold in Gaza is purely an Israeli decision." -USMC commandant Gen. Eric Smith told reporters.

I saw the video myself, I don't have the link offhand but it's definitely real.

I know not to believe everything I read that pops up due to propaganda, but I have to admit I'm extremely disturbed by the death tolls being reported in Gaza, including that of children.  I have to wonder if what appears to be mass bombing campaigns will really help root out Hamas rather than embolden survivors to join them.  Their leaders aren't even present in Gaza, but rather living comfortably in cities far from the conflict.

I don't feel that I'm in a position to criticize Israel for what measures they choose to take to defend themselves, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable to read about what's going on and know that one of our major representatives is essentially washing the United States' hands of Israel's conduct.

[MikeGER]

sponge bombs.

its probably a PU foam, (expanding foam in your DIY-store)

the tricky part is to optimze a method of application for field use and the mixture for a bit faster reaction and more volume (bigger bubbles in the foam) 

(there is a 1-component variant which needs humidity to expand  and has an expansion factor of 55
so a 400ml can  expand to  22 liter of foam )

[Uberhaus]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/25/sponge-bomb-new-weapon-israel-gaza-tunnels-war-hamas/

[Jarhead0331]

looking for confirmation on this statement.

News: USMC Lt. Gen. James Glynn, dispatched by Pentagon to advise Israel on risks inherent in an invasion of Gaza Strip, has returned to the US.

"Make no mistake: what is, has or will unfold in Gaza is purely an Israeli decision." -USMC commandant Gen. Eric Smith told reporters.

I saw the video myself, I don't have the link offhand but it's definitely real.

I know not to believe everything I read that pops up due to propaganda, but I have to admit I'm extremely disturbed by the death tolls being reported in Gaza, including that of children.  I have to wonder if what appears to be mass bombing campaigns will really help root out Hamas rather than embolden survivors to join them.  Their leaders aren't even present in Gaza, but rather living comfortably in cities far from the conflict.

It isn't anywhere close to a "mass bombing campaign". Israel is using precision strikes to hit valid military targets. Once again, it is not fair or logical to expect Israel to avoid civilian casualties when those civilians are used by Hamas as shields for the most critical of command, logistical and offensive sites. Of course civilians will die, but the blood is on hamas' hands. Furthermore, I've said it many times here and nobody has really commented...in world war 2, and wars since, by the way, we bombed cities indiscriminately in order to destroy the enemies will and ability to fight. Nobody questioned or was concerned about whether the hundreds of thousands of civilians who died or were displaced were actual nazis or Tojo supporting samurai. It was total war, and the more damage inflicted, the faster the end would come. Why should Israel now be held to an entirely different standard?

Finally, there are leaders and commanders in Gaza, as should be evident from the reports of the numbers of them who have been killed.

I don't feel that I'm in a position to criticize Israel for what measures they choose to take to defend themselves, but it makes me extremely uncomfortable to read about what's going on and know that one of our major representatives is essentially washing the United States' hands of Israel's conduct.

Why should the US in any way be responsible for how Israel fights its war? Weren't we complaining about NATO interference in how Ukraine fights its war? I believe most felt that the US should provide Ukraine with the weapons and let Ukraine decide for itself the best way to employ them. Why the difference in attitude here?

[GDS_Starfury]

I have to admit I'm extremely disturbed by the death tolls being reported in Gaza, including that of children. 

the last thing I'm going believe right now are hamas casualty reports.

[GDS_Starfury]

I feel like I posted this before.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1718287858421698712

[al_infierno]

I don't really see how you can look at this image and characterize it as the result of precise strikes and not mass bombing. By all accounts, swathes of Gaza is being leveled. Was every one of the buildings in this picture a command, logistical, or offensive site?

As for the Ukraine comparison, the obvious difference is that Ukraine isn't bombing any Russian cities as far as I'm aware, and certainly not to the extent that Gaza is getting bombed.

JH I agree that the blood is on Hamas's hands. My point was that when this is over, I'm concerned Hamas will actually grow stronger due to further radicalization of Palestinians toward their cause.

[GDS_Starfury]

my off the cuff analogy would be thinking about that one area of Chicago were all the shitty things happen.