Iran - Israel - Gaza Conflict

[whatstheofficerproblem]

Don't hate me but my two cents:

- Iran attacked the 'bad guy' in the middle east and now wins the hearts of the 'ummah'.

- Israel gets to 'defend' itself again and also play some victim here and there.

- Murica will now intervene and kind of cool the waters before the upcoming elections.

 

Iran gets to play the big brother for the ummah considering Saudi doesn't care about it anymore. Israel gets more aid/money & Biden conveniently gets credit for stopping a 'war'. Every party involved wins, except the civilians and collateral damage who are already dead, but life is too short to care about dead folks amirite.

 

For the record, I do not support Iran or Israel (although have vested interests here) or Gaza or US. I purely only support the military industrial complex of the US. Long $LMT & $RTX baby lets go .

Edited April 16 by whatstheofficerproblem

[Xerxes]

2 hours ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

Don't hate me but my two cents:

- Iran attacked the 'bad guy' in the middle east and now wins the hearts of the 'ummah'.

- Israel gets to 'defend' itself again and also play some victim here and there.

- Murica will now intervene and kind of cool the waters before the upcoming elections.

 

Iran gets to play the big brother for the ummah considering Saudi doesn't care about it anymore. Israel gets more aid/money & Biden conveniently gets credit for stopping a 'war'. Every party involved wins, except the civilians and collateral damage who are already dead, but life is too short to care about dead folks amirite.

 

For the record, I do not support Iran or Israel (although have vested interests here) or Gaza or US. I purely only support the military industrial complex of the US. Long $LMT & $RTX baby lets go .

 

Agree with your post. One of the better post in the whole 5 pages. 
 

your two cents are in the money. IMHO

 

but I don’t think US cherish its role and not looking to score election win point. 

Edited April 16 by Xerxes

[Xerxes]

12 hours ago, Dinar said:

I don't know what Iran wanted or wants, but according to his obituary published by the Iranian press, the Iranian general who was killed planned the October 7th massacre.  So if that is true, it is clear that Iran wanted a war with Israel or at least was fine with it.

Dinar 

I don’t read anything coming from Tehran that is official. It is of no use. Mostly lies. They may claim something they didn’t do while not claiming something that they actually did. The audience is always the domestic Middle East folks. And right now there is a “market share” to gain of being a “defender of Gaza”. 
 

Not knowing the details of Oct massacre, it is highly unlikely that Hamas (a Sunni organization) took orders from heretic Persians. Sure they will take their money, and weapons, but they do their own thing. The Mullahs in Tehran are after continuity and self preservation. 
 

To give an easy analogy: For instance, Iran sees Israel as a US proxy. But it doesn’t mean everything that Israel (the proxy) does is directed from DC. Israel has a mind of its own as Hamas has a mind of its own. The proxy actions sometimes may or may not conflict with what the “higher up” desires. 
 

And just it is easy to find “hard connection” between the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza and US military, well you know they use American h/w and are in constant communication, it is probably not hard to “find” communication trails between Hamas and IRGC, if one wants build a hard narrative. 
 

Now that said, any of this does not change Iran’ “foreign legion” malign behaviour in Levant. Nor does it change that while they do not have hard control over Hamas, they DO have hard control over Hizbollah, where that ideological relationship goes back decades. 
 

I will also add for those here actually interested in history, the Hamas organization and Tehran were at odds for better part of the 2010 decade. Why ? Because they were on the opposing side of the Syrian War. Only the end of the Syrian War in the last couple of years, brought Hamas close to Iran, to invest in as “passive non-controlling stake”. 
 

I hope this post helped anyone who actually looking for some pointers. Aside of just relating the latest talking points from either side.
 

I may not be totally right, but I think directionally I am right. 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

Thanks Xerxes for your kind words.

 

A few musings after I've gone through the five pages:

- The reason Israel seems to be called the 'occupier' seems to because the Israelites are white/EU decent. Why wouldn't they be after being exiled and forced to live in EU?

- Yes, Israel is no saint & the IDF is not some charitable organization. Have we really forgotten what wars are like? They are dirty and disgusting, it is sad that kids died but that is the true face of war. You kill one of ours, we kill two of yours, you kill four of ours, we kill six of yours and on and on.

- Hamas is actually quite genius, Haniyeh is a billionaire and lives in Qatar, like every other terrorist camp, the leader tells his subordinates to indulge in j!had & become mujah!deens to attain jahannum while the leader himself hides out and lives a life of luxury & indulgence.

- Their strategy of hiding in tunnels & civilian areas & using children on the frontline is immaculate. With this strategy, you get to attack the other country and also cry victim when there is retaliation. Also helps score sympathy points because now women & children were collateral damage. These guys will have a nice career at McKinsey if they so wish to.

- I also noticed that the very people who hate Israel are somehow the same people who support a Pakistan occupied Kashmir? How does that work? The metal gymnastics here are insane, the literal word 'Kashmir' is older than the ideology a lot of them subscribe to.

 

Without making this thread anymore of a political football field, there is a lot of hypocrisy from all sides of the aisle. While wars are nasty, they are extremely profitable, and the powers that be, who puppeteer the war do not care about those on the front lines.

 

We have seen attempts to boycott certain brands by a the pro-Palestine side of the aisle, as a result, Starbucks has laid of tons of employees in the Middle East, can we see what's happening here? A boycott by Arabs led to shutdown of franchises owned by Arabs and evaporated the livelihood of thousands of other Arabs.

 

We have & always will be 'useful idiots' at best, used by one side or the other. At the end of the day gentlemen, I don't have the power to stop the war or the suffering of those effected by it. But I do have the power to increase my position in LMT & RTX, if I cannot stop it, might as well gain from it a little. Afterall, I am only as moral as my government.

[Xerxes]

@whatstheofficerproblem

 

We have no stake so we can talk non emotionally. Others have stake, family and friends. 
 

At this stage (nor anytime soon), I don’t expect neither a Palestinian nor an Israeli to be able to have that type of conversation. So they get a free pass from me. Wounds are way too deep. 
 

That said, I have no problem in blasting North Americans and European when they go off into full Peter Jackson LOTR mode uttering whatever. 
 

on Starbucks, imagine my surprise Monday morning when it didn’t open 10% down. lol. I own it and love the brand. 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

Agree with everything you said, which is why I usually don't enter the conversation.

 

26 minutes ago, Xerxes said:

on Starbucks, imagine my surprise Monday morning when it didn’t open 10% down. lol. I own it and love the brand. 

 

I hate Starbucks not the stock but the product, because what they are selling is not coffee, it's 5% coffee and basically an ice cream smoothie. But hey, if it sells, it sells. I have been hearing about increased penetration into the Indian market lately, India lacks a premium coffee brand in the country, CoffeeDay is affordable & SBUX is trying to fill in that void. Seeing a lot of people with Starbucks in their hand, not to mention the additional penetration in China.. do you think it is a buy here or will you write some puts to catch this on the way down? That would be if boycotts increase, I don't think they will though as those who want to already avoid it, and most of the customer base isn't naive enough to think buying an overpriced coffee will fund g3n0cide.

Edited April 16 by whatstheofficerproblem

[Xerxes]

@Dinar

 

If you are interested in obituaries of slain revolutionary guard generals, the one that The Economist wrote on Suleimani in 2020, was spot on the man. And his background. 
 

I don’t know how The Economist are able to get a profile so well in a short span of time. Credit goes to that magazine and its reach and resources. 
 

https://www.economist.com/obituary/2020/01/09/obituary-qassem-suleimani-was-assassinated-on-january-3rd
 

[Ulti]

1 hour ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

The reason Israel seems to be called the 'occupier' seems to because the Israelites are white/EU decent. Why wouldn't they be after being exiled and forced to live in EU?

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Israel

 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

@Ulti I was just quoting the mainstream narrative that is used to label Israel settler colonizer & apartheid while exclusively referring to Ashkenazis. I must admit, this is the first time I'm seeing 'dhimmi' used in western media.

 

- fellow 'dhimmi'.

Edited April 19 by whatstheofficerproblem

[Lance]

…and so it begins.

[Gregmal]

Show of hands…who voted for this?

[Paarslaars]

I hope none of us vote for a war that potentially kills thousands of kids just to make some profit on weapons or oil.

[Sweet]

4 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Show of hands…who voted for this?

Who do you mean?  

In America or Europe?

 

Or in Israel?

[ICUMD]

On 4/16/2024 at 9:17 AM, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

- Hamas is actually quite genius, Haniyeh is a billionaire and lives in Qatar, like every other terrorist camp, the leader tells his subordinates to indulge in j!had & become mujah!deens to attain jahannum while the leader himself hides out and lives a life of luxury & indulgence.

 

Seems like Haniyeh, regardless of his billions, is not without suffering: from Wikipedia -

 

Haniyeh currently lives in Qatar.^{[59][60][61][62]}

In October 2023, 14 members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City, among them a brother and nephew.^[63] In November 2023, a granddaughter of his was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.^[64] Later that month his eldest grandson was killed in an Israeli strike.^[65] Three of his sons and three grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on 10 April 2024.^[66] [6

[Xerxes]

There are some unconfirmed Breaking News coming out of Tehran speaking on the condition of anonymity:

 

Iran and Israel have now an understanding that a new large Starbucks flagship coffee shop is to open in downtown Isfahan. Israeli helped in clearing the area, Iranian put on some fireworks in the sky.  
 

This is a developing story …

 

[Xerxes]

3 hours ago, ICUMD said:

Seems like Haniyeh, regardless of his billions, is not without suffering: from Wikipedia -

 

Haniyeh currently lives in Qatar.^{[59][60][61][62]}

In October 2023, 14 members of his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike on his family home in Gaza City, among them a brother and nephew.^[63] In November 2023, a granddaughter of his was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City.^[64] Later that month his eldest grandson was killed in an Israeli strike.^[65] Three of his sons and three grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on 10 April 2024.^[66] [6

Hamas has many factions. 
 

Haniyeh in Qatar was of its political wing. The military faction (that very possibly kept 10/07 operation secret even from its political wing) is led by the psychopath whose name escapes me. 
 

He lives on borrowed time and on his line of credit. 

[Gregmal]

6 hours ago, Sweet said:

Who do you mean?  

In America or Europe?

 

Or in Israel?

Think its very clearly in the interests of a lot of the establishment to keep this and Ukraine going. 

[whatstheofficerproblem]

3 hours ago, ICUMD said:

Seems like Haniyeh, regardless of his billions, is not without suffering: from Wikipedia -

 

 

I doubt he suffered. There was a video of him getting the call and the Hamas guy on the other end announcing him they died. Dude did not even flinch, looked totally unaffected, said they will go to heaven and we need more soldiers. He will just have more kids, you'd be surprised that most leaders of terrorist camps, from Haniyeh to Hafiz Saeed only care about themselves, not even their family. Seen too many of these guys.

[whatstheofficerproblem]

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/17/24133700/google-fires-28-employees-protest-israel-cloud-contract

 

Why did Google fire them, it shouldn't have. In fact, the employees must have willfully resigned as a sign of protest.

 

Sincerely,

All undergrad & grad students.

[whatstheofficerproblem]

10 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Show of hands…who voted for this?

 

Technically speaking, we did. Whose tax dollars do you think are funding both sides of this? If reincarnation is real, in my next life, I'd like to be the US govt.

[Malmqky]

36 minutes ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

Technically speaking, we did. Whose tax dollars do you think are funding both sides of this? If reincarnation is real, in my next life, I'd like to be the US govt.

Politicians lie and deceive. They promise us our tax dollars will be used for schools and roads and bridges and social programs that will fix all of our problems (lol).

 

Instead, our tax dollars are spent on things like war - war on drugs, Middle East, etc. 

 

Republicans say they’re the party of small government, yet they spend, spend, spend and love to regulate people’s lives. Democrats say they’re for the people or whatever, but their actions prove otherwise as well.
 

So sure, we voted indirectly for this. Hard to fault the average person though when we’re lied to 24/7 by everyone in Washington. Propaganda is a powerful thing. I’d say most people thought they were voting for something else.

[Gregmal]

We need “wars” to excuse 2013s oil prices and inflation being a little higher than normal going into elections. Always have to have something to point a finger at…remember, Joe Biden told us the buck stops with him. Guess the dementia has taken its toll.

[Baklava]

1 hour ago, Xerxes said:

Hamas has many factions. 
 

Haniyeh in Qatar was of its political wing. The military faction (that very possibly kept 10/07 operation secret even from its political wing) is led by the psychopath whose name escapes me. 
 

He lives on borrowed time and on his line of credit. 

 The psychopath's name is Yahya Sinwar

[cubsfan]

1 hour ago, whatstheofficerproblem said:

 

I doubt he suffered. There was a video of him getting the call and the Hamas guy on the other end announcing him they died. Dude did not even flinch, looked totally unaffected, said they will go to heaven and we need more soldiers. He will just have more kids, you'd be surprised that most leaders of terrorist camps, from Haniyeh to Hafiz Saeed only care about themselves, not even their family. Seen too many of these guys.

The hallmark of a true sociopath 

[John Hjorth]

2 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Think its very clearly in the interests of a lot of the establishment to keep this and Ukraine going. 

 

Greg [ @Gregmal ],

 

Are you above here [as quoted above] referring to the military industrial complex?, or what else?