[papasmoke]

One day everyone will have always been against this

[what-even-is-thiss]

You know as an American born in the late 90s I’ve watched my country blow up foreigners on tv supposedly in the interest of national security since I was a toddler but quite frankly we live on a natural fortress of a continent with friendly nations to our north and south and have been attacked on our own soil literally two times in the past hundred years and we have military bases on every inhabited continent on earth. It’s never made sense to do these things for “national security”. It never will make sense unless you value the shareholders of weapons companies over the lives of children. And apparently a concerning amount of people do.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Any nation that decided to directly invade the United States would be stupid. Who the fuck wants to deal with the logistics of getting an army across the ocean towards a massive country with a massive amount of spy technology?

“National security” my balls. They just want violence.

[what-even-is-thiss]

I’m not unusual in this opinion either. A huge majority of the American public, like 70%, doesn’t like that we’re attacking Iran.

We were lied to in the early 2000s about weapons of mass destruction. You remember that? They lied to our faces about it. Innocent civilians died and our soldiers came home in body bags and for what? For what? A lie.

And it’s happening again but this time we can tell. We remember. They’re not making nuclear bombs over there. We’re being lied to directly to our faces.

People across the political spectrum are sick of war. We don’t want more war. And yet these idiots keep throwing more lives away. And for what? Vanity? Uranium? You’re trading human lives for uranium? Fuck you.

[mysharona1987]

[afloweroutofstone]

Something I wrote in 2019 about the history of US-Iranian relations, and the absurdity of suggesting that Iran is the aggressor in this situation:

[afloweroutofstone]

what i’ve failed to understand since i was a kid is why these ghouls want war with iran so badly. is it resources? do they have money in defense contracting? is it just that iran is too strong an opponent to us hegemony? why specifically do they want to see iran destroyed?

There is not one singular motivation behind the drive to send the US to war with Iran. There are multiple motivations which often overlap, but which are held in different orders of prioritization by different advocates of war. Most of these motivations are irrational and/or immoral, while others are legitimate complaints that could be addressed through diplomacy far more easily than they could through militarism.

Here's ten common motivations and arguments for a US war with Iran which you might encounter:

Independence from the US: The Iranian government is among the world's least-willing governments to obey US demands and subjugate themselves to the US-led order. For certain US primacists, this independence means that their very existence poses an existential threat to US dominance (similar to North Korea, Cuba, etc.) To a particular type of US militarist, it is necessary for the Iranian government to fall in order for the US to remain the unquestioned leader of the world.

Real Fear of their Nukes: There is a substantial contingent who really does believe that Iran is close to developing a nuclear weapon and that they could well use it if they were to develop it. Logically, the best way to address this concern would be through a diplomatic deal similar to the 2015 JCPOA, which Iran complied with! But the intensity of anti-Iranian sentiment among US hawks tends to convince them that direct military confrontation is somehow a better option, thus explaining why Trump decided to break this deal.

Desire for Revenge: Many older foreign policy hawks in the US have never forgiven Iran for 1) the 1979 US Embassy hostage crisis, and 2) the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Lebanon, which was orchestrated by a terror organization with ties to the Iranian government. In their minds, both of these incidents were embarrassments to the US' military prestige which we have never properly gotten revenge for. (These people tend to ignore the massive wrongdoings which the US has carried out against Iran during this same time period, like the US destruction of Iran Air Flight 655). There are people in and around the Pentagon who have wanted to bomb Iran over a grudge for more than 40 years now.

Iran's Regional Proxies: Over the last several decades, Iran has engaged in an aggressive campaign to expand their influence throughout the region by supporting proxy paramilitary forces in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, etc. Many of these proxies have undeniably engaged in acts of terrorism. This strategy is both opportunistic (taking advantage of the power vacuum caused by the US overthrow of Saddam Hussein) and defensive (countering the regional influence campaigns of Saudi Arabia and Turkey). This is probably the most legitimate cause of US anger towards the Iranian government, but it is a grievance which will only be worsened by backing Iran into a corner militarily.

Israel (and Saudi Arabia) Hates Them: Iran is unfriendly with two of the US' closest partners in the region: Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli government, in particular, has long been laser-focused on the overthrow of the Iranian government, and they are fully committed to dragging the US into such a regime change operation. For the most fervent defenders of Israel in the US, overthrowing the Iranian government is near the top of their wishlist.

They Got Oil: Oil is a factor which is often overstated in these discussions, but it definitely is one of the factors. Iran currently produces 5% of the world's oil and has the potential to produce far more were the current sanction regime against it to be removed. They also have the ability to shut down the Straight of Hormuz, an important chokepoint through which 25% of the world's oil flows. Regime change in Iran would significantly increase the leverage that the US and its allies hold over global oil markets and further weaken the strength of OPEC.

And Other Commodities Too!: Though the separation between the US and Iranian economies hurts the US economy as a whole, there are certain sectors of US industry that benefit enormously from having Iran so heavily sanctioned. Some of the big names in the US pistachio industry have lobbied heavily to keep US-Iranian relations unfriendly, because the elimination of US sanctions on Iran would allow the massive Iranian pistachio industry to compete with the US industry. As long as these two governments hate each other, a few politically-connected US businessmen make way more money.

Diaspora Pressure Campaigns: Most Iranian-Americans hold the following two opinions at the same time: 1) they hate the current Iranian government and want to see it replaced, but 2) they strongly oppose US efforts at regime change in Iran. However, there is a vocal minority of Iranian-Americans that do support regime change efforts, and they tend to cluster into two well-organized groups that wage pressure campaigns against the Iranian government. The first are the monarchists, who want to see the son of the former US-backed Iranian dictator restored to power. The others are those who are loyal to the MEK, a cult and former terrorist organization which has been extremely effective at building relationships with US politicians. Both of these groups work full-time to push the US towards overthrowing the Iranian government so that they can step in and take over; it's fairly easy to find both of these groups in online social media threads about US-Iranian relations.

Who Cares, We Want War: As I have written about many times before, the US military-industrial complex encourages the US government to engage in militarist behavior in order to boost their profits. Iran is one of their favorite boogeymen to justify increased levels of US military spending, second only to China. These companies fund think tanks and other policy initiatives to argue that Iran is an immediate threat to us, and then they fund political candidates who want to spend more money preparing for this "threat."

They're Crazy! You Can't Trust Them!: We are led to believe that the Iranian government cannot be negotiated with because they are irrational, they're anti-Western religious zealots incapable of reasoned decision-making. This is a convenient excuse for war, but it's entirely incompatible with the restraint that the Iranian government shows in responding to Israeli attacks, their continued willingness to sit down for diplomatic talks with their aggressors, the way that they helped the US government deal with al Qaeda and the Taliban after 9/11, and a million other indications that the Iranian government is just as rational as any other government in its geopolitical decision-marking.

Add all of that together, and you get a deranged political ecosystem obsessed with inflating the scale of foreign threats, finding excuses for maintaining the trajectory of our militarist status quo, increasing regional tensions, and rejecting obvious opportunities for diplomacy and a peaceful resolution of our differences.

[c-optimistic]

may all those in the diaspora who cheered bombs and violence never go a day without being forced to confront the blood on their hands. i will never forget nor forgive them

[metamorphesque]

'they're only attacking Iranian regime centers' sure karen, just like israel was 'only attacking hamas' hideouts'

[arctic-hands]

At least 40 girls reported killed in strike on school in southern Iran

Dozens of children aged between seven and 12 hit in attack on Minab city

At least 51 girls have been killed in an air strike on an elementary school in southern Iran, local authorities said, as the United States and Israel ramps up attacks on the country. The attack on Saturday morning hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab city in the southern Hormozgan province. The victims were between seven and 12 years old, according to Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies. The air strike on the school caused many of those inside the building to become trapped under the rubble. There were 170 female students at the school at the time of the attack. So far, at least 45 people have also been reported wounded.

Were these children the revolutionary guards trump told to surrender or die? Is netanyahu going to say these dead seven-year-olds were the long arm of the ayatollah or some shit now?

[everymournfulbreath]

[politijohn]

Source

Source

[c-optimistic]

actually you know what I have more to say. you would be hard pressed to find a diaspora as ridiculous as the Iranian diaspora. they rot from their faux decadence and ambitions of ‘whiteness,’ at once fetishizing and profiting off Iranian culture, whilst also having next to no idea what Iranian culture even is (spoiler: it’s not just mehmoonis and kebab and new year, it’s the generosity, the respect, the community, the passion for art, the resiliency and commitment to excellence, and yes it’s about Islam too you Islamophobic, obsessive weirdos). They spout off some history without context, brag about being this ‘great civilization,’ then justify horrors against their so-called countrymen as long as it gets the outcome they want.

there is a reason why pahlavi has support in the west but minimal support in iran itself (stop fucking lying and repeating the same tired talking points—time and time again it’s been shown pahlavi is reviled in Iran). the diaspora, with their moral decay and delusions of ethnic superiority (over Arabs and Kurds and Armenians and Afghanis, saying with zero shame that ‘Iran is different from all those other countries that were destroyed by western aggression’ not comprehending how utterly ahistorical and lacking in evidence such a claim is), would obviously back a man who has sold himself out his entire life and lived off the money he’s stolen from iranians. they are the same.

if the fuckers who were silent about genocide, who don’t speak up about American violence against its own people, who cheer on trump and his cronies, actually had any capacity whatsoever to center the lives and needs of others instead of their own, they’d push to have sanctions removed and for an opposition leader from within iran (who has fought and bled and lived there, who knows what the people need, who will prioritize the country over self) to lead any sort of transition.

but the only thing they’re capable of is to continue to prioritize themselves, to exude false superiority and make themselves out to be lovers of freedom while they shit on Muslims or any Iranian who calls out pahlavi’s bullshit or progressives who are fighting to stop western interference in other countries. i hope you know that your selfishness, callousness, and utter ignorance and disregard for anyone but yourself is no different than the mullahs you so detest.

so to the ‘um I’m persian not Arab’ assholes who act as though being called Arab is a slur, who cheer on violence, who have sold out the last vestiges of honor and integrity and decency: fuck you, fuck that moron you call a monarch, and i cannot wait for the day when you asshats just shut the fuck up

[c-optimistic]

I need everyone to understand this very clearly: reza pahlavi is a fucking nobody with zero authority or credibility, a man who has sold himself out to american interests his entire fucking life, and any and all of those goons who actually believe he’s the answer to a ‘liberated’ iran are at best sell outs themselves and at worst horrific immoral liars

[c-optimistic]

another reminder that he’s a fucking joke, a sell out. bro is trump lite but somehow less charismatic and less qualified. a grifter and a fraud

[disabled-dippy]

My Disability Studies professor said something that I think was very good and explains a lot about professional attitudes toward people with disabilities. This is what she said:

“We [people with disabilities] are the last thing on the HR discrimination list. Companies always list things like, ‘we eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion, nationality, identity… oh, and disability.’ It’s just tacked on at the end. The others are mostly about being nice, respectful, and treating people equally. Not discriminating against people with disabilities is more complicated. You need to change your environment, code, the way you design things. You actually need to make changes, and most companies do not want to do that.”

I thought this was a really good insight. We’re often thought about last, if we’re thought about at all. Accommodating us takes effort and a lot of people just don’t want to make the effort.

[amaliazeichnerin]

Source of the image: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQouV1DjWb6/

[c-optimistic]

[c-optimistic]

anyway in case anyone was confused, no it’s not ‘over.’ it’s not over until the occupation ends and apartheid is dismantled, until western governments stop financing violence and atrocities worldwide (and at home) with their weapons, until our tax dollars are used not to hurt others but to serve each other. if we’re serious about creating a world that does not tolerate violence and cruelty—in particular our own violence—then the work goes on

[mysharona1987]