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Simon

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2 hours ago, Pariah said:

From the "Obvious to Everyone Except...." Department:

 

Trump Says He'll Target Iran's Cultural Sites. That's Illegal.

 

"They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people," he told reporters on Sunday evening. "And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites? It doesn't work that way."

 

No, it doesn't work that way. Iran isn't "allowed" to do any of those things. Much of what they -- or to make a finer legal point of it, their proxies -- are doing are war crimes, by international law. But someone breaking the law doesn't excuse your breaking the law to punish them. When no one follows the law, only the law of the jungle applies, and the foundations of civil society crumble. That's the way it works.

 

I am pleased to see that the American military leadership have enough backbone to stand up for the legal articles of war, when so many politicians seem to have become invertebrates.

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Just heard a sound bite of Trump on the radio saying okay, he won't target cultural sites because it's illegal... but still delivered in a sneering way to make clear he thinks the law is stupid, and following any law is stupid. And still repeating the "They're allowed to..." nonsense.

 

I dare say Trump has no conception of why anyone thinks culture is important. Or the rule of law, for that matter.

 

 

dean Shomshak

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3 hours ago, DShomshak said:

Just heard a sound bite of Trump on the radio saying okay, he won't target cultural sites because it's illegal... but still delivered in a sneering way to make clear he thinks the law is stupid, and following any law is stupid. And still repeating the "They're allowed to..." nonsense.

 

Well, given the US president is allowed to order drone strikes on foreign leaders he doesn't like... :(

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46 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

The expected retaliation by Iran has come. Relatively restrained, all things considered. I suppose that could be viewed as a hopeful sign. But no one really knows how the man-child in the Oval Office will react, which is the scary part.

The question is whether the response resulted in any American casualties. It might potentially be allowed to die down if not. If U.S. servicemen or women died in that response it'll be another matter entirely. 

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1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

This one nearly floored me: Tucker Carlson criticized the Trump administration for Suleimani killing.

 

Carlson dissing the White House? Actually making sense? This may really be the End Times. :huh:

He thinks it takes away from fighting the invasion of brown people from the south.  👻*

 

*not a ghost

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52 minutes ago, Iuz the Evil said:

The question is whether the response resulted in any American casualties. It might potentially be allowed to die down if not. If U.S. servicemen or women died in that response it'll be another matter entirely. 

 

Probably true. But given that the United States assassinated a high-ranking Iranian serviceman, I'm not sure it should be another matter, at least in principle.

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22 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Probably true. But given that the United States assassinated a high-ranking Iranian serviceman, I'm not sure it should be another matter, at least in principle.

Going to agree to disagree on that one. It's always another matter if that happens. Flag covered coffins trigger a different level of response. I'm comfortable with that as the standard, regardless of the provocation. And I'm a pretty huge liberal. 

 

With regard to the impeachment, totally agreed. This appears to have very effectively changed the public narrative. Beyond infuriating.

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I actually do believe that Trump disapproves of American involvement in foreign wars, in general. That's been his consistently expressed opinion for many years, whatever political aisle he stood in at the time. But one this time could be to his personal advantage, which is always his top priority.

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3 hours ago, GM Joe said:

Well-written article on AOC's first year in Congress:

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/aoc-first-year-in-washington.html

 

 

I do not agree with her on somethings, but I admire the hell out of her. A shame she's not yet 35 ,she'd make a hell of a VP nom for Bernie in that together they could terrify many..mwhahaha

 

 

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16 hours ago, Old Man said:

180 civilians have perished in Tehran when a Ukrainian Boeing 737 spontaneously exploded after takeoff, in a city where every antiaircraft missile battery was on high alert.

 

Update: 176 passengers and crew killed, no survivors. It's unclear if the  'plane did explode, but it crashed only minutes after takeoff. No transmission from the crew, so no word of what might have happened just before. No one is making any official statements as to the cause until there's an investigation.

 

63 of the dead were Canadian citizens, including multiple family members and at least two children. Most of them were of Iranian descent or dual Iranian/Canadians. The Iranian community in Canada is pretty close-knit, and this has hit them hard. :(

 

The Iranian government has said they won't hand over the black boxes from the crashed aircraft, and won't allow American or Boeing officials access to them. Their trust in impartial findings is low. The Canadian government would like to be involved in the investigation, and is one of the world leaders in this type of forensics; but currently has no diplomatic representation in Iran. But Ukraine would very much like Canada to participate, and may be able to gain that concession.

 

 

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