2025 Israel vs Iran War

I wish I could be surprised but it's Mike Huckabee, who is pretty much a temporally displaced '80s-'90s Bible-thumping Evangelical turbofundamentalist right out of the average boomerlib's nightmares - in 2008 he was the face of the social-conservative opposition to McCain & Romney in the Republican primaries that year. His position on Israel and its importance to the End Times is, AFAIK, identical to those of infamous top Evangelical pastors like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee; he's furthermore a fan of the Left Behind books (Evangelical apocalyptic fanfiction basically) and the authors were big fans of him in return.

Also, that photo is no longer up to date, he has a beard now.

View attachment 7516676
And he was chummy with Jim Bob Duggar IIRC.
 
Hezbollah arguably isn't even a "Terrorist" organization, in anymore a way that any regional insurgency isn't.
How raped in the mind do you have to be to look at a group that murdered US soldiers, bombed a Jewish community center in Argentina, and starved Syrians in a brutal siege while banking for the cartels and running drugs into the US and say oh they aren't terrorists
SO, let's get that in perspective, shall we?

*19 hours before these revelations*

It a quote for quote, act for act what happened with Saddam.
Key difference the USA intelligences found out before sending cannon fodder on foot.
Imo: Can we stop pretending this demon do not have any hidden agenda?
The IAEA directly disagrees.
 
Hezbollah arguably isn't even a "Terrorist" organization, in anymore a way that any regional insurgency isn't. Mossad does way more actual genuine civilian targeting terrorist shit like drive by shootings, car bombs, explosives in mail etc than Hezzy does.
Hezbollah are definitely a terrorist group, the only difference is that after the Beirut Barracks bombing, they don't go after American targets. They're almost definitely responsible for the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 86 Argentine Jews, they've repeatedly attempted to blow up tour buses in Cyprus and Bulgaria that carry Israeli tourists, and indiscriminately launching missiles into Israeli civilian centers definitely counts as terrorism.
 
Is this boomers way of saying "fuck you all. Die for our shitty decisions"
No, I think Huckabee's a true believer rather than a spiteful cynic - always has been - and unironically all-in on the Christian Zionist idea that Israel (the modern country, as opposed to more nebulous concepts of it being the whole Christian church or whatever) must exist in order to summon Jesus and kickstart the End of Days. Else he would've dropped that position when it became increasingly unfashionable with the younger generations of Evangelicals.
 
Hezbollah are definitely a terrorist group, the only difference is that after the Beirut Barracks bombing, they don't go after American targets. They're almost definitely responsible for the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 86 Argentine Jews, they've repeatedly attempted to blow up tour buses in Cyprus and Bulgaria that carry Israeli tourists, and indiscriminately launching missiles into Israeli civilian centers definitely counts as terrorism.
The Beirut barracks bombing wasn't even a terrorist attack. On what planet is a barracks housing hundreds of soldiers a civilian target?
 
I know you think I'm a knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing, shit-eating simian creature (goy), but we still have boots on the ground in Syria.
You aren't helping your case with such a stupid point. Boots on the ground came before the tomahawks

Hezbollah are definitely a terrorist group, the only difference is that after the Beirut Barracks bombing, they don't go after American targets. They're almost definitely responsible for the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 86 Argentine Jews, they've repeatedly attempted to blow up tour buses in Cyprus and Bulgaria that carry Israeli tourists, and indiscriminately launching missiles into Israeli civilian centers definitely counts as terrorism.
According to half the people in this thread it's based.


The Iranian Social Media Discourse: Patriotism, the Israeli Bear Hug, and False Campaigns

@oritperlov
, a researcher at INSS, writes:

The Iranian discourse on social media is divided into two camps. One is led by Iranian exiles, primarily located in the United States and Israel, who are conducting a broad media campaign centered on the call to overthrow the Iranian regime. The other is led by Iranian citizens living within Iran who emphasize their patriotism and reject what they perceive as the “Israeli bear hug,” while grappling with why the barrier of fear has not yet broken and why, at this stage, the likelihood of popular protests remains low.

The Exile Discourse
This discourse is almost entirely led by Iranian exiles and carries a clear agenda: the overthrow of the Ayatollah regime. It revolves around two central campaigns:

Campaign 1: “The Ayatollah regime is as fragile as a spider web.” This campaign includes consistent publication and amplification of content showing damage to regime symbols inside Iran, accompanied by videos and documentation intended to highlight the regime’s internal cracks and loss of control. The campaign also seeks to encourage the Iranian public to return to the streets and protest as they have in the past.

Campaign 2: “Everyone is fleeing to Moscow” or “Khamenei’s fate will be like Assad’s.” This campaign spreads fake videos supposedly showing the families of regime officials fleeing on flights to Moscow. While such a phenomenon might occur in the future, it is not happening at present. Additionally, this campaign tries to suggest widespread joy among Iranians following the Israeli strikes. It is important to clarify that this campaign does not reflect the true mood in the streets of Iran but rather the voices of the exile community. Even if some Iranians aspire to see the regime fall, no current grassroots campaigns exist to bring people into the streets.

The Internal Iranian Discourse: Patriotism and the Fear Barrier

Three central narratives characterize the internal discourse among Iranians within the country:
1. “Out of hatred for Haman, not love for Mordechai”—There is a clear distinction between hatred for the Ayatollah regime and deep love for Iran. Iranians clearly choose to support their country over Israel’s military actions. There is also real disdain toward the Israeli government, which is perceived as right-wing, brutal, and responsible for the suffering of Gazans. Iranians express their discontent with the “Israeli bear hug” that portrays them as traitors. Similar to the cases of the Druze and Alawites, such a “hug” is viewed as suffocating rather than supportive. Many oppose linking Israel’s military actions to their internal struggle to overthrow the regime.

2. Paralysis in the face of regime fear—Alongside patriotism, there is an apologetic tone explaining why protests are not currently taking place and why the fear barrier has yet to break. The public is still not ready to take to the streets. Therefore, current expectations of a major popular uprising are more wishful thinking by Israelis than a reflection of the actual situation on the ground. Residents of Iran express cries of fear, while exiles abroad share cries of joy.

3. Cries of fear, not of joy—The Iranian public values life and is deeply afraid that Tehran could suffer the same fate as Jabalia or the Dahiya district in Lebanon. Just three days into the operation, we have witnessed a mass exodus of Tehran residents fleeing the city. So far, however, Israel has focused on military targets, and there hasn’t yet been widespread panic. However, if residential buildings in Tehran are hit, this trend is likely to change.
 
Half the time they are declaring how Iran is 1000% winning and Israel will collapse in hours srsly guiz pls just trust me, and the other half of the time they are openly seething about how unfair it is that their geopolitical husbandos are getting the shit kicked out of them
View attachment 7516095

View attachment 7516097
- mfw my botted xeets don't make BRICs become a military superpower alliance IRL -
>if only the multipolar world was on the same page...
if they were all on the same page then it wouldn't be very multipolar though, would it? it would just be cold war 2
 
The Beirut barracks bombing wasn't even a terrorist attack. On what planet is a barracks housing hundreds of soldiers a civilian target?
Zero reading comprehension. The Beirut Barracks bombings refer to the last instance where Hezbollah attacked American (not civilian) target. The second sentence of the post specifically refers to the instances where Hezbollah attacked Israeli civilians.
 
The Beirut barracks bombing wasn't even a terrorist attack. On what planet is a barracks housing hundreds of soldiers a civilian target?
A terror attack doesn't need to be against civilians to still be considered a terror attack. Are you going to tell me Benghazi wasn't a terror attack because it killed a US diplomat and several marines? Second, the marines were acting as peacekeepers rather than being involved in a military operation, or are you just simping for Hezbollah at this point?
 
1948, 1956, and 1967 would beg to differ. Even in 1982, US aid was at best ancillary, as Israeli policy objectives weren't 100% aligned with America's.
1948 - training from Britain, guns, planes, ammo and training from the Czechs
1956 - absolutely a joint operation. Spearheaded by France, provided weapons, ammo, training and planes by France, air cover from France, British and French forces bombed Egyptian air fields and invaded the canal
1967 - using decades of foreign, mostly French, weapons, planes, etc etc

1982 - "at best ancillary" bull fucking shit.
By this point Israel has received tens of billions of dollars in aid (in grants, not "loans") from the US, acquiring F-15s, tanks, armored carriers, missiles, cluster bombs and shitloads of guns and ammo in the process. They also received US intelligence on Syrians and the PLO. All of this was actually ESSENTIAL to waging and sustaining that war.

Why are you all always so ungrateful? Try saying thank you.
 

Scoop: U.S. tells allies it won't join war unless Iran targets Americans​

1750169503703.webp
Trump at the G7. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/Pool/Getty Images

The Trump administration told several Middle Eastern allies on Sunday that it doesn't plan to get actively involved in the war between Israel and Iran unless Iran targets Americans, two sources from countries that received that U.S. message tell Axios.

The big picture: The U.S. has helped Israel intercept missiles, but made clear Israel is acting alone in attacking Iran. The U.S. message is that if Iran attacks Americans in response, it will be crossing a red line.

The intrigue: The U.S. sent a similar message to the same countries about an hour before Israel launched the war last Thursday, telling them the U.S. would not participate.
  • In both cases, the U.S. seemed to expect the countries to pass that message to Iran to discourage any retaliation against U.S. forces or interests in the region.
  • The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
Between the lines: While Iranian leaders have accused the U.S. of complicity in Israel's war effort, and threatened for weeks to respond to any Israeli attack by targeting U.S. bases in the region, no such attacks have taken place.
  • "The Iranians are very careful so far not to do anything that can push the U.S. to get involved," an Arab diplomat with direct knowledge of the thinking in Tehran said.
Friction point: Israel has asked the Trump administration to join the war in order to eliminate Iran's nuclear program. A U.S. official told Axios on Saturday that the Trump administration was not actively considering it.
  • U.S. officials also claimed that over the weekend, Israel had an operational window to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but President Trump made clear to Israel that he opposed that step.
  • A U.S. official said that was because the Iranians haven't killed Americans — a statement Israeli officials saw as a threat to Iran that if Americans are targeted, the Trump administration could support killing Khamenei.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that killing Khamenei would "end the war," and was still a possibility.
State of play: Trump demurred Monday when asked whether the U.S. could join the war. But while the U.S. is stating in public and in private that it's not getting involved, the U.S. military is taking steps to prepare for such a contingency.
  • The Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group is moving to the Middle East, and 28 strategic refueling planes left the U.S. on Sunday for the region.
  • Netanyahu said in a press conference on Monday that he speaks to Trump almost every day, including on Sunday.
  • He said he appreciates U.S. assistance in defeating Iranian attacks but stressed that President Trump will do what he thinks is best for America. "We will welcome any U.S. contribution," he said.
  • In the ABC interview, Netanyahu said that Trump and the American people understand the need to "take a stand against evil." He said: "Look, I understand 'America First.' I don't understand 'America Dead.' That's what these people want."
What to watch: Trump said on Monday during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit that the Iranians want to talk to the U.S. about the situation.
  • "They should have done that before. They had 60 days and on the 61st day I said, 'We don't have a deal.' Iran is not winning this war they should talk immediately before it is too late," Trump said.
  • An Arab diplomat said the Iranians have communicated to the U.S. that they will be willing to discuss a ceasefire and resume nuclear talks after they conclude their retaliation and after Israel stops its strikes.
  • Israeli officials say they've received no indications Iran wants a ceasefire and stressed that Israel isn't interested in a ceasefire at the moment because it hasn't achieved the aims of destroying Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Source (Archive)
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Florid Icewater
Hezbollah are definitely a terrorist group, the only difference is that after the Beirut Barracks bombing, they don't go after American targets. They're almost definitely responsible for the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 86 Argentine Jews, they've repeatedly attempted to blow up tour buses in Cyprus and Bulgaria that carry Israeli tourists, and indiscriminately launching missiles into Israeli civilian centers definitely counts as terrorism.
Sure, but they are far more accurately a state regional intelligence and military apparatus.
Just to be consistent, if Hezbollah are a terrorist organization, then Mossad absolutely are as well, along with tonnes of Intelligence Agencies like the CIA, MI6 etc.
I don't like the idea of claiming that States apparatus themselves are "Terrorist organizations" because it opens a pandora's box of states just accusing eachother of being terrorists, for pretty frankly, standard espionage. I think Terrorist orgs genuinely have to be largely clandestine sleeper cell loan shark groups, acting for the purpose entirely to conduct terror. Hezbollah just doesn't match that, it's a uniformed army and intelligence agency functionally, of elements of Lebanese state and supported by Iran.
Also personally, I just do not understand, why Westerners, would ever give a single iota of a fuck about Hezbollah or Hamas, when Hezbollah has been fighting against the Islamist Wahabbi nutcases that keep driving through Christmas Markets in Europe. Without Hezbollah kicking them in the nuts, ISIS would have 100% won the Syria blood bowl and the West would be seeing a Terror wave unlike any it's ever experienced. Hezbollah and Lebanon, hell even Hamas and Iran, are pretty "moderate" by Middle Eastern standards. The Gulf States are basically Islamist Wahhabi psycho North Korea tier outside of their potemkin cities. Saudi Arabia can just slam Airliners into American Skyscrapers and Iraq and Iran get the blame for "Islamic terror".
 
Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel (Michael) Leiter:

Archive | X

yechielleiter.webp

- Israeli Ambassador tells @LyndsayKeith to expect a ‘surprise’ later this week in its attacks on Iran that will make the Mossad’s Hezbollah pager operation look ‘simple.’

- When I was asked about future operations against Iran, I said that we have “already pulled off a number of surprises at the beginning of the operation,” and when the dust settles on the start of the operation “Last Thursday and Friday,” those surprises will become evident.
 
Back