Since it's been a while since we had an Israel/Palestine thread...

[Mr. Tea]

I'm not saying the 2003 invasion was a great idea - I'm saying the outcome might have been better if the US had supported the popular uprising in 1991, given that there had just been a massive war and Saddam's military was in tatters anyway. Although maybe that's illusory and the outcome would have been much the same in the long run, I don't know.

And no, obviously I'm not advocating invading KSA just because the 9/11 guys were Saudis. That's nuts. 🙄 Everyone knows there was no connection between Saddam and bin Laden or anyone else involved in that plot, anyway. The neocons had been itching to get rid of Saddam since the late 90s and it was a convenient excuse, and enough people at the time either believed it or were at least prepared to go along with it.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

So you’re suggesting we should have invaded Saudi Arabia? 15 of the 19 were Saudi’s no? Osama - Saudi, right?
If so we might be in agreement. Kick their ass and take their gas*

Only problem is,…well SA is not even on our Alpha dog presidents terror list, not on his shithole countries list. Nor did Bush/Cheney, Obama/Biden feel the need to do so.
Quite the contrary. We have a ‘Special’ relationship with them, as well as Israel (just to keep it on topic).

But on the other hand, they were considered non state ACTORS.
So it conveniently becomes “ The War on Terror”
Kind of in the vein of WAR ON DRUGS, WAR ON POVERTY (stuck on caps there for a second) sweeping successes all around.

*in true military gallows humor: that was a big hand painted sign I saw while the 82nd Airborne were deploying to attack Iraq.

Just curious to all my hawkish correspondents on here: what branch of the military did you serve in?
Surely you wouldn’t be so limp dicked and cowardly to suggest degrees of military involvement while sitting behind a keyboard stuffing Doritos into your face,…or would you? Yeah, bomb all those motherfuckers!

Obviously I'd be inputting my comment through some sort of keyboard, no matter how much military service I had serviced (none).

I'm 100% dove when it comes down to it, but if someone attacks the dove they're gonna get their ass whupped by my friend Mr Hawk.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Saddam was a really good guy, deeply venerated by the Kurds, or at least what was left of them. Some people may have called it genocide but it's probably way too bad to have been genocide.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Western weapons inspectors: can we have a look at your facilities to confirm that you don't have any WMDs?
Saddam: [thinking] I don't have any Weapons of Mass Destruction, but if they take a look and don't find any they will think I don't, which will mean we won't be attacked and destroyed. "No, you may not look at my facilities"

 

[mixed_biscuits]

Very few young people at a sparsely populated local protest. The conflict is clearly untrending, ever since it became mainly about catering.

 

[GhostofKinski]

 

[mixed_biscuits]

The Irish are a touch more pallid than that thumbnail suggests.

 

[GhostofKinski]

The Irish are a touch more pallid than that thumbnail suggests.

True.
I guess it doesn’t really register on the color scale though when 99% of the Jesus portraits make him look Swedish.

The remaining 1% made him Korean

 

[thirdform]

Western weapons inspectors: can we have a look at your facilities to confirm that you don't have any WMDs?
Saddam: [thinking] I don't have any Weapons of Mass Destruction, but if they take a look and don't find any they will think I don't, which will mean we won't be attacked and destroyed. "No, you may not look at my facilities"

why do you opt for yankistani gastrointestinal tumours instead of heeding your own esteemed advice and 'thinking like a computer programmer'? It's even more mysterious than Peter Andre's girl, though, of course, without the undernourished sex appeal. Whether this is in your favour has yet to be decided.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

why do you opt for yankistani gastrointestinal tumours instead of heeding your own esteemed advice and 'thinking like a computer programmer'? It's even more mysterious than Peter Andre's girl, though, of course, without the undernourished sex appeal. Whether this is in your favour has yet to be decided.

Why did Saddam prevaricate if he didn't have any incriminating armaments? Totally illogical.

 

[GhostofKinski]

Why did Saddam prevaricate if he didn't have any incriminating armaments? Totally illogical.

He was afraid Iran would pounce. He had WMD’s, “we”, the U.S. have the receipts. He got rid of them, but wanted certain countries to be unsure because he knew he was sitting directly between the hammer and the anvil.
I was in the U.S. Army Chemical School in 1985/6. Every friendly nation sent their cadre’s there to train. I trained Iraqi’s and a slew of other nations military that may or may not now be on our shit list.

 

[thirdform]

Why did Saddam prevaricate if he didn't have any incriminating armaments? Totally illogical.

Perhaps to annoy people like you from the future afterlife? I mean seen as you believe in that.

I haven't yet acquired the ability to read minds and anyway, to say I was not fond of Saddam is an understatement, given he was yer top boy when massacring Kurds in the 80s. another l for the biscuits. The only white Romanian in existence.

 

[Mr. Tea]

He got rid of them, but wanted certain countries to be unsure because he knew he was sitting directly between the hammer and the anvil.

Mirror image of Israel coyly saying "Well maybe we have nukes, maybe we don't", when everyone's known for decades that they do.

 

[GhostofKinski]

Mirror image of Israel coyly saying "Well maybe we have nukes, maybe we don't", when everyone's known for decades that they do.

Sort of. It was never nukes in Iraq’s case.
Y’see, these courses st the USACC, where I worked could last from weeks to months.
It’s a wide breath of tactical & strategic study.
Chemical: nerve, blood, blister agents, all of which have their own characteristics of handling, deployment, detection, decontamination….There is the biological warfare block that “we” only study for defensive purposes (wink) and of course Radiological (Nuclear) which is a whole super dense block, especially as at that particular time (probably still) had very different protocols of handling, deploying and most importantly how they are fused.
I was only an enlisted man (basic security clearance ) nothing I’m telling you is classified. You don’t need to be a superior intellect though to connect certain dots.
When training the Iraqi’s and the lesson plan is abridged to certain specific topics such as nerve agent & white phosphorus delivery and self protection,..it kind of gives you a clue of why they are interested in knowing/training with those topics alone. Do you follow?
If you go back to the record of Saddam Hussien’s ‘trial’ for war crimes. I can’t recall the number of counts, but they were in the hundreds. Just for illustration let’s say 250 counts. After their war with Iran (which we fully backed ) it was all good. If you remember, they stopped the trial, had heard enough & hung him before hearing all the evidence. Like 75 of the 150. Coincidence?
After Desert Storm (1st gulf war) SH saw the writing on the wall and decommissioned, got rid of their WMD programs but on the down low. Because the bad blood with Iran was still hot and he wanted them to believe he had a stash.

The Israelis were given our Nuclear program model through the Chief of CIA counterintelligence James Jesus Angelton.
Pure treason. They used the Jewish Israeli defense department employee whose last name was pollard (can’t remember his first name) as a patsy, essentially framing a guilty man. He was a spy for Israel. letting him take the fall for those at a much higher pay grade. Similar to the Oliver North situation during Iran/Contra.
Israel wants it to be an open secret as deterrence while knowing that they are not signatories to the NNPT, because they know the U.S. will veto any calls by the UN to send inspectors.

 

[yyaldrin]

now that they can use food as bait the killing becomes easier. 95 murdered on saturday, 108 on sunday, 47 on monday, 54 on tuesday, 123 yesterday, today at least 103 already. some brave souls have organised a march to gaza but upon arrival in cairo got arrested and deported. we are forced to watch.

 

[version]

Bibi was in court on corruption charges the other day and they had to cut it short because he claimed he had an important diplomatic call to make then yesterday he was in court again and they had to cut it short because he claimed he felt ill, this despite him later showing up for a vote in the Knesset... He's so brazen I wouldn't be surprised if these rumblings about an Israeli strike on Iran were just another of his delaying tactics.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Bibi was in court on corruption charges the other day and they had to cut it short because he claimed he had an important diplomatic call to make then yesterday he was in court again and they had to cut it short because he claimed he felt ill, this despite him later showing up for a vote in the Knesset... He's so brazen I wouldn't be surprised if these rumblings about an Israeli strike on Iran were just another of his delaying tactics.

I can imagine him pretending to take a call on his mobile, and then getting busted because it actually starts ringing while he's on his "call", like Alan Partridge.

 

[GhostofKinski]

Bibi was in court on corruption charges the other day and they had to cut it short because he claimed he had an important diplomatic call to make then yesterday he was in court again and they had to cut it short because he claimed he felt ill, this despite him later showing up for a vote in the Knesset... He's so brazen I wouldn't be surprised if these rumblings about an Israeli strike on Iran were just another of his delaying tactics.

I wish the ICJ had actual teeth and an enforcement wing that could bring criminals like him and over here to the kind of justice
They use their SF’s to on their behalf and tacitly in our/my name.

 

[GhostofKinski]

I can imagine him pretending to take a call on his mobile, and then getting busted because it actually starts ringing while he's on his "call", like Alan Partridge.

A friend of mines mom used to teach at this really exclusive/elite private elementary schools in Greenwich Village. This is over 20 years ago or thereabouts. Anyway Robert DeNiro’s kid went there and every time he came to pick his kid up he’d walk in with his phone to his ear so that no one would bother him (no one gave a flying fuck about him there) and,…yep. One time it started ringing 😂

 

[GhostofKinski]

wouldn't be surprised if these rumblings about an Israeli strike on Iran were just another of his delaying tactics.

You very well may be right. Trump is having a “Big Beautiful Military Parade” this Saturday.
A friend just informed me that there is organizing in progress to get a big counterprotest. Israel is adept at pulling off shit while all the (U.S.) cameras are pointing in the other direction as they will Saturday.