• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Retribution for what?

      Fighting back.

      Not immediately kowtowing to the wounded narcissist?

      Practically since Reagan, it has been crazy to see how many times the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has done exactly that. The Ayatollah worked with Rumsfeld. He worked with Bush. He worked with Obama. He worked with Trump the first time. He worked with Biden. It’s amazing how many times Iranian leadership could be bought off with the promise of sanctions relief or was willing to turn the other check in the face of a political assassination or a stuxnet computer virus or a frigate seizure.

      Whipped dogs rolled over less frequently than the Iranian government, until we straight up started putting bullets into the heads of their senior leadership. Now the only people left to run the country are the real, actual, not-fucking-around revolutionary diehards.

      • ZC3rr0r@piefed.ca
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        13 hours ago

        Yep, it’s just baffling how this cat that we backed further and further into the corner started acting out. Who could’ve seen that coming?

    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      It’s not sound logic, but everyone needs to understand how a narcissist thinks these days.

      They end conflicts based on when they think they have an advantage. Prior goals aren’t important just being able to declare victory.

      If/when the other side doesn’t stop when you tell them to, the narcissist acts and truly believes a new conflict has just started, and they are now legitimately the victim and not an aggressor.

      In their heads, that’s reality.

      So yeah, it fucking sucks and shouldn’t be like this.

      But a narcissist is in charge of America’s military, and that’s how he thinks. And if no one stops him it’s going to get worse.

      No matter what happens in Iran, he’s going to twist it as justification to push further somewhere else. Either because he gets what he wants, or he doesn’t and feels he needs to save face by looking strong somewhere else.

      For as long as he’s in office he’ll keep doing this to other countries that have natural resources

  • shweddy@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    This is like the 4th promise of destruction.

    I pulled that number out my ass but you get the idea

    • Typhoon@lemmy.ca
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      13 hours ago

      That’s okay. Trumy pulls all his stats out of his, and sometimes it comes out on its own in the middle of a press conference on live TV.

  • TwilitSky@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    I have an idea:

    Why don’t they tell him he won the Peace Prize but has to pick it up in person (ID is required to pick up peace prizes)?

    Tell him it’s at The Hague.

    Then when he gets there slap the cuffs on.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      14 hours ago

      wait until more of America’s fleet is in Cypress for repairs so they only have a bazillion warships and warplanes available instead of 2 bazillion when you dare arrest the Commander in Cheese.

  • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    So genocide? You want to start a genocide? I mean at this point you could just say that and still remain President. I’m sure Mike Johnson already has an excuse locked and loaded.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      You want to start a genocide?

      We’ve been sponsoring or engaged in genocide in the Middle East since the Nakba of '48. Trump’s just doing it badly.

    • starik@lemmy.zip
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      18 hours ago

      I feel like there needs to be a word for intentionally killing mass numbers of civilians that captures the gravity of the crime, without resorting to using the word genocide. Genocide should be reserved for actual attempts to remove certain genetic lines from the gene pool, which includes going after the diaspora, the way the Nazis did with Jews in WW2.

      • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        Genocide should be reserved for actual attempts to remove certain genetic lines from the gene pool, which includes going after the diaspora, the way the Nazis did with Jews in WW2.

        So what was the real death toll for the Nazi Jewish genocide? Because while some Jewish groups have distinct genetic lines, many don’t. And Jewish people who were simply ethnic Germans also got sent to the camps. Do they not get counted as part of the Holocaust, as they were only targeted for their religion, not their genetics?

        In practice, because human beings tend to marry and have kids at much higher rates within their religious and cultural groups than without, a genocide against a religious group is indistinguishable from a genocide against a genetic lineage. Also, your definition allows for a lot of genocide apologia. Those who want to downplay a genocide can simply say that an ethnic group was merely targeted for some action among that ethnic group. “They weren’t killed for their race. We just made it a capital offense to listen to the music most commonly listened to by members of that race. They were killed for their musical taste, not their race. So it’s not a genocide.”

        • starik@lemmy.zip
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          2 hours ago

          The original comment we are threaded under is claiming that the Trump administration, by committing the clear war crime of targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, would also be committing genocide. Do you agree with this assessment? Do we need to lump all evil acts under the definition of genocide or risk being guilty of “apologia”?

      • Eldritch@piefed.world
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        17 hours ago

        If someone rounded you, your family and all your extended family up and put you in captivity. Sterilized you but otherwise took care of everyone feeding and even providing them medical access when needed. Even without murdering a single person that’s genocide.

        Cultural genocide which is just as serious. Is something that the Chinese government is heavily invested in with their one China policy. Purposely targeting any group with the goal of its elimination whether it’s the Jews the Muslims the First Nations peoples, the blacks the Indians, Israel’s genocide of Palestinians that has been going for more than a half a century. It doesn’t matter how large the group is if you target them or their cultures with the intent of eliminating them that is genocide. Murder is not required.

        • starik@lemmy.zip
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          17 hours ago

          Exactly. The word is getting used interchangeably with mass murder now, which isn’t correct. I think the reason for this is that the word genocide has a nastier connotation than any of the alternatives, and people want to use the most viscerally impactful word they can to attack the mass murderers.

          • Eldritch@piefed.world
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            17 hours ago

            There is unfortunately a lot of overlap. When it comes to genocide, groups tend to be rather large. Even a bit of a mass. And most don’t have the time, patience or resources to terminate them without murder. So it is understandable.

            When it comes to Trump and American conservatives. They are genocidal. If you’re a Democrat they want to target and eliminate you. Even if they don’t murder you. Gay? They want you gone. Trans? Ditto. Black? Ahyup. Muslim? You betcha. Jew that isn’t financing or enabling them? Get to safety.

            What trump is doing in Iran might technically not be genocide, yet. But we do have some good words for it. War crimes.

            • starik@lemmy.zip
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              16 hours ago

              What you mention with the way the Trump administration treats minorities, attempting to shunt them out of society without directly killing them for the most part, is another category that maybe needs a more appropriately visceral word so as not to be lumped in with the more literal genocide described in your previous comment.

              Just because something isn’t genocide doesn’t mean it isn’t a horrible crime. It doesn’t even mean it’s not as bad as genocide. But we don’t have other words that sound as bad, so we use the wrong word and muddy the issues.

              • Eldritch@piefed.world
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                16 hours ago

                Shunting or excluding is a fairly sanitizing term. If you want to exclude/eliminate people from a society they depend on to survive. Simply based on who they are. Even if you ignorantly never think about that or the logistics of it. Just wanting them gone. It’s effectively genocide all the same.

                Bigotry is having prejudiced thoughts against a group as an individual. Genocide is when you act on those thoughts as a society.

                • starik@lemmy.zip
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                  16 hours ago

                  I disagree with this. Redefining genocide as “acting on bigoted thoughts as a society” is a redefinition of the word. It’s also very broad, to the point of almost meaninglessness.

                  Obviously, words only mean anything to the extent that use them, so genocide may come to mean exactly what you describe. But when that comes to pass, the word genocide will necessarily have lost its bite, which will ironically defeat the purpose of its redefinition.

  • EvergreenGuru@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    If he did that we wouldn’t have an economy because they’d destroy all the fossil fuel infrastructure in the Middle East.

      • PhAzE@lemmy.ca
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        7 hours ago

        He’s just handling things like he always does. Threats and bullying, but that doesn’t work in war, and he doesn’t realize they hold the cards here.

  • humanspiral@lemmy.ca
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    15 hours ago

    It is in the same sentence/tweet as “Iran is very reasonable and we are likely to have a deal”. Israel prefers the genocide and no peace, even if it results in the same for GCC “US allies”. Israel has already vetoed this last weekend the “no attacks on infrasture yet” promise from Trump, and are accused of being responsible for destruction of Kuwait desalination plant.

    The only path to a peace deal, is for Iran to demand Trump to say Israel will never receive any US aid (including refueling/targeting support) again/his term, and not be eligible to buy US offensive weapons. Otherwise, talks are just a delay tactic to have Israel do the genocide.

  • FrankFrankson@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    That is weird I thought we already won the war and Iran was giving big expensive gifts to Trump? Does this mean Trump was lying?!?!?! I am very shocked is something I would say if I recently had awoken from a coma I had been in since 2014.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    “A lot of people will say it’s a war crime because mostly these power plants are probably there for the civilian population,” said Clark, who warned “you cannot destroy civilian assets in an effort to put harm on the population.”

    He concluded, “Now, if you can show it has a military connection, that’s different. But if it’s simply to put pressure on the government by harming the civilian population, then that’s de jure– that’s a war crime.”

    You can tell it’s a war crime… Because of the way it is…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d8mjam7KG8

    /s

    Fucking insane that we’re really at the level where shit is being explained like this to the US president.

    • ButtermilkBiscuit@feddit.nl
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      13 hours ago

      It has been for a long time - see George W Bush going after his daddy’s enemies. That dumb cunt said as much during a press conference. He didn’t like Iraq because his daddy didn’t like them. Gave up huge national treasure and lives to go into Iraq for non-existent “wmds”. The US/Israel are a global problem and should be dealt with through a global response and boycott.