Quote (El1te @ Oct 1 2024 05:08pm)

The walls are closing in on Iran tbh

Once Israel is finished with the belligerents on its border it will turn its attention to Iran, US will join with complete casus belli, you can expect them to "let" something happen, although I would hope we are past that deception and they just go into Iran with no false pretenses because its already justified

Quote (Prox1m1ty @ Oct 1 2024 09:47am)

The walls are closing in on your vocabulary :thumbsup: One phrase wonder.

Although I would agree with your prediction. The Mullahs bluff got called and they look weaker than ever.

Worth pointing out this is one of Russia's close allies.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Oct 1 2024 09:40am)

Invading Iran would be fully justified by now, but it would nonetheless be a completely moronic idea and end in disaster. It's a huge-ass country with a large population and a rugged geography, so actually taking the country would require an enormous amount of troops. If I had to guess, I'd say at least 5 times as many as were necessary for Iraq.

And then what? It's highly questionable if we could actually stabilize the country and allow it to morph into a functioning democracy. Iran has a rather educated population, a strong national identity and culture... and roughly half the people are against the regime anyway, but that doesn't mean that they'd be on our side, or that they're ready for democracy. Chances are that such an invasion would only be fuel to the fire of islamists around the globe. And the whole endeavor would come at a gigantic cost. So chances are that we retreat from Iran after 5-20 years and then the country falls into the hands of ISIS-K or the Chinese. :rolleyes:

The more prudent course of action is to keep bombing their nuclear program into the ground every couple of years and otherwise sit back and wait for their regime to collapse. Lasting change in a country like Iran has to come from within, from its own people. If the failures of Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us one thing, it's that you can't force democracy or Western values on a foreign country when the people aren't ready for it yet.

Quote (Bazi @ Oct 1 2024 09:56am)

Meanwhile White House:

We are working night and day , around the clock, 25 hours a day for a cease fire!

As effective leader of the world it’s been nothing short of hapless. the executive branch doesn’t do much but does dictate foreign policy. What an inept administration

Quote (El1te @ Oct 1 2024 12:05pm)

I mean the guy is literally a dementia patient, the US has no POTUS currently

Quote (Bazi @ 1 Oct 2024 12:12)

I have never disagreed on this point

As effective leader nation of the world gets to choose between a Parkinson’s patient, diversity candidate paid for by corporate America, or a proven narcissist

The further loss of civilian life, human potential, rise of radicalism is inevitable here

I find it sad. No accountability for anyone

Quote (Bazi @ Oct 1 2024 10:12am)

I have never disagreed on this point

As effective leader nation of the world gets to choose between a Parkinson’s patient, diversity candidate paid for by corporate America, or a proven narcissist

The further loss of civilian life, human potential, rise of radicalism is inevitable here

I find it sad. No accountability for anyone

Quote (SwamiVivekananda @ Oct 1 2024 12:23pm)

Can you agree with me that "voting" is useless when your government and all the politicians who supposedly represent their constituencies never even remotely do what the people they represent ask of them.

How is it not more painfully obvious to anyone that the military industrial complex runs the POTUS from behind the scenes.

I'm glad I'm heavily invested in every military defense industry stock. Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Booze Allen Hamilton, L3 Harris, General Dynamics, all up 4% right now.

Sad days for the Middle East but military industrial complex licking their chops....

If my portfolio is up 30k mid-session I can't imagine what every politician in the United States is up. I have minor stakes in these companies. Are politicians are collectively making hundreds of millions if not a billion dollars today because of this escalation. Follow Nancy Pelosi's husbands stock movement :rofl:

Quote (El1te @ Oct 1 2024 12:30pm)

It truly is sad that it has come to this. It is all rooted in the government ignoring it's own citizens for years, leading to the rise of Donald Trump & a very bold & direct criticism of the government (valid). And we see the consequences of that in the suffering & loss of life, world at war and on fire.

It takes a bold man to fix things, like Donald Trump, who is the solution to all this. He does one more 4 year term then he is out for good. The people who think Trump will be a "dictator" are irrational if only because of the fact that Trump is old. He's almost 80, he physically cannot be a lifetime dictator.

4 years of reformation, hard work & austerity, then after the 4 years things can hopefully be stabilized with people getting an opportunity to vote for new honest candidates & to crush the unhinged partisan atmosphere.