[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 09:39 AM, said:

Just to prove what a crazy upside down world were all in, the following is from Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people:

“If your church leaders and elected leaders are telling you the way to bring Jesus back is by killing innocent children of innocent foreign people you’ve never met in a foreign land you’ve never been to, then you’re believing the lies of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.”

Now I have zero doubt that if it became expedient and profitable for her, she would swing right back into licking Trumps boots but if she is getting some MAGAs to actually think about something other than whatever Trump thinks, maybe a tiny bit of good can come from this...

I know she's been doing it for likely self serving reasons instead of any type of real mea culpa AND she's responsible for not checking his power before this...but she's one of the strongest republican voices against him now and it's bizarre to agree with her.

[Mentalist]

The Kurdish thing at least is getting debunked heavily. trump and co are definitely trying to talk them into it, but the leader of the Iraqi Kirdish autonomy, as well as Turkiye's spokespeople are all flat out against it. Last thing this conflict needs is the Turks getting involved, shelling indiscriminately everyone in Iranian (and Iraqi, for good measure) Kurdistan.

Azerbaijan is claiming its western exclave Nachichevan (the chunk of the country's that's W of Armenia) was hit by 2 Iranian drones. This is also not good, Baku and Ankara have a military alliance.

While everyone is talking about the carpet-bombings of Tehran, Idf is ordering over 700k people in Beirut to evacuate the areas they are planning to bomb. At this point, Iran might be a distraction for Israel, as they dismantle Lebanon as a state. Again.

US Senate predictably failed to reign in trump (resolution against doing this passed 52:48). They are now talking up to September for the op. And a bunch of Dem Senators will now "consider" extending funding because "our people are in danger out there!". Sigh.

US and the Gulf States are now interested in buying Ukraine's interceptor drones. How the turntables spin!

Something that's being pointed more and more: there's a lot of fertilizer trade that goes through the Gulf, and if that doesn't get delivered before planting season, we could see global food shortages in 6-8 months come harvest time.
Not to mention the Gulf states currently need 90% of their food imported. And the sea traffic in the Strait is not doing well. At all.

Clock's gonna be ticking for trump moreso than the IRGC.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 12:14 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 09:39 AM, said:

Just to prove what a crazy upside down world were all in, the following is from Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people:

"If your church leaders and elected leaders are telling you the way to bring Jesus back is by killing innocent children of innocent foreign people you've never met in a foreign land you've never been to, then you're believing the lies of wolves dressed in sheep's clothing."

Now I have zero doubt that if it became expedient and profitable for her, she would swing right back into licking Trumps boots but if she is getting some MAGAs to actually think about something other than whatever Trump thinks, maybe a tiny bit of good can come from this...

I know she's been doing it for likely self serving reasons instead of any type of real mea culpa AND she's responsible for not checking his power before this...but she's one of the strongest republican voices against him now and it's bizarre to agree with her.

She's laying the groundwork for a 2028 'i'm the reasonable insane dictator alternative to the current insane dictator' play.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 05 March 2026 - 02:48 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 12:14 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 09:39 AM, said:

Just to prove what a crazy upside down world were all in, the following is from Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people:

"If your church leaders and elected leaders are telling you the way to bring Jesus back is by killing innocent children of innocent foreign people you've never met in a foreign land you've never been to, then you're believing the lies of wolves dressed in sheep's clothing."

Now I have zero doubt that if it became expedient and profitable for her, she would swing right back into licking Trumps boots but if she is getting some MAGAs to actually think about something other than whatever Trump thinks, maybe a tiny bit of good can come from this...

I know she's been doing it for likely self serving reasons instead of any type of real mea culpa AND she's responsible for not checking his power before this...but she's one of the strongest republican voices against him now and it's bizarre to agree with her.

She's laying the groundwork for a 2028 'i'm the reasonable insane dictator alternative to the current insane dictator' play.

I feel like even SHE would find out that the USA on the whole won't elect a woman to the President spot...but I could be wrong.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 03:15 PM, said:

Abyss, on 05 March 2026 - 02:48 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 March 2026 - 12:14 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 09:39 AM, said:

Just to prove what a crazy upside down world were all in, the following is from Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people:

"If your church leaders and elected leaders are telling you the way to bring Jesus back is by killing innocent children of innocent foreign people you've never met in a foreign land you've never been to, then you're believing the lies of wolves dressed in sheep's clothing."

Now I have zero doubt that if it became expedient and profitable for her, she would swing right back into licking Trumps boots but if she is getting some MAGAs to actually think about something other than whatever Trump thinks, maybe a tiny bit of good can come from this...

I know she's been doing it for likely self serving reasons instead of any type of real mea culpa AND she's responsible for not checking his power before this...but she's one of the strongest republican voices against him now and it's bizarre to agree with her.

She's laying the groundwork for a 2028 'i'm the reasonable insane dictator alternative to the current insane dictator' play.

I feel like even SHE would find out that the USA on the whole won't elect a woman to the President spot...but I could be wrong.

that would really be something... America elects its first woman president and it's a radical religious right winger.

[Tiste Simeon]

I mean it more or less happened here in the 80s with Thatcher...

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 04:23 PM, said:

I mean it more or less happened here in the 80s with Thatcher...

As a non-Brit I find the media surrounding her fascinating...like some media seems to praise her, and others make her out to be quite villainous...I feel like she's likely more of the latter...but I have no real idea.

[Macros]

Whilst we arent a polarised as the states look at the tories as the GOP, those are the people lionising her.
Anyone remotely left leaning sees her very differently

[Tiste Simeon]

Put it this way, they put up a statue of her somewhere, despite a fair amount of vocal opposition, and the next day some guy was there selling eggs to be launched at the statue and by all accounts did rather well put of it.

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 05 March 2026 - 04:49 PM, said:

Whilst we arent a polarised as the states look at the tories as the GOP, those are the people lionising her.
Anyone remotely left leaning sees her very differently

Tiste Simeon, on 05 March 2026 - 06:07 PM, said:

Put it this way, they put up a statue of her somewhere, despite a fair amount of vocal opposition, and the next day some guy was there selling eggs to be launched at the statue and by all accounts did rather well put of it.

This is pretty much what I thought, but didn't want to speculate.

[Werthead]

Asian countries are apparently in crisis mode over energy supplies. Whilst their militaries have some reserves for emergency operations, the civilian reserves vary wildly from country to country.

Japan's strategic reserve for oil is 254 days, built up after an embargo in 1973. Refiners have already asked the government to open them, Tokyo has said no, at least not yet. Japan's reserve is easily the largest in Asia. However, Japan's reserve for LNG is only three weeks.

China has 10 days of storage before domestic operations face supply constraints. Diesel exports have already been halted to preserve current supplies. It has been trying to stockpile from its Russian inflow, but that is more limited than I think people have understood (larger reserves from Russia can only be used with the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline which hasn't been built yet due to Beijing screwing over Moscow for two years solid before agreeing to the plan; they may shortly bitterly regret this).

India has next to no reserves and has implemented gas cuts to industry of 10-30% across different regions, starting today.

South Korea is reliant on 1.6 million barrels per day through Hormuz and is believed to have pretty much zilch in reserve.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have no reserves whatsoever and, unlike some of the other countries, limited Plan B options.

Iran has hit the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline running from Ceyhan, Turkey to Baku via the Georgian capital. This pipeline supplies 30% of Israel's oil. Iran's next logical target is the Saudi East-West Pipeline that bypasses Hormuz, and the Abqaiq processing hub that handles the majority of Saudi crude before it reaches any export terminal. Bahrain's Bapco Energies Refinery has also been hit, sustaining heavy damage.

Iran's missile and drone strikes on Azerbaijan, if escalated, could also close the Azerbaijan-Armenia-Georgia air corridor, effectively shutting down Europe-Asia air travel altogether (aside from some routes that can divert north around Russia or south around India). With air carriers also ready warning of limitations to fuel storage for planes, that could be catastrophic to international travel.

Azerbaijan has declared a military alert and mobilised a large contingent of ground forces to the Iranian border. Air defence systems have been put on high alert, and Azerbaijan's military posture has shifted from the west, aimed at Armenia, to the south, aimed at Iran. Given Azerbaijan's proven military effectiveness in its two wars with Armenia, using sophisticated drone tactics, they may judge intervening in northern Iran (where a large Azeri minority lives) is necessary.

One of the two main Kurdish factions in north-eastern Iraq has indicated it might be willing to undertake offensive action in Iran, especially since Iranian forces have attacked them, but it is demanding close US air support, special forces on the ground and protection from Turkish retaliation. They've also advised they are not well-equipped, with their best equipment being Kalashnikovs and a few drones. They need artillery, much more drones and drone defences, and more armoured vehicles to support any kind of push into the Iranian border region.

Pakistani Balochs have crossed the border into Iranian Balochistan (Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and may be considering a secession from Iranian control. This could elevate the conflict into full-scale civil war, with the bulk of Iran's ground forces so far unengaged.

2 missiles have been destroyed heading towards Turkey. Turkey has taken consultation with NATO allies.

Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been discussing joint military defensive actions, including air strikes on Iranian missile sites. Apparently they would act in concert together and keep the USA informed of their plans. There would be no suggestion of Gulf States flying combat missions alongside Israeli forces.

The UK, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands are deploying military assets to Cyprus.

Israel and the Gulf countries have fired 800 PAC-3 missiles in a week, more than Ukraine has in the entire war.

Camp Arifjan, a US military base in Kuwait, has received significant damage, with communications equipment destroyed.

The attack on Cyprus has been confirmed to have consisted of a single Shahed which flew at low altitude from Lebanon to hit a hanger used for hosting US U-2 spy planes.

Lebanon has reinstated visa requirements for Iranian nationals and banned the IRGC from operating in Lebanon. It may also pass laws to make the crime of "dragging Lebanon into conflict" a treasonable offence.

[Abyss]

Werthead, on 05 March 2026 - 06:20 PM, said:

...
Lebanon has reinstated visa requirements for Iranian nationals and banned the IRGC from operating in Lebanon. It may also pass laws to make the crime of "dragging Lebanon into conflict" a treasonable offence.

When reached for comment, Hezbollah reps could not stop laughing long enough to form a coherent sentence.

[QuickTidal]

Werthead, on 05 March 2026 - 06:20 PM, said:

China has 10 days of storage before domestic operations face supply constraints. Diesel exports have already been halted to preserve current supplies. It has been trying to stockpile from its Russian inflow, but that is more limited than I think people have understood (larger reserves from Russia can only be used with the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline which hasn't been built yet due to Beijing screwing over Moscow for two years solid before agreeing to the plan; they may shortly bitterly regret this).

I could be wrong, but I think the Chinese are the only ones Iran is allowing through the Strait, so I don't know that they need to worry.

I feel terrible for Japan to be honest, they are in the more tenuous position. But the Japanese are nothing if not resourceful and will endure. What would create chaos in the USA will be handled by calm procedure in Japan. My family in Japan have already said that they are not too concerned, but they are being cautious nonetheless.

[Maark Abbott]

I'm reading that Turkey was targeted and Nato Article 5 was invoked?

America really out here dragging us into WW3 because their president is a nonce. What the fuck is this timeline.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Maark Abbott, on 05 March 2026 - 08:22 PM, said:

I'm reading that Turkey was targeted and Nato Article 5 was invoked?

America really out here dragging us into WW3 because their president is a nonce. What the fuck is this timeline.

Was that on social media? After checking a wide range of recently updated news sources, it appears to be false.

Quote

An Iranian-launched missile shot down by Turkey will not prompt NATO to trigger its Article 5 mutual defense clause, alliance chief Mark Rutte has said.

[...] Under Article 5 of the alliance's charter, an attack on one NATO member is deemed an attack on all and requires allies to assist the country under attack, including potentially the use of military force.

[...] "Nobody's talking about Article 5," Rutte told Reuters on Thursday, adding, "the most important thing is that our adversaries have seen yesterday that NATO is so strong and so vigilant."

NATO plays down Article 5 after Iranian missile incident - Newsweek

Here's NATO's official military response:

Quote

NATO has increased its air defenses and missile alert levels across the military alliance [...] the move gives the top NATO commander[...] "exactly what he needs to defend the alliance based on the current threat and defend it he will!" [a NATO military spokesman] said in a statement.

https://www.nytimes....?smid=url-share

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 05 March 2026 - 09:22 PM

[Werthead]

Maark Abbott, on 05 March 2026 - 08:22 PM, said:

I'm reading that Turkey was targeted and Nato Article 5 was invoked?

America really out here dragging us into WW3 because their president is a nonce. What the fuck is this timeline.

Article 5 has not been invoked, but NATO members are monitoring the situation. From Cyprus the European assets can also deploy to Turkish airspace if needed.

[Cause]

What is Iran trying to accomplish by pissing everyone else off? It seems strategically unsound?

[amphibian]

 Cause, on 06 March 2026 - 12:14 AM, said:

What is Iran trying to accomplish by pissing everyone else off? It seems strategically unsound?

To make global pressure to stop US/Israeli/Saudi aggression against Iran.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 06 March 2026 - 01:16 AM, said:

Cause, on 06 March 2026 - 12:14 AM, said:

What is Iran trying to accomplish by pissing everyone else off? It seems strategically unsound?

To make global pressure to stop US/Israeli/Saudi aggression against Iran.

'Make them stop attacking us or we'll keep on ineffectively attacking you' is certainly a tactic.

[Maark Abbott]

Werthead, on 05 March 2026 - 09:42 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 05 March 2026 - 08:22 PM, said:

I'm reading that Turkey was targeted and Nato Article 5 was invoked?

America really out here dragging us into WW3 because their president is a nonce. What the fuck is this timeline.

Article 5 has not been invoked, but NATO members are monitoring the situation. From Cyprus the European assets can also deploy to Turkish airspace if needed.

Understood. I feel like there is going to be a lot more falsehood in this invasion to sift through, but glad to see this one at least wasn't really based on any specific truth.