[QuickTidal]

the broken, on 16 March 2026 - 10:02 PM, said:

What advantage is there in doing that, though?

...His cabinet gets to maintain power and this war without any challengers.

In Israel, an interim PM would be chosen upon his death, but it's a formality that precedes an election. Netanyahu's hardcore right wingers are deeply unpopular, so his cabinet knows that if he's gone, they are gone and the war ends and they lose any chance at further power for the foreseeable future.

Also, there is now a second video which features him having a disappearing ring...it would be really easy for him to clear it up by making a live statement. Weird that he hasn't.

[Tiste Simeon]

Seems most of the rest of the world has soundly rejected supporting the US further. Excellent.

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 17 March 2026 - 01:26 PM, said:

Seems most of the rest of the world has soundly rejected supporting the US further. Excellent.

Yep. Who would have thunk that spending over a year tariffing, shitting on, and threatening your allies with annexation would result in no one wanting to come to your aid/

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 17 March 2026 - 01:37 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 17 March 2026 - 01:26 PM, said:

Seems most of the rest of the world has soundly rejected supporting the US further. Excellent.

Yep. Who would have thunk that spending over a year tariffing, shitting on, and threatening your allies with annexation would result in no one wanting to come to your aid/

Quote

According to CNN data analyst Harry Enten, [...] "The people in those countries hate, hate, hate the U.S. military action in Iran," [...]

In Canada, that number is -27 percent. Japan is -73 points. The U.K. is -34 percent.

"The people in those countries absolutely despise the U.S. military action[ in] Iran. No wonder the leaders in those countries are, let's just say, a little apprehensive about helping out the U.S.," he added.

[...] Support for the U.S. under Trump has dropped by 79 percent.

https://www.alternet...-approves-iran/

Eventually, if energy prices go high enough and land occupation of a buffer zone seems like the only viable option for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump might be able to get an international coalition. Perhaps in part to help dissuade him from trying to assert US control for an indefinite period... and potentially start charging a toll.

OTOH it's possible that after oil prices have remained above a certain extreme level for a sufficient period of time the Iranian government will decide they've proved their point about their deterrence capabilities and agree to a ceasefire to avoid the possibility of a ground invasion to secure a buffer zone expanding into ground incursions seeking regime change.

Fwiw:

Quote

A direct communications channel between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been reactivated in recent days, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge.

[...] It's not clear how substantive the messages passed between Araghchi and Witkoff were, but it's the first known direct communication between the parties since the war started more than two weeks ago.

[...] The U.S. official and the source with knowledge said Araghchi sent text messages to Witkoff that focused on ending the war.

[...] Iranian officials have claimed in public over the last few days that they're not holding any ceasefire negotiations with the Trump administration.

https://www.axios.co...itkoff-araghchi

But leaks---particularly from sources inside the Trump administration---could be disinformation intended to keep markets complacent.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 17 March 2026 - 02:29 PM

[QuickTidal]

Top US counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigns over Iran war

Quote

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has announced his resignation, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran. Kent said on social media that Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Shit is unravelling. I'm actually glad that one of the things coming out of this is a more concerted focus on how deeply Israel dictates US policy by lobbying, and how revealed the right wing admin in Israel is in their policies...My fervent hope is that the US untethers itself from that entanglement as a result of public pressure in the coming decades, and that a saner leftist head of government is installed in Israel who wants to find peace and not war and land grabs.

[Cause]

Joe Kent, I seem to remember was controversial for being a far right nut.

The idea that Israel, AIPAC or American Jews can somehow get America to go to war against its own interests is absurd.

The 6 million Jewish votes (typically vote democrat anyway) would be countered by the 4 million Arab votes.

The global Jewish influence of 18 million people would be countered I imagine by the 500 million Arab block and 1.5 billion additional Muslims.

The Jewish banking/hollywood/illuminati elite would be countered by the entirety of OPECs control over oil, Saudi’s Arabia, Qatar etc

The US interest in Israel was to counter the soviets, then to control oil interests, then to counter terroism. In fact America originally supported Israel as a way to not take in Jewish refugees. It then ignored Israel and tried to court the Arab bloc during the Cold War but was rejected in favor of the soviets which forced them into aligning with Israel as the only alternative in the region.

[QuickTidal]

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

Joe Kent, I seem to remember was controversial for being a far right nut.

The idea that Israel, AIPAC or American Jews can somehow get America to go to war against its own interests is absurd.

Anthony Blinken has already come out and said that Netanyahu tried this with both Obama and Biden and both of them told him no...Trump was just the idiot he needed to say yes.

And I'm sorry, you'll never convince me that Israel doesn't have an outsized influence on US politics in this day and age.

Also please remember we are discussing Israel the State, not Jewish people or Judaism, or any diaspora therein.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

The 6 million Jewish votes (typically vote democrat anyway) would be countered by the 4 million Arab votes.

The global Jewish influence of 18 million people would be countered I imagine by the 500 million Arab block and 1.5 billion additional Muslims.

The Jewish banking/hollywood/illuminati elite would be countered by the entirety of OPECs control over oil, Saudi’s Arabia, Qatar etc

Being Jewish (American or otherwise) is not the same as Israel the State (especially the state under the far right leaders its largely had since the 80's). Those are different things, and conflating them allows the narrative that Netanyahu and his crew like to push. No one is talking about American Jewish people or any other jewish people. We are talking about Israel the state.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

The US interest in Israel was to counter the soviets

Nah, it was to usurp Oil interests in a region they didn't have authority in post WWII.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

then to control oil interests

It was ALWAYS this. From the minute that Britain and France abandoned their full support for a more genial distant support, the US saw oil interest and snapped at it in the only country they felt they could at the time. The Petrodollar didn't arrive out of the ether, it was planned.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

then to counter terroism.

A non-legal pejorative that means whatever the accuser wants it to mean. That word gets tossed around a lot, the nuance of the region is far, far more buried under decades of foreign policy choices the US and Israel have made when they wing that word out.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

In fact America originally supported Israel as a way to not take in Jewish refugees.

This was the British more than anyone else going back to 1917...America supported them for oil interest/access in the region. It might have coincided with not taking in Jewish refugees...but the main goal was oil. I don't know how many times it bears repeating.

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

It then ignored Israel and tried to court the Arab bloc during the Cold War but was rejected in favor of the soviets which forced them into aligning with Israel as the only alternative in the region.

For oil.

And then Citizens United happened and the US was lobbied into the sun with money. Is it normal to send a foreign nation the untold billions if they were just an ally and not lobbying the US govt for things it wants as a state?

[Tiste Simeon]

Don't forget the links between Epstein and Mossad! I imagine if trump wasn't so a) stupid and child rapey, he wouldn't be so easy to persuade to act like this.

[Cause]

Tiste Simeon, on 17 March 2026 - 06:28 PM, said:

Don't forget the links between Epstein and Mossad! I imagine if trump wasn't so a) stupid and child rapey, he wouldn't be so easy to persuade to act like this.

Tiste since we have known eachother for over a decade Ill just ask you to rethink this one and remove it

[amphibian]

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 05:38 PM, said:

Joe Kent, I seem to remember was controversial for being a far right nut.

After the 2020 election in which Biden beat Trump, Joe Kent spent a lot of time trying to get the US Supreme Court to look at whether Italians used secret satellites to steal the election.

This man is a bigot and a conspiracy theorist, who happily signed up for many awful things and found that this was a particular thing he didn't want to do.

Be wary of who from the Trump administration or the Republican Congress gets raised as a voice of reason in this situation.

[worry]

I think we just found Tucker Carlson's 2028 running mate.

[Tiste Simeon]

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 06:31 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 17 March 2026 - 06:28 PM, said:

Don't forget the links between Epstein and Mossad! I imagine if trump wasn't so a) stupid and child rapey, he wouldn't be so easy to persuade to act like this.

Tiste since we have known eachother for over a decade Ill just ask you to rethink this one and remove it

Do you mean the smiley face? That's an unfortunate thing from the forum that automatically does it when you do a b ) without the space in it. Not my intention to make it look so glib.

Otherwise I'm not sure what I've said that is so bad?

[Werthead]

Israel hit the South Pars gas field in Iran, causing significant damage to both the Iranian and Qatari-owned parts of the field. Iran previously indicated this would be a red line for its own targeting of Gulf oil infrastructure, and its retaliation has been quite fast. The Ras Laffan refinery in Qatar has come under attack with several hits and significant explosions. Iran has now advised workers to evacuate the Al-Hosn gas field in the UAE, the Masaiid Holding Company facility in Qatar, the Al-Jubail complex on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, and the Samref refinery on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.

Qatar has now responded by naming Iran a direct threat to the region and calling emergency security meetings. Qatar's military forces have been in constant readiness since the attacks began. The Qatari Air Force, in particular, is not to be sniffed at, with 30 Rafales, 32 Typhoons and 36 F-15QA Strike Eagles that could augment US-Israeli operations in the Gulf.

Insider reporting that Trump has started favouring an operation requiring the US to seize multiple islands along the coast of Iran to secure the coastline and allow ships to pass. Joe Kent may have resigned because of the severe moronic stupidity of this plan, which could be the biggest military fiasco in US history. Some suggestion that Vance has also been trying to talk Trump down from it, but he's gung-ho and Hegseth seems to be for it as well. Jesus Christ.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 18 March 2026 - 08:08 PM

[Werthead]

The UK's National Security Advisor and a team of experts with technical knowledge of the negotiations and experience in the regional politics attended the US-Iran peace talks just before the war started. The team was surprised at the concessions Iran made, and judged that Iran was certainly willing to concede more. They were also worried that Witkoff and Kushner (who lacked any such advisors) didn't seem to know what TF they were talking about.

The UK's decision not to get involved was based on the conclusion that the conflict was definitely illegal because no evidence was shown of an imminent threat to the US or UK, and that the Americans had basically abandoned the peace process despite strong (and rapid) progress was being made.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 18 March 2026 - 08:48 PM

[Maark Abbott]

Tiste Simeon, on 18 March 2026 - 08:18 AM, said:

Cause, on 17 March 2026 - 06:31 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 17 March 2026 - 06:28 PM, said:

Don't forget the links between Epstein and Mossad! I imagine if trump wasn't so a) stupid and child rapey, he wouldn't be so easy to persuade to act like this.

Tiste since we have known eachother for over a decade Ill just ask you to rethink this one and remove it

Do you mean the smiley face? That's an unfortunate thing from the forum that automatically does it when you do a b ) without the space in it. Not my intention to make it look so glib.

Otherwise I'm not sure what I've said that is so bad?

Having the backing of the world's largest military nation also seems to empower Israel to do whatever it likes, such as putting an entire populace inside a walled encampment and then systemically murdering them, or decades on decades of belligerence with neighbouring countries, or telling their nonce puppet to bomb the everliving dickens out of Iran because he is a good boy and does as he's told.

I don't see any reasonable explanation for why so many US politicians come out in support of a genocidal regime actively conducting a genocide and then have the nerve to say 'never again'. It's grim as balls.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Werthead, on 18 March 2026 - 07:49 PM, said:

Insider reporting that Trump has started favouring an operation requiring the US to seize multiple islands along the coast of Iran to secure the coastline and allow ships to pass. Joe Kent may have resigned because of the severe moronic stupidity of this plan, which could be the biggest military fiasco in US history. Some suggestion that Vance has also been trying to talk Trump down from it, but he's gung-ho and Hegseth seems to be for it as well. Jesus Christ.

Quote

Experts say bombing or capturing the site with US forces would be likely to cause a sustained increase to already surging oil prices[...] "We may see [...] $150 [a barrel] if Kharg were attacked," said Neil Quilliam, with the Chatham House thinktank. "It's too vital for global energy markets".

https://www.theguard...-israel-bombers

It probably wouldn't do much to open the Strait---military experts have said they'd need to occupy the coast itself and a substantial buffer zone beyond it.

But it would be great for fossil fuel companies, their stock prices, and Putin...

Quote

The fact that Trump's allies in the White House are backing away from the war, talking to journalists like Politico's Megan Messerly for a piece published today, suggests they see this conflict as a political disaster. Sources told Messerly they hoped the strikes would be quick, removing Iran's leader much as Trump's Venezuela strikes did in January. They said they thought Trump's vagueness on objectives would let him declare victory whenever he wanted to.

Now, though, the sources told Messerly, they think Trump "no longer controls how, or when, the war ends." One told her: "We clearly just kicked [Iran's] ass in the field, but, to a large extent, they hold the cards now. They decide how long we're involved—and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around that, if we want to save face."

Professor Heather Cox Richardson - Facebook

OTOH Trump effectively suggested in a Truth Social post that he could declare victory and just let US allies worry about trying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to their shipping (ships to countries like India and China that aren't militarily allied with the US are being allowed through):

Quote

I wonder what would happen if we "finished off" what's left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don't, be responsible for the so called "Strait?" That would get some of our non-responsive "Allies" in gear, and fast!!! President DJT

Truth Details | Truth Social

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 18 March 2026 - 09:05 PM

[Werthead]

Iran launched more ballistic missiles today than since the fourth day of the war, and more drones than any day since the second. So much for the gradual degradation of their launch capabilities.

Unconfirmed footage showing something crazy, some of the missiles are launching from sites partially covered in sand, so you can barely see the missiles before they launch. Trying to work out if this is actually real.

[QuickTidal]

Werthead, on 18 March 2026 - 07:49 PM, said:

Qatar has now responded by naming Iran a direct threat to the region

The country that DIDN'T start this? THEY are the threat?

Their retaliation, which they laid out ahead of time would happen if a red line was crossed...is somehow the direct threat....but not the two countries who started a war of choice over *checks notes* nothing?

[QuickTidal]

Gas prices this morning in Canada were $1.72/litre

Just over a month ago it was $1.19/litre

Have we gone over how much I fucking HATE Donald Trump, his feckless Republican= enablers, Netanyahu and his complicit cabinet?

Like I'm SO fucking tired of 2 (3 really if you include Putin) geriatric old fucking evil men are holding the entire WORLD hostage...

I hope the US is happy they are dallying with the Yuan becoming the new Petrodollar...

[QuickTidal]

Israel (apparently against the wishes of the US) has struck the South Pars Gas Field in Iran...the largest gas field in the region..and Iran has retaliated against the rest of the Oil production facilities in the Middle East (somethignthey not only warned they would do if South Pars was attacked, but Trump was briefed on what would happen if this happened and how badly it would go before the war even started).

Iran will eliminate them with totality. Not just incapacitate and derail...but DESTROY.

Israel has literally doomed the Global energy community.

This is endgame. Poking that bear has fucked the Global energy sector forever.

Well done Netanyahu, you utter evil POS...you screwed over the whole world for your ambitions. History will remember you as the monster you are.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 19 March 2026 - 04:54 PM