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Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

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Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#281
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you implying?

That not one of you is sincere. When a protestor in hong kong gets shot "the whole world" is on its feet, when SA and USA starve to death 80 000 children in Yemen no one bats an eye.

I'm not going to deny the hypocrisy, but I think it's a very human thing really. Do you respond equally to every unjust death in the world?

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>influence beyond their home nation's borders. And so long as a nation is able to keep the corporate interests aligned with their own - or at least more aligned than they are with anyone else - its probably a win for the corporation, the government and the people. Often this "win" is a huge loss for the foreign groups involved. So still a losing situation in my eyes.

Sure, I agree in a sense. But nobody actually knows how to generate a true win, where we all live globally together in harmony and understanding - its all a big mess, and no one has the magic formula. At best, we only know how to slow our competitors down. Its like a chess game, but one where nobody knows what a checkmate really is. If we knock the American tech giants down several pegs, as a hypothetical example, it…

> But nobody actually knows how to generate a true win, where we all live globally together in harmony and understanding - its all a big mess, and no one has the magic formula. At best, we only know how to slow our competitors down

Slowing down fellow people is also a loss, and I don't buy that our "best" purposefully takes us further from the goal.

>We might not like wars for oil - we might like the alternatives even less.

Do you think I'm arguing that the US should stop engaging in wars for oil but other countries should go for it? Everyone should find these wars to be despicable and avoided at all costs. Yes, this is difficult. It's impossible if you think that they're necessary to prevent others from doing it.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#283
post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iraq used to not be a basket case country until it was invaded by the unipolar hegemony.

Imagine arguing Saddam's Iraq wasn't a basket case country. Iraqi celebrated when he was gone for a reason.

It had advanced education, universities which sent scientists to participate in conferences. Of course Saddam was a tyrant but at least the country functioned.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#284
post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iraq used to not be a basket case country until it was invaded by the unipolar hegemony.

If you were not part of the governing minority you got brutally suppressed. If you dared to voice a different opinion you got send into prison for a nice round of torture. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The invasion of Iraq was a shit show, but let's not get into history rewriting here: Living in Iraq before the invasion was not some kind of utopia. He was a brutal dictator. And people suffered for it.

No it wasn’t some utopia of course not, but at least the country functioned on a basic level, like it had reliable electricity and services, education and medical services (including research) and wasn’t ruined by war.

How often do you see Iraqi scientists or doctors these days participate in international conferences? Whereas that used to be commonplace.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#285

Cui bono? Whom would benefit from a social media organised protest/riot against the government? This comes as the Iraqi president Mahdi anounces a potential arms deal with Russia as part of a diverification of strategic allies. Until now, arms deals were exclusively with US. Mahdi has campaigned on a theme that US invlovement in Iraq has not been entirely positive.

The US (and allies) pushed Saddam into war against Iran. Then there was the Gulf War, then sanctions that reportedly killed hundred of thousands of people (remember Madeleine Albright testifying that it was "worth it"?). Then the unforgivable, unjustifiable war of 2003. Then civil war and unrest, then ISIS. Iraq has been constantly at war and suffering for 39 years and counting because of the US.

Isn't imperialism wonderful. It makes me sick and I don't even know a single Iraqi :/

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#286

Starlink can’t come soon enough. Imagine internet beyond the grasp of control freak governments

You're forgetting that governments, especially of the control freak type, tend to be the only entities that are entitled to the use of violence and coercion.

Good luck using Starlink or any other forbidden technology when your skull is being pushed to the ground by their boot

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be too cynical, but it’d be pretty straightforward to at least tell where the ground-based terminals are if they’re shooting lasers into the sky. Not sure if laser-based systems use IR or UV or what (presumably whatever has the least amount of atmospheric attenuation), but airborne cameras could likely pick it up pretty quick. And for the most brutal dictators: laser-guided bombs are already a thing...

Why would an airborne camera be able to pick ground-based lasers up easily? Wouldn't you need to fly directly between the satellite and the ground terminal? Same goes for laser-guided bombs - those home in on where the laser pointer is pointing, not the pointer itself.

Deflection. It's pretty easy to spot a laser pointed straight up, because it's deflections create a visible trail of the beam. Have you ever shined a laser pointer in a foggy room, or seen the lightshows that do so? That.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#288
post #23

Iraqi here (But I live in Turkey), protests were raging yesterday and today, first social media was taken down now the whole internet from mid (Baghdad) to the rest of the south of the country Here is a local service monitor for all major ISPs in Iraq: http://akonet.info This is the usual procedure by the "freedom" government they do this every time, the only issue is this time the protestors are not carrying any fla…

So the protests have no religious colouring? Like, it's not Shia vs Sunni vs Kurds vs Commies vs whatever, just a protest against poor government performance? If so, it's a sign of good progress in Iraqi society and mindset. Such a thing wouldn't be possible just 10 years ago, it was always sort of 'us' vs 'them', these groups being ethnically and/or religiously defined.

"So far" yes

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#289
post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Iraq used to not be a basket case country until it was invaded by the unipolar hegemony.

What nonsense. Iraq has been a shitshow for a very, very long time. And I'm not endorsing the war in any way.

The relevant question for the people living there is allways: but is it better tody?

And it seems, no.

Re: Iraq blocks Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram, shuts down internet

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Doesn't take much to disrupt a radio-based service Particularly satellite signals, because they're very weak to begin with.

Indeed. High-gain antennas and some math trickery can compensate a bit (see e.g. GPS and its below thermal noise floor signals), but I don't think a commercial transceiver could in any way win with a 50kW signal on a broadcast antenna turned jammer on a nearby hilltop.

But iraq is quite a big country. So do you think some jammers are enough for the country, or would you have to deploy them on every big hill/mountain?
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