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Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

bbc.com

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Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#171

Post by giardini »

Art9681 wrote: post #91
markvdb wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A cynic might think a significant part of this half-arsed Iran war was: - make sure fuel prices increase globally - The US economy is relatively well-shielded from the fallout by its own fossil fuel sources, local and in colonies like Venezuela. - export more US fossil fuels, especially to Europe, at inflated prices. US insiders reap the profits. - further kneecap European competitiveness in energy intensive sect…

Realpolitik might just be the best way to do things after all.

Please don't leave us in suspense: what would "realpolitik" be in this instance?

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#172

Post by ericmay »

pphysch wrote: post #152
ericmay wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Why can Israel have a nuclear weapon? It is also an insanely violent ethno-theocratic regime.

Besides the point and whataboutism, but I'm not advocating that Israel should have nuclear weapons. They do, and I'm not sure there's much we can do about it at this point. Same with North Korea. I'm opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and just because one country has one doesn't mean other countries should go and get them too.

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#173

Post by mrbombastic »

737min wrote: post #145
sys32768 wrote: post #137

In other news, Cantor Fitzgerald lost about 150 information-technology workers when the north tower collapsed on this day 25 years ago.

[flagged]

I don’t see a single comment I would describe as celebrating this

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#174

Post by consumer451 »

bhouston wrote: post #151

The Houthis created a fake audio of a major Yemeni commander telling his troops to retreat which was subsequently amplified on Twitter/X, telegram, etc. Apparently, this helped the Houthis advance quickly as the opposition forces were in disarray. https://x.com/BashaReport/status/2097862335494795579

Holy shit. This is really interesting. AI used to impersonate, social media to amplify, and that led to a significant tactical defeat?

I don't want to live in interesting times anymore.

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#175

Post by electrondood »

Patirckjdhej wrote: post #134
laimewhisps wrote: post #99

All we had to do was not bomb Iran (starting with a school full of girls). There was no benefit to the US in this war, it’s 100% for Israel. Bribery and blackmail, not democracy, are now determining world events.

[flagged]

How exactly would you recommend criticizing the actions of the State of Israel then, without being labeled antisemitic?

I'm sick of this equivocation. Nobody is claiming that Jewish people in general manipulated Trump into touching the stove.

Some facts:

* Netanyahu met with Trump in February to show him a presentation intended to convince him to attack Iran.

* Netanyahu convinced Trump that it would be fast and easy.

* Trump's own intelligence agencies and cabinet members called this "farcical" and "bullshit."

* Trump gave the green light anyway, based on Netanyahu's presentation, and against the advice of CIA, State, and the Joint Chiefs.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-wa...

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#176

Post by tfigueroa »

inglor_cz wrote: post #148
mamonster wrote: post #101

That's why relying on mercs (which is what both UAE and Saudi chose in Yemen) is a double edged sword. At some point the cash isn't enough of a motivator and they will just run away.

We seem to be in need of a mercenary Uber, where individual mercenaries will have their reputation and the potential customers will be able to check it.

Hideo Kojima intensifies

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#177

Post by tonmoy »

somenameforme wrote: post #147
ak_111 wrote: post #129

This war started as a regime change operation in Iran, one of the shakiest regimes in the world pre-war, but ironically the war might end up with most of the nations who supported the war (either vocally or quietly) "regime changed" (loosely defined), including Israel, US, some European countries and now possibly some Gulf nations, awhile the Iranian regime seem to have tightened its grip more than ever. Yet MAGA sup…

Do you even realize that one of the only reason anybody still supports this war is precisely because of comments like yours? By dividing people into teams, and antagonizing them, you result in people never willing to stomach giving an inch and doubling down on stupid. Obviously this war has been the US' latest great failure, and at the beckoning of a foreign power which makes it especially catastrophic. If people cou…

“Someone was wrong, now I need to pretend they weren’t so that their feelings don’t get hurt so that we can all pretend it didn’t happen”

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#178

Post by ericmay »

rconti wrote: post #163
ericmay wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If we accept your premise, the current war has made us less safe, because we've had previous, stronger nuclear deals that have now been torn up in a failed attempt to replace their leader with someone more favorable to the US.

Iran probably wasn't following the JCPOA, denied inspectors access to certain sites, and you'd also have to say you 100% trust American intelligence to verify that Iran isn't building a nuclear weapon in secret and if you want to do that I've got a war to sell you in Iraq.

Separately that doesn't resolve the other issues, funding militant groups, &c.

Re: Houthis 'take control' of key island in global shipping route

#180

Post by 737min »

Ansar Allah (Houthis) is a terrible Islamist group that commits warcrimws against both Yemenis and people thousands of miles away. Here’s just one example, executing men for gayness:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/03/27/yemen-houthis-sentence-m...

“In addition to death sentences that include crucifixion and stoning, the Houthi court sentenced 23 men to prison for periods of up to 10 years. Three of them were also sentenced to public flogging”

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