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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

#361

Post by bluGill »

bandofthehawk wrote: post #298
AnnikaL wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than one thing can be bad at once. Opposing unprovoked wars and illegal West Bank settlements doesn't make theocratic law any less bad.

Sure, but the scale of violence committed by the US and allies is very large. Are there theocratic states recently committing similar levels of violence? Too often in the past, the oppression done by Middle Eastern governments is used to build political support for their destruction by the West.

Iran is known to have killed at least 10,000 of their own people just this year. The US has done bad too, but the scale isn't nearly as large.

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

#362

Post by mitxela »

KumaBear wrote: post #192
ericmay wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

China is the reason we don’t have 5-6 dollar gas. They literally cut their imports to prevent economic disaster. If they begin buying at regular levels we would be the ones hurting more.

China is the only reason you have 5-6 dollar gas and not, say, 30 dollars.

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

#363

Post by WarmWash »

mmooss wrote: post #287
WarmWash wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Attempts to claim that your side is somehow superior and not subject to the same human evils as the other side are never true, and just encourage your own people to commit evil - they are justified and the other side is evil, of course. Somehow everyone thinks that, which should tell you something about the truth of it. But of course for your side, it's actually true! One classic method is to try to tie it to scriptu…

I don't have a side, especially as an atheist.

I mean, we have modern day Islamic societies that are still dragging out homosexuals and stoning them, and still putting women in bags as property.

If that was what I needed to defend with a straight face, I also would be pretty desperate to shift the focus back a thousand or so years.

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

#365

Post by logicchains »

bicx wrote: post #188
dismalaf wrote: post #138

Attacking Iran and then backing down has just shown all the West's enemies that the US has no resolve.

The U.S. leadership has a bad habit of starting conflicts that the bulk of the population doesn't want, which leads to large political costs and resulting half-measures. Our current leadership literally ran on "no more wars." Morons.

You misunderstood; it was actually "no, more wars!"

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

#366

Post by andriy_koval »

mamonster wrote: post #208
737min wrote: post #180

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 sent…

>Ansar Allah (Houthis) is a terrible Islamist group IMO this is kind of bad framing because it suggests that they're the minority in Yemen, when in reality they basically are the government of 70-80% population of Yemen and absorbed 60+ percent of the Yemeni regular army. They are basically at this point the de-facto Yemeni government

> when in reality they basically are the government of 70-80% population of Yemen and absorbed 60+ percent of the Yemeni regular army.

sure, they took this by force while killing those who disagree. Its part of Sunni vs Shia confrontation, and Yemen is majority Sunni.

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

#367

Post by vjvjvjvjghv »

ericmay wrote: post #284
dalyons wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think in the current situation they are more or less likely to try for a nuke than before?

I don't think there's any change. But I think it's less possible.

I think they are more motivated than ever and other countries will follow. North Korea shows that Trump will kiss the ass of countries that have nuclear weapons, no matter how bad they are. And he will kick around countries that don’t have them. If I were Iran, I would put every possible effort into obtaining nuclear weapons. Probably from Trump’s best friend Kim Jong Un.

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

#368

Post by bandofthehawk »

meowface wrote: post #92
tovej wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the parent was pointing out that Israel's or USA's claims are usually stated without quotes, such as: Israel invades Lebanon due to risk of Hezbollah attacks rather than: Israel says "risk of Hezbollah attacks" reason for invasion

I am not saying this is necessarily incorrect but is it empirically actually true. Have people compared lots of different articles.

Yes, it's been true for a long time. See the book "Manufacturing Consent" for example, but there's been lots of research since. There are numerous ways that the western media biases news to build support for the objectives of those in power.

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

#369

Post by adrr »

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…

All the Kingdoms in middle east are very fragile. Gulf coast countries economies are crashing due to the blockade. Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. One Arab spring away from a new government and this could be the spark.

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

#370

Post by qlte »

marcyb5st wrote: post #261
ericmay wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. It's an intolerable premise and if the price to be paid is global oil catastrophe it's a price well worth paying Says you. All other nuclear nations behave (even Pakistan and India, which are at each other throat all the time). What makes you think that Iran won't? It will also have Russia and China keep a lid on them, same as North Korea. And I don't buy the "Iran is different" go…

  > And I don't buy the "Iran is different" gospel.
It's funny reading literature from the mega hawks in US politics during the Cold War.

Descriptions of the Soviet leadership basically word for word use the same apocalyptic terms used for the ayatollahs/IRGC by current neocons about Iran. Just swap in "Islamist" for "Communist" as the current ideology that makes any kind of realpolitik impossible.

"These leaders aren't rational like previous adversaries, they don't fear annihilation, in fact they want catastrophe to prove their own fatalist belief system. There can be no negotiation with this sort of enemy, their singular goal is our destruction even at the cost of their own lives."

It's always different this time, and all assumptions about self-serving human nature need to be thrown out the window. Anyone who thinks force isn't the only solution is a naively deluded suicidal peacenik. All out war right now on our terms is the only rational way to avoid world destruction.

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