The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran • Hacker News Board

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#771

Post by lukan » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:52 PM UTC

nasaeclipse wrote: post #766

All I can do is sit here and sigh. The thing is, as sudden as this seems to the general public, this is something that takes months of planning. Having served in the Navy for eight years, I know that this kind of thing doesn't necessarily happen overnight. That doesn't mean it _couldn't_. The US military certainly does have the ability to plan a strike very quickly. But, most likely, this was planned behind closed do…

Of course there was a military plan for this since months, but that does not mean that plan was surely to be executed. (A likely option I assume)

What I find worrying is the standard tactic seems to be to do negotiations, let the other side assume there is hope for a other solution - and then attack hard all of a sudden. Already the second time. It might be effective short term, but it erodes what is left of trust negotiating with the US.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#772

Post by tlogan » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:54 PM UTC

pphysch wrote: post #752

tlogan wrote: post #548

I hope this war will be short. And that the result will be Iran becoming a democracy that fully joins the global community. The Iranian people (Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and others), deserve better. It would benefit the entire world to see Iran integrated and engaged internationally.

There is virtually zero recent historical precedent supporting your wish, and plenty of precedent suggesting the opposite will happen.

I wonder why that is.

We saw significant success with Germany, Japan, South Korea, and other countries in the past. But more recently, similar efforts seem to have ended in failure.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#773

Post by jimt1234 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:54 PM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #745

ourmandave wrote: post #577

Again, little to no information for the US public. No approval from Congress. Calling for the people to rise up. You can't bomb your way into regime change. Are we supplying arms to groups? Is there a plan beyond pointless death and regional chaos the president would like to share?

A plan? Actually there is. This is all part of the backdrop to end US elections. We can’t have elections in the middle of a major war. And if we do have them we must greatly constrain how they are held while we are at war.

I've been trying to avoid the news for a little over a year now. I needed a detox. ... Is this true? That is, are there legitimate proposals to cancel or constrain the November elections in any significant way? Or, is this all speculation?

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#774

Post by petre » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:55 PM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #745

ourmandave wrote: post #577

Again, little to no information for the US public. No approval from Congress. Calling for the people to rise up. You can't bomb your way into regime change. Are we supplying arms to groups? Is there a plan beyond pointless death and regional chaos the president would like to share?

A plan? Actually there is. This is all part of the backdrop to end US elections. We can’t have elections in the middle of a major war. And if we do have them we must greatly constrain how they are held while we are at war.

What, is the US Ukraine? Is it under attack?

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#775

Post by QuantumAtom » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:55 PM UTC

I don't understand. I was under the impression that this a tech site. Why is there so much politics on here? What is all the rage bait. Are these bots or people who have inject politics and rage bait into every single place. Whatever you think of the Israel/Palestine conflict, maybe there can be places or website where some of us just want tech articles and interests.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#776

Post by andrewflnr » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:57 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #439

yodsanklai wrote: post #396

Nothing like a war to boost your popularity just before the elections

You sure? Seems like a war for no reason is hardly going to get popular support.

You're acting like people are rational. It's just about power. Appearing strong appeals to the apes inside the humans. And no one is more in touch with his inner ape than Trump.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#777

Post by wat10000 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 5:59 PM UTC

reliabilityguy wrote: post #615

sega_sai wrote: post #363

The take home message from this is that the only way for any country to be secure is to have nuclear weapons.

Israel has nuclear weapons. Did it keep them safe?

The last time Israel faced an existential threat from its neighbors was 1973. The timeline isn’t entirely clear, but that’s right around the time when they started to have operational nuclear weapons. Many factors contributed to their relative safety since then, but the timing certainly works out for nuclear weapons helping to make that true.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#778

Post by y-c-o-m-b » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 6:02 PM UTC

tlogan wrote: post #548

I hope this war will be short. And that the result will be Iran becoming a democracy that fully joins the global community. The Iranian people (Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and others), deserve better. It would benefit the entire world to see Iran integrated and engaged internationally.

I know a lot of the responses are skeptical (for good reason), but the opportunity is certainly there. The pro-regime population is aging out, with the more secular youth taking hold. There has always been an appreciation for American culture (specifically) amongst the general population. This was true when I was there in the 80s and increasingly more true over the decades since. Concessions by the regime over the hijab laws is one example of the society drifting more towards Western norms. Alcohol and western style parties are way more present in the society than ever before. Basically, the foundation for it is certainly there.

Furthermore if Reza Pahlavi does manage to integrate into the society, he will most certainly use his business and political ties here in the US to westernize the society. He's said as much. Some of the more well known Iranian-American business leaders here in the US (CEO of Uber, CEO of intuit, founder of eBay for example) I'm sure would contribute to work towards this also.

There will be push-back from rural areas (just like anywhere else) and the regime will not go away overnight, but the possibility does exist for this outcome. I think the biggest roadblock would be America and Israel intentionally preventing this outcome for the reasons that suit them geopolitically.

EDIT: should have mentioned that after decades of widely known voter manipulation and more or less "mock" elections, Iranians would be happy to finally participate in actual democratic processes where their votes and voices matter

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#779

Post by wat10000 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 6:03 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #444

sega_sai wrote: post #363

The take home message from this is that the only way for any country to be secure is to have nuclear weapons.

"In the world of strategic studies, there has been a return to ‘theories of [nuclear] victory’. Their proponents draw on the work of past scholars such as Henry Kissinger, who wondered in his 1957 book Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy if extending the American deterrent to all of Europe at a time when the threat of total destruction hung over the US itself would actually work: ‘A reliance on all-out war as the chie…

Now that the last generation with direct experience of the Nazis is leaving us, it seems like the populace is forgetting the horrors of that time. That also happens to be the last generation with direct experience of nuclear weapons used in war.

Re: The United States and Israel have launched a major attack on Iran

#780

Post by MagicMoonlight » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 6:08 PM UTC

JanisErdmanis wrote: post #729

tlogan wrote: post #548

I hope this war will be short. And that the result will be Iran becoming a democracy that fully joins the global community. The Iranian people (Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, and others), deserve better. It would benefit the entire world to see Iran integrated and engaged internationally.

This is unlikelly because Iranian regime is going to execute false flag operations against their people to steer public opinion in their favour.

Not if the US kills the whole regime. They certainly have the firepower. And Israel has the intelligence.