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Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

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Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#801

Post by int_19h »

wojciii wrote: post #734
orbital-decay wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Answering that specific question, 98 jumped up 16% this spring and... that's it. Except for that, it's an ordinary curve compared to, say, 5 years ago. And that's mostly the result of actually bombing the refineries.

I meant sanctions which are bombing russian refineries. So they stories no fuel in Russia are just propaganda?

That's not sanctions, that's just warfare.

And yes, if US and EU were serious about helping Ukraine win, this would have already happened back in 2022. Or better yet, back in 2014.

As it is, US & EU sanctions seem to be more of a theater mostly for the benefit of the population of those countries, so that their politicians can sincerely say that they "support Ukraine".

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#802

Post by int_19h »

mschuster91 wrote: post #207
nlitened wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Russian economy is booming actually, thanks to continued purchasing of oil and gas by Europe and other parts of the world, and the sanctions that block capital outflow out of the country.

> Russian economy is booming actually Mostly the military, from what I hear. The rest of the economy is in shambles [1]. No matter what: once the war in Ukraine is over by whatever solution, it's going to get nasty. Either Putin (or, more likely, his successor - the dude is old and it's by far not sure if he will be able to stay in power should the war end up bad for Russia) manages to turn around the economy once ag…

There's a trickle down effect from it, same as with all massive government spending. Those factory workers who now have cushy jobs with large paychecks assembling tanks and cruise missiles then go and spend that money on other things.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#803

Post by int_19h »

honzabe wrote: post #193

This discussion leans against sanctions, and I feel a bit uneasy about this. There are some good arguments, but still... can I try to offer a different point of view? I grew up in a country occupied by Russians. I really feel for the Ukrainians. Currently, there seems to be a social contract between Putin and middle-class Russians from Moscow and St. Petersburg - they will let him bomb Ukrainian civilians, as long as…

Let's say some random Russian in Moscow decides that they are not okay with it. What would you have them do, exactly? It's not even that the government is oppressive and will crack down, but an even bigger problem is that this oppressive government genuinely does have majority support of the population (as you note yourself!) - so what can they do even? And if the answer really is nothing, then how can they be responsible?

Your second argument - that this is acceptable collateral damage - makes more sense, but it requires demonstrating that there is some connection between the specific measures and "making it harder".

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#804

Post by int_19h »

yekanchi wrote: post #167

the people are not fundamentally far from their government. this is true for U.S where they elected Donald Trump or Israel that elected Netanyahu. for Iranians it's the same. and it's ground truth. the sanctions actually are designed to push the people of Iran to change their mind and overthrow their gov. it's easier than starting a full-blown war against Iranian that will cause damage or kill U.S soldiers' lives. th…

"the people" are not a singular entity in Iran anymore so than they are in US.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#805

Post by usasha »

hashinova wrote: post #783
phendrenad2 wrote: post #643

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This, 1000%. I think there's a certain kind of thinking that low-IQ people fall into, which is blaming civilians for the actions of their government, often with the coping "they should just overthrow their government" (because it's that easy!) Sadly, in our world where everyone has a voice, you're going to get a lot of this. There's no avoiding the stupids.

> (because it's that easy!) I don't think anyone believes it is easy, but are sanctions not at least an incentive to try?

Do you realize there are much bigger inconveniences then GitHub suspension in such places?

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#806

Post by contrarian1234 »

MrJohz wrote: post #353
drstewart wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it interesting? I thought the common people aren't responsible for the actions of their government?

The common people are responsible for the actions of their government in a democracy, are they not? The issue is that Iran isn't a democracy, it's a theocratic dictatorship — the people are explicitly not able to be responsible for the actions of their government.

i dont think thats really accurate. its theocratic and authoritarian, but its not a dictatorship and they have democratic elements

the candidates are approved by a religious board, but its got a full set of checks and balances and allows for liberalization. The reality is that given a panel of candidates Iranians have often voted for the conservative candidate

i get there is a large amount of liberally minded people in big cities that feel disenfranchised.. but i wouldnt be surprised if the government is still highly popular with the majority of people

Comparing it to North Korea or China is way to simplistic

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#807

Post by [deleted] »

breppp wrote: post #723
johnisgood wrote: post #720

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gotta save face so they could say the war was justified. No news here. I will never know the truth, and nor will you.

Let me summarize: 5,000 chemical warheads were found in Iraq after the war according to the New York Times, backed by video testimonials and documents. Also, ISIS stole part of the Iraqi chemical stockpile and used it against the Kurds. Sounds to me like there was a huge misconception that no WMDs had been found in Iraq https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middlee...

[deleted]

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#808

Post by jari_mustonen »

true_religion wrote: post #703
fennecbutt wrote: post #685

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. But tbf you look at modern media and these things are still perpetuated. Just look at violence done on camera and off camera in TV shows and to whom. Which jokes are made and about whom - many don't even notice because it's so acceptable to treat a class, gender, etc a certain way that it doesn't even cross anybody's mind.

To be actually fair, the notion that OP's comment was referring to only men is entirely left to the reader to decide. Women can be SA'd in prison by other prisoners, and additionally have to contend with the petty humiliations from guards taking unnecessary sexual turns that they wouldn't with men.

There are sexual predators that do pray on men and the sadistic types probably find their way to prison guards.

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#809

Post by justsomehnguy »

andreyvit wrote: post #767
EmiDub wrote: post #651

Can someone give me an explanation for why Mike Cardwell, who lives in the UK, blocks Iranian IPs for “your decision to arm Russia with drones so that they can indiscriminately massacre civilians.” but does not block US or UK IPs for their decision to arm Israel? The answer would seem to me to be racism – he values Ukrainian lives more than Palestinians and considers non-white citizens in non-democratic countries res…

I’m not sure if you’re actually asking or not, but in case you want to hear an answer, it’s because Israel is considered to be defending itself after a horrible attack, not that dissimilar to Ukraine really in some people’s view (me included). This goes back to a worldview where residents of a country share a portion of the blame for their country’s actions. This view is not universal, but has a certain mindshare (ag…

Looks like you missed https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45259553

Re: Delete FROM users WHERE location = 'Iran';

#810

Post by johnisgood »

breppp wrote: post #723
johnisgood wrote: post #720

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gotta save face so they could say the war was justified. No news here. I will never know the truth, and nor will you.

Let me summarize: 5,000 chemical warheads were found in Iraq after the war according to the New York Times, backed by video testimonials and documents. Also, ISIS stole part of the Iraqi chemical stockpile and used it against the Kurds. Sounds to me like there was a huge misconception that no WMDs had been found in Iraq https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middlee...

I read the article (that you cited and misrepresented to fit your predetermined narrative).

The article discusses chemical weapons, not nuclear warheads. These are fundamentally different.

And the reporting actually contradicts the original WMD justification. It explicitly states these were abandoned 1980s-era weapons, not an active program as claimed pre-invasion.

So your summary is WRONG. The reporting actually undermines government credibility rather than supporting it.

You want to know something funny? Many shells were manufactured by European companies using American designs, an embarrassing detail the Pentagon apparently wanted to suppress. In fact the article shows officials understood these weren't the weapons they'd claimed existed, which is why they wanted to keep the findings a secret. To reiterate: the weapons found were remnants of Iraq's 1980s chemical program (which the West had helped build), not proof of post-1990s WMD development.

Let me summarize based on the article: these were 1980s-era weapons, many manufactured before 1991, not evidence of the "active WMD program" claimed in 2003, and they were chemical weapons, not nuclear warheads.

By the way, your response to my WMD comment was "You are of course aware that Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds killing thousands of people" which is absurd. There is a fundamental difference between chemical weapons and "WMD" as-is claimed by the US Government to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Those 1980s attacks (which you are talking about) were already known and didn't constitute the "active WMD program" claimed as justification for the 2003 invasion.

In fact, the gap between the pre-war intelligence claims and post-war findings was so significant that it started multiple investigations, including the Senate Intelligence Committee Report and the Butler Review in the UK, both of which found serious intelligence failures.

So no, there doesn't appear to have been an active WMD program in Iraq in 2003, despite the claims used to justify the invasion.

... so yeah. Back to my original comment.

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