Cunigulus

The Islamic Republic doesn't have the legitimacy to carry out such purges. Their regime is too interested in stability and supporting the interests of its own bourgeoisie and so they'll be unable to defend themselves, even when such a course of action has widespread public support. They don't care enough about the Islamic Republic to commit to the enormous costs of defending their state. Somehow these guys lived through the revolution and the Iran-Iraq War and they're unwilling to sacrifice, even when it means personal doom for many of the leadership. They're convinced they're walking a careful strategic line, but they're letting history slip through their fingers. If they had been strong and decisive in this crisis they would have secured their rule for a century, but with their weakness it's hard to see it lasting a generation.

If they're trying to drain air defense targeting a population center forces the Israelis to intercept.

They have hit targets in Iraq IIRC

I don't think their military is so crippled by these strikes and they have been preparing for a semi-asymmetrical war against the US for decades at this point. I don't worry about Iranian military strength. They can turtle up become a YemenX1000, throttling the Persian Gulf completely and there's not much Israel and the US together can do to stop it short of the use of nuclear weapons. I worry more about Iran politically, they might be weaker than we think.

Very interesting series of events. Elements of Trump administration try to wriggle out of Israeli grip, rifts start to show. Elon Musk teases Epstein reveal on Trump. Trump seems to back attack on Iran. Elon apologizes for his tweets.

Let's revisit the 'tail wagging the dog' debate in a few months. I have a feeling one side is going to have some egg on their face.

Drone warfare is only going to get worse. This is like cannons in the 1300's or tanks in WWI. The technology is here, it's effective, but it has yet to be refined and its true importance hasn't been fully embraced. It won't be long before we have swarms of fully autonomous death machines controlled by AI.

I mean, John Cena is absolutely doing this because someone in the CPC got mad at him and threatened some kind of business interest. China being aggressively touchy about things like this might be understandable, but it's not really a good thing. It's transparent and pointless. Just gives free propaganda points to the bad guys.

One of the few pleasures of the Trump administration is when their petty vindictiveness is directed towards other ghouls. Like Hegseth cancelling his meeting with Kaja Kallas after her transatlantic flight had already landed in DC, or withholding military aid already in transit to Ukraine. Sadly for every humorous instance of base spite there's another directed at the vulnerable.

That's right, keep pushing till it breaks! Keep pushing until the nothing ever happens memes are banished forever!

Damn that sounds serious if true. Artillery and airstrikes? Remember we're looking for a mention of a town called Nawa. If Israel takes Nawa it means they're probably gunning for the whole of southern Syria. If they're just fucking around near the Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon they'll leave it alone.

Assume for a moment that they know the US empire is on its last legs and China is about to ascend and break the US's grip on global finance. What would the logical next step be? If we're really going to have a multi-polar world, the US had better get its act together and consolidate a power base it can defend while it still enjoys the advantages of global hegemony. Tightening the grip on Europe, consolidating direct control in North America and the near abroad, and trying to protect and rebuild domestic industry are all sensible moves if the objective is not to justify a global neoliberal hegemony, but to survive as a separate imperial bloc among several competitors. I honestly don't see that as being much more workable than maintaining global hegemony, but if you can't beat China, you need a different plan.