Dr. Gonzo

Sad, pretty young. RIP

NYT saying it wasn’t a missile that killed Haniyeh and in fact a bomb that was planted in that guest house months ago. Which is a bit sad because that means Israel probably can’t just blast Khamenei from miles away. Back to the drawing board on hoping for a better future I guess.

The entire interview is absolutely wild. I don't even think the Kamala Harris campaign could have had an AI generated Trump video trainwreck make Trump look quite as bad and unhinged as this interview managed to do.

lol everyone with this surname turns out to be crazy as fuck

He's the fucking Minister of National Security, what are you talking about? He's the head of: the Israeli police, prison service, fire rescue, border security, and community safety. He has an extraordinary amount of power.

Hamas are terrorists masquerading as a legitimate government - of course they don't recognise the Geneva Conventions. Israel's an actual country, not a terror group, they are rightly held to a higher standard when fighting against a terror group. I'm not sure the pure numbers reflect very reserved warfare in Gaza - just take a look at this: There were an estimated 24 million people in Iraq before the US invaded. There were 2.1 million inhabitants, roughly, in Gaza on October 7th. So even if the numbers of civilian deaths Egypt and Israel are reporting are more accurate than Hamas's civilian death count... think of the proportionality. And Israel's dropped about 10x as many munitions as the US did on Iraq in under a year as the US did for the entirety of the fucking war. If your war is making the United States invasion of Iraq look relatively humane and demonstrating more care for civilian populations... your war is a fucking absolute abomination and you deserve international condemnation.

Hamas & Ben-Gvir both share a belief that rape is a justifiable weapon of war. Maybe both sides aren't so different after all.

lol "the pro-Israel crowd" - yeah I'm super pro-Israel, that's why I've called them war criminals and said their leadership are deliberately acting in a way that is set up to keep this conflict raging eternally. Mate, please go learn what the fuck nuance is. There are some people I think aren't capable of understanding what nuance is... but you, I know you're capable of it. But I'm sorry if I mistook your thoughts on Israelis - I'd based it on when you'd said the deaths of October 7th were justifiable because "it was like a slave revolt;" to me that seemed like a justification of the kids who were kidnapped and/or killed because of the history of the region that these particular kids are not guilty of. And for the record, I've never taken the position of "look what they made Israel do" - I've taken the position that "everyone knows how Israel would react to October 7th" particularly because Israel is run by far-right psychopaths. And I have been very critical of the way Israel and the IDF have fought this war in a way that is guaranteed to breed more extremism. FFS look at my last post lol.

I just don't see how Israeli intelligence can be so good in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran... but not Gaza which is right fucking there and where they've been fighting a war for nearly a year. I truly do feel that, especially under Netanyahu's times in power, that collective punishment of the Palestinian people has absolutely been a part of the tactic in trying to keep Hamas and Fatah in check. I don't think this has been a particularly effective tactic in any respect other than fueling extremist hatred towards all things Israel (and by extension the US and the West) among Palestinians. This is what US politicians warned Israel of before the invasion of Gaza: don't make the same mistakes the US did while hunting for revenge after Sept 11th - you don't win hearts and minds of a population by bombing the shit out of them and treating them like they are all terrorists. There is a generation that has been brutalised by the IDF, yet again, what will happen when they grow up? Look at Lebanon - the country is split between Sunnis, Shia, and Christians. Between the Sunnis and Christians... Hezbollah, Iran's proxy, is absolutely hated. Yet Israel is hated even more due to how Israel fought their last war against Lebanon. A lot of Lebanese think that Israelis view their lives as next to worthless - because that's what the IDF's way of fighting seemed to demonstrate. Lebanese people are scared shitless of Hezbollah pulling Lebanon to war because they remember things like unreasonably large civilian casualties, or their very tourism dependent economy being set back for years (and arguably never truly recovering) by having the Beiruit international airport destroyed in response to Hezbollah's attacks. I just don't see how Israel expects to have a meaningful and lasting peace without demonstrating the same kind of precision and restraint the recent attacks in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran did in Gaza. Palestinians are justified in saying things like "Israel/the IDF don't care if I'm not a terrorist, they'll treat me like one" due to the decades of collective punishment and the optics of callous disregard for their lives. Islamicists will use these justifiable feelings to make propaganda that says "Israel is at war with Islam and all Muslims" as a result of the lack of precision and the lack of restraint. We know this because Islamicists have done this and still do this. This conflict isn't new. Hamas knew how Israel would react, Israel knew Hamas would leave Gazans vulnerable to massive civilian casualties. So why the fuck's Israel bombed refugee camps? Why've they opened fire on people at refugee camps trying to get food? Why do things that have been done for decades that don't actually bring about peace and just keep the status quo of hate and human rights abuses coming? I think the answer is for certain groups in Israeli politics, there's a political advantage to drawing this conflict out for as long as possible and there's a political advantage for keeping the conditions of Gaza in a state where extremism is destined to be borne out of it. If Israel truly wants peace and a more secure future for their future generations, they are the ones in a position of power that can actually extend the olive branch to Palestinians. To me, the targeted strikes in Syria, Lebanon and Iran all demonstrate one thing: Netanyahu wants to go after the leaders of Iran's proxies - but they don't want to risk this turning into a 2 front war for them, or worse - a full blown regional conflict. But when it comes to Gaza, he sees no such need for restraint because he doesn't fear the blowback of extremism from Gaza. I think if anything, he's expecting it.

You praised the Houthis and Hamas for acting on behalf of Khamenei (not Khomeini, he's been dead since the 80s) for doing shit like: killing people at a music festival & firing missiles at ships carrying cargo from China to Europe, all while Khamenei, Hamas, and the Houthis are content to let regular Palestinians and Yemenis feel the brunt of Israeli bombardment in response to these things. I'm praising Israel for using pretty precise strikes against specific people, while simultaneously condemning them for not showing that same kind of precision and restraint on the Palestinians who they subjugate. I think it's a pretty false equivalence to equate the two. You praised actual terrorism - I'm pointing out that Israel has once again demonstrated they can retaliate to terror attacks and actually target leaders of terror groups without causing anywhere near as much catastrophe for civilians as they've managed to do in Gaza. Even that strike in the "civilian area of Beirut" you posted about demonstrates a precise strike with restraint because only Hezbollah members appear to have died, namely a top commander. Either way, Israel's never going to actually help cause a more peaceful middle east by actually doing something about the regime in Iran - I don't think they, nor their newfound Arab partners in the region, have any interest in a stable and rational acting government in Iran in control of the country's natural resources. Too much economic competition for the western friendly countries of the Middle East is probably their viewpoint - which is why many in Arab nations, especially the leaders of these countries, aren't particularly keen on the idea of Iran actually having a government that works for Iranians. In any case, I think you should reconsider your total absolutist position with regard to Israelis. They are not all Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir. Yes, they're a democracy - and yes, Israeli voters do bare a huge amount of culpability for the human rights abuses Israel has carried out. But look at the people who were victims of the attack on Oct. 7th - many of them hated (and still hate) Netanyahu and actively worked to try to have better ties with their Arab neighbors in Gaza. Do these people deserve to die simply because of where they were born and because of the actions of their ancestors? You should be hoping for a better world for Palestinians, Iranians, Syrians, the Lebanese, etc., as well as Israelis. Human rights are human rights. They don't apply to some people and not other people. Palestinians absolutely deserve a restoration of their human rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank - and they absolutely deserve statehood. Does this mean Israel shouldn't exist? Some people obviously think so - but I don't see how you can punish modern generations for the sins of past generations. Their crime was being born in a certain part of the world as a Jewish Israeli? They're still entitled to human rights and to not be talked about like they are fucking animals deserving a trip to the slaughterhouse. Tensions in the Middle East will subside if enough civilians in all of these countries can feel like they're not living their lives under the barrel of a gun and the constant threat of warfare and instability. Israelis, Palestinians, legit any Middle Eastern ethnicity you can think up - there's a good chance there's a large group of them that feel like they live at the end of the barrel of a gun.

Well they're not really using precision on Gaza, they're mostly just blasting civilians and then saying "oh yeah, got some Hamas too"

I just wish Israel would do these precision strikes more on Gaza. What's been shown in Damascus, Beirut, Tehran is they can do precision strikes that ultimately limit civilian casualties and take-out high-level members of the IRGC, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Whereas what we've seen in Gaza has been subjecting a large civilian population of mostly children to mass carnage. Also if they could wipe out Khamenei, the Guardians Council, and a few top level IRGC lunatics out with these same kind of precision strikes they'd be doing a whole lot of good for: Palestinians, Iranians, and for their own safety. Clearly by striking within Tehran and Iranian government facilities in Syria, Israel already views itself as at war with Iran and has not been afraid to demonstrate it. Why not go for the jugular when they've shown they can do whatever they want within Iran's border?

It was an air strike, so probably not an internal assassination. Weird strategy by Israel to think a ceasefire might hold by killing the guy doing the ceasefire negotiations. Almost like they don’t actually want the hostages back or a ceasefire.

https://apnews.com/article/30968a7acb31cd8b259de9650014b779 Hamas leader killed in Tehran. If it was a strike from Israel in Iran’s capital, this might mean a regional war is inevitable.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/fbi-deputy-director-trump-shooter-believed-to-be-author-of-anti-semitic-and-anti-immigration-posts-online/ further evidence that the guy who shot Trump was not some far left weirdo - looks more like a far right weirdo than anything.

I feel bad for Lebanese people. It's basically a failed state where their own military pales in comparison to Hezbollah who basically just do whatever they want... and they're now being pulled into a war with Israel by Hezbollah. Israel's last war was devastating for Lebanon, even though from Hezbollah's perspective it was arguably a victory (in reality, more of a stalemate).

Yeah for sure, but at the moment anything I've heard about shooting in Venezuela has been military/police/gangs that seem to be affiliated with the government opening fire on protestors. I think if the CIA was arming and funding rebels, they'd have done it ahead of this election which I think everyone knew would be rigged for Maduro - and the protests would seem more coordinated and there'd be more guns on the sides of the protestors. This just seems like the kind of shitshow you see in Iran when people take to the streets with very legitimate grievances and are met with bullets and batons.

I still don't think it's appropriate use of force to stomp on someone's head when they're tased and detained on the floor, even if they're "struggling" is interpreted as resisting arrest. I think police need to be held to a higher standard than the criminals they're apprehending because they're agents of the state. Yes, the guy is an absolute cock for attacking emergency staff in an airport. I think he should absolutely be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But I'm not sure you're truly vindicated because I think regardless of any context, the guy stomping on someone's head while they're detained on the ground is still obviously going well beyond what is reasonable to stop someone tased, on the floor, and basically in detention from "resisting arrest" - I'm not sure stomping on the back of anyone's head can really ever truly be justifiable unless you're in a life or death hand to hand combat situation. I don't really think this was that type of situation. Sure in the grand scheme of things, he's getting off easy - there's other countries, like the US, where if he'd done what he'd done it wouldn't be surprising at all if the police just shot him and called it a day - and they'd probably get away with it in the US. But I'm not sure other countries having a high tolerance for police abuses is the appropriate standard we'd want to have with UK policing. Especially with quite a bit of trust in the police having eroded in recent years, particularly with that copper killing that woman. But on this point, I agree with you hands down. A bunch of kids were stabbed to death and others saw their friends/classmates murdered in front of them. Eyewitnesses report hearing awful bloodcurling screams and saw dead children and children covered in blood. If your thoughts aren't with the victims, their families, and the witnesses who saw the aftermath (which I'm sure is more than just a bit traumatic)... and instead you're looking to use this tragedy to push your politics... I think that's absolutely fucked. That's basically a sociopathic disregard for life.

I think the CIA would have gone into this more prepared than having their agents just be open targets for Maduro's thugs to shoot at. It seems that people are pissed off that a corrupt and inept government that's only surviving because other corrupt dictatorships have an interest in propping up a member of their "resistance to the US" in South America has drastically reduced the quality of life for Venezuelans.

lol

He was restrained - any threat he posed was minimal. Certainly no threat worthy of having his head stomped on. Head injuries are serious - if he's guilty of a crime, we're a country that's meant to respect rule of law. The right thing to do is to arrest him and have him go through a prosecution. The incorrect thing to do is for police to commit a crime themselves and stomp on the person's head after they've been detained. This copper deserves a sacking then an arrest and prosecution of his own for his own violent conduct. All the police involved need to be investigated too imo. Treating police with kid gloves when it comes to police brutality will only lead us to the same problem America has. You end up with too many police who think they can act with impunity, making life harder for those who are in law enforcement that don't think they've got a license to do whatever they want... and you end up with a huge number of people that have absolutely no faith or trust in the police, and think getting police in certain situations will only make things worse or more dangerous. Some of that already exists in the UK today, but it's nowhere near the shit situation treating police brutality with kid gloves has in the US. But we're not on the right track unless the hammer comes down on this guy and his colleagues, imo. That footage, regardless of whatever context that led up to that moment, is totally unacceptable.

That's pretty sad

Trump's come out and said he's willing to debate Harris multiple times now - so that's good. I do think her strategy in the debates should be more than just refuting Trump's lies - if she spends the whole debate swat away at every lie, and almost all he does is lie, it's a bit of a waste of time and I don't think does much. Apparently Ronald Reagan would pull a "there he goes, lying again" at debates - that's probably a good strategy for Harris too. She just needs a quick canned answer to laugh off his lies in a way that makes it clear he's lying and if she's rebutting something he said, probably repeating the question and pointing out how he routinely doesn't answer the questions (since the moderators don't moderate a fucking thing) is probably a good way of dealing with him constantly spewing bullshit. Biden spent that debate on the defensive because he didn't know how to respond to lies other than just look shocked that a guy who loves to lie wouldn't stop lying - I think it's a better strategy to put Trump on the defensive. These debates are fucking stupid, tbh, they just reduce the US elections into some kind of idiotic WWE thing where if you get enough zingers in, you "win." So she just needs to go into these with some prepackaged burns and canned answers for dealing with the constant lying, and she should be able to do a better job of making him uncomfortable and getting under his skin - that should be enough for the media to declare her a winner. I'm pretty sure I saw some study though that shows these televised debates make literally 0 impact on the viewer though.

Looks like Trump's planning on ditching debates now. Dunno how that will play out, makes him look scared of debating imo.

It's hard to say. They've got short careers and so much can go wrong/right for a player in their career. But he's clearly special to be that good at that young age. Hopefully pressure doesn't get to him too much so we can just sit back and watch him. I'm sure he'll be very good for a long time. Whether he'll be the best in the world... hard to say, really.