Dr. Gonzo

Also accurate

He's clearly hoping he can use this terror attack as a false flag as an excuse to further escalate against Ukraine. I think it's pretty clear ISIS did it, they released the pictures of the attackers (which look to be the same people Russia arrested, tortured, and charged) as well as the actual body cam footage from the attackers - which I don't think they'd be able to do without having received that footage from the attackers or if it was livestreamed to ISIS for them to record. ISIS has been getting bombed by Russia for years in Syria, Russia tried to foster ties with the Taliban when they took over Afghanistan again (and ISIS-K are fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan), Russia had just arrested some ISIS-K members as well. I think ISIS just saw Russia busy with war in Ukraine that has tied up its military and thought "this is a good time to strike at Russia while it's weak." And Russia looks weaker than ever because the general response times to the attack were appalling. Dictatorships rule over their people by demonstrating their strength. Admitting that civilians may be vulnerable to attacks by ISIS is an admission that Russia is not as strong. By trying to play off this attack as something Ukraine's done and as part of the war, the threat doesn't seem so imminent and unpredictable - attacks like this will stop when Russia wins according to Putin. It also can serve as a way to direct the outrage of a massacre of civilians towards Ukraine rather than at Russian security forces for their lackluster response that let over 100 people die. And by making this claim he can probably go to the international community and say "look we aren't the only ones who have deliberately targeted civilians in this war, and sending in gunmen to slaughter people is worse than just dropping bombs." So I think it's pretty clear what he's playing at here. He's a dictator trying to twist an embarrassing situation into something he can use positively for himself.

With Yemen it's because the US is more involved in the genocide the Saudis have been behind than they are with the human rights abuses in Israel. With Syria, it's because Russia's helping Assad. They're both on the UNSC, so they've got veto power so even if something was raised it'd get immediately vetoed. Sad truth though is that the international community does not give a fuck if other Muslims kill other Muslims - I honestly think there's large parts of the world that see Muslims killing Muslims and think "lol cool." Tbh I don't know much about the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan so I'm not going to comment on that, but I assume it's more of the same + they're African so racists probably care even less if they kill each other. The UN's important because it's a world diplomatic forum, but in terms of actually doing anything about human rights abuses when UNSC permanent members are involved... it doesn't do anything. All those committees and commissions on stuff like human rights, climate initiatives, drug abuse... I think that's partially just some countries want to pat themselves on the back and other countries just end up in those committees/commissions and even heading them because of the policy of rotation and just make a mockery of the situation. It is what it is, but I still think it's good to have an avenue for diplomacy for the international community to all gather and get their say, especially with the world as polarised as it is today. It's good to have an institution for diplomatic avenues in the face of global conflict, to avoid a world war - and that's really all the UN has to it that has any point at all. The rest is just pointless fluff so some countries can have a feel good moment.

Lol the UN only has one purpose - serving as a forum of open dialogue between nations of the world to avoid another world war. All the other shit, like the human rights committee, is absolutely meaningless. The idea that any state shouldn’t be in the UN demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about why the UN exists.

Shit like this is why I think it's mental to believe Israel, especially under Netanyahu, has been serious about a lasting meaningful peace. Backing an extremist group and continuing to prop them up when they've proven to be dangerous to both Israelis and Palestinians because by propping them up it undermines the idea of peace and a two-state solution is very much the exact opposite of demonstrating a serious commitment to developing peace after decades of bitter conflict.

Oh for sure. Iranian Kurds have been the amongst the most vocal and active in the human rights movement in Iran since Mahsa Amini's death (she was also a Kurd, weirdly). But yeah, the Kurds of Syria and Iraq (and probably many other parts of the Middle East) often find themselves ignored up until the West needs them for another misadventure in the Middle East... and then they are quickly betrayed and left to fend for themselves against groups that think they're subhuman and must be wiped off the planet. The strangest thing with me is the Kurdish groups that kill each other, even though they both want the same things but have different ideas of how to get it. So rather than work together and live with the difference of opinion, they do the work of those who hate the existence of Kurds and kill each other.

This is coming from a supporter of "the first democracy in the Middle East" (even though they're the second, the first democracy was taken away), which has used its freedom to elect people that for decades have shown a callus disregard for Palestinian life - including getting Netanyahu back into power but this time with a coalition that has Ben-Gvir, a man who was denied entry into the IDF because he is too radical, so they can push policies that demonstrate that callus disregard for Palestinian life... which have ultimately just made Israel less safe for Israelis. I think Israel supporters and Israelis frequently ask "why are we being held to a higher standard than Hamas/Hezbollah?" and the answer's fucking simple isn't it. They're held to a higher standard because they're a democratic country, not a terrorist group. They've got infinitely more say over Israel's government and how Israel's government chooses to operate. It's been how long since Israel's recognised the UN borders of Israel and Palestine? The ones considered the legal borders in the eyes of the international community. And they've really been treated with kid gloves for their role in perpetuating this conflict, in all honesty. So I think it's more than fair to hold them to a higher standard. And I say this as someone who's not just going to blanket hate all Israelis or Israel as a country just because I don't agree with how their government operates - I even think Israel has a right to properly defend itself and go after Hamas. I just don't think they have the right to collectively punish Gaza and the West Bank, nor do they have a right to ignore international law and violate human rights and commit war crimes. And it really does say something, when Israel genuinely had the world's sympathy after October 7th and those horrific attacks. Most people, other than the weirdos saying "killing Israeli civilians who lived in Kibbutzes that provided aid and care to people in Gaza is like a slave revolt" or "these kids deserved to die because of what their ancestors did" (aka actual antisemites or insane people) found the attacks horrific and thought Israel would be justified to properly do things to take out Hamas. And in a span of a few short months, they've managed to tarnish their image and erase all of that sympathy. And honestly, the indignance from Israel's leadership is strikingly horrible. Announcing new illegal West Bank settlements as Blinken lands in Israel to try to deescalate the situation, making it look like these illegal settlements are backed fully by the West, it does nothing to help Israeli long-term safety and it does nothing to help Western policy goals in the region. It actively works against them. Netanyahu having decades of cover for human rights abuses and war crimes by the west... and then he and his government come out and make all kinds of provocative statements about how the west is turning it's back on its closest ally. All while the west has stood by while Israel's fought this war without regard for international law. Israelis and Palestinians would be better off if they stopped trying to convince the international community that it must take a side. Most people removed from the conflict just want to see it finally fucking end, so this conflict can stop being used as a means of escalating global instability. They need to stop trying to bend the world to their will, and start bending to the will of the world - for their own good. Because all they keep doing is getting each other killed, generation after generation. I must say though, I am wildly jealous of the way Palestinians and Israelis have managed to get people to care about them. Other oppressed people in countries around the world would die happy if they could put a spotlight to get the international community to give a shit about them. Meanwhile these 2 keep killing each other and demanding we respect their "all or nothing" solutions and the world sits and listens to every word. PR geniuses, if nothing else.

Tbh the present day situation is also a western made catastrophe, so predicting another one doesn't really mean things will be any better, worse, or even any different at all to how things are now.

https://www.euronews.com/2024/03/26/slaughtered-uk-farmers-protest-post-brexit-rules-and-trade-deals Formerly pro-Brexit farmers very pissed off after finding out what Brexit means for them

Italians look away: some people put ketchup on pizza and absolutely fucking love it

Fact or myth: Any time you eat any sort of meat, you become part sausage. When you eat sausage, you become part sausage sausage.

Start the thread mate, I don't want to re-write the words of @CaaC (John) - that's like going back and editting Shakespeare.

They were originally gonna use this flag:

In a world where there's a semblance of justice we'd start seeing a push for the ICC to be putting Hamas leadership on trial, but also Israeli/IDF leadership implicated in war crimes and human rights violations as well. We've got 2 sides that have: a.) leadership that has an appalling disregard for human life; b.) don't want the other side to exist. Break the cycle of hatred and violence because neither Israeli nor Palestinian leadership is interested in anything than ensuring this conflict remains endless.

The tangible nostalgia from the last legends match was yet another moment that hammered home how fucking old I am

I don't even like the royal family and I feel bad for her because she was clearly trying to retain some privacy, but a bunch of absolute morons online kept hounding her and making up ridiculous conspiracy theories so she had to come forward with the news.

I'm gonna say Germany just because you can never rule them out of winning something. It's got to be them or France. I expect England to be decent up until a knockout match against a very good side and then they'll look turgid and shite and get knocked out.

One of them had their testicles zapped multiple times. I wonder if these are the actual terrorists or just the first Tajikis Russian police could find. Now that they’ve been tortured, who knows?

ISIS just released the body cam footage of the attack to remove any doubt

I think @OrangeKhrush and @6666 are just a demonstration of the horseshoe effect in action

The US warned Russia of a potential ISIS-K attack 2 weeks ago, despite aiding Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. Putin didn’t take it seriously, then the attack happened. It wasn’t exactly private information either - the state department had a notice on their website to warn Americans there; even though they’ve advised Americans don’t go to Russia. If you’ve been paying any attention to Biden at all during this reelection campaign he’s been pretty careful not to escalate further with Russia because the idea of the US actually using troops against Russia, in his own words, means the start of WW3. Starting WW3 before an election is probably not great for his reelection chances… Personally, I think it’s a good chance it’s just an ISIS attack. Russia’s been bombing ISIS in Syria for years. Russia’s tried to establish ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan, who are fighting with ISIS-K. ISIS-K has a substantial amount of Chechens and Dagestani’s who hate Putin’s Russia. And Russia is weak at the moment - its military is stretched and engaged in a war taking far longer than the expected 2-3 days. Strategically it was a good time for a terrorist attack in Moscow. Putin should probably have known US intelligence in Russia is pretty good - considering for weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US was warning Putin not to invade Ukraine.

Tbf there’s nothing wrong with the idea of releasing civilian hostages and having the UN recognise things that Hamas themselves uploaded to the internet in video format as fact. Russia and China just see this as a useful distraction from their own problems. But I guess tankies will always simp for them.

@Spike made it for me

I remember being told that adding salt to water makes it boil faster... but I'm pretty sure that's not true.

Russia & China block the US's UNSC motion calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine. It wasn't unexpected, but it's confusing to see where the international community goes from here. Russia and China had previously made calls for ceasefires - but if they're not going to agree with the US when the US finally is calling for one... how do they get consensus now?