Finally, they removed the middleman - Saudi Arabia - and started dropping their bombs on the Houthis directly.
At least it's less hypocrite than what was going on before.
Can't but wonder if the Houthis aren't used to US and UK bombs being dropped on them by now and if thus this will make that much of a difference (weren't the Houthis mountain people, same as the Afghans?).
Don't fuck with global trade. Your cause can be a shining beacon of righteousness, but take out trading routes you get the big boy stick. Always has been like that.
Whilst I agree with your point on why this is happenning, after what happenned in Afghanistan, I'm not quite sure of the effectiveness of what you named "big boy stick" against people who have little to lose and have spent over a decade being hit by such a "stick" only yielded by a mate if said "big boy".
A lot of what I'm reading here is the same "America, yeah!" stuff as before the invasion of Afghanistan - nationalistic enthusiasm rather than anything thought through.
Looking at the hostorical track record, it's a little premature to celebrate the effectiveness of this.
The Huthis have been launching ballistic missiles across country lines and target (among other things) international shipping lanes somewhat recently. They're not soldering up IEDs in caves to fend of a US invasion force, so I'm not sure how apt the comparison with Afghanistan is.
All indications are that they're getting their Tech from Iran.
So ultimatelly to stop this you have to stop that Tech coming from Iran. Also we don't know how deep their current stockpiles are so even if the former is achieved and sustained without boots on the ground, how long does it have to be kept.
All this has a lot broader implications than the kind of talk I'm seeing around the whole situation: I mean US and UK politicians are treating this as almost One Bombing = Mission Accomplished.
My point is that the stated objectives aren't likelly to be achieved by just this one military action (as it's hardly the first time the Houthis get hit by British and American bombs so they're hardly going to "see the error of their ways" on just this) and as of now it's unclear how far things will have to go and if and how far will it spread.
I mean, I don't even see a contradiction with OP there. The big boy stick comes out, Western politicians are seen doing something and don't get blamed for the higher prices on "TIEMAM banana-shaped egg holder for children yellow plastic food container", a few of the non-Western brown guys die, but not most of them, and history continues. I don't think that there's a good reason was implied.
No one is invading their territory, attempting to force peace or human rights. They’re free to go back to terrorizing the population. This is to stop them from shooting missiles at cargo ships or Israel, and that seems much more doable - it’s not like they have their own military industry capable of reducing these missiles. It’s not like they have many. It’s not like they are wealthy and can buy as many as they need
Two points:
Reread my post, specifically the very first line were I couldn't be clearer about agreeing with the reasons the previous poster gave for this.
That post of yours has a whole lot of absolute certainties about the region, the local actors involved, their weapons stockpiles, how the weapons move between local actors and pretty much everything else as well as the behaviours of the foreign actors involved: with so many absolute statements about that region and situation, all of which are spinning a pro-US position, you're providing a wonderful example for my point about the overabundance of "America, hell yeah!" simplistic nationalistic takes on the whole thing at the moment.
If there is one thing History has shown us in abundance is that the bollocks about "limited intervention" and the "explanations" spun for it by the US and UK politicians and their local Press is almost never the whole truth (often, none of it is true: remember Iraq?!) and their assessments of the impact of those actions and predictions what follows are usually wrong.
Changing the mind of what is already a veteran guerrilla movement with support from a well armed large local actor isn't quite the same as bombing the Presidential Palace in some peaceful nation were the nation itself and the local power elites have a lot to lose, to "convince" them of the dangers of nationalizing some mineral concessions in the hands of US companies.
We'll have to wait and see what the Houthis do on this, which in turn is also dependent on their weapon stockpiles, the continued support of Iran and even just how much the Houthis listen to Iran or not - considering that they haven't just rolled-over and played dead in the face of Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign, plus they have a lot or reasons to want to screw as much as possible the interests of both the US and UK (whose bombs were the ones being dropped by SA), plus there seems to be a lot of popular support in the region for anybody who screws those nations (on account of both supporting the ongowing genocide in Israel) it seems a little premature to expect the Houthis to stop after on single instance of getting from the US and UK that same as what they've already been getting from SA.
What are you going on about? No one thinks that suddenly everything is going to stop because of a bombing run and there's nothing in the works on invading Yemen. You typed a lot of words to say nothing.
Can’t but wonder if the Houthis aren’t used to US and UK bombs being dropped on them by now and if thus this will make that much of a difference (weren’t the Houthis mountain people, same as the Afghans?).
Pretty much what the news analysts are saying, even. I'm unsure why Biden and Sunak felt like this was a good idea. I really can't see any possible upside. Now they look even more crooked in the region than before, because the only thing they acted on are the cargo ships loaded with dumb crap for the West, and the Houthis look cool and relevant directly fighting them. The threat to shipping is even higher than before if anything, and the whole place is even closer to going WWI.
They could have just parked their warships there and kept eating drones. It would have costed a lot in interceptors, but you'd think even a few more weeks of situation normal would have been worth it.
No. They were firing at anything with a Western financial interest backing out too. So these were ships that never touched a Western shore but just had a part US owner.
That doesn't actually undercut my point. Yes, they carry important crap for the West too, and some amount amount of crap not ultimately for the West. It would still get there going via the Cape, and either way, the stakes are way higher for the Arabs than "more expensive stuff" and everyone knows it.
So the entire middle east should just be a no go zone for shipping? I'm pretty sure the entire MENA area would blow up if we did that. It would ensure the SA/Iran war we've been avoiding for decades. Or, less worse case, Iran cuts the Houthis free and watches the rest of the region obliterate their former clients. Because the oil producing countries are absolutely not going to just stop exporting oil. The tourist countries are not going to accept a halt in cruise ships. And nobody wants to deal with bulk food import via land only.
The Houthis fucked with the entire world. This is not just about going around or sticking it to some distant government without a local impact.
Lol, you really don't like the Houthis. Why do you care? It's a little ethnic paramilitary, like a bajillion others all across the MENA area and other unstable regions.
No, I'd say they should keep parking warships in the area and eating all the missiles. It's expensive as all get out, but said Gulf contries would be obliterated by mass bombardment on the first day if the region really goes boom, and a few more weeks to let things settle and ship Anthony Blinken around would have been great.
I don't give a fuck about pirates. I care about disingenuous arguments. Including that them shooting at international ships is an effective or moral way to protest Israeli actions.
Well you're in luck then, because I don't think it is either. Maybe they'd have a leg to stand on if they were actually Israeli ships, but it sounds like they've been attacking random ones and then declaring them Israeli. It's a stunt, and now the West is making it look even better.
they’ve been attacking random ones and then declaring them Israeli.
A tactic I'd expect out of Israel, ironically
We can't let it go though. They've effectively blocked the suez canal for the entire world. Everything from food aid to toys.
There's a really interesting (but quite long) YouTube deep dive into history about how there has been a struggle between city builders who farm and nomads/'barbarians' who herd for all of our history.
You're welcome. It's a really good channel if you like history deep dives.
And Iran just seized a US oil tanker in the strait of hormuz today.
In fairness, its one the US seized from Iran some time back.
But geez, CENTCOM has too many problems today.
So not a US oil tanker then?
Another war omg
Seems there is always at least one. Daddy Warbucks has to get his piece
Nothing compared to living in mideval or ancient times. Literally brutal wars everywhere all of the time. I'd actually say we live in relatively peaceful times.
GiddyGap says:
Nothing compared to living in mideval or ancient times. Literally brutal wars everywhere all of the time. I'd actually say we live in relatively peaceful times.
Yes...?
Fuck around and find out
but if Palestinians do it, then it is resistance and they are the victims... even if they started it
Started what? Building a concentration camp and starving two million people?
The UN built that concentration camp in 1947. We're just dealing with the consequences.
Your comment reads as if Israel continuing to starve Palestinians was absolutely unavoidable since 1947.
Israel became a state one year later. They could have integrated their society then and there.
Most Palestinians didn't do anything. Most Yemeni didn't do anything.
Precision strikes against terrorists vs. effectively turning a country/region into a gravel pit are not quite the same thing. Israel has been leading attacks against Hamas teams for decades without much of an outcry from the international community, only once they've decided to level the entirely of Gaza.
Iran probably wants this, because they can say "look, the West cares more about money from shipping, than it does about the lives of human beings in Gaza".
Horton Hears a Houthi
WTF, the Middle East is a powder keg right now, and they're, like, setting off a pinwheel on top of it.
The US side ignored dozens of attacks. The history calculus shows at some point the houthis will figure they're untouchable and escalate and whose fault will that be then?
Sometimes there are no good choices, only more shitty and regular shitty
Escalate to what? They're already doing all kinds of pirate stuff, and I don't think they're strong enough to threaten anything else the West cares about on their own. What seems like the obvious Western play would be to keep intercepting attacks from warships for at least a few weeks. It's more expensive, but would give critical time to deal with all the other, bigger issues in the Middle East.
The US not content with spending 2.3 trillion dollars and 20 years to replace the Taliban with the Taliban in Afghanistan, seeks to repeat the same in Yemen.
My bets that in 2044 we’ll still have Ansar Allah and maybe even a Yemeni supercar.
Ansar Allah has survived for this long under constant bombardment by Western weapons. What's another few bombs?
Gangrene got your limb? Just take a painkiller!
JFC. It’s almost like Biden is trying really hard to lose the election.
It’s actually super based to blow up terrorists attacking container vessels.
You can either shut the fuck and bitch about inflation (which is driven up by Houthi attacks) or you can go on a weird demand for a ceasefire but acknowledge paying higher prices for goods is a necessary side effect of allowing Houthis to terrorize shipping lanes.
It’s actually super based to blow up terrorists attacking container vessels.
It is if you swallow the US imperialist propaganda happily and greedily.
Anyone that's not a useful idiot, sees it a bit different.
Yes, I’m aware they see it the wrong way
So your entire argument is founded on the assumption that Ansar Allah is not the legitimate government of Yemen. That, just because they have de jure independence over a territory, they lack de facto independence because the territory is still contested by a government-in-exile.
Turn Palestinian kids into dust…to keep prices down. Got it.
Congratulations on bringing up a subject we weren't talking about to say something the comment author clearly wasn't saying.
Go you.
Because letting shitheads affect a major shipping route and cause another supply shortage and more inflation will surely win him it!
You do realize that there’s another way to make them stop doing it, don’t you?. That other way also has the side effect of murdering significantly fewer innocent Palestinians. It would also act to prevent the conflict from spreading regionally.
I realize that retraining Israel would deny us Americans our dead brown people high, but come on, think of all the inflation we could prevent by not killing them.
That's a mighty huge brush you're painting 300+ million with, skippy.
Unfortunately, those types of people never stop. They would immediately see that as a major sign of weakness and would expand on the attacks, targeting more ships over a larger area. Any hoo, those ass hats are now toast, so any sympathy you have for them might as well be vaporized with them.
It worked so well in Afghanistan, might as well repeat it in Yemen
Unfortunately, those types of people never stop.
And we’ll never stop as long as you are all the way over here. As if attacking us would do anything except motivate us to resist. What a racist and chauvinist world view.
The US aids Israel in its genocide, and our resistance is the problem. What a lopsided logic but whatever. Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.
Your "resistance" consists of kidnapping Filipino crewmen. Truly a bastion against US tyranny
And your western world "defense" consists of years of continuing crimes against humanity and genocide. Truly the leaders of human rights and freedom
You must've responded to the wrong comment, I never said anything about defence.
They were given warnings beforehand and they are free to sail around Africa. Ansar Allah are very clear about who and why they are targeting.
They're not clear at all lmao. They attack whatever vessel they want and then find a flimsy connection to Israel after the fact.
The Houthis, on the other hand, were very clearly warned. They are free not to attack and kidnap cargo ships, otherwise they are free to get bombed. They have chosen the latter option.
So seizing ships supplying a genocidal regime is worse than genocide? When will the "international community" bomb Israel for its genocide in Gaza?
I'm not going to complain much since it is pointless and we wanted to bait the US into another decades-long and losing war after all. Your comments remind me of what people were saying during the early days of the war on Afghanistan in 2001, we all know how it ended. Doing the same thing somewhere else and expecting a different outcome is a sign of craziness. If you think the US will have any outcome that it can call a win then you are just as delusional as the people who thought the US would be welcomed as liberators in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then again, people like you are just looking to satiate their blood lust, and don't care if the US repeats its losses a la Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. But I ask you this, unless you are under 30, do you remember how it was in 2001? do you think you are better off today?
They have attacked, among other non-Isreali bound vessels, a Gabon-flagged oil tanker on its way to India staffed with Indian men.
Way would you even compare this to Afghanistan, there are no boots on the ground, no one is going to invade Yemen, no one is being "baited" into anything here.
Because stopping terrorists attacking ships from all over the world is a bad thing he’s done?
Like I hate the guy, but this is probably one of the few instances of the broken clock being right.
I don't really get it, what's even to "hate" about Biden in the first place?
People trash on him for ending the war in Afghanistan, because I guess we're all supposed to act surprised that the Taliban just walked right back in and took power even though that's what every expert was saying was going to happen even before the war started. Last time I checked, we all wanted the forever wars in Iraq and Afganistan to end.
Republicans trash him for giving arms and spending money on Ukraine, even though they're the victim of Russian imperialist aggression.
People trashed on him for not calling for a ceasefire on Hamas, until he did call for it and it happened, after which people trashed on him because the war just started back up because neither Hamas nor Netenyahu were willing or able to back off. Biden didn't start the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nor was he the first or only US President to arm Israel (who are one of our only allies in the area), nor did he move the pieces that initiated this round of post-Oct 7th fighting, so it's frankly the world's biggest stretch to blame him for it.
And so now people want to trash on him for bombing the Houtis, who are terrorists who have been openly pirating ships on key global trade routes, and who have been warned multiple times that they would face retaliation if there were to continue doing it. We basically told these Houti morons "fuck around and find out" and now they're finding out so we all have to pretend to have bleeding hearts for him.
"Hating" Biden while the very real specter of Trump looms over the 2024 election is just nonsense to me.
This is such a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
I’m stunned how media can swings population opinion in a snap of a finger.
The same US administration brainwashed many people to believe Saudi Arabia is bad because they were at war with Houthis.
Houthis are a tool similar to Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They can be controlled remotely.
Saudi Arabia is "bad" all on their own, no propaganda needed, just go on the topics they themselves report
He’s unironically my favorite President in my lifetime. History will remember him fondly no matter how hard far right fascists and tankies try to alter the truth
Only thing I hate him for is his unwillingness to actually end the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He keeps delivering weapons to Israel to continue its apartheid policies. I couldn’t care less about whatever virtue signalling he does in front of the camera as long as he actively supports Israel’s gruesome attacks.
People trashed on him for not calling for a ceasefire on Hamas, until he did call for it and it happened,
When did he call for a ceasefire? Not a temporary truce, a ceasefire. Also people hate him because he keeps funding Israel.
Also people hate him because he keeps funding Israel.
That's not a Biden problem which would be solved by voting for Trump.
That's US foreign policy problem.
It's not something Trump would solve, yeah, but it's very much a Biden problem. He's going so far as to bypass Congress to do it. Past presidents actually used their influence over Israel to do something.
but it's very much a Biden problem.
Then you have no idea how much support there is for Israel, regardless of party affiliation.
There's a lot of bipartisan support for Israel, but Biden is going above and beyond that. Like I said, there are past examples of presidents acting to reign in Israel's rampages.
I feel that quite a few people are tired, mostly. So they project those negative feelings, with a sprinkle of zero research, and a dollop of regurgitation, and point it all at whomever happens to be at the highest point of whatever they want to blame. In this case: Biden. Bob Ross could be in the seat and things could be absolutely amazing and people would still find something. It's just the way it is, heightened by the sheer number of folks who are at various levels of angry and confused.
None of it is right, of course. Nor does it provide an excuse for behavior. It is, at least, one reason of many that I'm way to lazy to tap out and run through with two fingers. The best the rest of us can do is continue to be reasonable and to work together, while fighting against foolish perspectives and holier-than-thou accusations and finger pointing lightly disguised as shallow arguments.
As for me: I'm on the side of "more likely to make things better." and we know why that happens to be the case. One step at a time. Let's just make sure to not fall off and continue working locally and at State level.
He "ended" Afghanistan with seemingly no plan and just abandoned large amounts of weapons and supplies that are now unaccounted for in a volatile region.
I think the public would have been okay with a longer timeframe if they had made efforts to render more things inert or ship them back. It may not be the most cost effective compared to replacement, but its better than just shoving more weapons into the region with no accountability.
Thank you.
He’s a NeoLib capitalist, whose actions in the past have caused much harm to society (e.g. crime bill).
I really struggle to see what’s to like about him.
It's kind of crazy that you had to go back to 1994 to find something concrete to criticize Biden for.
Oh I can fault him for things today as well, but I like to set a precedent to show a history of bad decisions.
Oh I can fault him for things today as well
Go on.
His inability to act in regards to Palestine and his continued support for Israel going so far as to fast-track weapons to them yet he's unable to do so for Ukraine.
It doesn't matter if he started it or not, he plays one of the the most pivotal roles in what's happening at the moment.
You should be mad that Israel is getting weapons when Ukraine isn't.
There is no US President, real or hypothetical, who would stop military support of Israel in the wake of the October 7th attacks. And there is no US President, real or hypothetical, who is going to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before every last Israeli hostage is accounted for.
We'd all like to see Hamas release their hostages, and Israel to release those who have been held without due process. We'd all like to see an end to the violence and hostility, and an end to the era where both Israel and Palestine are under the control of fascist authoritarian regimes. Sadly it's not as simple as sending Jared Kushner over or whatever delusional shit Americans want to come up with next.
I'd love to see every last dollar of the US defense budget go to whooping Putin's ass in Ukraine, but that's also not very realistic.
Why not, um, just restrain Israel instead? Because we Americans value dead Palestinians more than we fear inflation.
So the Houthis get carte blanche to attack international trade routes because something someone Israel?
Hard to believe we're still making people this dumb. Darwin must have gotten something wrong.
No, we should act to prevent them from doing this. Instead of bombing (and risking further spread and escalation) why not remove their motivation for doing this? What is their motivation for doing this? Their motivation is to prevent Israel from genociding. Now, if we just prevent Israel from genociding, the boats flow, Palestinians don’t get murdered, people in Yemen don’t get bombed either, and we make escalation less likely. That sounds like a far better outcome to me. The only reason to opt for the more violent path, is that you actually want the violence. If that’s your goal, then you’re the bad guy.
Their motivation is Iranian power projection, and they are just a stooge. Palestine is just the headline they are using.
(That said, what's happening in Palestine is a genocide, no question about that)
Finally, they removed the middleman - Saudi Arabia - and started dropping their bombs on the Houthis directly.
At least it's less hypocrite than what was going on before.
Can't but wonder if the Houthis aren't used to US and UK bombs being dropped on them by now and if thus this will make that much of a difference (weren't the Houthis mountain people, same as the Afghans?).
Don't fuck with global trade. Your cause can be a shining beacon of righteousness, but take out trading routes you get the big boy stick. Always has been like that.
Whilst I agree with your point on why this is happenning, after what happenned in Afghanistan, I'm not quite sure of the effectiveness of what you named "big boy stick" against people who have little to lose and have spent over a decade being hit by such a "stick" only yielded by a mate if said "big boy".
A lot of what I'm reading here is the same "America, yeah!" stuff as before the invasion of Afghanistan - nationalistic enthusiasm rather than anything thought through.
Looking at the hostorical track record, it's a little premature to celebrate the effectiveness of this.
The Huthis have been launching ballistic missiles across country lines and target (among other things) international shipping lanes somewhat recently. They're not soldering up IEDs in caves to fend of a US invasion force, so I'm not sure how apt the comparison with Afghanistan is.
All indications are that they're getting their Tech from Iran.
So ultimatelly to stop this you have to stop that Tech coming from Iran. Also we don't know how deep their current stockpiles are so even if the former is achieved and sustained without boots on the ground, how long does it have to be kept.
All this has a lot broader implications than the kind of talk I'm seeing around the whole situation: I mean US and UK politicians are treating this as almost One Bombing = Mission Accomplished.
My point is that the stated objectives aren't likelly to be achieved by just this one military action (as it's hardly the first time the Houthis get hit by British and American bombs so they're hardly going to "see the error of their ways" on just this) and as of now it's unclear how far things will have to go and if and how far will it spread.
I mean, I don't even see a contradiction with OP there. The big boy stick comes out, Western politicians are seen doing something and don't get blamed for the higher prices on "TIEMAM banana-shaped egg holder for children yellow plastic food container", a few of the non-Western brown guys die, but not most of them, and history continues. I don't think that there's a good reason was implied.
No one is invading their territory, attempting to force peace or human rights. They’re free to go back to terrorizing the population. This is to stop them from shooting missiles at cargo ships or Israel, and that seems much more doable - it’s not like they have their own military industry capable of reducing these missiles. It’s not like they have many. It’s not like they are wealthy and can buy as many as they need
Two points:
If there is one thing History has shown us in abundance is that the bollocks about "limited intervention" and the "explanations" spun for it by the US and UK politicians and their local Press is almost never the whole truth (often, none of it is true: remember Iraq?!) and their assessments of the impact of those actions and predictions what follows are usually wrong.
Changing the mind of what is already a veteran guerrilla movement with support from a well armed large local actor isn't quite the same as bombing the Presidential Palace in some peaceful nation were the nation itself and the local power elites have a lot to lose, to "convince" them of the dangers of nationalizing some mineral concessions in the hands of US companies.
We'll have to wait and see what the Houthis do on this, which in turn is also dependent on their weapon stockpiles, the continued support of Iran and even just how much the Houthis listen to Iran or not - considering that they haven't just rolled-over and played dead in the face of Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign, plus they have a lot or reasons to want to screw as much as possible the interests of both the US and UK (whose bombs were the ones being dropped by SA), plus there seems to be a lot of popular support in the region for anybody who screws those nations (on account of both supporting the ongowing genocide in Israel) it seems a little premature to expect the Houthis to stop after on single instance of getting from the US and UK that same as what they've already been getting from SA.
What are you going on about? No one thinks that suddenly everything is going to stop because of a bombing run and there's nothing in the works on invading Yemen. You typed a lot of words to say nothing.
Pretty much what the news analysts are saying, even. I'm unsure why Biden and Sunak felt like this was a good idea. I really can't see any possible upside. Now they look even more crooked in the region than before, because the only thing they acted on are the cargo ships loaded with dumb crap for the West, and the Houthis look cool and relevant directly fighting them. The threat to shipping is even higher than before if anything, and the whole place is even closer to going WWI.
They could have just parked their warships there and kept eating drones. It would have costed a lot in interceptors, but you'd think even a few more weeks of situation normal would have been worth it.
No. They were firing at anything with a Western financial interest backing out too. So these were ships that never touched a Western shore but just had a part US owner.
That doesn't actually undercut my point. Yes, they carry important crap for the West too, and some amount amount of crap not ultimately for the West. It would still get there going via the Cape, and either way, the stakes are way higher for the Arabs than "more expensive stuff" and everyone knows it.
So the entire middle east should just be a no go zone for shipping? I'm pretty sure the entire MENA area would blow up if we did that. It would ensure the SA/Iran war we've been avoiding for decades. Or, less worse case, Iran cuts the Houthis free and watches the rest of the region obliterate their former clients. Because the oil producing countries are absolutely not going to just stop exporting oil. The tourist countries are not going to accept a halt in cruise ships. And nobody wants to deal with bulk food import via land only.
The Houthis fucked with the entire world. This is not just about going around or sticking it to some distant government without a local impact.
Lol, you really don't like the Houthis. Why do you care? It's a little ethnic paramilitary, like a bajillion others all across the MENA area and other unstable regions.
No, I'd say they should keep parking warships in the area and eating all the missiles. It's expensive as all get out, but said Gulf contries would be obliterated by mass bombardment on the first day if the region really goes boom, and a few more weeks to let things settle and ship Anthony Blinken around would have been great.
I don't give a fuck about pirates. I care about disingenuous arguments. Including that them shooting at international ships is an effective or moral way to protest Israeli actions.
Well you're in luck then, because I don't think it is either. Maybe they'd have a leg to stand on if they were actually Israeli ships, but it sounds like they've been attacking random ones and then declaring them Israeli. It's a stunt, and now the West is making it look even better.
A tactic I'd expect out of Israel, ironically
We can't let it go though. They've effectively blocked the suez canal for the entire world. Everything from food aid to toys.
There's a really interesting (but quite long) YouTube deep dive into history about how there has been a struggle between city builders who farm and nomads/'barbarians' who herd for all of our history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrqkwG7Nqj8
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=IrqkwG7Nqj8
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
That's very interesting, thank you!
You're welcome. It's a really good channel if you like history deep dives.
And Iran just seized a US oil tanker in the strait of hormuz today.
In fairness, its one the US seized from Iran some time back.
But geez, CENTCOM has too many problems today.
So not a US oil tanker then?
Another war omg
Seems there is always at least one. Daddy Warbucks has to get his piece
Nothing compared to living in mideval or ancient times. Literally brutal wars everywhere all of the time. I'd actually say we live in relatively peaceful times.
GiddyGap says:
Nothing compared to living in mideval or ancient times. Literally brutal wars everywhere all of the time. I'd actually say we live in relatively peaceful times.
Yes...?
Fuck around and find out
but if Palestinians do it, then it is resistance and they are the victims... even if they started it
Started what? Building a concentration camp and starving two million people?
The UN built that concentration camp in 1947. We're just dealing with the consequences.
Your comment reads as if Israel continuing to starve Palestinians was absolutely unavoidable since 1947.
Israel became a state one year later. They could have integrated their society then and there.
Most Palestinians didn't do anything. Most Yemeni didn't do anything.
Precision strikes against terrorists vs. effectively turning a country/region into a gravel pit are not quite the same thing. Israel has been leading attacks against Hamas teams for decades without much of an outcry from the international community, only once they've decided to level the entirely of Gaza.
Iran probably wants this, because they can say "look, the West cares more about money from shipping, than it does about the lives of human beings in Gaza".
Horton Hears a Houthi
WTF, the Middle East is a powder keg right now, and they're, like, setting off a pinwheel on top of it.
The US side ignored dozens of attacks. The history calculus shows at some point the houthis will figure they're untouchable and escalate and whose fault will that be then?
Sometimes there are no good choices, only more shitty and regular shitty
Escalate to what? They're already doing all kinds of pirate stuff, and I don't think they're strong enough to threaten anything else the West cares about on their own. What seems like the obvious Western play would be to keep intercepting attacks from warships for at least a few weeks. It's more expensive, but would give critical time to deal with all the other, bigger issues in the Middle East.
The US not content with spending 2.3 trillion dollars and 20 years to replace the Taliban with the Taliban in Afghanistan, seeks to repeat the same in Yemen.
My bets that in 2044 we’ll still have Ansar Allah and maybe even a Yemeni supercar.
Ansar Allah has survived for this long under constant bombardment by Western weapons. What's another few bombs?
Gangrene got your limb? Just take a painkiller!
JFC. It’s almost like Biden is trying really hard to lose the election.
It’s actually super based to blow up terrorists attacking container vessels.
You can either shut the fuck and bitch about inflation (which is driven up by Houthi attacks) or you can go on a weird demand for a ceasefire but acknowledge paying higher prices for goods is a necessary side effect of allowing Houthis to terrorize shipping lanes.
It is if you swallow the US imperialist propaganda happily and greedily.
Anyone that's not a useful idiot, sees it a bit different.
Yes, I’m aware they see it the wrong way
So your entire argument is founded on the assumption that Ansar Allah is not the legitimate government of Yemen. That, just because they have de jure independence over a territory, they lack de facto independence because the territory is still contested by a government-in-exile.
Turn Palestinian kids into dust…to keep prices down. Got it.
Congratulations on bringing up a subject we weren't talking about to say something the comment author clearly wasn't saying.
Go you.
Because letting shitheads affect a major shipping route and cause another supply shortage and more inflation will surely win him it!
You do realize that there’s another way to make them stop doing it, don’t you?. That other way also has the side effect of murdering significantly fewer innocent Palestinians. It would also act to prevent the conflict from spreading regionally.
I realize that retraining Israel would deny us Americans our dead brown people high, but come on, think of all the inflation we could prevent by not killing them.
That's a mighty huge brush you're painting 300+ million with, skippy.
Unfortunately, those types of people never stop. They would immediately see that as a major sign of weakness and would expand on the attacks, targeting more ships over a larger area. Any hoo, those ass hats are now toast, so any sympathy you have for them might as well be vaporized with them.
It worked so well in Afghanistan, might as well repeat it in Yemen
And we’ll never stop as long as you are all the way over here. As if attacking us would do anything except motivate us to resist. What a racist and chauvinist world view.
The US aids Israel in its genocide, and our resistance is the problem. What a lopsided logic but whatever. Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.
Your "resistance" consists of kidnapping Filipino crewmen. Truly a bastion against US tyranny
And your western world "defense" consists of years of continuing crimes against humanity and genocide. Truly the leaders of human rights and freedom
You must've responded to the wrong comment, I never said anything about defence.
They were given warnings beforehand and they are free to sail around Africa. Ansar Allah are very clear about who and why they are targeting.
They're not clear at all lmao. They attack whatever vessel they want and then find a flimsy connection to Israel after the fact.
The Houthis, on the other hand, were very clearly warned. They are free not to attack and kidnap cargo ships, otherwise they are free to get bombed. They have chosen the latter option.
So seizing ships supplying a genocidal regime is worse than genocide? When will the "international community" bomb Israel for its genocide in Gaza?
I'm not going to complain much since it is pointless and we wanted to bait the US into another decades-long and losing war after all. Your comments remind me of what people were saying during the early days of the war on Afghanistan in 2001, we all know how it ended. Doing the same thing somewhere else and expecting a different outcome is a sign of craziness. If you think the US will have any outcome that it can call a win then you are just as delusional as the people who thought the US would be welcomed as liberators in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then again, people like you are just looking to satiate their blood lust, and don't care if the US repeats its losses a la Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. But I ask you this, unless you are under 30, do you remember how it was in 2001? do you think you are better off today?
They have attacked, among other non-Isreali bound vessels, a Gabon-flagged oil tanker on its way to India staffed with Indian men.
Way would you even compare this to Afghanistan, there are no boots on the ground, no one is going to invade Yemen, no one is being "baited" into anything here.
Because stopping terrorists attacking ships from all over the world is a bad thing he’s done?
Like I hate the guy, but this is probably one of the few instances of the broken clock being right.
I don't really get it, what's even to "hate" about Biden in the first place?
People trash on him for ending the war in Afghanistan, because I guess we're all supposed to act surprised that the Taliban just walked right back in and took power even though that's what every expert was saying was going to happen even before the war started. Last time I checked, we all wanted the forever wars in Iraq and Afganistan to end.
Republicans trash him for giving arms and spending money on Ukraine, even though they're the victim of Russian imperialist aggression.
People trashed on him for not calling for a ceasefire on Hamas, until he did call for it and it happened, after which people trashed on him because the war just started back up because neither Hamas nor Netenyahu were willing or able to back off. Biden didn't start the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nor was he the first or only US President to arm Israel (who are one of our only allies in the area), nor did he move the pieces that initiated this round of post-Oct 7th fighting, so it's frankly the world's biggest stretch to blame him for it.
And so now people want to trash on him for bombing the Houtis, who are terrorists who have been openly pirating ships on key global trade routes, and who have been warned multiple times that they would face retaliation if there were to continue doing it. We basically told these Houti morons "fuck around and find out" and now they're finding out so we all have to pretend to have bleeding hearts for him.
"Hating" Biden while the very real specter of Trump looms over the 2024 election is just nonsense to me.
This is such a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
I’m stunned how media can swings population opinion in a snap of a finger.
The same US administration brainwashed many people to believe Saudi Arabia is bad because they were at war with Houthis.
Houthis are a tool similar to Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon. They can be controlled remotely.
Saudi Arabia is "bad" all on their own, no propaganda needed, just go on the topics they themselves report
He’s unironically my favorite President in my lifetime. History will remember him fondly no matter how hard far right fascists and tankies try to alter the truth
Only thing I hate him for is his unwillingness to actually end the conflict between Israel and Hamas. He keeps delivering weapons to Israel to continue its apartheid policies. I couldn’t care less about whatever virtue signalling he does in front of the camera as long as he actively supports Israel’s gruesome attacks.
When did he call for a ceasefire? Not a temporary truce, a ceasefire. Also people hate him because he keeps funding Israel.
That's not a Biden problem which would be solved by voting for Trump.
That's US foreign policy problem.
It's not something Trump would solve, yeah, but it's very much a Biden problem. He's going so far as to bypass Congress to do it. Past presidents actually used their influence over Israel to do something.
Then you have no idea how much support there is for Israel, regardless of party affiliation.
There's a lot of bipartisan support for Israel, but Biden is going above and beyond that. Like I said, there are past examples of presidents acting to reign in Israel's rampages.
I feel that quite a few people are tired, mostly. So they project those negative feelings, with a sprinkle of zero research, and a dollop of regurgitation, and point it all at whomever happens to be at the highest point of whatever they want to blame. In this case: Biden. Bob Ross could be in the seat and things could be absolutely amazing and people would still find something. It's just the way it is, heightened by the sheer number of folks who are at various levels of angry and confused.
None of it is right, of course. Nor does it provide an excuse for behavior. It is, at least, one reason of many that I'm way to lazy to tap out and run through with two fingers. The best the rest of us can do is continue to be reasonable and to work together, while fighting against foolish perspectives and holier-than-thou accusations and finger pointing lightly disguised as shallow arguments.
As for me: I'm on the side of "more likely to make things better." and we know why that happens to be the case. One step at a time. Let's just make sure to not fall off and continue working locally and at State level.
He "ended" Afghanistan with seemingly no plan and just abandoned large amounts of weapons and supplies that are now unaccounted for in a volatile region.
I think the public would have been okay with a longer timeframe if they had made efforts to render more things inert or ship them back. It may not be the most cost effective compared to replacement, but its better than just shoving more weapons into the region with no accountability.
Thank you.
He’s a NeoLib capitalist, whose actions in the past have caused much harm to society (e.g. crime bill).
I really struggle to see what’s to like about him.
It's kind of crazy that you had to go back to 1994 to find something concrete to criticize Biden for.
Oh I can fault him for things today as well, but I like to set a precedent to show a history of bad decisions.
Go on.
His inability to act in regards to Palestine and his continued support for Israel going so far as to fast-track weapons to them yet he's unable to do so for Ukraine.
It doesn't matter if he started it or not, he plays one of the the most pivotal roles in what's happening at the moment.
You should be mad that Israel is getting weapons when Ukraine isn't.
But not at Biden.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-sets-test-vote-ukraine-aid-despite-republican-opposition-2023-12-06/
When it comes to Gaza...
There is no US President, real or hypothetical, who would stop military support of Israel in the wake of the October 7th attacks. And there is no US President, real or hypothetical, who is going to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before every last Israeli hostage is accounted for.
Biden's policies on Israel so far are not far even from someone as left as Bernie Sanders, because rational minds understand that there is no simple solution to middle east peace, nor has there ever been.
We'd all like to see Hamas release their hostages, and Israel to release those who have been held without due process. We'd all like to see an end to the violence and hostility, and an end to the era where both Israel and Palestine are under the control of fascist authoritarian regimes. Sadly it's not as simple as sending Jared Kushner over or whatever delusional shit Americans want to come up with next.
I'd love to see every last dollar of the US defense budget go to whooping Putin's ass in Ukraine, but that's also not very realistic.
Why not, um, just restrain Israel instead? Because we Americans value dead Palestinians more than we fear inflation.
So the Houthis get carte blanche to attack international trade routes because something someone Israel?
Hard to believe we're still making people this dumb. Darwin must have gotten something wrong.
No, we should act to prevent them from doing this. Instead of bombing (and risking further spread and escalation) why not remove their motivation for doing this? What is their motivation for doing this? Their motivation is to prevent Israel from genociding. Now, if we just prevent Israel from genociding, the boats flow, Palestinians don’t get murdered, people in Yemen don’t get bombed either, and we make escalation less likely. That sounds like a far better outcome to me. The only reason to opt for the more violent path, is that you actually want the violence. If that’s your goal, then you’re the bad guy.
Their motivation is Iranian power projection, and they are just a stooge. Palestine is just the headline they are using.
(That said, what's happening in Palestine is a genocide, no question about that)
Why not do both?