Yet another war, this time with Iran

[Loren Pechtel]

I hear that India has a horrible rape culture as well. Is it rubbing off on you too?

I was truly horrified by what I found in Wikipedia. India 2.2/100,000, US 41.4, England and Wales at the top with 117.3.
Would you term that as 'civilized'?
"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at other houses"
Is that an English proverb or just an Indian one?

Rape statistics - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2.2/100k? You have a rape reporting problem. Looks like most countries have a rape reporting problem.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

In an invasion/total war scenario meant to wholly take over Iran, the only serious problem would be the potential logistical problems.

Seriously? Have you seen Iran? I took this photo of the place (looking from the Gulf Coast towards Tehran) back in February 2025.
View attachment 54353
It's perfect terrain for defence. A handful of guys with AK47s could hold off an army at each mountain pass. And once the army finally breaks through, there's another. And another. And another.

And the defenders know how to sneak around and attack your flanks, rear, and logistics train once you get past each ridgeline.

Russia discovered in the 1980s in Afghanistan that terrain like this is impossible to attack and hold, even when you have overwhelming logistical and technical dominance.

Then the US discovered the same, also in Afghanistan.

Iran is Afghanistan, only harder, and with more and better equipped locals who are even more fanatical in their hatred of America.

If you think "potential logistical problems" would be the only serious problem, then you have a lot of very serious problems, the first of which is "severe overconfidence".

The reason Afghanistan bogged everybody down is that somebody was always arming the resistance.

You don't fight that guy at the pass, you cut him off. Look at what is happening in Ukraine--Russia is for the most part not fighting Ukrainian soldiers, they are fighting Ukrainian drones.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

42% of Russia's total economy is devoted to war and killing people.

why not 99%?
I suggest you to deal with your way bigger budget for killing iranian girls before venturing into pulling numbers about Russian economy out of your ass.

What are you going to eat?

At 99%, probably what are you going to drink? 99% to war means your grid goes down.

 

[aupmanyav]

.. but attacks on government forces isn't terrorism.

It is rebellion. That is not the way in a democracy. Democratic governments will be correct to crush it. Non-democratic governments also will crush it.

Putin made Russia attack Ukraine. Putin is someone.

There are other songs with the same tune. Netanyahu made Israel to attack Gaza. Trump made US to attack Iran.

Does 10/7 not ring a bell?

It does, if we forget the earlier history.

We already bled Russia into collapse once. Without firing a shot. Why would we want an unnecessary shooting war?

Correction. You bled USSR. Russia is still there with 4,900 war-heads.

Exactly. Russian nukes are not good. Loose nukes are much worse.

That should not worry Russia. They hold a lot. A few going astray do not matter.

Yugoslavia destroyed itself. It was multiple groups forced together, when the control collapsed things turned brutal. The west wasn't able to ignore the atrocities so we finally did something about it. Look at your on-again-off-again war with Pakistan--groups that didn't want to coexist, remove the iron hand that was keeping them together.

Even if there was a turmoil in Yugoslavia, what right US and Europe had to interfere in it? It was their internal matter.

2.2/100k? You have a rape reporting problem. Looks like most countries have a rape reporting problem.

Nice dodge. "Your statistics are wrong. My guess is correct." I don't think there is any place in the world, where all rapes are reported. I cited an independent source.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

42% of Russia's total economy is devoted to war and killing people.

why not 99%?

Again, very easy for you to promote war when you don't serve. If old guys had to serve on the front lines; there would be far less war in the world.

I think americans should just shut up when it comes to wars they start.

One of the differences between you and I is that I call out imperialism by whomever starts it. Trump's decision to invade Iran was awful and is going to kill our economy. You only call out imperialism when it is done by Ameria. I wouldn't advocate for any war unless it is one that I would personally join or would be comfortable with my children joining.

US started Ukrainian war.

War is started when one side crosses a border without the permission of the other side. This occurred on Feb 22, 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. That's when the war started.

No. The war started in 2014, it just progressed to open combat on 2/22/22.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What did NATO do to foment this uprising, just generally speaking?

NATO is at fault for having countries with strong open economies and freedom.

Yup, same reason Islam hates us. Our system is more attractive, they can't compete. So they have to demonize us.

 

[barbos]

42% of Russia's total economy is devoted to war and killing people.

why not 99%?
I suggest you to deal with your way bigger budget for killing iranian girls before venturing into pulling numbers about Russian economy out of your ass.

What are you going to eat?

At 99%, probably what are you going to drink? 99% to war means your grid goes down.

Still can't master sarcasm?

 

[TV and credit cards]

42% of Russia's total economy is devoted to war and killing people.

why not 99%?
I suggest you to deal with your way bigger budget for killing iranian girls before venturing into pulling numbers about Russian economy out of your ass.

What are you going to eat?

At 99%, probably what are you going to drink? 99% to war means your grid goes down.

Still can't master sarcasm?

This is where sarcasm goes to die. That not withstanding, you’re still full of shit about the Russian economy.

 

[barbos]

42% of Russia's total economy is devoted to war and killing people.

why not 99%?
I suggest you to deal with your way bigger budget for killing iranian girls before venturing into pulling numbers about Russian economy out of your ass.

What are you going to eat?

At 99%, probably what are you going to drink? 99% to war means your grid goes down.

Still can't master sarcasm?

This is where sarcasm goes to die. That not withstanding, you’re still full of shit about the Russian economy.

No, I think people who claim that 42% of GDP in Russia devoted to defense are full of shit.

 

[aupmanyav]

Yup, same reason Islam hates us. Our system is more attractive, they can't compete. So they have to demonize us.

In prosperity, some of them can compete with you. But it is the common Christian and Islamic trait to be expansionist. "Make every one accept the good news", "Make every one accept the mission of Muhammad", whatever be the method. That creates all the problems. Systems are immaterial. Do you find the current US system attractive? Afghans have no problem with Taliban system, they are happy.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I hear that India has a horrible rape culture as well. Is it rubbing off on you too?

I was truly horrified by what I found in Wikipedia. India 2.2/100,000, US 41.4, England and Wales at the top with 117.3.
Would you term that as 'civilized'?
"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at other houses"
Is that an English proverb or just an Indian one?

Rape statistics - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2.2/100k? You have a rape reporting problem. Looks like most countries have a rape reporting problem.

There's a great Swedish researcher who spends her days picking apart studies on sex work and sex crime. Laura Agustin

She's got a hobby horse that rape statistics don't actually track rape. They track womens willingness to report rape. Which slides into all kinds of murky waters. There's no reason to believe there's any correlation between reported or convicted rapists and actual rape.

The best we can do is to track numbers within the same country and see if it goes up or down. And hope it's relevant somehow.

There's more. Pretty much all studies on sex work and sex crime is funded by and/or an organisation with an agenda. The agenda is universally to stop sex workers from working with sex work and it's to increase protection for victims of sex crime. So these studies all have an incentive to boost the problems with sex work and the risk of rape. So there's selection bias.

She's pretty unique in that she's collaborated with Global Network of Sex Work Projects and the Swedish Red Umbrellas. These are advocacy organisations for sex workers, run by sex workers. I don't know of any other researcher who has let sex workers speak for themselves. I think all other researchers talk down to sex workers as if they're children. Women who are active in both of these organisations have been targets of harrassement by "womens rights activists". They take pretty extreme personal risks to advocate for their members rights.

Laura María Agustín - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Global Network of Sex Work Projects - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Anyway... my point is that the state of research into sex work and sex crime is garbage. It's like letting the Catholic church be in charge of studies on how great the Catholic church is.

The problem is that there is no organisation (other than the two mentioned above) with an incentive to ask women what they want and need from the govornment, regarding this.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

What did NATO do to foment this uprising, just generally speaking?

NATO is at fault for having countries with strong open economies and freedom.

Yup, same reason Islam hates us. Our system is more attractive, they can't compete. So they have to demonize us.

There is a bit of historical baggage as well. China doesn't feel as they do about Japan because of Japan's economy.

 

[DrZoidberg]

What did NATO do to foment this uprising, just generally speaking?

NATO is at fault for having countries with strong open economies and freedom.

Yup, same reason Islam hates us. Our system is more attractive, they can't compete. So they have to demonize us.

I don't think that's what attracts people to Islam. Liberalism and free market economy has a flaw. If you're poor in the west, you are a loser. You had the chance to make something of yourself, but because you failed to apply yourself enough, you're a failure as a human. That's a basic narrative of western culture. People can compare themselves to eachother on many near infinite scale. There's just no way to reach the top. It's very stressful. I also think it's unnatural for humans. Certainly for men.

I think men are more built in the head to join something greater than ourselves and fight for it. Men love sacrificing themselves for others. And did I mention fighting for it?

Steven Pinker in Better Angels of our nature, makes the argument that civilisation is fundamentally a feminisation of society. We can argue that it's good to control male agression. But men... aren't allowed to be ourselves. Which is being violent and brutish and joining war bands and coalitions. Christianity (ie western culture) is all about shaming men for being men. That's it's tool to control us. This was carried over into the modern west.

Islam doesn't shame men for being men. It let's men be men, (Fascism did the same). So they are popular for men. Women like men who are proud of themselves. So women like Islam as well.

Male aggression and drive to dominate in groups is an incredibly powerful force, and just something our various societies and cultures have had to figure out ways to work around, and use to our benefit.

I don't think Muslims hate the west or even are envious of the west. I think Islam is just a project of ever wider aggressive expansion, and anything not Muslim is a valid target. They demonize the west because they demonize everything that isn't Islam. I think it's more like cheering for a team in sports rather than down to ideological differences.

And its completely normal and healthy for anyone to hold two or more desires at the same time, that may or may not be in conflict with eachother. It's perfectly fine to want the western lifestyle and the freedom while also be a disciplined Muslim admired by their Muslim peers.

And finally, Islamic culture is very theatrical and performative. They're continually displaying how good Muslims they are in public. They'll make extreme Islamic statements in public, and in private say something completely contradictory. That's not considered dishonesty or lying. It's just the culture. Muslims often expect other Muslims display of piety to be disengenous.

Anyway... if you judge Islam and Islamic culture in a simplistic way, you'll just keep misunderstanding them.

BTW, I think Islam is a shitty culture. I wish they'd just stop. I think western culture is superior. I just also understand that not everyone agrees. And that's fine.

 

[ZiprHead]

Afghans have no problem with Taliban system, they are happy.

Did you take a poll?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Especially if he does it one bite at a time. Georgia, Crimea, Donbas, a bit of Moldova, etc.

Same case as in Ukraine.
"In 2000, Vladimir Putin became Russia's president, while Georgia experienced the Rose Revolution in 2003 and moved towards forging closer ties with the European Union and NATO. Consequently, Georgia–Russia relations deteriorated rapidly by 2006 and spiraled into a diplomatic crisis by 2008."
Ignore Russian concerns at the instigation of NATO and get into a war. Some nations need to be wiser to keep a balasnce.

Note the sequence: Georgia doesn't like Russia well enough, so Russia goes to war.

This sounds very much like a domestic abuser blaming their victim.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It looks like India is set to spend a lot of money on new Russian fighter jets (Su-57), which on the surface appears to be potentially the one of the best air superiority assets ever made. The specs are all there for it to be exactly that. The big question though is whether or not it will meet expectations in a fight.
Anyway, the point is that physical distance has little to do with who buys what from whom.

We buy things from all places. We are interested in some variety of Su-57. More S-400s. We have bought 114 Rafales from France (Cost USD 39 billion). Things from Germany, Italy too. Some we are manufacturing on our own, UAVs (USD 2 billion), submarines. Testing new missiles every other day - Rudra 2, Hypersonic anti-radiation air-to-surface missile. It is necessary, we have a large population to protect.

After the battle of 70 easting why do you put trust in Russian equipment?

(Desert Storm--US armored unit stumbled upon a much larger dug-in Iraqi armored unit. They weren't in a position to run so they attacked--devastated the Iraqi force and took no casualties in the process.)

 

[aupmanyav]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_María_Agustín
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Network_of_Sex_Work_Projects

These are European organizations. Do you think that there is no organization in India which is not working for these causes? Unfortunately, we don't get any mention in Wikipedia.

 

[aupmanyav]

If you're poor in the west, you are a loser. .. I think Islam is just a project of ever wider aggressive expansion, and anything not Muslim is a valid target. They demonize the west because they demonize everything that isn't Islam. I think it's more like cheering for a team in sports rather than down to ideological differences. .. BTW, I think Islam is a shitty culture. I wish they'd just stop. I think western culture is superior.

It is the same among all people of the world, whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.
It is the same in Christianity. Hindus and Buddhist do not do that.
No one is free from prejudices.

 

[aupmanyav]

Did you take a poll?

No, but I have seen a lot of Afghan videos and that is what I get from them. The western-type Afghans who are still there may have a different view.
Taliban have toned down their religious attitudes and are concentrating on development.

 

[aupmanyav]

Georgia doesn't like Russia well enough, so Russia goes to war.

It is not a question of liking or disliking. It is real-politic. Don't make your powerful neighbor angry by doing what it does not want.
See how India is adjusting to China. Like US, we have not recognized independence of Taiwan.

BTW, reports say India has operationalized 12 nuclear war-heads - 'ready to fire'. Our air-force and submarines also are ready. China has some 34 operationalized war-heads. We think 12 is enough for us, although we stick to our 'No first use' principle.