I think it’s finally time to restore the Mandate of Palestine:
- Israelis get to live there but not their own special state
- Palestinians get to live there but not their own special state
- Everybody gets to hate the British, as is tradition
- Brits finally get a colony back, it’ll lift their mood after the brexit disaster
Unironically would be a better option if it was on the table.
That’s how bad this has gotten, guys. I’m pro-British Empire vis-a-vis the Middle East.
One-state solution time. Bring back the Roman Empire.
Can you imagine the Italians running everything? Sure there’d be plenty of good pasta and wine worldwide but I doubt we’d stay productive with three-hour wine lubricated lunch breaks every day
I say the USA needs to have a proper go at an empire. People could serve in the legion (navy) for citizenship and everything
I say the USA needs to have a proper go at an empire.
Please no. As Teddy Roosevelt once noted, we lack the interest in it. Let’s just not.
Hard to argue we don’t have the appetite after spending our first 150 years conquering territory roughly double the size of the Roman Empire at its peak
That was more ethnic cleansing than traditional imperialism. Not that I disagree that describing it as imperialism is valid, but it’s not what TR was talking about. The point was that Americans lack serious interest in foreign affairs or a desire for distant prestige projects. Our every overseas acquisition, temporary or permanent, has been marked by a noted uncertainty of what to actually do with any of it. Not that that makes any of the folk getting crushed happier, but it does reflect a lack of interest in the whole topic.
Perhaps we just need to generate a little excitement.
Gladiators worked nicely for the Romans, maybe we could generate similar hype with a reality show to choose the governor of each new province. I think “Love Island, Argentinian Governor Edition” would be a real hit.
Male Parta Male Dilabuntur
But what about muh prophecy?
Is Hezbollah holding hostages? Or just in a coalition government with the christian democracy party?
you’re mixing up hamas and hezbollah, and if you want to go into rabbit hole shitshow that is lebanese politics start with Taif agreement
I am referring to the meme which has the flag of hezbollah holding the flag of lebanon hostage.
well it’s gotta be more about how every lebanese govt since 2006 refused to implement UNSC resolution 1701 (that one about disarming hezbollah) and how it turned out for them
I know this is a serious topic but I stared at “UNSC” for way too long thinking “It’s not United Nations Space Command from Halo… so what is it?”
United Nations Security Council, got it
Good luck disarming a group with (supposedly) more weapons and fighters than your actual army.
If they had done it, I suspect Israel would have rolled over the border long ago.
Israel did control a part of Lebanon for a bit.
They only left because they were taking a lot of losses.
Awww, the Enterprises model number and then its a dud
Very little shitposting going on in this thread.
It was my mistake, I made the comic too credible. 😞
Pretty much. There are tons of zionists mascarading as Lebanese who claim that Israel is being precise and having minimal civilian casualties…
Hey it’s my man pug jesus! Who’s the flag with the Christmas tree star on it Pug Jesus? Must be super into Christmas and jesus!
I dunno that they’re into it, but oh boy, are Christians into them!
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What are you talking about? The beepers and radios were bought by Hezbollah, and went to Hezbollah members. They were surgical strikes.
Meanwhile, Lebanon is still firing rockets at Israel. The only reason that not more Israeli civilians are dead is because of the Iron Dome
What are you talking about? The beepers and radios were bought by Hezbollah, and went to Hezbollah members. They were surgical strikes.
This may be news to you, but Israel has been executing a flurry of airstrikes and artillery shelling on Lebanon since.
Surgical my ass. Blowing explosives you planted on people way out of sight AND without any situational awareness is anything but precise
More surgical than some unguided rocket over a civilian area
I’d say its about the same. Both have no idea where it will explode. The only thing Israels solution has going for it is the significantly less powerful explosive
I mean it was certainly precise as in each device was carried by their respective owner and therefore intended target.
Blowing it up while the guy was standing in line in a grocery store shows how much civilian casualties have been considered though.
I mean it was certainly precise as in each device was carried by their respective owner and therefore intended target.
There was no way to know that for Israel though, they just assumed
Certainly, but I assume they only did care so much.
Yeah, we can agree on that
They have since been bombing the shit out of residential areas which is significantly less surgical…
If they were surgical then why did innocent civilians and children get hurt? What kind of surgeons are you used to and what on earth is their level of success?
Meanwhile, Lebanon is still firing rockets at Israel. The only reason that not more Israeli civilians are dead is because of the Iron Dome
Why is Israel getting attacked by Hezbollah? (It’s not Lebanon attacking Israel.)
I’d say it was closer to a surgeon than to most recent Isreali actions, but you’re right, “surgical” is always a propaganda term in military contexts. There is no clean war, only relatively less dirty.
Saying it’s close to a surgeon compared to the rest of Israel’s actions is like saying a sawed-off shotgun is slightly more accurate because you added a tiny barrel to decrease it’s spread. It’s common knowledge this was an act of terror that violated international law and was intended to escalate the conflict to help keep Bibi and his cronies in power while also grabbing more land from Palestine and Lebanon. Calling it “surgical” is not just propaganda. It’s an outright lie and intended to misdirect from what’s actually happening.
It’s common knowledge this was an act of terror
I really don’t think so. That’s just some people’s opinion. Hell, even “act of terror” is poorly-defined, as used.
and was intended to escalate the conflict to help keep Bibi and his cronies in power
That’s valid, though. There’s nothing just about the war, valid method in this one instance or no.
It really is an act of terror. This isn’t subjective. If you attack a population and spread terror among them than it’s an act of terror.
“It is also a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians, including to intimidate or deter them from supporting an adversary,” the experts warned. “A climate of fear now pervades everyday life in Lebanon,” they said.
So when the police arrest someone for stealing in order to deter other potential thieves, that’s an act of terror? I kinda thought you might go there, but it’s a uselessly vague dictionary definition. In practice it’s even more political than “surgical strike”.
Collective punishment is a war crime, but this was directed at personnel of a military adversary, not Lebanese people in general. These UN experts seem to think it was indiscriminate, and they’re way more qualified than me, but at the same time an airstrike on a specifically military target is generally considered okay, and has way higher potential for collateral damage.
Humanitarian law additionally prohibits the use of booby-traps disguised as apparently harmless portable objects where specifically designed and constructed with explosives
This one’s new to me. Yep, that fits to a tee. Never mind, it was illegal.
So when the police arrest someone for stealing in order to deter other potential thieves, that’s an act of terror?
Police arrest and imprison a thief because they are a thief and have done a crime. Deterrence is not the main intent and just a byproduct. This was an intentional escalation of an already volatile situation to promote fear in the Lebanese population and provoke a response from Hezbollah. These 2 situations are in no way related.
Collective punishment is a war crime, but this was directed at personnel of a military adversary, not Lebanese people in general.
Unless the pagers had some kind of biometrics capability capable of verifying that the person beside the pager was a Hezbollah member and no one else was around then it was not “directed at personnel of a military adversary”. You don’t play a shooter and say spray-and-pray is an effective strategy because over 80% of the bullets hit the target.
These UN experts seem to think it was indiscriminate, and they’re way more qualified than me
If experts are saying something then maybe you should listen?
but at the same time an airstrike on a specifically military target is generally considered okay, and has way higher potential for collateral damage.
An airstrike with guided missiles on some of the most advanced fighter jets in history has more potential for collateral damage than a bunch of improvised IED’s spread throughout a population? Really?
This one’s new to me. Yep, that fits to a tee. Never mind, it was illegal.
This is not quite as cut-and-dry. The prohibition is for civilian objects. The argument can be made that Israel rigging the communication devices of Hezbollah operatives specifically is not invalid just because communication devices are dual-use objects.
But regardless. It’s shitty, Israel’s motives are shitty, and all most of us half a world away can do is meme to keep our sanity.
Or lose it. Whatever.
Sure, that’s definitely the only operation Israel has done recently. /s
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both in absolute terms and especially compared to continuing airstrikes, some with ai-cooked target list and including actual warcrime tactics, pagers were basically spotless in terms of targeting. the more likely illegal part was in booby-trapping pagers in the first place. westpoint lawyer take on the situation https://lieber.westpoint.edu/exploding-pagers-law/
Yeah, like, fuck Israel, I’m no ally of Israel, but the pager thing is dubious-but-overblown. I could see it being a war crime, but I could also understand if it was determined a legitimate ruse-of-war by a legitimately unbiased international court.
The fact that they immediately escalated to shelling residential areas afterwards? A bit more damning.
Yup. I’d say it was legit, given that airstrikes on military targets that might have visiting civilians are considered legit. Like, at the very least that seems like a court case worth fighting, although IANAL.
Literally everything else I can think of has been messed up.
pagers thing is probably illegal pending extra details but it’s not the worst thing that happenes there. not like this case will see hague ever so it’s probably a bit moot on that ground
it’s middle east, there are no innocent orgs, except civilians, and no one has actual incentive to limit civilian casualties. i’d just wish that both likud and hamas lose because neither is compatible with remotely sane stable politics in region
bunch a civilians and children were killed by the pager attacks
So booby trapping military equipment is bad because civilians might get caught in it, but firing rockets at civilians is a-ok?
