Iran

[Rommie]

So, was anyone besides Trump thinking that we really were lacking this crap in our lives?

[geonuc]

He's out of control and getting worse.

As someone who lived in Iran, I sure don't think we need to be going to war with them.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Not to mention than other than looking tough for his base, there doesn't seem any other objective to his Foreign Policy in general. Much less to what he pretends to achieve in Iran.

[Rommie]

He's out of control and getting worse.

As someone who lived in Iran, I sure don't think we need to be going to war with them.

Ah, I didn't know that. When did you live there?

[SciFiFisher]

Well, I suspect he was looking at that whole impeachment thing when he did it.

[lady_*nix]

And now it's a shooting war; the Iranians have fired missiles at US bases and last I checked were scrambling jets.

This already really, really bad, but TBH I'm terrified that Trump is going to order a nuclear strike as retaliation at some point, and that will be it for humanity. He would, too, and nobody is there to say no; he has no understanding consequences to his own person because he's never suffered any, and his advisers are a bunch of yes-men, End Times nuts, and rich old fucks who think they can hide in a bunker to survive when the ICBMs start falling.

IDK, I'm going to be fucking grateful if I wake up tomorrow morning. And you folks know me; I basically never do grateful.

[Rommie]

I dunno, maybe it's the fatigue setting in, but I just can't bring myself to care too much about this right now. Like, we are either going to war or not, and it's pretty clear not much I can do about it personally and I often find it hard to stress about stuff I know I can't do a thing about.

What a complete waste. Sheer waste.

[geonuc]

Trump just addressed the nation on Iran. I must admit, it wasn't his worst moment.

[Rommie]

Yeah I had a vision of the few remaining sane generals prepping him all yesterday, and him realizing the best way to keep doing jack shit would be to let them de-escalate the situation and just do what they say.

Fingers crossed.

[Rommie]

Honestly, if this calms down at this point, I think it's more going to show that there is literally no reason for anyone to trust us again, allies or not. I mean, level-headed Obama brokered a nice deal which so far as I can tell would have saved us from this mess if Trump hadn't thrown us out, and if you are an ally it turns out we might just abandon you if Trump gets a call from the right dictator that day.

I mean, we can elect the most level-headed person in 2020, but I doubt anyone in the world will be reassured after recent times, as it shows our system is just too volatile to assume long-term stability. Unfortunately the effects of this may not be felt until further into the future.

[SciFiFisher]

The biggest reason not to panic is that Trump is a bully. Yes, he will do horrible things but he lacks the courage to actually start an all-out war. He has repeatedly backed down from real confrontation. That doesn't mean he isn't above waiting until your back is turned and having his bodyguard take a cheap shot at your kidneys though. Iran will cause us even more problems now but they know they can't win a conventional war with us. Even without our allies, we would still beat them at the conventional war match. It's all the proxy stuff they will engage in now that is going to be the problem. Not to mention the other Middle Eastern countries where this idiocy of ours has gained Iran sympathizers. It's almost as if Trump's real goal was to give the Middle East an enemy they can all gang-up on.

[lady_*nix]

@Fisher

It's almost as if Trump's real goal was to give the Middle East an enemy they can all gang-up on.

I mean not to be the kind of Dem voter who blames literally everything on Russia, but I bet this would suit the Kremlin just fine, considering their own involvement in the region.