I watched this and found it extremely interesting. I don't do X so I appreciate learning about this group. I do disagree with you, Vanessa. Iran has a long memory--going back thousands of years, unlike the UK or US. And they know how manipulative and mendacious Israel is. The Iran-Iraq War was a conspiracy, conjured by the Israelis, between the US and Israel to keep Iran and Iraq fighting as long as possible--it lasted 8 years--to weaken them for Israel's benefit. Israel has engaged in so many illegal and immoral actions through the years towards Iran. I like that you identify Israel as engaging in terrorist actions and reinstituting the Irgun, et al. but I don't think they've ever NOT engaged in terrorist actions and the Irgun has always underpinned their various national "security" organizations. Iran is looking forward which neither Israel nor the US appears to be capable of. Both are very young, juvenile, testosterone-driven countries. Yesterday, and I don't remember where I accessed it, I read a shocking report about all the elements of the Israeli government who have been ordered to shut down sub-ministries because THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT THEM. Many of those homes in Northern Israel are not habitable and the former residents do not want to go back. Israel is going to fall apart and it is not going to take 20 or 30 years. And the US economy is in a dire condition. Most Americans do not understand that our inflation, which is way higher in truth than the government says, is actually a war tax and amounts to something like 30-40%, unless you own your own home, produce your own food, control your own electricity, water, and heat, work at home or don't "work" at all, etc. The question of what to do about the US debt is huge. And it won't affect only Americans. It most definitely will affect Israel and Ukraine, but also any other countries tied into the dollar.
What I really want to understand is how you can turn a portable radio into a bomb? With some kind of heat weapon that would cause the battery to explode? But batteries do not hold that much energy.
This also raises the issue of lithium batteries being the solution to going all-electric.
Speaking of which, Israel is in danger of losing its electric grid from lack of an energy source to feed it. So what really happened in that last Hezbollah attack? That's what I want to know. It appears to have been very successful.
And maybe this will convince Westerners to ditch their cell phones and other ridiculous devices. Get rid of your Fit Bit, for god's sake. And your Bluetooth devices. Modern cars contain computers inside them, as well as batteries that can explode.
And I do wish people would stop using the phrase "ethnic cleansing". Israel has been planning on mass murder of all Palestinians, aka genocide, since 1967 at least--and actually since 1947. In 1948 they had already taken possession of 3/4 of Palestinian mandated land. Much of the Wall is INSIDE Palestinian land. It's not a border wall at all. They want Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran to fight back so they have an excuse to carpet bomb the whole region and take possession of those lands as well. But this is not the first tango these peoples have danced with Western invaders. Far, far, FAR from it.
Lol I didn't get the opportunity to make my full point as I was cut off. I have questions about the Pezeshkian government. There's currently a conflicted Iran imo and I am not saying there will be no retaliation. However Russia did intervene far too late in Syria considering their own vested interests in the country. They did not "save" Syria. The Syrian Arab Army did. With huge sacrifice. With support from allies who were there from the beginning and Russia in September 2015. My argument is, great Iran has a long term strategy but seeindg the endless bloodshed in Palestine and Lebanon, I wonder how many more people must be maimed and murdered before it is stopped. War is coming, regardless of how strategically Iran plays it. Russia learned that lesson the hard way, trusting Minsk agreement etc. War still came. If Israel wants war and clearly it does, a good false flag will suffice. Let's see - today Syria is producing nuclear weapons and Iran is responsible for an attempted assassination of Netanyahu and chums. Sound familiar? We are in extraordinary times and need to think out of the historical, political box imo Having lived in the region for the last 12 years and having grown up in it, I definitely know how to tango. My views reflect many from on the ground across the region because I rely on their analysis and opinions to form my own. I certainly don't make any conclusions based on the Western perspective.
It was a great conversation, nonetheless. They brought you in too late in the conversation. I agree with you about Syria. I knew the story we were being sold in the West was not true. At the time I believed it was another CIA operation in collaboration with people in the region, most particularly Israel. I didn't have facts about what was actually happening when it was happening and kept expecting Russia to step up. BUT I do not think Russia was the same country then that it is now. It is not the economic powerhouse the US is, although it is in much better shape economically because it has so little debt in relation to its GDP. And it has been preparing for the future, which the US and Europe have not. And even though it's a big landmass, it doesn't have a commensurate population. They do know how to get through hard times, however. They suffered a great deal during WWII which the West--UK and US--did not. Don't know about the Pezeshkian government--it's in its infancy. But I have a long personal memory of Iran, dating in-person to 1967. And I am amazed how much they have accomplished (and survived) since the Revolution. Their inflation was so bad I could never really imagine it. It was SOO bad. I have Iranian friends asking me for money for their kids' college educations because all their money goes home to keep their extended families alive. It has been very hard for Iran. But they've prepared for the future. They've sacrificed tremendously both personally and as a nation. And as far as I can tell there weren't many people standing up and helping them out. Maybe you know more than I do about other countries helping Iran? I don't. Iranians have a lot to be proud about. During the Iran-Iraq War, it was ISRAEL selling them military hardware parts. Why? To keep them fighting and killing Iraqis so Iraqis could kill Iranians. If either Russia or Iran attack Israel right now, they will be weakened by the fight (as will Israel and the US, for sure). But they are wise to take their time, work with their allies, plan ahead, and wait. Iran has to be strong and stay strong for everyone in the region. It is inevitable that Israel and the US will weaken. (Without them.)
You and I both know there are TONS of opinions of every stripe on the ground in the region. There are TONS of ethnic/national groups, each with their own histories and vantage points. There isn't a monolithic experience about anything in the M.E. But you and I both come from countries that created these problems and have kept them going. We both have personal experience in the region and are the children of people who have participated, to one degree or another, in the Western involvement there. And I suspect you are struggling with similar issues privately as I am. Fundamentally, since I first predicted the Iranian Revolution in August of 1967 (yes, Mohammad Marandi! when you were in diapers!!!), I knew that Iran would find its way and I believe Lebanon will always exist, and I believe the same thing is true of Syria. The same thing is true of Palestine. I have complete faith that each of these countries will find their way--individually and together. War is coming but Iran must enter it in its own way and in its own time. And most likely most of your on-the-ground informants don't know what that is for their own countries anymore than we do. You have to have faith. You and I might care, but these are not our countries. Their future is not our future. How this is done matters far more for them than for either of us. Speaking for myself, I'm really pretty tired of the whole thing. I've been witnessing this shit for 70 years. The future solutions can't come fast enough for me. But whether or not I'm here to see it, I have no doubt Palestine will be Palestinian one day soon. As will Syria be Syrian. And Iraq Iraqi. And Iran Iranian. And I also think Russia will survive. And I say thank god for that. The US is run by a hidden government and it is ignorant and emotionally imbalanced and its values are seriously fucked up. The same goes for the UK, and that's been true even longer for the UK than for the US since it's been around so much longer. How will "the South" deal with the problems facing humanity? I don't know. With wisdom, I hope. And fairness. Does history give me any reason to believe it will? No. It doesn't. But you have to have faith because, frankly, we have little else. We don't. That's the pathetic, cruel truth. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression you grew up in the UK?
I watched this and found it extremely interesting. I don't do X so I appreciate learning about this group. I do disagree with you, Vanessa. Iran has a long memory--going back thousands of years, unlike the UK or US. And they know how manipulative and mendacious Israel is. The Iran-Iraq War was a conspiracy, conjured by the Israelis, between the US and Israel to keep Iran and Iraq fighting as long as possible--it lasted 8 years--to weaken them for Israel's benefit. Israel has engaged in so many illegal and immoral actions through the years towards Iran. I like that you identify Israel as engaging in terrorist actions and reinstituting the Irgun, et al. but I don't think they've ever NOT engaged in terrorist actions and the Irgun has always underpinned their various national "security" organizations. Iran is looking forward which neither Israel nor the US appears to be capable of. Both are very young, juvenile, testosterone-driven countries. Yesterday, and I don't remember where I accessed it, I read a shocking report about all the elements of the Israeli government who have been ordered to shut down sub-ministries because THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO SUPPORT THEM. Many of those homes in Northern Israel are not habitable and the former residents do not want to go back. Israel is going to fall apart and it is not going to take 20 or 30 years. And the US economy is in a dire condition. Most Americans do not understand that our inflation, which is way higher in truth than the government says, is actually a war tax and amounts to something like 30-40%, unless you own your own home, produce your own food, control your own electricity, water, and heat, work at home or don't "work" at all, etc. The question of what to do about the US debt is huge. And it won't affect only Americans. It most definitely will affect Israel and Ukraine, but also any other countries tied into the dollar.
What I really want to understand is how you can turn a portable radio into a bomb? With some kind of heat weapon that would cause the battery to explode? But batteries do not hold that much energy.
This also raises the issue of lithium batteries being the solution to going all-electric.
Speaking of which, Israel is in danger of losing its electric grid from lack of an energy source to feed it. So what really happened in that last Hezbollah attack? That's what I want to know. It appears to have been very successful.
And maybe this will convince Westerners to ditch their cell phones and other ridiculous devices. Get rid of your Fit Bit, for god's sake. And your Bluetooth devices. Modern cars contain computers inside them, as well as batteries that can explode.
And I do wish people would stop using the phrase "ethnic cleansing". Israel has been planning on mass murder of all Palestinians, aka genocide, since 1967 at least--and actually since 1947. In 1948 they had already taken possession of 3/4 of Palestinian mandated land. Much of the Wall is INSIDE Palestinian land. It's not a border wall at all. They want Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran to fight back so they have an excuse to carpet bomb the whole region and take possession of those lands as well. But this is not the first tango these peoples have danced with Western invaders. Far, far, FAR from it.
Lol I didn't get the opportunity to make my full point as I was cut off. I have questions about the Pezeshkian government. There's currently a conflicted Iran imo and I am not saying there will be no retaliation. However Russia did intervene far too late in Syria considering their own vested interests in the country. They did not "save" Syria. The Syrian Arab Army did. With huge sacrifice. With support from allies who were there from the beginning and Russia in September 2015. My argument is, great Iran has a long term strategy but seeindg the endless bloodshed in Palestine and Lebanon, I wonder how many more people must be maimed and murdered before it is stopped. War is coming, regardless of how strategically Iran plays it. Russia learned that lesson the hard way, trusting Minsk agreement etc. War still came. If Israel wants war and clearly it does, a good false flag will suffice. Let's see - today Syria is producing nuclear weapons and Iran is responsible for an attempted assassination of Netanyahu and chums. Sound familiar? We are in extraordinary times and need to think out of the historical, political box imo Having lived in the region for the last 12 years and having grown up in it, I definitely know how to tango. My views reflect many from on the ground across the region because I rely on their analysis and opinions to form my own. I certainly don't make any conclusions based on the Western perspective.
It was a great conversation, nonetheless. They brought you in too late in the conversation. I agree with you about Syria. I knew the story we were being sold in the West was not true. At the time I believed it was another CIA operation in collaboration with people in the region, most particularly Israel. I didn't have facts about what was actually happening when it was happening and kept expecting Russia to step up. BUT I do not think Russia was the same country then that it is now. It is not the economic powerhouse the US is, although it is in much better shape economically because it has so little debt in relation to its GDP. And it has been preparing for the future, which the US and Europe have not. And even though it's a big landmass, it doesn't have a commensurate population. They do know how to get through hard times, however. They suffered a great deal during WWII which the West--UK and US--did not. Don't know about the Pezeshkian government--it's in its infancy. But I have a long personal memory of Iran, dating in-person to 1967. And I am amazed how much they have accomplished (and survived) since the Revolution. Their inflation was so bad I could never really imagine it. It was SOO bad. I have Iranian friends asking me for money for their kids' college educations because all their money goes home to keep their extended families alive. It has been very hard for Iran. But they've prepared for the future. They've sacrificed tremendously both personally and as a nation. And as far as I can tell there weren't many people standing up and helping them out. Maybe you know more than I do about other countries helping Iran? I don't. Iranians have a lot to be proud about. During the Iran-Iraq War, it was ISRAEL selling them military hardware parts. Why? To keep them fighting and killing Iraqis so Iraqis could kill Iranians. If either Russia or Iran attack Israel right now, they will be weakened by the fight (as will Israel and the US, for sure). But they are wise to take their time, work with their allies, plan ahead, and wait. Iran has to be strong and stay strong for everyone in the region. It is inevitable that Israel and the US will weaken. (Without them.)
You and I both know there are TONS of opinions of every stripe on the ground in the region. There are TONS of ethnic/national groups, each with their own histories and vantage points. There isn't a monolithic experience about anything in the M.E. But you and I both come from countries that created these problems and have kept them going. We both have personal experience in the region and are the children of people who have participated, to one degree or another, in the Western involvement there. And I suspect you are struggling with similar issues privately as I am. Fundamentally, since I first predicted the Iranian Revolution in August of 1967 (yes, Mohammad Marandi! when you were in diapers!!!), I knew that Iran would find its way and I believe Lebanon will always exist, and I believe the same thing is true of Syria. The same thing is true of Palestine. I have complete faith that each of these countries will find their way--individually and together. War is coming but Iran must enter it in its own way and in its own time. And most likely most of your on-the-ground informants don't know what that is for their own countries anymore than we do. You have to have faith. You and I might care, but these are not our countries. Their future is not our future. How this is done matters far more for them than for either of us. Speaking for myself, I'm really pretty tired of the whole thing. I've been witnessing this shit for 70 years. The future solutions can't come fast enough for me. But whether or not I'm here to see it, I have no doubt Palestine will be Palestinian one day soon. As will Syria be Syrian. And Iraq Iraqi. And Iran Iranian. And I also think Russia will survive. And I say thank god for that. The US is run by a hidden government and it is ignorant and emotionally imbalanced and its values are seriously fucked up. The same goes for the UK, and that's been true even longer for the UK than for the US since it's been around so much longer. How will "the South" deal with the problems facing humanity? I don't know. With wisdom, I hope. And fairness. Does history give me any reason to believe it will? No. It doesn't. But you have to have faith because, frankly, we have little else. We don't. That's the pathetic, cruel truth. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I was under the impression you grew up in the UK?