uncle bernard

The PLO endorsed the two state solution back in the early 80s. Their mission to achieve statehood for Palestine alongside Israel and they primarily pursue that through diplomatic strategy (which is why even Israel recognizes them as a legitimate representative of Palestine).

I didn’t assign blame to one party. I said we should be responsible for our own mistakes because we have the power to fix them moving forward.

You’re literally arguing that a guy who has been sober for 30 years has as serious a problem as the guy who is currently an alcoholic. And we know if would be the reverse if the parties were reversed. You guys don’t have to debase yourself like this. There are plenty of non-alcoholic Republicans who are more qualified to run the defense department than Hegseth. It’s pathetic.

I'm sure you would apply this standard equally to a democrat....oh wait. We all know if there were similar reports about a dem nominee, you'd call them the world's most dangerous alcoholic. Hegseth's drinking problem is widely known. Tim Walz has been sober for 30 years. What was there to be concerned about?

1) That's not why British Intelligence performed the coup. They did it because Iran was attempting to nationalize its oil industry which was then controlled by BP. That's the bottom line. 2) Yes, the Brits led the operation, but the CIA was heavily involved and it became the model for the next 30 years of coups. 3) None of what you said addresses the historical fact that Iranian coup was the first domino in the Islamic Revolution. Whether the Brits or US is more responsible for that 1 event is irrelevant. We are continuing the imperial project in the region.

I think this is a totally reasonable response. Where I would push back is that we shouldn't separate Iran's status as a "disruptive force" from our own actions in the region going back to the immediate post-war period, especially the coup in Iran. We set the Islamic Revolution in motion. American foreign policy proceeds from the assumption that we have the right to and should control ever region in the world. The world is our plaything. Iran's emergence as a sponsor of terrorism and hostile force in the region was a response to us. IMO, any possibility for change in the region has to start with our acceptance that the Empire is over. Our role moving forward should not be as a military power, but as a force of economic and political development around the globe. In the Middle East, that starts by pursuing policies that empower the most moderate forces within hostile countries (the Iran nuclear deal being an example).

What about the Taliban? ISIS? Hamas is not like the Nazis or Japanese during WWII. It is a guerilla style terror group. And the record on trying to defeat that type of enemy is marked by failure, particularly in the Middle East. They always come back because military solutions don't address root causes.

Even in your attempted gotcha, you fall on your face lol. Hamas only controls Gaza. The PLO is internationally recognized representative of Palestine. They recognized Israel as a state back in the 90s during the Oslo Accords.

Dismantling Hamas is a necessary condition of the peace process. Look at South Africa. Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. Now he's remembered as one of the world's greatest peace activists because international pressure helped force the apartheid government into a political peace process that ultimately ended the guerilla war and ended apartheid.

Because Hamas is an authoritarian party who seized power after winning a plurality in an election 20 years ago and haven't had one since.

He's literally not doing that. He actually put real pressure on them to accept a deal, which is why this is happening. Here's a Netanyahu surrogate complaining that the Trump admin won't let them continue to commit war crimes and prevent aid. I'm still skeptical long-term, but Trump has already done far more to end this atrocity than Biden did in 2 years. Put Biden in the Hague.

By providing Palestinians (not Hamas) a *legitimate* political path to statehood. Right now, Palestinians have no reason to believe they will ever achieve a free state politically, so Hamas is their only option. This doesn't mean you just hand the keys over to Hamas, but there needs to be a path forward to end the occupation peacefully (and obviously that process will be heavily regulated by us and the rest of the West to protect all parties involved).

Eliminating a terrorist org is not the question. It's the method of doing so. And as Blinken has just admitted, doing so by destroying the country and killing thousands of civilians has not made a significant dent in Hamas' capability. Why? Because all you're doing is strengthening their reason for being. You weaken and eventually eliminate Hamas through politics, not war, at least not the type of warfare Israel has been carrying out. So congrats for all the "progress" made towards defeating Hamas. You've killed thousands of children and they have about the same number of fighters as before.

Credit to Trump for doing the rational thing and finally putting pressure on Israel to stop the massacre. Biden could have done this a year ago and chose not to. He should be prosecuted by the ICC. Once the international community gains access to Gaza, we will discover the death count is much higher than the current numbers indicate. Some experts believe the true death toll is over 100k. We will know eventually. And for those on here, who say the IDF would never target civilians and they are the most moral army in the world ( @Bigbrog @mspart for example), their soldiers disagree with you. This is reported in one of Israeli's own major newspapers and is extremely credible. Shame on you who denied what was obvious. You are no better than the German citizens and allies who pretended not to see what Hitler was doing.

Anybody with a brain knew this would happen.