US/Israel conduct airstrikes on Iran again

A diplomat on CNN saying that Trump is all over the place in his stated objectives for the attack and keeps contradicting himself: a 2 day war, a one month war, disarm the nukes, regime change, 'we can do business with this regime' etc. Seems he was goaded into the attack by Bibi plus the Neocon nutjobs and doesn't even know what outcome he wants.

special military operation?

George II did appear on the battlefield but not George III.

Do you believe in democracy or should only people with degrees get to vote? Also it depends what subject the degree is in

Everyone should be allowed to vote but I think history has shown that anti-intellectual governments have a tendency to turn authoritarian. During Mao's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the professors were a major target. Anti-intellectualism is in part an attack on inconvenient expert opinion. The Trump administration has slashed funding for medical research at universities like Harvard. Also, the Brexit campaigers like Gove said "we've had enough of experts", and look how that turned out.

Experts are a problem for authoritarians (I don't think Gove is one but some in the Brexit movement in Reform UK in my opinion are) in that the advice may be unwelcome.

Also remember this?

Thanks for the comprehensive answer. I understand the point you are making but I think it is dangerous for democracy to think that some voters are better than others. Be far better to have a system that openly recognises that if that's what you think.

Im not getting into an argument about Brexit but I'd be highly skeptical that we can decide after such a short time whether it was right or wrong. Major changes like that need to be judged over decades.

7 Prime Ministers in 10 years makes 1990's Italy look stable.

Donald Trump was warned that America's stockpile of missiles and interceptors could run dry if his war in Iran is prolonged, sources say. 

Military insiders said Trump was cautioned that an extensive, resource-draining war in Iran could put US targets at risk if Iranian missile and drone capabilities are not destroyed quickly, per the Wall Street Journal. 

The outlet cited current and former military officials who said the US missile stockpile - including air defense interceptors and Tomahawk cruise missiles - has been eaten away by conflicts with Iran and its proxies in the Middle East.

The strikes launched on Saturday started a race against time to destroy Iran's missile force before the US runs out of interceptors to fend off retaliatory strikes, insiders warned. 

The precise size of the US missile and interceptors stockpile is classified, however the warnings over their numbers comes after the US launched a huge barrage of strikes on targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities. 

A senior official reportedly said Trump's decision to launch strikes first was because he hoped to debilitate Iran's ability to use its missiles and drones to hit back. 

Trump indicated in a call with the Daily Mail on Sunday that he believes the conflict could last as long as a month, and said on Truth Social on Saturday that it will 'continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD.' 

Studies in the US have shown that education, not income, is the highest predictor of voting intentions in the US since Trumps first Presidency. In the US many Republicans are Evangelical Protestants. They tend to see "Gods" hand in earthly events like war, and also poverty and wealth. It can tend towards the idea that the poor deserve to be poor because they lack 'Gods favour' while the rich have it. They hear this nonsense in some megachurches and it caused them to vote against their economic interest. Paula Whites "Prosperity Gospel" church preaches that wealth is a sign of 'Gods favour'. This sort of thing can become a justification for the DOGE cuts to the starving in Africa and SNAP funds to feed schoolchildren. Paula White has called Trump "Gods chosen" leader.

Telegraph says ex President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad killed in strike. His election around 2009 is widely regarded as rigged. Mir Hossein Mousavi was believed to have actually won. Mousavi and another candidate Mehdi Karoobi were under House arrest for years. In 2023 Mousavi announced his opposition to the Islamic Republic.

Reports that Mousavis house has been damaged in an airstrike but he and his wife are safe and well.

Are the US and Israel also targeting the reformists like Mousavi? Like in Hamas in Gaza, hardline leadership on the other side benefits Israeli war propaganda. I also think the US wants the oil.

But I also hope one thing that comes out of this war is an end to Iranian military help to Russia regarding drones. But it didnt after the previous strikes in April.

Also that a RAF base in Cyprus was hit by drones.

More than likely. I also see there's been an attack in the vicinity of the US embassy in Kuwait.

Do you honestly think they’ll stop stealing land in the West Bank?

The doctors in Gaza told us that Israeli snipers were shooting children for kicks and giggles

And some on here are more than delighted to see those dead Gazan and Iranian children.

You know who they are.

Edit: No casualties of the strike on the Akrotiri RAF base in Cyprus but staff being moved.

The very best I'd expect of Israel is that they knew there was at least a reasonable chance the school would be occupied and really couldn't care less if a missile went astray and hit it. Deliberate targeting would not surprise me either. After all, when it comes to taking out individual enemies they are capable of striking with the most extreme precision and have incredibly accurate intelligence.

So it's reasonable to assume the school hit was either deliberate or result of gross negligence.