US/Israel conduct airstrikes on Iran again

If someone in the IDF deliberately targets a civilian for no military reason, i.e. just for s***s and giggles, then I have no interest in defending them. Same for the other stories in this or another thread about the prisoners being mistreated. There's no justification for that.

If one or two of them kill people "for **** and giggles", it the actions of individuals (who face no consequences anyway), and individual explanations could be brought in. But when it's done en masse (with no consequences), and as part of clear and deliberate military strategies (with no consequences) it's a structural explanation that's needed (i.e. not "**** and giggles") on what is considered normal and acceptable within the IDF and Israeli society that allow for murder and mass murder to occur (without consequence), e.g. the total dehumanisation of the people they are inflicting this on.

As always, just because someone agrees with what they are doing, it does not make it right. Any sane person looking at the situation can see this.

Netanyahu needs to be jailed immediately

How can foreign government interference in American elections be legal?

https://inthesetimes.com/article/illinois-primary-biss-aipac-abughazaleh

After a Torrent of Dark Money, AIPAC and Corporate Interests Flop in Illinois Elections

The pro-Israel lobby spent millions to intervene in the Democratic primaries, but in the two most high-profile races AIPAC came up short.

If he can be put 'together again' given the chance that he is brown bread

As with Putin, Trump hates getting tough with Netanyahu even as he drags him ever deeper into this war. Serious damage to oil and gas infrastructure would be very bad news for much of the world.

The Americans don’t seem to have any concern about what their gallant allies may get up to next. They’ve lost control of the narrative and they never had control of Netanyahu. What a mess.

The Israelis will go for broke against Iran and Trump will try and cover for them as long as he can with promises of an end to the war ‘very soon’, whatever that means. However, the bad will across the world afterwards may cost America dearly. Talk about a Manchurian Candidate. Every day Trump makes Xi look kinder and gentler, no mean feat.

It’s quite the ask, especially since Dear Leader keeps on claiming this excursion is ending very soon. The election ads write themselves:

Pentagon asks White House for $200bn more to fight Iran war - report

Robert Mackey

The Pentagon “has asked the White House to approve a more than $200bn request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official”, the Washington Post reports.

The newspaper explains:

The funding request is likely to stage a major political battle in Congress, as public support for the effort remains tepid and Democrats have been sharply critical. Republicans have signaled support for the forthcoming supplemental request but haven’t committed to a legislative strategy, or found a clear path to surpass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.

President Donald Trump campaigned on ending American adventurism abroad and frequently hammered the Biden administration for the amount of money approved to finance the war in Ukraine. By December, Congress had approved roughly $188 billion in spending for the war in Ukraine, according to the U.S. special inspector general for Operation Atlantic Resolve.

As the Post notes, Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised his predecessor for helping Ukraine defend its territory from the full-scale Russian invasion that began in 2022. But Trump has constantly exaggerated or lied about how much the US has spent to help Ukraine deter Russia, offering vastly inflated estimates that could make the cost of his war with Iran seem small by comparison.

Well they have an incredibly aggressive, militarised, technically advanced nation of 360 million doing their bidding, the sky is the limit for them really.