DaoudF

It's very interesting that so many leftists, liberals and anti-Tories are apparently fully signed up to the Thatcherite maxim that 'you can't buck the markets'. They cheered on the markets as they eviscerated Truss, and what have they got in return? Austerity 2.0 Well done. 1/

@BallouxFrancois Well, at least until his next post on Truth Social...

It looks like the Iran war might be over for now.

THEY. TORTURED. A. ONE. YEAR. OLD. BABY. THEY. TORTURED. A. ONE. YEAR. OLD. BABY. THEY. TORTURED. A. ONE. YEAR. OLD. BABY. THEY. TORTURED. A. ONE. YEAR. OLD. BABY.

@admcollingwood @ClarkeMicah @sillynotabsurd Indeed. Eden compared Nasser to Hitler, Saddam was compared to Hitler (at least in 1990-91), and Ed Miliband was accused of appeasement when he opposed bombing Syria. It never ends.

It is almost as though the only history any British person learns from entering school at five until leaving at 16 is the policy of appeasement until September 1939—and even then, only the most superficial interpretation of it, given they betray a shocking ignorance of the policy itself and the domestic, diplomatic, geostrategic and economic environment to which it was a response. No international event can be viewed in any other lens than through a mistaken understanding of Chamberlain and Appeasement, two words that have become pejoratives to be hurled at anybody who wishes diplomacy and negotiation to war. With a demos like this, who is surprised we get the leaders we have?

.@sillynotabsurd. There is simply no parallel between the 1938-40 crisis and the Iran crisis. I defy you to find one. You plainly know nothing about either then or now.

The Israeli government has displaced a total of 6 million people from their homes. (3 million Iran, 2 million Gaza, 1 million Lebanon). 6 million people. The equivalent of the entire population of Maryland displaced from their homes. By one government.

Israel is wiping out critical bridge after critical bridge in South Lebanon. Civilians can’t flee. Ambulances can’t reach the wounded. Entire communities are cut off from food, medicine, and essential supplies. This is intentional. This is a crime against humanity.

@jruddy99 Iraq invaded Iran. You're either an idiot or a liar: which is it?

Iran invaded Iraq in 1980.

@DAaronovitch Perhaps it will take the same form as the EU-led nullification of the Romanian election that was won by the anti-EU candidate?

I really can't see how Orban, his cronies and his Russian allies can afford to let him lose next month's election. I don't know what form their attempted coup will take, but I believe they'll try

The Israeli military has been deploying in Lebanon the techniques of healthcare destruction it developed in Gaza. In less than three weeks, 128 medical facilities and ambulances bombarded, 40 healthcare workers killed and 107 wounded. Medicide.

@manniefabian They're doing this with the full support and connivance of the IDF - your IDF. So stop with the lying.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank are "morally and ethically unacceptable" and cause "extraordinary strategic damage" to the military. "Recently, there has been an increase in nationalist crime incidents, some of which are directed directly against our soldiers and toward the civilian population," Zamir says during a visit to the Central Command today. "It is unacceptable that during a multi-front war, the IDF is forced to also contend with a threatening minority from within," he says, according to remarks provided by the IDF. Zamir calls the assailants "rioters who do not represent the settlements." "On the contrary, they endanger the settlements, security, stability, and our values as a people and as a state," he says. "I call on all authorities in the country to stand against this phenomenon and uproot it before it is too late. Anyone who thinks these actions help security is mistaken; they are morally and ethically unacceptable, and they create extraordinary strategic damage to the IDF's efforts," he adds.

Just in case you find this number too high for Israel: Between October 2023 and October 2025, Israel killed an average of 28 children every single day in Gaza, and that includes the 64 days of “ceasefires” in November 2023 and January–March 2025. Among these victims were over 1,000 infants under the age of one.

@NickCohen4 Is this the same Howard Jacobson who once wrote an article stating that people who raised concerns about the high numbers of Palestinian children killed by the Israelis in Gaza are guilty of perpetrating the blood libel? The man is morally reprehensible.

“It’s Jews they hate, not Netanyahu” – interview with Howard Jacobson and piece from me on how antisemites use Israel as an excuse to revive ancient prejudices substacktools.com/sharex/8sofWmfL

@WarMonitor3 So now the Americans are going to start carpet bombing Iran. It seems they're hellbent on destroying Iran.

US airforce B-52 strategic bomber landed today at RAF Fairford.

@RubinReport @BernieSanders I've often seen cases where someone's written a message and forgotten to sign their name; this is one of those rare cases where someone has done the opposite.

@BernieSanders Useless retard.

It’s not just Iran. It’s Lebanon. In less than 2 weeks, Israel has killed 570 people and displaced 750,000 — over 10% of the entire country. Residential buildings are being bombed with no warning. The U.S. cannot continue to be complicit in Netanyahu’s wars.

NEWS: The Trump administration confirmed it bombed a girl’s school in Iran. It's one of the most devastating military errors in decades. Trump lied about it. Pete Hegseth gutted the office preventing civilian casualties. 175 are dead. Most were kids. Hegseth should be fired.

I have talked to some Israeli officials and read a good deal of Israeli media. Here is how the war in Iran is perceived there so far: 1) On a tactical level, they believe it has gone very well and Israel has destroyed more of the Iranian military capability than expected. 2) They are disappointed that the regime has not been weakened as much as expected and that they remain in firm control. In particular the lack of a "rise up" among the population is a cause of concern. 3) They are finding Trump to be unreliable. While Israel favors a prolonged campaign to ensure total dismantlement of threats, Trump has signaled a desire to end the war "soon," creating a potential rift in war aims. 4) Hezbollah is stronger than expected. It has hit Israel with drones and missiles and killed soldiers. They have recovered better than expected. 5) The inability of Ben-Gurion airport to withstand closing and chaos has shown fragility in Israeli social cohesion. 6) They are disappointed in the lack of support from Gulf States who want an end to the war rather than the escalation Israel wants. 7) Israel accepts that the regime in Tehran will survive and just hopes that this weakens them in preparation for the next round. 8) There is a growing fear among Israeli strategists that they are winning the war but losing the region. While military targets are being obliterated, the civilian infrastructure damage is causing a backlash. 9) The war is proving very expensive. The need to divert NIS 28 billion ($9 billion) to the military has forced the government to freeze social projects, leading to the first significant anti-government protests since the war began, specifically from the middle class bearing the tax burden. 10) They are aware that the war is very unpopular in the US and that Israel is being blamed. They are concerned about the ramifications for the alliance. While Netanyahu is painting this as a huge success, it really doesn't look like one to Israeli strategic planners. The public knows it as well.

They are Christians. Israel killed their pastor. And American Christians, who mainly worship Donald Trump as their God, really don't care.

I opposed sanctions on Iran - which have been insanely effective in recent years in destroying the country’s economy. Why? Because they strengthen the elite via national isolation, weaken civil society, destroy Iran’s middle class and, ironically, helped the government prepare for a war economy (rather handy now!) But, fundamentally, a high consumption, open trading relationship with the West would have served to build bridges, meaning a widespread desire to embrace the global order. Iran would contribute in its own unique way, of course, like South Korea perhaps, but would also have been shaped by such forces: tourists at Persepolis & Esfahan; ambitious young Iranians studying at Sciences Po, Harvard and the LSE; goods and services flowing east and west. Liberals said this stuff a 150 years ago, but seemed to have jettisoned the smartest part of their tradition. Any sensible, informed person in London, Washington or Brussels should have understood this, and argued for this. But they didn’t. Why? Firstly, because many people in politics are stupid and don’t think for themselves. Social media is making this worse. The US government now has the cognitive function of a slop right podcast. Secondly, particularly in the case of Europe - there was never an independent policy anyway (just follow Washington, even if their position is dumb). The dumber Washington gets the worse that is. Thirdly, because Israel exercises a huge, outsized impact on how we conduct foreign policy in that part of the world. Think ending sanctions on Iran is smart? You must be an antisemite! No platform! The best strategy - in the long term - if you wanted to soften the government of Iran, and influence outcomes inside the country? Trade with it. Buy and sell stuff. Ironically the people who understood this best were Iranian conservatives - who opposed such a development.

@paulmasonnews Ah yes - we have to destroy democracy in order to save democracy. You're a disgrace, Mr Mason.

Militant democracy in action - Sad but necessary given the extremists' aim is to divide us 👇🏽🇬🇧🚩

@AaronBastani Is he still pushing the line that the IGRC planted the bodies of those dead schoolgirls after bombing the school themselves? The man is an utter disgrace.

BBC TV’s response? To have a conspiratorial comedian, who has never been to the country, on newsnight twice a week.

Yep. All the signals are Tehran views this as the final war, after which the US must leave the region and some normalisation of Iran within the global economy is accepted. Quite incredible to think the US and Israel *started* the conflict.

In answer to the question what the situation is in Israel: the level of damage is not remotely close to what Israel is doing in Iran and in Lebanon. The issue is that the Israeli government heavily censors any news regarding casualties and deaths, as well as actual missile hits. We also get regular lies about the number of missiles/launchers Iran and Hizballah have and about Israeli "success" in taking such launchers out of action. Over the past few days missiles and rockets have hit Israel with regularity that is being officially denied. Alarms have sounded in the midst of rockets hitting. Advance warnings are often given without alarms sounding, placing responsibility for sheltering on citizens' shoulders. Information about hits is disseminated through unofficial channels. There are clearly hits on any number of "strategic" sites. We get no official information. Tel Aviv has not been destroyed. Israel is destroying Tehran and Esfahan and Beirut. But Israel is deeply rattled and effectively paralyzed. People sit in cafes and rush to shelters or they are holed up at home. There is a pretense that everything is just on the verge of "normalization" and those pesky Iranians and Lebanese drag us into the "abyss". Those unfortunate enough not to shelter (there is no systemic policy of barring Non-Jews. Israel is heavily segregated) are at real risk of death. The number of salvos has dropped but remains stable. Always important to say: what Israelis are incurring is not in the same universe as what Israelis are inflicting. Israel is committing crimes against humanity in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. My point is to demonstrate that Israel is significantly less mighty than it would like the world to believe. That doesn't change the fact that most Israeli Jews support this criminal behavior.