Damon Lynch

A war's outcomes is "in the minds of the people. And unless you’re going to kill all the people you may not affect that outcome" — General McChrystal. "You cannot defeat an idea with military force alone. Ideas can only be challenged with better ideas" — Ayman Odeh. March, 2026

Why are the dinosaurs on the minds of scientists pondering our near-term future? Hint: not for good reasons 😳

@GaryPayinda Sounds like a great talk! Might be wise of us to look into the approaches societies took post-WW2 to confront feudalism head-on. Some societies did better than others.

Great poverty despite great wealth. Fantastic lecture from a Canadian paeds ICU doctor and world-class researcher about how we should consider using the term low and middle income "settings" rather than "countries". #LMIC Because in so many rich countries, striven by growing wealth inequality, there are burgeoning pockets of abject poverty. A throwback to the bad old days of history. A sort of modern neo-feudalism that has grown as the middle class recedes. I could only think about my region, Northland, as he talked about this and showed photos of rural largely indigenous communities in Northern Canada. Allen de Caen was the speaker, and he was giving the Richard Aitken honorary lecture, named in honour of an NZRC colleague and public hospital paeds emergency medicine doctor who set the bar for displaying his humanity and approachability in everything he did.

After the #Iran war, could #Israel's focus shift towards #Turkey? Many thanks to @CharlieCHoyle and his colleagues at @The_NewArab for publishing my latest piece, which includes insights from @prairieair and @aronlund. newarab.com/analysis/after…

@GiorgioCafiero @CharlieCHoyle @The_NewArab @prairieair @aronlund @GeoffMillerNZ if you are not already following @GiorgioCafiero's work I warmly encourage you to do so. Here is his latest article, hot off the virtual press. 👆

“The torture of Palestinian detainees is part of a wider Israeli assault on Palestinian life. In Gaza, the genocide continues. In the West Bank, violence by the military and of settler militias is intensifying, displacing entire Palestinian communities families from their land. In detention facilities, Palestinians are systematically tortured. The pattern is the same throughout: escalating violence, the removal of restraints, and the normalization of a system that strips Palestinians of protection” writes Yuli Novak, executive director of B’Tselem, in an Op-ed for @guardian Read the full article >> theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

A painting of the end of meritocracy: A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table.

We must not repeat mistakes of the past and bring yet more species into degrading farm practices Compassion, respect and kinship should be at the forefront of how we treat fellow creatures with whom we share this beautiful planet No octopus nor any sentient creature, should ever be #factoryfarmed psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/minds-…

Microsoft just cleaned house in Microsoft Israel. They fired the GM, as well as several other managers. Why? The initial Guardian article explains it: Microsoft believed MS Israel employees lied to Microsoft out of loyalty to their military. Which tracks.

Can't stop thinking about Elon Musk, the wealthiest man alive worth $828 billion, spending $290 million to elect Trump, becoming $563 billion richer since Trump was elected and ending humanitarian aid that will lead to the deaths of 4.5 million of the poorest kids on the planet.

The Dangerous Illusion Behind the Iran Campaign regarding Tehran's nuclear capabilities One of the central problems with the current campaign against Iran is the deeply flawed strategic assumption on which it was built. The war was justified on the premise that Iran was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear bomb and that only military force could stop it. But neither assumption withstands serious scrutiny. First, it is critical to state clearly and repeatedly: Iran was not on the threshold of producing a nuclear weapon. Despite alarming rhetoric, there has been no public evidence nor any intelligence report by the American IC, that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei made the political decision to weaponize Iran’s nuclear program. Even after the June strikes, there are no indications that Tehran has resumed an organized weapons program. Iran’s nuclear advances were certainly troubling and destabilizing, but enrichment capability is not the same as an active decision to build a bomb. Second, the campaign itself demonstrated the limits of military power. Despite massive strikes on enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow back in June ("midnight hammer") and on the nuclear complex in Isfahan, discussions in Washington and Jerusalem still revolve around Iran’s remaining nuclear potential. That alone should make one fact unavoidable: there is no lasting kinetic solution to the Iranian nuclear challenge. Airstrikes can damage facilities and delay timelines, but they cannot eliminate the scientific knowledge, industrial expertise, and technological infrastructure Iran has accumulated over decades. More troubling still, the campaign may ultimately accelerate the very outcome it sought to prevent. The decapitating of Ali Khamenei, "togther" with the longstanding fatwa against nuclear weapons, and the growing dominance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could push Tehran toward a fundamental reassessment of its nuclear doctrine. For many inside Iran’s security establishment, the lesson of recent events may be painfully simple: states without nuclear deterrence remain vulnerable to external attack. If that conclusion takes hold in Tehran, military action may end up strengthening the internal arguments in favor of weaponization. The broader strategic logic behind the war now appears equally questionable. The campaign was driven in large part by the belief that the Iranian regime was uniquely weak and that sustained pressure could destabilize, perhaps even collapse, the Islamic Republic. But the regime survived. Not only did it remain intact, it also preserved meaningful capabilities in both the nuclear and missile domains. That reality raises a difficult but necessary question: if the regime remains in power while retaining significant strategic capabilities, has the campaign actually improved the long-term security environment? The answer is far from obvious. Since the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran has accumulated irreversible knowledge and experience in enrichment, centrifuge development, and nuclear infrastructure. That reality cannot be bombed away. The uncomfortable truth is that diplomacy, however frustrating, imperfect, or politically unpopular, remains the only viable path for constraining Iran’s nuclear program over the long term. This does not mean trusting Tehran. It means recognizing strategic reality. A negotiated framework with intrusive inspections, limitations, and verification mechanisms may not solve every problem posed by Iran, but it can buy time, reduce risks, and prevent the emergence of a far more dangerous scenario. Because if this conflict ends with the Islamic Republic still standing, while preserving substantial nuclear capabilities and concluding that only nuclear weapons can guarantee regime survival, the world should not be surprised if one day it wakes up to a nuclear-armed Iran. #ira

Nonsense. We have half dozen papers in our best scientific journals, Cell, Science, Nature, detailing the evidence for zoonotic spillover of SARS-2, happening just like SARS-1, MERS coronaviruses, and not a single scientific paper, nor even plausible mechanism for GOF lab leak

One of the most terrifying images in history: a transformation from life to death. Gaza in 2023 and 2026!

@rparsi @annafifield Thank you — you are too kind! I barely leave the house these days due to Long Covid, but I'm very glad I was able to make it to the event. If you ever do come out to NZ please know you would be our deeply honoured guest.

@damonlynch @annafifield Thanks! Hopefully at some point we meet IRL! I very much liked your question - should get its own seminar! And you should chair it!

@rparsi so very nice to see you up on a Wellington stage despite you being more than 17,000 km away!

Following global campaigning, Iranian authorities suspended implementation of Narges Mohammadi’s unjust decades-long prison sentence for her human rights activities for one month on medical grounds. She has been released her on bail but is now in intensive care in a Tehran hospital, following the abuses she suffered. Authorities recklessly put Narges Mohammadi's life at risk by subjecting her to torture or other ill-treatment by deliberately denying her timely & adequate specialized healthcare. @amnesty reiterates its call for Narges Mohammadi’s unconditional release.

Israel is running a network of torture camps for Palestinians. Our reports, Welcome to Hell and Hell on Earth, extensively documented a reality of extreme violence, starvation, and torture. Now, in a major @nytimes investigation, journalist @NickKristof published terrible testimonies concerning sexual violence and the use of sodomy as a tool of interrogation and humiliation by Israeli forces. Palestinian prisoners are subjected to severe violence, deliberate humiliation, starvation, sleep deprivation, denial of medical care, and abuse in every facility where they are held. These abusive practices are fully backed by the political leadership, which openly boasts about the harsh prison conditions. Some inmates are subjected to severe sexual assaults. At least 88 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention facilities since October 2023 as a result of inhumane conditions, violence, starvation, and the denial of medical treatment. Despite the extensive evidence, media investigations, and reports issued by Israeli and international organizations documenting torture in Israeli prisons, the international community continues to stand by and allow Israel to commit crimes against the Palestinian people. Links to the full report “Welcome to Hell” >> btselem.org/publications/2… and “Living Hell” >> btselem.org/publications/2…

Today, May 12, we celebrate the birthday of Maryam Mirzakhani (1977–2017) - the first woman and first Iranian to win the Fields Medal. Her groundbreaking work on Riemann surfaces and moduli spaces continues to inspire mathematicians worldwide. May 12 is now International Women in Mathematics Day.

The men in masks here are Israeli soldiers who stand accused of torturing and raping Palestinian prisoners. This is how they were greeted as they entered the court room - as heroes. When will Western leaders address the illness that exists in large parts of Israeli society?