Hal Berenson #🟦

Lebanon’s president and prime minister have no shame in attacking Israel for doing what they should have done: striking Hezbollah. After thousands of attacks on Israel from their territory, they offer no apology - and rather come with demands. They did not disarm Hezbollah. They did not and do not prevent it from firing on Israel. They lied when they claimed they had demilitarized the area up to the Litani. Now we must do it instead of them. Hezbollah ministers still serve in the Lebanese government, and the Iranian ambassador remains in Beirut, openly defying their own decisions. It is time to start acting against Hezbollah. In deeds, not words. And if you are incapable of doing so - at least do not get in the way.

@ManaByte Actually, one of my friends debates them for the fun of it.

There is a reason people do not debate Flat Earthers or Moon landing deniers. It is not because the evidence is weak. It is because the conversation is rigged from the start. You can bring measurements, physics, engineering, independent tracking, international verification, and experiments they can do in their own backyard, and none of it matters. The moment the facts show up, they shout fake, edited, CGI, conspiracy, or “that’s just your belief.” You cannot debate someone who treats every piece of evidence as invalid by default. You cannot debate someone who demands proof and then rejects the proof the second it appears. You cannot debate someone who thinks their personal disbelief outranks measurable reality. A debate requires both sides to accept evidence. Flat Earth and Moon landing denial collapse the moment evidence enters the room, so the only move left is to deny the room exists. That is why people do not debate them. Not because the globe is fragile, but because the argument they bring is. You cannot have a real discussion with someone who decided ahead of time that nothing you show them will ever count.

There is no real ceasefire inside Iran. This is Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary. He has ordered courts to accelerate execution sentences, especially for protesters. Hundreds of professors are on the death row, waiting to be hanged. Do not stop talking about Iran.

@EmmanuelMacron You have to be the biggest idiot leading any major country in the world 🤦🏻

I have just spoken with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. I expressed France’s full solidarity in the face of the indiscriminate strikes carried out by Israel in Lebanon today, which resulted in a very high number of civilian casualties. We condemn these strikes in the strongest possible terms. They pose a direct threat to the sustainability of the ceasefire that has just been reached. Lebanon must be fully covered by it. I reiterated the need to preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity and France’s determination to support the efforts of the Lebanese authorities to uphold the country’s sovereignty and implement the Hezbollah disarmament plan.

@xdNiBoR Yes!

Nu dat X posts automatisch vertaald, kan ik gewoon in het Nederlands posten. Ik vraag me af of nederlandse posts evenveel reach hebben. Zien jullie dit in het Engels?

@AirPowerNEW1 @gbrew24 Indeed

@halberenson @gbrew24 But we are pretending that they are.

US seems pretty clear on Lebanon not forming part of the cease-fire agreement. Onus is now on Iran: do they break the cease-fire over Lebanon, or do they protest without actually taking action? Plenty of precedent for the latter: in 2024, Hezbollah was heavily degraded by Israeli airstrikes while Iran mostly sat on the sidelines.

@Arrogance_0024 Israel

The "leave no man behind" doctrine is actually a strategic weakness disguised as a virtue. Name one other military on earth that destroys 6 aircraft and fights a ground battle inside a sovereign nation to recover one pilot. You can't. Because no other military confuses tactical sentimentality with strategic logic. Soldiers serve the mission. The mission doesn't serve the soldier. The US has now established that Iran can shoot down an F-15, then watch America spend $300M and expose Delta Force trying to prove it didn't happen. That's not military doctrine. That's politics with weapons. A military that cannot accept the risk of loss cannot win wars. The US hasn't won one since 1945.

'Russia positioned itself in this Iran crisis as the voice of reason while in reality it continued to support Iran through all sorts of means' @annaborsh from @WashInstitute tells @Nicole_Zedeck 👇For more news and updates, visit our official website👇 bit.ly/i24NEWSEN

The real question is how much Modafinil and Armodafinil they consumed!

@hoshizorarock @Schizointel That sounds positively Yiddish!

アメリカの皆様 日本語の授業を始めます。 今日は日本の楽しい表現です。 日本の表現に【別腹】と言う表現があります。 食事でお腹がいっぱいになった後でも、デザートや甘いもの、特別に好きな食べ物だけは「まだ食べられる！」という意味の、ユーモラスで可愛らしい表現です。「メインの食事とは別の腹（お腹）がある」というイメージから来ていて、本当にお腹が空いていなくても、甘いものやお寿司の締めの一貫など「特別枠」で入るスペースがある、という軽快なニュアンスで使われます。 トラブルや満腹の状況があっても、「別腹」で前向きに楽しむ——そんな日本人の柔軟で明るい食文化を表す、前向きで微笑ましい表現です。 英語の表現: • There's always room for dessert.（デザートのためならいつもスペースがある） • I have a second stomach for sweets.（甘いもののための第二の胃がある） 日本では食事の席で「もうお腹いっぱいだけど、別腹があるからケーキ食べよっか！」と笑いながら言うのが定番です。 日本とアメリカにも食文化の違いはありますが、こんな可愛い表現を通じて、互いの文化を楽しく理解し、もっと親しみを深めていきましょう。 次回の授業もお楽しみに！

@thinkdefence 🤣 True

Spend all day every bemoaning the state of UK defence, but woe betide some random American saying the same thing.

While Lebanon & Iran conflicts are related, these are 2 different arenas and should be treated as such. Iran attempting to include Hezbollah in the ceasefire would be a boon for the Axis of Resistance, and would undermine Israeli attempts to secure its northern border.

@WeaponScientist That’s fair. Invest downside of having replied to you is that now all the hate being heaped on you is being force cc’d to me. I wish people would figure out the difference between hate and discussion/honest criticism, but apparently too much to ask.

@halberenson I have no idea what we’ve actually agreed to. Just noting the consequences if we have agreed to Iran’s terms as published

Without exaggeration, I think this is America’s Suez moment. We are staring down the barrel of possibly the worst strategic defeat in the history of the United States—worse than Afghanistan, Vietnam, or 1812–should we accept Iran’s conditions.

Things that are NOT considered war crimes on this hellscape of an app: 1. October 7th 2. Cluster bombs 3. Using child soldiers 4. Human shields Things that ARE considered war crimes on X: 1. Bombing legitimate military targets according to the DoD's Law of War Manual

In other words, there is no agreement.

If you were cheering when the Ukrainians hit the Kerch Bridge or Russian rail yards or Russian power stations or Russian oil refineries or Russian Banks or Russian airports but jeer when the United States plan to do the same, you may want to ask yourself why you have a hypocritical double standard

@Osinttechnical What time zone?

The Pentagon will hold a press briefing at 8:00 am tomorrow morning.

I am bleeding my pockets dry paying astronomical prices for a half broken internet connection just to read what the outside world is saying. And let me be honest, it is absolutely infuriating to see how completely disconnected so many of you are from the actual mood of the people inside Iran. Do not lose your nerve. Do not be afraid. The narrative you are seeing right now is a complete illusion. The voices currently being amplified online are fake, manipulated, and engineered by the cyber army of this cannibalistic regime. They have locked us in a digital prison and severed our connection to the world specifically so they can control the narrative and project a false sense of fear and submission. We are not cowering in the dark. We are watching a dying terrorist syndicate thrash in its final days. Do not judge the resolve of the Iranian people based on the fabricated noise of our captors. Wait until these walls come down. Wait until this internet blackout is broken and you can finally hear the unfiltered, undeniable roar of a nation that has been stripped to the bone. You will see exactly what an unstoppable force looks like. Hold the line. Level the playing field and we will finish the job.