woodenghost

Yay! Go PSL!

China wants the Washington-led neoliberal consensus to persist. Both the US and China have benefited tremendously from such an arrangement at the expense of the entire world.

Hard truths. I'll always defend China against western imperialist propaganda, but your metaphor of a toxic relationship seems quite fitting.

I also don't enjoy reading again and again so many different and partially contradictory variations of the "China is playing the very long game" argument. There might be a lot of truth to that, sure, but we can't really know in every case what the rational is. It's also a very easy way to speculate and pull out of a hat new justifications for almost every concrete action. What a lucky coincidence for Chinese and US capitalist, that all the very different long term strategies China is said to pursue usually favour capital in the mid term.

Also long-term arguments can always be turned around to the past. The US empire wouldn't have survived this long if Nixon hadn't gone to China to make a deal. Global capitalism might not have survived the financial crisis of 2007/2008 without China jumping in with the biggest government spending program ever to prop up demand. Iran is forced to attack the harbor in Haifa, that China built. If rumors about Pakistan drawing a red line and threatening nuclear retaliation in case US/Israel escalate beyond a certain point, can have an effect, than just imagine how effortlessly a single short statement from China could have lessened Palestinian suffering.

That was a great read! Thanks for your effort in transcribing it.

Let's hope not, but it would fit. What's with the surprising accuracy of of food based predictions of the declining evil empires violent fits? First the pizza party at the pentagram before the attack on Iran. Now steaks predict a US escalation. What's the next headline? Burger orders to the White House signify WW3 is close? New Taco Tuesday at the Supreme Court cantina a sure sign of civil war? Do donut sales spike everytime before police commits atrocities? Run on chinese takeout just before Wallstreet crashes? Someone should write an entirely fast food based analysis of US policy. 🍕 🍩 🍔 🌮

Edit: *Pentagon, not pentagram, but I'll leave it since evil is summoned there too

Maybe that's because they got hit by defending missiles out of frame of the video and the wreckage parts are burning upon reentry in the atmosphere?

That attitude is also parroted in German media. They quote Iranian expats who are supposedly happy and thankful for the assassinations. But they are quick to add that "most are too scared to speak freely". One article mentioned only in passing, that people are worried about their families in Iran.

I recall Chris Hedges detailing how the desire and will to annihilate the other is also one of self-annihilation.

That sounds interesting, I'd like to read more about it, but I couldn't find it. Was it from this interview with Gabor Maté, maybe? They tuch on this briefly. But maybe there is more elsewhere. Anyway, I guess it makes sense, but I can't quite explain why.

That worked for me, thanks.

someone very powerful in the Iranian power structure wants to wind down the proxy strategy and they're not above using Mossad to solve their problems for them

Isn't it contradictory to imply "someone" (who?) betrayed these military commanders by giving orders to the military (like to air defense to stand down)? If they could do that already, why go through this much trouble?

There would have been many easier ways to go about such a conspiracy, if we had any grounds to believe one existed, which I'd like to see.. Was there any evidence before of infighting escalating to the point normal legal and political means are exhausted? Domestic assassinations are not enough? Bringing in the revolutionary guard is not enough? Using Iranian secret services is not enough? No it has to be nothing less than a foreign air force, really? I'd like to see much more evidence before I believe that.

Chuds like the one quoted here always want to see infighting between what they see as "terrorist countries" and the prospect of a large, united and powerful country with an Islamic culture actually doing something might just be too much for them to conceive.

Ah, that's why I got some weird vibes from this talking about "random terrorists"and stuff.

No, I heard it a few hours before that. It sounded unclear.

Are you sure about Esfahan? I had heard there were hits near it, but it might just have been rumors.