this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
126 points (100.0% liked)

news

24640 readers
799 users here now

Welcome to c/news! We aim to foster a book-club type environment for discussion and critical analysis of the news. Our policy objectives are:

We ask community members to appreciate the uncertainty inherent in critical analysis of current events, the need to constantly learn, and take part in the community with humility. None of us are the One True Leftist, not even you, the reader.

Newcomm and Newsmega Rules:

The Hexbear Code of Conduct and Terms of Service apply here.

  1. Link titles: Please use informative link titles. Overly editorialized titles, particularly if they link to opinion pieces, may get your post removed.

  2. Content warnings: Posts on the newscomm and top-level replies on the newsmega should use content warnings appropriately. Please be thoughtful about wording and triggers when describing awful things in post titles.

  3. Fake news: No fake news posts ever, including April 1st. Deliberate fake news posting is a bannable offense. If you mistakenly post fake news the mod team may ask you to delete/modify the post or we may delete it ourselves.

  4. Link sources: All posts must include a link to their source. Screenshots are fine IF you include the link in the post body. If you are citing a Twitter post as news, please include the Xcancel.com (or another Nitter instance) or at least strip out identifier information from the twitter link. There is also a Firefox extension that can redirect Twitter links to a Nitter instance, such as Libredirect or archive them as you would any other reactionary source.

  5. Archive sites: We highly encourage use of non-paywalled archive sites (i.e. archive.is, web.archive.org, ghostarchive.org) so that links are widely accessible to the community and so that reactionary sources don’t derive data/ad revenue from Hexbear users. If you see a link without an archive link, please archive it yourself and add it to the thread, ask the OP to fix it, or report to mods. Including text of articles in threads is welcome.

  6. Low effort material: Avoid memes/jokes/shitposts in newscomm posts and top-level replies to the newsmega. This kind of content is OK in post replies and in newsmega sub-threads. We encourage the community to balance their contribution of low effort material with effort posts, links to real news/analysis, and meaningful engagement with material posted in the community.

  7. American politics: Discussion and effort posts on the (potential) material impacts of American electoral politics is welcome, but the never-ending circus of American Politics© Brought to You by Mountain Dew™ is not welcome. This refers to polling, pundit reactions, electoral horse races, rumors of who might run, etc.

  8. Electoralism: Please try to avoid struggle sessions about the value of voting/taking part in the electoral system in the West. c/electoralism is right over there.

  9. AI Slop: Don't post AI generated content. Posts about AI race/chip wars/data centers are fine.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like "in Minecraft") and comments containing it will be removed.

Image is of a Quds Day march in Bandar Abbas, Iran.


It now seems likely that, very soon, the US and the Zionists will attempt to bomb Iran. Compared to the buildup to the Iraq War, the stated goals of such a move are being kept a little more generalized - some say the point is to overthrow the government for "humanitarian" purposes (others are more honest and want to partition Iran into a dozen powerless statelets). Some people instead say the point is to get rid of the ballistic missile program, which is synonymous with outright surrender, as no matter the deal, bombers would be en route within 10 minutes of the last batch being handed over.

Still others say that the goal is to destroy the Iranian nuclear program, which, as the thread title implies, is now in a bizarre propaganda superposition: it is apparently simultaneously true to the Trump administration that the US obliterated the nuclear facilities and set back Iran's nuclear program years, if not decades, but also that Iran is mere days away from finishing a nuke and a new round of bombing is urgently required. This obviously casts newfound doubts on how effective US weapons even are at penetrating Iran's underground facilities (though it doesn't necessarily mean they didn't breach them, as Iran was almost certainly moving nuclear material out of Fordow and other sites in the days before the Twelve Day War). The sheer quantity of US anti-air defense equipment they're shifting into position also casts doubts on whether Iran's air defense was mostly destroyed during that conflict, as those who assert that the Zionists had total air supremacy over Iran seem to be implying.

I'm not a military guy, and so I have no novel insights on how such a war is likely to go, nor do I feel confident predicting either side's victory. I'm looking at most of the same sources that you're all looking at. Some confidently boast of the total destruction of Iran's air defense within hours, allowing US planes to fly directly over Iranian cities and drop bombs en masse; others cast doubts on whether this will ever occur, and say that the US's limited supply of Tomahawk missiles is the only major firepower they will be able to safely unleash. Some say this war will last mere days before state collapse; others say months, maybe even years. I have no idea.

I do at least feel somewhat bolstered by the fact that Russia and China finally appear to be pouring in meaningful information and matériel to help Iran this time around, though of course, one can still debate whether it's enough. I feel like we are at the culmination of decades of war planning by both the US and Iran, and the result could have deep ramifications indeed.


Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on the Zionists' destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.


you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 80 points 2 days ago (4 children)

So the gloves are off, the Gulf is burning, the dream of the UAE as a tourist hub is in shambles, many American troops are likely dead, Trump has been stunned into silence. All we're missing is a carrier kill and some Saudi oil fields burning. What a difference in vibe from the opening of the Twelve Days War.

[–] supafuzz@hexbear.net 62 points 2 days ago (2 children)

noticing a distinct lack of imperial triumphalism this time

[–] 3rdWorldCommieCat@hexbear.net 53 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Iran didn't give them a single second to gloat this time around.

[–] oliveoil@hexbear.net 44 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I saw one guy in one YouTube comment say:

Is this the Iran everyone was afraid of going to war with in 2020? Lol.

And I just shook my head... at what point could this guy have made this comment? Yes this is the Iran everyone was afraid of going to war with in 2020.

The timestamp made it plausible that he said this before the response.

[–] kristina@hexbear.net 11 points 2 days ago

And I just shook my head... at what point could this guy have made this comment? Yes this is the Iran everyone was afraid of going to war with in 2020.

And now they have battle experience

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 46 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

The only Iranian target I've seen posted about much on western social media is the girl's school also, last time they could argue they hit nuclear facilities/scientists or military officials, all they have clearly done this time is massacre children while their legitimate targets of bases and radar installations are getting rocked all over the region.

[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 35 points 2 days ago (1 children)

hamas-base Weapons were stored within the walls of the military bases underneath the school. /s

[–] Dessa@hexbear.net 33 points 2 days ago (1 children)

HAMAS has dug a tunnel all the way to Iran

[–] Ram_The_Manparts@hexbear.net 18 points 2 days ago

mr hamas your fired sir

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 55 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Iran showed a lot of restraint in the last missile strikes. They showed that they could absolutely hit the US and Israel back, but didn't go further than showing what they could do. It was a threat and a promise.

This time they made good on that promise.

[–] oliveoil@hexbear.net 53 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You could almost say it was...

...a true promise

Yeaooo big-cool

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 51 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The US op is called "Operation Epic Fury" too, just cringe as fuck, and signals no legitimacy or even really references anything other than the fact they're mad.

[–] TheModerateTankie@hexbear.net 59 points 2 days ago (1 children)

People immediately started calling it Operation Epstein Fury. They made it so easy.

[–] supafuzz@hexbear.net 32 points 2 days ago

and the demons in the imperial war machine mistook restraint for weakness

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 44 points 2 days ago (3 children)

And revolutionary sentiment is at a significant surge in the US, mainstream celebs have literally said it's time for revolution, even if still libbed out and not fully class-conscious. It's hard not to feel like this is a pivotal moment. The bourgeoisie may try to force stability if the empire takes significant losses though. Does anyone here know if there is any likelyhood Iran could strike continental US during a protracted conflict? Even just one strike in the US would have a huge impact on people here, for most of us in the US war has been something you could avoid by turning off the TV or logging off.

[–] awrf@hexbear.net 33 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Even just one strike in the US would have a huge impact on people here

And honestly, you probably wouldn't even have to actually hit anything of value to get the message across, you could just hit some random cornfield in Iowa and just the idea that the Burger Reich can actually be hit would be enough, a lot of people truly believe we're truly untouchable and I think that'd be a big wake up call

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 24 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's funny you say that, I overheard an intense dude talking to someone in the city like two weeks ago saying he heard that Iran did a missile strike in South Dakota, I checked the newsmega to see that there was no evidence of that so IDK what he was rambling about, but it did make me think about how that would be a great signal, that even some area in the middle could be reached that those in those states would never expect.

[–] DasRav@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago

South Dakota?! What? "Ah yes, our missiles finally have the range to hit the great enemy where it truly hurts! Mount Rushmore!"

Like, if Iran had the capability to hit the USA, which they themselves deny, then there would still be myriad better targets that are closer. This is so dumb.

[–] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

not to sound like a Bush era Republican, but if there was ever a time for Islamist sleeper cells to activate... though tbh Israel will probably end up doing that themselves with a false flag terror attack. Stay alert everyone.

[–] tocopherol@hexbear.net 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I've been @ing the IRGC forever for a little help here, sometimes I really wish the conspiracies about foreign funding of the left was true sicko-wistful but yeah with the unspeakable evil we've seen from Israel and the US I'm surprised there hasn't been more of the false flag type really.

[–] TheLastHero@hexbear.net 21 points 2 days ago

if the US population isn't supportive enough of this war Israel may really go for it this time with Trump's blessing. It is obvious he is getting really nervous about getting impeached again even if nothing happened last time. They are looking for a good excuse to cancel the midterms, even if the Dems are loving his "bipartisanship" today. A big ol' terror attack is a classic.

And these fascists in charge now are so sadistic and spiteful (but also believe they are so clever) will probably justify it like "the cities are full of woke radical leftist liberals anyway, not even real Americans, necessary sacrifice for the glory of the fatherland, etc..."

best part is it's not going to even work to cause a big rally around the flag like 9/11, everyone is too polarized and conspiracy brained or simply used to terrorism from decades of school shootings. They'll just be doing national self harm at home while Iran is wrecking their shit abroad

[–] BobDole@hexbear.net 14 points 2 days ago

Does anyone here know if there is any likelyhood Iran could strike continental US during a protracted conflict?

Iran would have to get a submarine to the western hemisphere. It would be easier to hit Diego Garcia.

[–] red_giant@hexbear.net 15 points 2 days ago

This might just be the moment the tides of history finally turn and US imperialism starts truly receding from one over-reach too many.