What's been made clear again the last couple of days, is that it is a priority for Iran to go through the proper diplomatic channels before resorting to military means. Even if it is likely to get them nowhere (I.e. holding off on retaliation for the promise of a ceasefire).

They want to convey that they are rational and principled when they commit to violence. They give a heads-up precisely because it won't stop a retaliation. They don't want an all-out war but they have to respond.

The primary audience doesn't even have to be Israel and the US, but also the rest of the world: Iran is better because it has justice on it side. Iran holds itself to a higher standard and acts accordingly.

I keep hearing (in Western media) that Russia doesn't have enough reserves to take Kharkiv. I guess we'll find out if that's cope, or if Russia is just trying to spread the Ukrainians out, especially in light of new ammunition deliveries from the US. Spreading the front will make it harder for Ukraine to use that ammunition to concentrate firepower and create tactical advantages.

I will say it is funny to me how typically Dutch it is to take offence to something like not having to answer a question because it might be a sensitive topic.

My new cope theory is that Macron is talking about sending troops to increase Ukrainian morale.

The Ukrainian army needs manpower but there's a lot of internal resistance to lowering the age of conscription and Zelensky dares not openly press the issue. Companies don't want to lose their younger workforce and people aren't feeling good about Ukraine's performance on the front right now. They need something to point to so they can make the population more amenable to conscription.

They can't achieve success on the front right now so Macron steps in and offers a (seemingly) strong commitment that they are willing to go all-in. Then the regime in Kiev can push through new waves of conscription. The French announce they are standing back and standing by now that the manpower issue has been resolved.

I don't know, I think the French would, out of all the European states, understand that it is not a good idea to send forces into Ukraine. I feel similar about the idea of France sending troops to how I felt before Russia invaded: I thought they wouldn't do it because it wasn't a smart idea. So I could definitely be wrong.

When it comes to Europe and Ukraine, I think it really comes down to moral indignation. They think Russia invading Ukraine is a unique moral crime. Ukraine should win because they are the good guys. Any sense of reality is almost entirely overruled by this moral indignation.

A lot of people in Europe can't even fathom that the West has any responsibility for this war. It must be Russian propaganda because the West is free and democratic and Russia is evil.

Even the people in my country that are at least sometimes better in realistically understanding this war seem to be dumbfounded by the idea that regular people show a greater willingness to protest the genocide in Palestine and not against Russia.

I truly feel it doesn't go much deeper than moral indignation for Europe. They can't conceive the possibility that anything they are doing for Ukraine could ultimately end up hurting Europe more than Russia. It is heresy to suggest that maybe if they went about sanctions a bit smarter, they could've probably helped Ukraine more.

It's going to be wild if a NATO ship gets downed by a bunch of cheap drones and missiles. For now it seems like Yemen has been sure not to overwhelm US defences with drones. But it's going to be interesting to see what their gameplan is.

Even just sinking one navy ship would be such a tremendous blow to the US that the response would have to be huge. They would have to pull back their ships if they don't want to risk losing more. That would look so fucking bad.

So then the response would have to come through Saudi Arabia in the form of a massive bombing campaign. But give how much of a disaster the Saudi intervention has been in the past, they would have to do more than just bomb Yemen if they want to secure sea routes again. There's no way that this doesn't turn into a massive headache unless Ansar Allah backs off.

But if they're not even entertaining talking to the US, that seems far off. Either way, the ability of the Yemeni peoples to take suffering commands deep respect. Damaging directly those countries that have facilitated one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent history could motivate them to take a lot more damage.

China has gone woke, now they will go broke. The Chinese economy is going to collapse from this.

In the Netherlands, if the right-wing parties can get their act together and form a coalition government, they will have 88 seats in parliament.👁️

Can't stop thinking about the mad lads in Yemen and how much respect I have for them.

Everybody is sincere posting about people enjoying stuff. But nobody's talking about how you could possibly feel satisfied after eating a whole bag of candy, instead of feeling like dogshit.

Those small bags of crisps they have in Asia > disgusting Western 300 grams Lays.

Oops, wrong thread but close enough.

Generally I've been able to compartmentalise my insanity when reading mainstream sources pretty well. But with Gaza I just can't take it. Even though Isreal is openly run by genocidal far-right ghouls, the idea that maybe their intention is to do ethnic cleansing doesn't even get entertained. Eventhough they mostly agree that taking Hamas out militarily can't be done. Do they think the Isrealis are stupid and don't know this?

I'll here people go on about how dangerous and crazy the Iranians and their 'proxies' are because they are fundamentalists. Motherfucker, that's Isreal, that's the US too. Israelis are literally using genocidal bible quotes to justify their actions. Maybe, just fucking maybe they want to do ethnic cleansing.

People that used to go on about how horrible the Russians were for bombing civilians will now call Isreal's actions 'impressive'. Fucking imperialist pigs.

I swear to God, this place is the only one I can stomach to visit for updates without it cometely ruining my day.