It’s all kicking off.
RAF jets have been used to shoot down Iranian drones after Tehran announced it had launched an attack on Israel in what threatens to become a major regional escalation.
Aircraft in Iraq and Syria have been deployed to intercept “any airborne attacks within range of our existing missions,” the Ministry of Defence said.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said 99 percent of more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles had been shot down outside the country’s borders with warplanes intercepting more than 10 cruise missiles.
It was only a matter of time. Iran has been itching to do this for a long time. Now it has seen an opportunity. Hamas is winning the propaganda war with its useful idiots marching in capital cities across the west, the Houthis are making life difficult in the Red Sea and the Western powers are preoccupied with Ukraine. Before Saudi Arabia gets to sign the Abraham Accord, which, given a possible Trump presidency next year could be a realistic proposition, now is the ideal time for an attack. Whether they will succeed in bringing more Arab states in with them remains to be seen. I don’t think Egypt or Jordan will play ball.
That most of the drones were shot down is a good thing, but that isn’t the point. Iran is now more of a serious threat than ever and this was merely an opening salvo. They will keep trying.
I dunno, I feel like a spectator watching 1914 and 1939 all over again. While we keep saying ‘never again’ the mad mullahs and the despotic dictators are all for it, so those of us who really don’t want it, will be dragged in anyway – which is what happened before. Reasonable, rational people can learn from the past – the nutcases and the religious zealots will be more than happy to repeat it, no matter how many die in the process.
I’d be surprised if Israel didn’t have a contingency plan to attack Iran. Assets in place, intel about where the regime can be hit and so on. They’d be well advised to target the leaders and the Republican Guard only, AFAIK the general population isn’t too keen on them and is looking for a regime change. They used to be almost western, they are fed up with this nonsense.
Oh, and can we talk about the dangers of Islam now? No, I suppose not.
No, never! The prevailing wisdom is still that these people somehow enrich our culture, though when asked ‘How, exactly?’ a response is not usually forthcoming.
It is all pretty ugly, I can see RAF Akrotiri from my house and hear the Typhoons climbing out…
It is reported (some caution needed, fog of war etc.) that most of the Iranian drones and missiles were shot down before they could kill men, women, and children.
In which case Iran swung a mighty haymaker – and missed. I don’t imagine this will deter Iran from stirring up trouble either directly or by proxy. But it might make them think (after the adrenaline has ebbed) that perhaps they are more vulnerable than they suppose.
Apparently their weapons technology is quite old-fashioned, but that will change.
Of course they did.
Of course all the missiles and drones were shot down.
We have brave super pilots and air defences and they have camels and things from Roman times.
Nothing can beat our wunderwaffen.
Ignore the smoking craters over there.
Except this one that just happened to kill a small child.
Honestly.
I used to believe that the west was, on the whole, good.
That our politicians, while greedy, were trying to do the right thing.
Now I can see that our politicians are just as corrupt and psychotic as any of them, they just cloak themselves a bit more. They’ll send us all into a fucking big war just to add an extra zero to their bank balance.
Fuck them. Fuck them all. The only thing wrong with the world is politicians.
Get rid of them and nobody can make war.
The only people who are going to suffer is us and our contemporaries in other countries.
Not that this country is worth it any more. Look at the state of it.
You know what’s depressing?
My wife is from Eastern Europe. A poor country compared to here. Yet people there are helpful and polite. Give up seats on buses for women and pregnant people. You wouldn’t want to be openly a shirt lifter, but it’s by and large a good place.
The UK isn’t like that any more.
I’m so disillusioned with this place. Fuck it.
I may have had a couple of beers.
I think the religious nutters in Iran have the same goals as western arms manufacturers and politicians.
In the reality of conflict, the collateral damage of dead men, women and children doesn’t figure. The two sides don’t keep count on a spreadsheet, saying we’ve lost more than them, we’d better stop now.
It’s about property, power and perception. The Arab world, led by militant Iran, wants Israel’s property back, Israel doesn’t want that to happen – both sides will perpetuate the conflict on that basis.
The more noise they make with bombs and bullets, the more the perception of their power scores with their supportive populations, hence the conflict continues, ad infinitum or until common sense overtakes religious dogma.
I’m not holding my breath.
“Israel’s property back”
Did Israel steal Arab property at some stage?
Israel was mostly purchased land. They did seize the Golan heights, but that was the fault of Syria. If you start a war and lose, then tough shit when you lose land because of it.
That said, the settlements on the West Bank are in defiance of the various peace agreements. It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the Arab betrayals, but yes, I suppose you could argue that they stole that land.
Interesting that Jordan acted on Israel’s side, especially as they have a substantial Palestinian population.
One they’ve cause to regret inviting in, though. Maybe that’s why.
I’ve always been under the impression that ‘good muslims’ really want to die in a holy war, go to meet Allan, and cavort with 97 virgins for eternity. In that case, why don’t they declare war on Israel, then kill each other (topping themselves not being allowed)? The fact that they won’t, rather proves the point that they don’t really believe that shit, and that their teligion is a con devised by chancers and liars.