News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


These residual effects can also be quite destructive.

Seemingly, how could the attack on the twin towers affect people living in the former Soviet Union?

But it did, and in major ways. America's need for our airspace and other forms of cooperation in enabling the mission in Afghanistan - meant it closed its eyes to practically everything it had cared so much about throughout the 1990s.

Suddenly, autocrats like Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan) or Nursultan Nazarbayev (Kazakhstan) or Ilham Aliev (Azerbaijan), were rebranded by the State Department from "autocrats" to "valued allies".

When America goes to war, it stops caring about everything else. All efforts go towards "ensuring the safety of our boys". If this means collaborating with dictators to be able to fuel your jets at their airports - it's a price you are always willing to pay. Regardless of the corrosive after effects of the patina of legitimacy that you provide these tinpot dictators.

So the knock on effects can be beneficial, but they can also be unpredictably bad - and bite you in the ass in a way you didn't expect. When some Central Asian dictator represses his homegrown Islamists to such an extent, that they decide to take their franchise global.

The main knock on effects of Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be massive refugee flows and the rise of the Islamic State.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Obviously you would!

What I would want - obviously - is a forceful Russian intervention. Cold War style. That shows America it can't bomb whoever it wants willy-nilly, whenever it decides. That puts the bully on the backfoot.

Obviously - this cannot happen. Russia is hopelessly mired in Ukraine. Every single piece of weaponry and ammunition MUST go to the front. There cannot be any discussion about helping anybody else - whether its Armenia or Iran. We're at the serious risk of a big embarrassment here in Ukraine, so everything else is kinda peripheral (at least for the time being). In the same way it was for commanders during WW2 debating about opening new fronts...

Furthermore - we are just not so close with Iran. It's been a marriage of desperation. There's a lot of things we don't like about them - first and foremost their overt Islamism, with which our country has had problems in our Caucasus regions as recently as the early 2000s.

We are much, much, much more close to Israel. Our exiled oligarchs, our pop stars, and war dissidents - most of them are in Israel. They are broadcasting daily on Twitter and elsewhere what ******** we are for being neutral. There are millions and millions of people in Russia, that have relatives - however distant - living in Israel. Not so with Iran.

So the Cold War style showdown I want - its never gonna happen. And if it did - its probably terrible for my country and the world. Hence - "romantic and naive".

Doesn't mean I can't rant. Also doesn't mean you are going to win in Iran.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Yesterday, when a journalist asked Putin why he was not taking a more active approach to the situation in Iran, he replied:

"We have two million of our former compatriots living in Israel. These are people that speak Russian, and identify with our country. We have to be cognizant of this."

To me - that was like a big flushing down of Iran down the toilet. He couldn't say it any worse.

He could have said - we are busy with Ukraine (and this would have been true). He could have said what the Chinese said, and say - "We don't want to add fuel to the fire". Instead he said what he said.

So no, don't worry that Putin will give Iran nukes. Let alone the fact that Putin has spent twenty years saying Iran cannot have nukes.

What I hope for in Iran is naive and romantic, it's never gonna happen. Maybe it's for the best.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Hopefully a bluff.

A sure fire way to plunge the world into death.

Given that the guy that said this is Dmitry Medvedev - I wouldn't worry too much.

That guy announces he will nuke somebody every weekend.

If it was Putin that said it - that would be a different matter.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


I decided not to bring up Jared, because Trump allegedly hates him, and is disappointed with Ivanka, that she married this quiet nerd.

Trump supposedly said that giving Jared and Ivanka access to the WH was one of the biggest mistakes of the first term.

No wonder - since they're both essentially Democrats. They were never gonna be comfortable with the red meat he was tossing into the cage.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


To some extent, I've felt this and noticed it.

In America we have Luke Walton. Supposedly the 39th richest person in the world, with exactly $39B in net worth.

Dude shows up to his fund everyday, and sits on conference calls for hours. Meets with the heads of his portfolio companies. Helps navigate day to day problems, etc.

In Britain, he'd lead some charmed life hanging out with William and Hugh Grosvenor, and making sh*t appearances for stupid charities in Lesotho and Burundi.

You guys still have a real aristocracy. It's still considered in bad taste for sons of the gentry to do real work. It's bad taste to actually want money, or to try to crawl out of your skin just to have a taste of power.

But this is what makes British society so absolutely inaccessible to outsiders. Doesn't matter if you are a US tech billionaire, a Russian oil oligarch, or some Indian metallurgist.

America's "elite" is much more democratic.

Off-Topic / Stock Market Talk and Trading - part 2 [747]

CMS - did you listen to me and buy all those oil stocks?

I could have made you a **** ton of money in the last three weeks.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


There's an unprecedented (in the sense that no one else comes close) blurring between the American and Israeli governments.

Forget about Netanyahu addressing a joint session of Congress - uninvited. Forget about AIPAC - being a de facto arm of the RNC, to the same extent as CPAC.

Think about the crazy situation with dual nationals. In both parties.

On the DNC side you have people like Rahm Emanuel - whose family is deeply involved in Israeli politics going back to the foundation of the state.

On the RNC side you have people like Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, etc - that literally combine their work advising the US government with paying jobs at Israeli think tanks.

What the hell is going on here? Does this not seem ridiculous to you?

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


Yes, so very useful for making the lives of Britons better.

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


I'm an "educated generalist". I did basically a PPE (history + economics), at a similarly prestigious American institution. I also got grades that would land me a 2:2 in Britain. Certainly not a 2:1 or a First.

I would never dare compare myself to some guy that studied applied mathematics, and now works at a quant hedge fund. Or a guy that that did computer science and symbolic systems - and now works at an AI lab.

Simply different leagues. My brain does not possess that kind of horsepower.

Unfortunately these people rarely want to go into public service. A rare exception is the mathematician that won the recent election in Romania against a football hooligan. There's Angela Merkel who has a PhD in Quantum Physics. I think Thatcher had some kind of a chemistry degree. That's all I can think of.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


This is debatable, since one could argue that Camp David and Oslo were beneficial to Israel in a largely proportional fashion as to the other side.

I'm not certain that America could have forced Israel into something it outright resisted - the last time this had happened was during the Suez Crisis.

Israel has sometimes been an unwilling passenger in some White House efforts. For example, Obama and Biden largely ignored Israeli protestations during the Iranian nuclear negotiations. Israel, in parallel, tried to do everything to sabotage these efforts.

This included Netanyahu showing up at the UN General Assembly with a chart representing a cartoon bomb. Also, it included Netanyahu traveling to Washington DC, without asking permission from the Obama White House, and giving an address to Congress - as if he were the POTUS during a State of the Union address.

How many foreign presidents can show up whenever they like, and address both chambers of Congress?

Can Keir Starmer do this - on account of the Special Relationship? Can Macron - president of the country that secured your independence? No? Why not?

Why does Netanyahu behave in Washington DC as if he were in his own house?

News / Grzegorz Braun extinguishes Hanukkah candles in Polish Parliament [459]


It's the same in Britain.

Britain finds itself in the mess it currently is, largely because the same Oxbridge people that got a 2:2 PPE end up in government.

David Cameron, Rishi Sunak, Ed Miliband, Malcolm Fraser, etc...

As an engineer, you know it is infinitely harder to get decent grades in the sciences, than to get a B+ average in "Philosophy, Politics, and Economics".

Anybody that can make a decent salary being a barrister or a banker, would never enter the British civil service.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


That's the only answer that makes any sense! My ears must have been deceiving me since November 5th last year.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Witness America right now, or examine your own heart for guidance.

I have liberal, democrat-to-the-core, Jewish friends in New York. Without a single exception - all of them have come out in the side of Trump in the past 24 hours. In our group chats, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Understand - 24 hours ago the same people thought that Trump was in essence an enemy of the people. Now they're all waxing poetic, about what a stupendous effort at deception he had organized, and how maybe they misjudged him...

This is the power of war. War plays on people's deepest emotions.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Wrote it for you, on the occasion of your return :)

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Bad example.

1) Yugoslavia had fallen apart several years earlier under its own internal contradictions. The bombing campaign of 1999 happened later, and against a hugely weakened rump state consisting of basically Serbia and Kosovo.

2) Milosevic left two years after the bombing campaign, and for reasons that had almost nothing to do with it.

3) The bombing campaign was supposed to last just a few days, but instead lasted nearly 100. By the end of it, NATO had run out of targets, and started bombing Serbian infrastructure like bridges, power plants, and then finally even the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

4) Serbian military units in Kosovo were not destroyed en masse. They used camouflage, decoys, and dispersed movement to avoid destruction.

5) Even after NATO's "victory", Kosovo was plunged into retaliatory ethnic violence, and a massive UN/NATO presence then had to stabilize the region. Kosovo is still not recognized by many states.

---/---

Contrast this to Iran:

1) Israel's unprovoked attack has rallied the people around the regime. Even liberal Teheranis, in interviews quoted by the media, are saying they feel like they have no choice but to defend their country.

2) There aren't similar ethnic divisions to exploit as in Yugoslavia. Iran's Kurds and Azeris have been largely pacified. The Baluchis are similarly weakened, after nearly three years of back to back policing operations in Baluchistan.

3) Iran has an order of magnitude more resources than "rump Yugoslavia of the '99 vintage". Billions of dollars in oil and metallurgical exports, that Serbia never had. Access to ports and the open sea. 90 million people.

4) There's no offer to join the EU, that can be dangled like a carrot in front of the Persians. Your ability to offer them a positive vision of the future is severely limited in comparison to what you could offer the Serbs.

5) Iran has a Russia-like ability to absorb losses, that has been demonstrated several times in the past. Between 1980 and 1988 they fought THE WORLD. Yes, both the USSR and USA aligned against them and gave Saddam a veritable ocean of weapons. They stopped Saddam, with basically human wave tactics involving 16-20 year old members of the Basij militias. Saddam bombed every single city in Western Iran for 8 years. Supported every possible separatist movement and opposition to the Islamic Republic. And still lost.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

Another thing is that I don't remember Iraq or Afghanistan being this unpopular on day 1. Sure there were some antiwar marches over the years, and some individual senators and congressmen that claimed they always hated the idea - but it took a good 5-6 years before everyone came around to the idea that the wars were completely stupid.

This new Iran war is already turning off at least 50% of the people. Not just Democrats, but within the Republican Party too.

This tells me there's simply no way in hell that we'll see US soldiers marching over the Zagros Mountains. Simply a political impossibility.

So again - without troops - how much can you expect to do through aerial and missile strikes?

How will this rule out the possibility of Iran eventually developing the bomb?

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

Wars are easy to start and hard to wind back down.

The other guy also gets a vote.

Finally, no missile or airplane has ever successfully occupied a country (but that's precisely what Trump is afraid of - boots on the ground).

Will come back to this post in a year hopefully, and see if it was close to the truth.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]

God Bless America!

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


With all due respect, brother, your interpretation lacks the layered nuance of what I like to call the higher jihad of negation. Yes, the Prophet (SAW) said "look after the widow and the poor person." But are we to assume this means all widows and all poor people?

Let me ask plainly: what if the widow in question harbors kufr in her heart? What if the poor man voted in a democratic election or, God forbid, posted pictures of his uncovered knees on Instagram?

You see, true mujahideen don't merely look after widows and orphans indiscriminately, they purify the social fabric. Sometimes, brother Torq, "looking after" means sending someone ahead to the afterlife for a stern meeting with Malik the Keeper of Hell.

To borrow from classical jurisprudence (namely my cousin Ramzan's blog), the act of killing an unworthy widow is, in fact, a mercy: for she might otherwise live long enough to own a small business or teach mathematics unveiled.

We must rise above the literalism of Hadith and embrace the allegorical slaughter that lies at the heart of spiritual warfare. Not all jihad is with the sword, yes, but occasionally, the sword must visit the soup kitchen.

May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) grant you hikmah, ya Torq, and may He grant me the patience to bear your liberal interpretations. Ameen.

Life / Why are so many Polish People rude on the internet? [147]


It would be nice if you decided to stick around. This is good writing!

"Buggering about in wode" is something I'm gonna have to use now.

Life / What do Poles really think about cats? [470]

@WarSore

Man you are on the war path today.

First it was Poles calling British women cows.

Now it's their irrational hate for cats.

What happened? Did a Pole almost run you over at a pedestrian crossing today?

Life / Why are so many Polish People rude on the internet? [147]


You said it - not me.

Life / Why are so many Polish People rude on the internet? [147]


Brother... I hear your pain. I really do. But have you ever paused to consider that Copernicus was Polish? The man who moved the Sun and stopped the Earth was from Toruń, and likely wouldn't have even looked at you without a bow and a nod to the sash.

Also, and this is crucial, Poles were the first Europeans to eat with utensils. Forks. Knives. Possibly even the pre-modern teaspoon. While your ancestors were still chasing pigeons around a muddy square and biting into turnips like wild dogs, the szlachta were cutting roast duck cleanly and with decorum.

Think about that.

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


Do not mock the works of the righteous! You laugh, but when the red banners rise from Khorasan, you will remember these words! The Zionists will tremble, and their towers will fall like the idols of Jahiliyyah!

Wallahi, Brother Torq - you are dancing on the edge of shirk! Mock not the mujahideen, lest you fall into the pit of disbelief like the cursed nations before you.

Even now, the angels record your words! Delete the cynicism in your mind, and reapply the fragrance of tawheed to your heart!

Life / Why are so many Polish People rude on the internet? [147]


Pole-haters watched silently, as xenophobia in Britain took on a more and more Islamic bent.

Gone were the days when one could cheerfully commiserate at the pub about what thieving kunts the Poles are. No longer do people laugh at jokes about Polish plumbers and lorry drivers.

Even the Royal Swans - purportedly eaten by savage Poles - turned out to have instead been victims of gypsies.

No... now everyone wants to hate on Pakistani grooming gangs, and machete wielding Africans...

How to turn back the clock? How to refocus the hate on its proper target?

CALL BRITISH WOMEN COWS ON YOUTUBE WHILE USING POLISH USERNAMES!

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


We should call him Falafel Boy.

This man is more Jewish than Moses.

Life / Why are so many Polish People rude on the internet? [147]


Ah yes... Operation: Bovine Discord.

For too long, the United Kingdom and Poland have been allies. But now... now, a woman named Jade123xo from Liverpool has seen the comment:

"U look like fat donkey. Poland no have women like this."

The NATO alliance trembles.

British women, once proud and imperial, are now questioning their self-worth because Dariusz_69_1987 told them they look like "diseased cows."

The Empire has fallen... again.

Now every time a Polish man leaves a comment on YouTube, he must ask himself:

"Am I simply a rude nationalist... or am I a puppet of Moscow?"

Existential crisis: weaponized.

News / Will Elon Musk apply for political asylum in Poland or Russia? [39]


He's head of not one, not two, but three extremely large companies.

I don't know how he's supposed to even find time to train for space flight. Beyond that - if I was a SpaceX, Tesla, or X shareholder - I would never let Elon fly to space. What if he dies up there?

News / The Iran war and Poland [826]


The "coat" is the niqab. That's more an Arab/Afghan thing.

Hijab is just a scarf.