What's going on in the Middle East?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ no reply to my response?
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=761813&p=10463425#p10463363

Anyway, seems US talks with Iran aren't going the way the US wants:

Non-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are evacuating from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources said on Wednesday.

Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, however, in recent days talks over Iran's nuclear programme appear to have stalled.

A US state department official told the BBC: "We are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies.

"Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our mission in Iraq."

US President Donald Trump told a podcast on Wednesday that he was growing less confident that a deal could be reached over Iran's nuclear programme.

The US wants Iran to stop enriching uranium, which can be used to create a nuclear bomb, in exchange for easing economic sanctions.

Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said his country would retaliate against US bases in the region if talks fail and Trump orders military strikes against Iran.

Reuters reports that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also approved the voluntary departure of families of US military personnel from countries across the Middle East, including Kuwait and Bahrain.

Testifying in front of a congressional panel on Wednesday, Hegseth said he believed there are "plenty of indications" that Iran is "moving their way towards something that would look a lot like a nuclear weapon".

Iran says its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian energy generation and that it is not trying to build an atomic bomb.

Also on Wednesday, the UK's Maritime Trade Operations organisation - part of the Royal Navy - issued a warning saying that increased military tensions in the Middle East could affect shipping.

The price of oil initially increased more than 4% when news of the US evacuation broke, in anticipation of regional insecurity potentially leading to supply problems.

Around 2,500 US troops are based in Iraq, according to the defence department.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c629yk5z07vo

No...your bolded red section, point three stands on its own. Intent was always there. Competency sadly wasn't. Today they are paying for that incompetency.

Intent is a criteria for genocide too, though now it is way past just intent.

'

You're telling me the most powerful military in the Middle East with standoff weapons requiring them to not put boots on the ground has intent to commit genocide but the best they can do with that intent is 57,000 dead after 600+ days of urban combat. That number also includes combatants since the Hamas run Min of Health makes no differentiation when publishing figures. And with a genocide happening the side that is being genocided has no intent to ever surrender even though they are being genocided???

Cool!!!!

Most powerful (with the help of the US)
Seems you are crediting Israel with having self-restraint from just obliterating Gaza and the West Bank and calling that proof of no genocide. Oct 7th was a good excuse to lift that "restraint". Israel is wary of international condemnation as is apparent when Netanyahu said they are allowing aid back in for no other reason than international pressure.
Palestinians have no intent of leaving, even if it means death - that much you have correct.

"Even if it costs us our souls, we will not leave Gaza,"
The scenes of Palestinians on the move have echoed black-and-white footage from 1948 and the mass evacuations that took place during fighting before and after the creation of the state of Israel.
More than 700,000 people were then forced from their homes. The majority of Gazans are descendants of those original refugees.
"If there is only one drop of blood left in our children, we won't go out of Gaza. We won't give up on it!"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78xre2ynd4o

[Dizzy28]

^ no reply to my response?
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=761813&p=10463425#p10463363

Anyway, seems US talks with Iran aren't going the way the US wants:

Non-essential US embassy staff and their dependants in Baghdad are evacuating from Iraq due to heightened security risks, US government sources said on Wednesday.

Officials did not say exactly what prompted the removal, however, in recent days talks over Iran's nuclear programme appear to have stalled.

A US state department official told the BBC: "We are constantly assessing the appropriate personnel posture at all our embassies.

"Based on our latest analysis, we decided to reduce the footprint of our mission in Iraq."

US President Donald Trump told a podcast on Wednesday that he was growing less confident that a deal could be reached over Iran's nuclear programme.

The US wants Iran to stop enriching uranium, which can be used to create a nuclear bomb, in exchange for easing economic sanctions.

Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said his country would retaliate against US bases in the region if talks fail and Trump orders military strikes against Iran.

Reuters reports that US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also approved the voluntary departure of families of US military personnel from countries across the Middle East, including Kuwait and Bahrain.

Testifying in front of a congressional panel on Wednesday, Hegseth said he believed there are "plenty of indications" that Iran is "moving their way towards something that would look a lot like a nuclear weapon".

Iran says its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian energy generation and that it is not trying to build an atomic bomb.

Also on Wednesday, the UK's Maritime Trade Operations organisation - part of the Royal Navy - issued a warning saying that increased military tensions in the Middle East could affect shipping.

The price of oil initially increased more than 4% when news of the US evacuation broke, in anticipation of regional insecurity potentially leading to supply problems.

Around 2,500 US troops are based in Iraq, according to the defence department.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c629yk5z07vo

No...your bolded red section, point three stands on its own. Intent was always there. Competency sadly wasn't. Today they are paying for that incompetency.

Intent is a criteria for genocide too, though now it is way past just intent.

'

You're telling me the most powerful military in the Middle East with standoff weapons requiring them to not put boots on the ground has intent to commit genocide but the best they can do with that intent is 57,000 dead after 600+ days of urban combat. That number also includes combatants since the Hamas run Min of Health makes no differentiation when publishing figures. And with a genocide happening the side that is being genocided has no intent to ever surrender even though they are being genocided???

Cool!!!!

Most powerful (with the help of the US)
Seems you are crediting Israel with having self-restraint from just obliterating Gaza and the West Bank and calling that proof of no genocide. Oct 7th was a good excuse to lift that "restraint". Israel is wary of international condemnation as is apparent when Netanyahu said they are allowing aid back in for no other reason than international pressure.
Palestinians have no intent of leaving, even if it means death - that much you have correct.

"Even if it costs us our souls, we will not leave Gaza,"
The scenes of Palestinians on the move have echoed black-and-white footage from 1948 and the mass evacuations that took place during fighting before and after the creation of the state of Israel.
More than 700,000 people were then forced from their homes. The majority of Gazans are descendants of those original refugees.
"If there is only one drop of blood left in our children, we won't go out of Gaza. We won't give up on it!"
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78xre2ynd4o

They don't have to leave. Just surrender.
Release the hostages and stop firing rockets at Israel. Cant' know if it will work if you don't try it.

The fact 700,000 people had to flee in 1948 based on the results of war started by their own leadership is quite sad. Sucks to be represented by the beta army.

The United Nations resolution sparked conflict between Jewish and Arab groups within Palestine. Fighting began with attacks by irregular bands of Palestinian Arabs attached to local units of the Arab Liberation Army composed of volunteers from Palestine and neighboring Arab countries. These groups launched their attacks against Jewish cities, settlements, and armed forces. The Jewish forces were composed of the Haganah, the underground militia of the Jewish community in Palestine, and two small irregular groups, the Irgun, and LEHI. The goal of the Arabs was initially to block the Partition Resolution and to prevent the establishment of the Jewish state. The Jews, on the other hand, hoped to gain control over the territory allotted to them under the Partition Plan.

After Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, the fighting intensified with other Arab forces joining the Palestinian Arabs in attacking territory in the former Palestinian mandate. On the eve of May 14, the Arabs launched an air attack on Tel Aviv, which the Israelis resisted. This action was followed by the invasion of the former Palestinian mandate by Arab armies from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/19 ... sraeli-war

Anyhow Oct 7th is quite relevant despite what you may think and it is the reason for the season
Yesterday two more hostage bodies recovered


Yair Yaakov and Aviv Atzil. There is a video of Yaakov's kidnapping released by Hamas and true genocidal intent can be seen on the faces of the kidnappers.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

They don't have to leave. Just surrender.

Surrender to what? To an apartheid system and being treated as second-class human animals and being blockaded as they have been for decades?

I agree October 7th is very relevant - I've said before that October 7th was retaliation

Alpha army, beta army - Is Ukraine the alpha or a beta army in the Ukraine/Russia conflict?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

'The only people I've ever seen in Gaza with weapons are the IDF,' says British surgeon

NHS doctor Victoria Rose says she never saw armed Palestinians in Gaza hospitals, though Israel claims Hamas uses them for command centres.

Medical facilities are usually protected during conflicts under international law, but Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas uses them for command centres.

Asked about Israel's allegations, Dr Rose said: "I've never treated or seen anyone - in any of the hospitals that I've worked in - in military uniform or with a weapon.

"The only people I've ever seen in Gaza with military uniforms and weapons are the IDF."

https://news.sky.com/story/the-only-peo ... n-13380662

[Dizzy28]

They don't have to leave. Just surrender.

Surrender to what? To an apartheid system and being treated as second-class human animals and being blockaded as they have been for decades?

I agree October 7th is very relevant - I've said before that October 7th was retaliation

Alpha army, beta army - Is Ukraine the alpha or a beta army in the Ukraine/Russia conflict?

Peer to the aggressor

[sMASH]

People around the world are seeing the dots connecting

[sMASH]

The term is 'kill box'. The us and Isreal set up the aid cages as kill boxes . They coudl do that every day for 2 centuries if they want

[sMASH]

If the authorities are honest they will treat the zionists as terrorists

[sMASH]

The dots are connecting around the world

[sMASH]

The goodly US and the terrorists ... In their own land

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

They don't have to leave. Just surrender.

Surrender to what? To an apartheid system and being treated as second-class human animals and being blockaded as they have been for decades?

I agree October 7th is very relevant - I've said before that October 7th was retaliation

Alpha army, beta army - Is Ukraine the alpha or a beta army in the Ukraine/Russia conflict?

Peer to the aggressor

As opposed to asymmetrical

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopts resolution demanding immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire

The General Assembly overwhelming backed a resolution on Thursday demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages and resumption of humanitarian aid to stave off famine. There were 149 votes in favour, 12 against – including Israel and the US – and 19 abstentions.

Applause rang out in the General Assembly as members adopted the resolution, with 149 out of 193 countries voting in favour, thus attaining the required two-thirds majority.

Twelve countries voted against the resolution and 19 abstained.

The US joined Israel in opposing the text, along with Argentina, Fiji, Hungary, Micronesia, Paraguay, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164281

“checkbook diplomacy”

[matr1x]

The dots are connecting around the world FB_IMG_1748547808123.jpg

Her drawing skill and her logic is coming from the same place. Empty heads

[matr1x]

The goodly US and the terrorists ... In their own land FB_IMG_1749341756628.jpg

It was not a good look.

And torture is not good either.



Wait, weren't Muslim folks chopping off ppl head?

[matr1x]

To fully grasp it, your ppl real hurt ppl over the years, and 1 injustice and allyuh frothing like stale piss

[Dizzy28]

It begins !
Operation Am K'Lavi!

[coltspeed]

It begins !
Operation Am K'Lavi!Screenshot_20250612-211237.jpg

Petty attacks! Let's see the response!
Don't understand why indo or afros in this country support a racist culture that wont think twice to treat you as a used tampon.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Israel has long envisioned a military attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. Many in the Middle East, the United States and Europe are now wondering whether that moment has arrived.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that officials in the United States and Europe believe that Israel seems to be gearing up for a potential strike, even as the Trump administration is seeking a deal with Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

An Israeli attack would risk igniting a regional war that could pull in the United States, which withdrew some diplomats and personnel from the Middle East this week, fearing an Iranian retaliatory strike. President Trump has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel against attacking Iran, increasing tensions between the two leaders.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/israel- ... k-why.html

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east ... an-nuclear

aggressor and playing the victim again

[alfa]

Iran was promised to them 3000 years ago

[Dizzy28]

Maybe should have spent some of that nuclear weapons money on air defense. Basically the IAF operating at will.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ Does Israel have nuclear weapons?

Cherry picking which global entity findings to adhere to

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Trump in 2018 took the decision to tear up the existing deal with Iran unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, isolating the United States from its Western allies and sowing uncertainty before a risky nuclear negotiation with North Korea. The decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, left the 2015 agreement reached by seven countries after more than two years of grueling negotiations in tatters.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/worl ... -deal.html

That deal also allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency to go into Iran to investigate if Iran was working on nuclear weapons. The IAEA revealed the presence of uranium traces at multiple undeclared locations in Iran, raising concerns about potential secret nuclear activities. However, these investigations did not directly find evidence of nuclear bombs in Iran, but rather pointed to possible undeclared nuclear material and activities. In 2019 there was no definitive evidence of a fully operational nuclear weapons program or actual nuclear bombs being developed in Iran.

[matr1x]

Obama didn't achieve sheit.


The Iranian regime play him

[sMASH]

This has been going on for over a day.

Over 120 persins were directly killed in 2 days time

[sMASH]

Every time they escalated inside Palestine , they escalated outside .

[sMASH]

It has begun

[sMASH]

EXCLUSIVE from ZETEO: American Security Contractor Unloads On US-Israeli ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ I thought I was signing up for an aid mission. But what I've witnessed in Gaza is horrific.
Editor’s note: Given the value of this information and perspective, Zeteo granted the author's request for anonymity in order to speak freely without intimidation or fear of retaliation.

Members of a private US security company contracted by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) direct displaced Palestinians as they gather to receive relief supplies at a distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2025.
I am one of hundreds of security contractors who have been in Gaza to facilitate aid under the new US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation project.

And it’s all BS.

I joined what sounded like a good mission, with good pay – through a company called UG Solutions. We were given little information.

I was told I got the job just days before we were set to depart. It was very last minute.

After arriving in Washington, DC, on May 16, we received a slightly more detailed brief. We were going to provide security for aid sites in Gaza. It was said again and again: “If you're here to get your gun on, then pack your sheit and go home, because that's not what we're here for. We're here to help.” I was happy with that idea.

The next day, we departed for the Middle East. Our group included about 300 people of diverse backgrounds, including those who served in special operations military units, former infantrymen, individuals who were in the military but had never deployed, and others who did not serve in the military at all, but had worked in law enforcement. Some folks seemed way too old. It seemed like the company was so short on personnel that they weren’t picky about who they allowed in on this.

Getting gear and equipment was difficult. They didn't have enough uniforms to go around. They didn’t provide optics, or scopes, for our weapons (like the red dots that help you aim). Weapons themselves were a whole other thing. We were eventually each issued an AR-style rifle, as well as a pistol sidearm. But no one was tested to ensure they had proper training.

Some of us were also given machine guns. We were later issued less lethal options: pepper spray, flashbang grenades. You guessed it: no one was tested to see if they knew how to properly use them. How close to people can you throw a flashbang? If you're going to pepper spray someone, where do you spray? For how long? Nobody knows because nobody told us. We're talking about people who don't have access to water, and we're ready to spray them in the face with pepper spray. Why would we do that? They're just trying to get aid we're there to give them. It doesn't make any sense.It wasn’t just a lack of weapons training. Those of us with a military deployment background have cultural awareness training as well – something that’s important when trying to connect with a civilian population. But that wasn’t offered to us, including those who’ve never deployed, before we headed into Gaza.

And I’m not even mentioning the fact that these guys are also sleep-deprived. Before we deployed, we were told we were going to be working 12-hour shifts – four days on, two days off. We have actually worked up to 20 hours a day sometimes. No days off. We were told we’re operating within international law. But they never delineated what those laws or guidelines were. The only distinct guidance was that if you or those around you feel threatened, you have the authority to defend yourself. But that left a lot of gray areas.

So, you have guys with hardly any knowledge of the culture, no deployment experience, and are not necessarily qualified to be using the weapons they had in charge of security at aid sites in a place where we know millions are desperate for aid. What could go wrong?

A lot did go wrong.
Pure Chaos

On my first day, the second official day of the mission, we were overrun; it was pure chaos. At the aid site’s entrance gates, we had people waiting in five lanes separated by metal fencing. One lane was strictly for women and children. The other four were all men, and they were letting people in, five, 10, 20 at a time – whatever we could handle. It was not organized, and people were getting smushed and trampled. Eventually, there were so many people in the lanes that the gates burst.
We fell back, letting people get the aid. They were never aggressive towards us. They were only trying to get aid – aid, by the way, that consisted of flour, rice, lentils, tea bags, and noodles; things that need water. They don’t have any water. And we’re not giving out water.

We soon had to fall back again, to a second perimeter. At that point, some personnel started firing warning shots in the air.
And then we fell back once more. As we were being overrun, we were directed to push everyone out, even as they still collected items off the ground.

We all got in a line and began pushing these people out. We’re telling crying women trying to pick up food for their families that they had to go. They were looking at this food on the ground that they desperately needed, and they couldn’t take it. It was absolutely horrific.

One of the guys, who was the first to fire a warning shot, was also the first I saw to make physical contact with a Palestinian. Someone was stooped over, picking up supplies – and without missing a beat, the US contractor pushed them to the ground.

was later told that the Israeli military needed to clear those people out because they were going to come through. They soon showed up with tanks, as some sort of security presence, but we had pushed people out by then.

This idea that the Israeli military isn't involved is BS. They're very much involved. They have offices in our compounds. We share our radio communications with them. The higher-ups claim the Israeli military is not involved, but it feels like they’re the man behind the curtain. Sure, they’re not on-site with us, but their snipers and tanks are just hundreds of meters away. You can hear them shooting all day.

The aftermath of the chaos was just as remarkable. During those long hour shifts, food wasn’t provided. We were given a stipend to get our own groceries back in Israel, but there just wasn’t much time for that, let alone to sleep. Some of our guys were eating the aid just scattered all over the site.
Aid Trap?

One episode sticks with me. We were monitoring an empty site all day; sometime after dark, dozens of flatbed trucks finally brought aid. The Israeli military soon radioed in that 200 to 300 civilians a couple of kilometers (less than two miles) north were approaching. We then observed an Israeli drone go out there.
Shortly thereafter, that area started getting lit up with artillery.

The generous interpretation? Maybe the Israelis were firing between our position and the people in order to keep them from moving forward. I don't think that's the case. After all, tanks fire all day long near these aid sites. Snipers fire from what used to be a hospital. Bombs and bullets fly all day long in one direction – toward Palestinians.

We know the Israeli military has been enforcing curfews in some parts of Gaza. I would not be surprised if the aid was delivered at night deliberately, given it would then draw people out, at which point they could be fired on as combatants, even though they weren't. It’s very clear that the Israeli military will take any opportunity available to fire.
eople sometimes have to travel miles to get to the sites – and that means through Israeli-controlled areas. Any excuse the military can come up with to say someone is a threat, they’ll take. There’s not really any international media in these areas, and the West doesn’t really want to believe the Palestinian media, so you get to this point where the truth itself is murky. All the while, all I’ve heard all day is Israeli tanks, machine guns, snipers, and bombs.

But never any fire from the opposite direction.

Initially, when we first started giving out aid, it was really heartening. I mean, I could cry. Palestinians were saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘I love America.’

But that didn’t last.

I want to be clear: I went into this pretty open-minded. I don't have a side. I despise human suffering, and I hate that it exists. I was just hoping to be helpful. But I don't think we are. What we – these American companies and contract personnel – are doing is directly leading to more pain, suffering, and death for the Palestinians in Gaza.

[Dizzy28]

^ Does Israel have nuclear weapons?

Cherry picking which global entity findings to adhere to

Israel has nuclear weapons before I was born. You want me to be angry at things far before my time?

But then again you keep living in 1948 Instead of 2025.

But no I would not be thrilled the regime in Tehran that funds and supports all the major proxies across the Middle East as well as Russia's war in Ukraine go nuclear . It would also start an entire arms race.

Saudi Arabia has said they will acquire nuclear if Iran gets a bomb. You just know secretly Arab leaders would be quite happy that Israel did this. In fact it would be no surprise if one ever finds out the Jordanians, Saudis and Emiratis knew beforehand.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

It would also start an entire arms race.

Well if Iran wasn't working on nuclear weapons before, preemptive attacks like these will surely push them to do it.

CNN - President Donald Trump told CNN in a brief phone call Friday morning that the United States “of course” supports Israel and called the country’s strikes on Iran overnight “a very successful attack,” while warning Iran to make a nuclear deal.

When asked about a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday that sought to put distance between the US and the Israeli action, Trump told Dana Bash: “We of course support Israel, obviously, and supported it like nobody has ever supported it.”

The president went on to urge Iran to reach a deal.

“Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know, I gave them, I don’t know if you know but I gave them a 60-day warning and today is day 61,” he told CNN.

“They should now come to the table to make a deal before it’s too late. It will be too late for them. You know, the people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliners,” the president said. He would not specify which people he was referring to.

Trump is set to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, according a US and an Israeli official.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/12/politics/trump-israel-iran-strike

Have to admit the Israel strikes were incredibly precise if they managed to kill all the hardline people Trump was negotiating with.

It's even more incredible that during negotiations you kill all the people disagreeing with you in the negotiations - ludicrous even that you then say "hey it wasn't me, but I warned you - so to the remaining negotiators, please make a deal quick or else"