/r/WorldNews Discussion Thread: US and Israel launch attack on Iran; Iran retaliates (Thread #14)

Thanks. I hadn't seen anything since the initial announcement close to the ceasefire. I know Iran has a hard line of no attacks on Hezbollah and also they want to charge a toll for the Strait. I don't see Israel accepting the former and I don't see Trump accepting the latter so it will be pretty incredible if they actually get something done.

One source says yes another says no. No idea what is really happening

Not trying to be apathetic to the lives lost but 4k isn't that much compared to how many losses they inflicted on the enemy. US defeats are not military defeats they are political. We more recently saw how the US scrambled it's forces to rescue 1 pilot. This is where the modern Western population wavers. It would've been way worse if that pilot ended up getting captured. Iran or China will not have any of these problems. Iran took so many losses but still hasn't surrendered. You can't beat them conventionally unless you want to go full scorched earth, which no one is willing to do. That's what the OP meant.

China has been stockpiling the majority of the world's rice and wheat. It's estimated to have enough in reserves to feed their entire population for more than a year. And that's before accounting for their corn supply of over 70% of the world's reserves.

I wouldn’t worry about unemployment, at least in US and Europe, if anything they would need as much labor as possible. The issue would be a decline in living standard due to a shortage of goods.

Never heard about any of the names you mentioned... I guess im living under a rock

And the results of that would be a total disaster. At worst, Iran retaliates by bringing the rest of the ME down with it by striking infrastructure everywhere. At best, America decimates a nation that will, within a year of them leaving, likely still be an illiberal theocracy hell bent on taking revenge. This assessment also ignores that decimating the nation does little to open the Strait. Houthi, Hezbollah, and IRGC supporters will form an insurgency which will do anything to obliterate ships passing through the Strait. They only need to hit a few a year to raise insurance costs beyond the rate corporations are willing to pay. I am begging Americans to consider there are some problems you can not bomb your way out of.

> still agree it is in the world's best interest to avoid escalating And you can also disagree. I think the world would undeniably be a better place if the current Iranian regime wasn't in power, it's just a question of whether the costs justify it or not. Appeasement doesn't always work. It's more painful in the short term, but it's often less damaging in the long-term to remove a tumor than it is to try and ignore it. Try looking at this from Israel's perspective. How can you negotiate with someone who's out to destroy you? What are you going to get out of negotiations, a promise to delay your destruction by a bit, in exchange for concessions? Like, what kind of "negotiation" is that? I wouldn't even call that negotiation at that point, that's extortion. It doesn't matter if the other party is rational, in fact that's probably even worse, because it means they're acting strategically. As far as I'm aware, at not point in any past agreement or negotiations did Iran promise to stop supporting their proxy groups or to temper their ME aggressiveness. Americans can maintain their quality of life regardless, because government budgets don't work like personal budgets. I don't recall American QOL dropping significantly with the past wars you're referring to. Probably in part because most defense spending goes directly back into the economy, just like many other types of government spending.