International Politics

[steviewevie]

Hamas say they're not taking part in ceasefire talks...so that's it. WW3 starts Friday.

[Neil]

40 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Hamas say they're not taking part in ceasefire talks..

who knew that Hamas weren't partners for peace?

[steviewevie]

2 minutes ago, Neil said:

who knew that Hamas weren't partners for peace?

Maybe they're a bit miffed that Israel recently killed their leader.

[steviewevie]

if these ceasefire talks fail, which they probably will, and we see a wider war in the middle east, a lot of that will be on Biden. It's ok coming up with deals for peace or whatever, but if the guy on your side is blatantly ignoring it and you're still unconditionally supplying them weapons so they can continue the carnage, well that is on you.

[Spuddhism]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

if these ceasefire talks fail, which they probably will, and we see a wider war in the middle east, a lot of that will be on Biden. It's ok coming up with deals for peace or whatever, but if the guy on your side is blatantly ignoring it and you're still unconditionally supplying them weapons so they can continue the carnage, well that is on you.

 

It's very hard to believe the US government are serious about wanting a peace deal when in almost the same breath they're announcing a new $20 billion arms deal with Israel. They've said the arms won't be supplied until a few years from now but it does give Israel the confidence to crack on using what they have now.

 

I read a comment from someone the other day that sums it all up, "don't pay attention to their words, pay attention to the flow of weapons". 

 

Calling publicly for a ceasefire just means they can point to those statements years from now and rewrite history. 

Edited August 15 by Spuddhism
Typo

[Spuddhism]

Shower thought, probably obvious but here goes. 

 

Hamas have a hard line leader now, who was a principal architect of the October attacks.

 

Hamas are now saying they won't engage in peace talks. 

 

Influential people in the Israeli and US governments are pushing for an invasion of - and all-out war with - Lebanon. 

 

And it is looking increasingly likely that Iran will get drawn in, with Starmer and others calling on them to try to dial that possibility down (that's assuming our government are serious about peace, which could be reasonably doubted, but that's another matter). 

 

So. Why would this leader of Hamas agree a ceasfire now, when the whole region could be about to get involved in a war with Israel? 

 

It's looking grim out there 😔

[Spuddhism]

14 minutes ago, Spuddhism said:

"don't pay attention to their words, pay attention to the flow of weapons"

 

"The U.S., Israel's biggest ally and weapons supplier, has sent Israel more than 10,000 highly destructive 2,000-pound bombs and thousands of Hellfire missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October, U.S. officials told Reuters in June." 

 

2,000-pound bombs, ffs!

 

That is not, and never would be, an encouragement to strike in Gaza with any precision.

[steviewevie]

7 minutes ago, Spuddhism said:

Shower thought, probably obvious but here goes. 

 

Hamas have a hard line leader now, who was a principal architect of the October attacks.

 

Hamas are now saying they won't engage in peace talks. 

 

Influential people in the Israeli and US governments are pushing for an invasion of - and all-out war with - Lebanon. 

 

And it is looking increasingly likely that Iran will get drawn in, with Starmer and others calling on them to try to dial that possibility down (that's assuming our government are serious about peace, which could be reasonably doubted, but that's another matter). 

 

So. Why would this leader of Hamas agree a ceasfire now, when the whole region could be about to get involved in a war with Israel? 

 

It's looking grim out there 😔

well yeah...too much geo politicking going on with not enough sh*t being given about people in Gaza.

 

Who knows why Hamas did this Oct 7th attack. Was it out of desperation? Was it to just get Israel to release prisoners in exchange for hostages? Or was it to provoke Israel in retaliating and then initiating a wider war and also bring divisions between Israel and it's western allies (which is how it is playing out). But, also possible that the attack actually got out of hand and it was not planned to be like that. We'll maybe never know.

As for the US/Israel thing, I guess gets complicated with arms/funds Israel gets to defend itself, and how it actually uses those arms/funds, but whatever surely US has some leverage over Israel that it seems unwilling or unable to use, Biden is old school in that he sees Israel as the plucky little nation set up as a safe space for Jews and which was fighting valiantly against oppressive neighbours, whereas Harris belongs to a younger generation who (maybe) sees Israel as the oppressor.

 

Anyway, who knows what is going on behind the scenes. Probably in the end Hamas want to be able to survive as a group and have some say in any future for Palestine, but this would be unacceptable for Israel. What happens with hostages or Palestinian citizens is secondary.

 

If the cold war between Iran and Israel turns hot though the implications could be massive..global. Look at the allies each side has.

[Spuddhism]

59 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

If the cold war between Iran and Israel turns hot though the implications could be massive..global. Look at the allies each side has.

Yep, we're all in a very dangerous place for sure. 

[steviewevie]

Apparently ceasefire deal is close...everyone wants it...only problem is Israel and Hamas.

[steviewevie]

[charlierc]

Should we be worried about mpox yet?

 

Certainly I'd be more assured if we could be proactive in helping the worst affected areas of Africa contain outbreaks at source. A few cases are likely in Europe and we do seem to have caught it early compared to an outbreak in 2022 when we were way behind the curve on it, but maybe it is just flashbacks to covid and thinking "Oh no not again"

[steviewevie]

3 hours ago, charlierc said:

Should we be worried about mpox yet?

 

Certainly I'd be more assured if we could be proactive in helping the worst affected areas of Africa contain outbreaks at source. A few cases are likely in Europe and we do seem to have caught it early compared to an outbreak in 2022 when we were way behind the curve on it, but maybe it is just flashbacks to covid and thinking "Oh no not again"

just don't touch anyone and you'll be fine.

[charlierc]

14 hours ago, steviewevie said:

just don't touch anyone and you'll be fine.

So go back into lockdown then.

 

In fairness, as I said, at least the western health bodies seem more assertive this time than an outbreak 2 years ago where there was a lot of inaction that made it worse than it needed to be. But equally, as said, would feel safer if there was a more proactive approach in helping the worst affected areas and tackle the virus at source.

[steviewevie]

23 minutes ago, charlierc said:

So go back into lockdown then.

 

In fairness, as I said, at least the western health bodies seem more assertive this time than an outbreak 2 years ago where there was a lot of inaction that made it worse than it needed to be. But equally, as said, would feel safer if there was a more proactive approach in helping the worst affected areas and tackle the virus at source.

No you can go out and talk to people, or even shout at people, just don't have sex with them.

[steviewevie]

Personally I find that very easy, others may find it more of a struggle.

[steviewevie]

Blinken arrives in Israel...says last chance to get a deal...everyone shrugs and carries on.

[steviewevie]

[Nobody Interesting]

36 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Blinken arrives in Israel...says last chance to get a deal...everyone shrugs and carries on.

 

Eat, Sleep, Blinken Arrives, Repeat

[steviewevie]

Sweden...fash utopia

 

[steviewevie]

etc

[steviewevie]

[steviewevie]

everyone seems bothered about a small boat sinking when it has rich people on it.

[steviewevie]

Don't think that Ukraine tactic of invading part of Russia to divert Russian forces from east is working...Russia making gains...

[stuie]

52 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

Don't think that Ukraine tactic of invading part of Russia to divert Russian forces from east is working...Russia making gains...

I think that was inevitable but it's also putting pressure on Putin and calling for a resolution. Loads of people in Russia are freaking out right now!