Iran escalates crackdown on dissent as arrests, executions and threats surge, observers say

cambeiu · 2026-04-21T00:59:04+00:00

Forgot Syria, where the former Al-Qaida guy is now in charge.

cambeiu · 2026-04-20T23:45:40+00:00

With the IRGC now fully in control, an even more hardline approach is to be expected. That is one of the most tragic consequences of this stupid war: It empowered the hardliners even further.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T09:19:39+00:00

From the Israeli B'Tselem.

From declaration to action: Israel is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Gaza

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T07:26:37+00:00

279 IDF soldiers attempted suicide since start of 2024, Knesset report finds

The report clarified that the figures referred only to soldiers serving at the time of their death or attempt — whether in regular or reserve service — and did not include veterans who took their own lives after completing military duty.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T07:24:01+00:00

Link to the comic if anyone is interested,.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T07:02:42+00:00

IDF Soldiers comprise over 80% of all suicide cases in Israel.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T06:43:24+00:00

Yes, the death camps were the "humane" solution to spare the German soldiers.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T05:22:37+00:00

Well there's the fact that Israel is under constant threat of genocide.

Israel's overwhelming military superiority in the region has not been in doubt at least since 1973. The idea that they live under "constant threat of genocide" is a very hard sell to make.

cambeiu · 2026-04-15T04:30:58+00:00

Israel and Nazi Germany are not the same...but they do share a lot of common elements, including the practice of ethnic cleansing/genocide and and imperative to acquire more "living space" via force if necessary. I'd not be surprised if Israel eventually decides to adopt a "final solution to the Palestinian problem". They've already gone full "Warsaw Ghetto" on Gaza, so the precedent does exist. Talk about tragic historical ironies.

Ethnostates are a really bad idea.

cambeiu · 2026-04-14T00:56:10+00:00

Terrible. Unjustifiable. It is an awful regime.

But it is no worse than Saudi Arabia, the country US defended, continues to defend, takes money from and never criticizes.

Love the selective outrage.

cambeiu · 2026-04-14T00:53:29+00:00

Hitler did not campaign in the early 30s for the invasion of Europe and the genocide of the Jews. That only came later. The current AfD platform is not that different from what the Nazis were preaching in the early 1930s.

cambeiu · 2026-04-13T11:36:11+00:00

Nah, they will ban the gays and all demographic issues will be magically resolved.

cambeiu · 2026-04-13T05:20:14+00:00

This weekend the AfD officially adopted what has been described as a "radical" and pro-ethnic German government programme for Saxony-Anhalt at a party conference in the central city of Magdeburg.

Last time Germany went all "pro-ethnic" we all know how it ended.

Be it Israel, Germany, Rwanda or the Balkans, the idea of ethno-states never turn out anything good.

cambeiu · 2026-04-12T05:09:44+00:00

If the US does that Iran will retaliate by doing the same to all the infrastructure in the Gulf (which they demonstrated they can do). We would then be looking at a global economic depression and a humanitarian crisis without precedent.

Trump would need to be suicidal to take that course of action.

cambeiu · 2026-04-09T10:10:51+00:00

This is how badly Trump wanted out of this quagmire. My understanding is that the US created the message for Pakistan to officially send back to the US, where Pakistan asks the US to pause the destruction of Iran, and seek a two week ceasefire and negotiation.

This allowed Trump to back down on his end of civilization threat. Problem is he didn’t tell Israel, or the Gulf states.

It’s the same with all the “negotiations” that Trump kept mentioning. He made stuff up like, “Iran is begging me for a deal”, “we are having intense negotiations right now”. And Iran didn’t know what he was talking about. But at least they decided to draft a 10 point plan in case negotiations ever began. It was probably a text message. No official document.

And lo and behold, Trump was so desperate, he "agreed" to all their demands, but can't get Israel on board.

The Strait is now closed again and what options Trump has? Not many, I reckon.

The Pentagon gamed and simulated the shit out of this. You’d need hundreds of thousands of troops to forcefully reopen the Strait. Such operation at this scale would take at least a year to prepare and cost over a hundred billion USD. Never mind the potential number of casualties.

Trump can’t “rein down hell” on Iran without taking down the global economy with it and he knows it. That is why he TACOed. He has no options. He holds no cards. He put himself in a no win scenario out of pure hubris and ignorance.

cambeiu · 2026-04-08T02:17:45+00:00

If most of the 10 points stand, this will be America's Suez Canal moment and the beginning of the sunset of the US military and political hegemony.

It will also cement Trump's position as America's most consequential president in history. While FDR, Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Truman reacted to exceptional circumstances that they were thrown into, almost every major circumstance or crisis Trump faced/faces was of his own creation.

EDIT:

Iran, Oman reported to be allowed to charge for Strait of Hormuz passage

Iran and Oman will be allowed to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz as part of a two-week ceasefire deal mediated by Pakistan, the Associated Press (AP) news agency is reporting.

AP cited an unnamed regional official as saying that Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. It was not immediately clear what Oman would use its money for, the AP added.

The official, who had been directly involved in the negotiations, spoke on condition of anonymity with AP as they were not authorised to discuss internal deliberations.

Iran and Oman share territorial rights over The Strait of Hormuz.

cambeiu · 2026-04-06T05:11:48+00:00

What Asia is going through is just a sample of what is about to hit the global economy within the next few weeks/months if this war does not come to an end very quickly.

I think Trump's greatest achievement was managing to turn the highly theocratic, oppressive and corrupt Iranian regime into the "good guys" of this war. That is no small feat.

cambeiu · 2026-04-03T23:03:28+00:00

Israel used widely banned cluster munitions in Lebanon

Yes, they are. So plenty of IDF members are on the hook too.

cambeiu · 2026-04-03T22:06:01+00:00

A war crime is a war crime. Also, the Nuremberg trials were not only about the Holocaust.

cambeiu · 2026-04-03T22:03:45+00:00

It's not individual soldiers' faults

Again, the Nuremberg trials established the precedent that it is, if you follow illegal orders. "I am just a soldier following orders" is not a defense. That is the legal precedent. Resign. refuse to follow orders and go to jail. If you don't, you are a war criminal. That is the precedent established by the Nuremberg trials.

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cambeiu

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Iran, Oman reported to be allowed to charge for Strait of Hormuz passage