Regardless of everything ELSE you feel in your heart of hearts, and rightfully so, know this. What America is in conflict with in Iran is a nation that NONE of its neighbors openly align themselves with, and in most cases, decry. The animus between Shia Islam and ALL OTHER major sects is existential. Shia Islam asserts a primacy over all others that not merely condones but requires total violence against ALL who would impede their realization of complete dominance. It's written into their religious doctrine, that is to say, it is their religion. No negotiation, just summary execution.
The video that follows is an encapsulation of everything and so much more of what I witnessed in INTERNATIONAL news media, 47 years ago. Yes, even FORTY SEVEN years ago, American news media showed its willingness to forgo actual truth in broadcast news for commercial, economic gain to ensure "Return on Investment" from Wall St. We have NOT had a trustworthy news media since the Vietnam War.
Why do I say this? 47 years ago, we Americans in America had to rely on the State Department to tell us that the reason our citizens were taken hostage was a "revolution" in Iran that had been going on for more than two months. European and Asian News services covered this. PBS lightly covered this. The pathways that news traversed the globe were few, precious few, and our own government saw fit to wait till after a crisis to let us know. This complete lack of access to information encouraged the Republican Party candidate for President in 1980 to secretly negotiate with the then Ayatollah for the release of the American hostages, but only if he won the election. So much for the assumption of the humanity of Ronald Reagan. This negotiation is thought to have begun before the failed attempt at the rescue of the hostages. It is not known if the Iranians were warned. It is not known that they were not warned.
We feigned national surprise and fury at the perceived suddenness, bordering upon the clandestine, as to (we perceived) the rapidity of onset of this crisis to our (again, perceived) international standing. Now, with a one-man software coding project, lasting three days, the Infobahn has a tool that uses an army of AI agents to scour the whole of the world's internet space for real-time Open Source Intelligence. We now have an hour-long video production of the exact real-world, real-time events from the first missile fired into Iran through to now. (It is constantly updated and edited in form but not content to maintain a constant run time.)
Make no mistake. I do not condone the path taken to the front door of this war. But in the course of civilizations and humanity's aberrations, Iran combines the evil intent and methods of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Min, Mao Zedong, and dozens of others that have stained the surface of this planet with their existence.
However we got here, and regardless of to whomever's immediate political benefit this might be, the demise of the Iranian Shia Theocracy is an inarguable mandate. Their crimes against humanity are legion. It can be said that Vladimir Putin has studied Iranian methods to use in Ukraine. That is unknowable without direct verification, but it is more than merely conceivable, and the historical records of the actions of Russia against Ukraine bear more than a little resemblance to the tactics and activities of Iran since 1979. That is not stated to justify any position. It is stated to warn of the contagion that true evil presents.
We have been immorally forced into exercising the moral imperative to stand against evil incarnate.
(Im'ma let you reread that.)
This video is NOT for the squeamish. It shows, describes, and talks about a nation, in our lifetime, that has institutionalized levels of horror against its own citizens and the citizenry of neighboring states that have not been seen since WWII Germany, including in the Russia-Ukraine War.
via Kirk Steele / Kasual’s Substack (https://substack.com/@kirksteele/note/c-224688923), verbatim save for grammatical corrections...
THE IMMORALITY OF NOT SUCCEEDING IN IRAN
Regardless of everything ELSE you feel in your heart of hearts, and rightfully so, know this. What America is in conflict with in Iran is a nation that NONE of its neighbors openly align themselves with, and in most cases, decry. The animus between Shia Islam and ALL OTHER major sects is existential. Shia Islam asserts a primacy over all others that not merely condones but requires total violence against ALL who would impede their realization of complete dominance. It's written into their religious doctrine, that is to say, it is their religion. No negotiation, just summary execution.
The video that follows is an encapsulation of everything and so much more of what I witnessed in INTERNATIONAL news media, 47 years ago. Yes, even FORTY SEVEN years ago, American news media showed its willingness to forgo actual truth in broadcast news for commercial, economic gain to ensure "Return on Investment" from Wall St. We have NOT had a trustworthy news media since the Vietnam War.
Why do I say this? 47 years ago, we Americans in America had to rely on the State Department to tell us that the reason our citizens were taken hostage was a "revolution" in Iran that had been going on for more than two months. European and Asian News services covered this. PBS lightly covered this. The pathways that news traversed the globe were few, precious few, and our own government saw fit to wait till after a crisis to let us know. This complete lack of access to information encouraged the Republican Party candidate for President in 1980 to secretly negotiate with the then Ayatollah for the release of the American hostages, but only if he won the election. So much for the assumption of the humanity of Ronald Reagan. This negotiation is thought to have begun before the failed attempt at the rescue of the hostages. It is not known if the Iranians were warned. It is not known that they were not warned.
We feigned national surprise and fury at the perceived suddenness, bordering upon the clandestine, as to (we perceived) the rapidity of onset of this crisis to our (again, perceived) international standing. Now, with a one-man software coding project, lasting three days, the Infobahn has a tool that uses an army of AI agents to scour the whole of the world's internet space for real-time Open Source Intelligence. We now have an hour-long video production of the exact real-world, real-time events from the first missile fired into Iran through to now. (It is constantly updated and edited in form but not content to maintain a constant run time.)
Make no mistake. I do not condone the path taken to the front door of this war. But in the course of civilizations and humanity's aberrations, Iran combines the evil intent and methods of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Min, Mao Zedong, and dozens of others that have stained the surface of this planet with their existence.
However we got here, and regardless of to whomever's immediate political benefit this might be, the demise of the Iranian Shia Theocracy is an inarguable mandate. Their crimes against humanity are legion. It can be said that Vladimir Putin has studied Iranian methods to use in Ukraine. That is unknowable without direct verification, but it is more than merely conceivable, and the historical records of the actions of Russia against Ukraine bear more than a little resemblance to the tactics and activities of Iran since 1979. That is not stated to justify any position. It is stated to warn of the contagion that true evil presents.
We have been immorally forced into exercising the moral imperative to stand against evil incarnate.
(Im'ma let you reread that.)
This video is NOT for the squeamish. It shows, describes, and talks about a nation, in our lifetime, that has institutionalized levels of horror against its own citizens and the citizenry of neighboring states that have not been seen since WWII Germany, including in the Russia-Ukraine War.