The Iranians watched as American soldiers and their allies inflicted horrendous levels of suffering, death, and destruction on the Iraqi civilian population--non-combatants. And the Iranians are well aware of what an American occupation would really mean. No one wants to go through a humiliating and brutal foreign occupation. The Iranians do not want to end up like the Iraqis. They will fight, even if it means propping up an unpopular regime.
The war in Iran is being dictated by a foreign country (Israel, a minor country) and this has become glaringly obvious to the average American. And this war is to America's determent. And when Americans fall off the energy cliff, they are going to really suffer serious hardships. Israel's alliance with the US is effectively over.
Yes, you are right. The Trump administration is filled with low IQ, uncultured loudmouths and bullies. America looks inept and incompetent.
Maga died with the first bomb that hit Iran last winter.
America is now in steep decline.
Trump could have reversed mass migration, closed the borders, and revitalized the US economy. He chose to do Israel's bidding.
Israel is now on a very short timeline. The Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted 88 years. I doubt Israel will beat that.
Great stream. I also remember seeing it in the movies back in the days and enjoying it a lot. Can´t believe it´s been more than 25 years. Endeavour made a point I found quite interesting, namely that the Cold War made for greater stability compared to what came afterwards. If one thinks purely in terms of regime stability, I agree that a perpetual cold war is "better" than what we have now. Of course and as Mr. Morgoth pointed out, there is always the risk of proxy conflicts spiraling out of control. And yet the three great powers in "1984", though ostensibly and regularly at war with each other, also appear to at least implicitly collude with each other such that the fundamental balance of power is never overturned.
I think one of the main stabilizing effects of the Cold War, by always having external "system competition" on at at least almost equal level, was to make sure that the Western regime could not engage in "domestic" politics that were overly destructive internally. Extreme wokeness was not possible because that would harm military capabilities. Extreme financialization of the economy and "net zero" was also not possible because that would not only harm the real economy, but also hinder propaganda efforts to present one´s own population as being better off materially, and so on. With the big competitor gone, there was no obvious reason for the elites not to engage in pillaging both foreign and domestic for short term financial gain. It remains to be seen if and when that kind of shortsightedness becomes the empire´s downfall.
There is the obvious parallel with Rome and the Punic Wars, with writers from Antiquity observing that once Carthage was no longer a serious rival of Rome, Roman virtues and the political order started to degrade.
Just seen this and thought YES!! Something to listen to on hot day back at work after BH Monday. I remember watching Oppenheimer last year and thinking Nolan litterally stolen the entire visual style (including the intro) from this film....just blatantly ripped it off and passed it off as his own work (most people either didn't watch this film or it is too long ago). 13 days is just my favourite sort of film... Men making world changing decisions and trying to deal with the pressure and consequences
Excellent review.
The Iranians watched as American soldiers and their allies inflicted horrendous levels of suffering, death, and destruction on the Iraqi civilian population--non-combatants. And the Iranians are well aware of what an American occupation would really mean. No one wants to go through a humiliating and brutal foreign occupation. The Iranians do not want to end up like the Iraqis. They will fight, even if it means propping up an unpopular regime.
The war in Iran is being dictated by a foreign country (Israel, a minor country) and this has become glaringly obvious to the average American. And this war is to America's determent. And when Americans fall off the energy cliff, they are going to really suffer serious hardships. Israel's alliance with the US is effectively over.
Yes, you are right. The Trump administration is filled with low IQ, uncultured loudmouths and bullies. America looks inept and incompetent.
Maga died with the first bomb that hit Iran last winter.
America is now in steep decline.
Trump could have reversed mass migration, closed the borders, and revitalized the US economy. He chose to do Israel's bidding.
Israel is now on a very short timeline. The Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted 88 years. I doubt Israel will beat that.
Hegseth acting the movie in his head..........
Great stream. I also remember seeing it in the movies back in the days and enjoying it a lot. Can´t believe it´s been more than 25 years. Endeavour made a point I found quite interesting, namely that the Cold War made for greater stability compared to what came afterwards. If one thinks purely in terms of regime stability, I agree that a perpetual cold war is "better" than what we have now. Of course and as Mr. Morgoth pointed out, there is always the risk of proxy conflicts spiraling out of control. And yet the three great powers in "1984", though ostensibly and regularly at war with each other, also appear to at least implicitly collude with each other such that the fundamental balance of power is never overturned.
I think one of the main stabilizing effects of the Cold War, by always having external "system competition" on at at least almost equal level, was to make sure that the Western regime could not engage in "domestic" politics that were overly destructive internally. Extreme wokeness was not possible because that would harm military capabilities. Extreme financialization of the economy and "net zero" was also not possible because that would not only harm the real economy, but also hinder propaganda efforts to present one´s own population as being better off materially, and so on. With the big competitor gone, there was no obvious reason for the elites not to engage in pillaging both foreign and domestic for short term financial gain. It remains to be seen if and when that kind of shortsightedness becomes the empire´s downfall.
There is the obvious parallel with Rome and the Punic Wars, with writers from Antiquity observing that once Carthage was no longer a serious rival of Rome, Roman virtues and the political order started to degrade.
Just seen this and thought YES!! Something to listen to on hot day back at work after BH Monday. I remember watching Oppenheimer last year and thinking Nolan litterally stolen the entire visual style (including the intro) from this film....just blatantly ripped it off and passed it off as his own work (most people either didn't watch this film or it is too long ago). 13 days is just my favourite sort of film... Men making world changing decisions and trying to deal with the pressure and consequences