Best Of

Netanyahu calling for regime change in Iran. Good!

During the address, he said that Israel's fight is not with the Iranian people, but against Iran's leadership.

He listed Iranian targets that have been hit by Israel, including military and nuclear sites, and adds: "More is on the way. The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker.

"This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard," he tells the Iranian people.

He reiterates that Israel's objective is to thwart what he describes as Iran's nuclear and missile "threat".

"As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom," he says, adding: "The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around its flag and its historic legacy, by standing up for your freedom from the evil and oppressive regime.

Regime change, unless you - or some other army - is prepared to occupy the enemy country, is a complete red herring. Good though the end of the Iranian regime would be, I find it odd that it is dominating the discourse so much, since there is no army willing and able to occupy Iran.

If the population can be inspired to rise up, that could be enough.

When has that ever happened before?

It hasn't. It's a complete red herring. It's not going to happen.

The nearest example would be the uprising against Saddam in the 1990-91 Gulf War - but in that conflict a large portion of the Iraqi army was engaged and and destroyed in a ground war, which resulted in the defeat of the Iraqi army and its ejection from occupied Kuwait.

Where is Israel going to fight Iranian army forces on the ground to produce a similar level of defeat?

The possibility of regime change is not a justification for Israel's attack (though it may be justifiable on other grounds). It's a red herring. It's irrelevant to the matter at hand.

Starmer wants a "diplomatic solution"

Neville Chamberlain speaks.

With the exception of Brown and Blair, Starmer is without a shadow of a doubt the most despised PM on Politicalbetting.com

I think Boris was probably our favourite.

Again, hardly.

Boris was despised on here. Can't think many who had him preferred at the time. HYUFD and myself, not many others. And even I was calling for his exit by the end.

If it were up to PB Tories, we'd have had Hunt instead.

You’re absolutely right. Boris was loathed here by the vast majority.

Not during peak Covid he wasn't. Brexit, Covid, Ukraine? "He got all the big calls right" as I recall

He did.

There were still few of us willing to give him that credit where its due.

I broadly agree. And he is a liberal Tory, far more to my taste than the likes of Robert Jenrick. And he can be very funny.

But he's a lying toerag and it was his downfall. He's done.

Absolutely fair judgment. I agree completely.

As seen on twitter, we’ve been told for 30 years (which is roughly coterminous with Netanyahu’s corrupt leadership) that Iran is on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb.
Those Iranians really are perfectionists.

Odd that no one questions the Israelis nuclear weapons. A question the BBC studiously avoids

At least Israel is a peace loving nation that is no threat to its neighbours.

When you thought Israel couldn't be hated by any more nations than it alreaddy is.....I bumped into an elderly Armenian neighbour and by way of conversation mentioned the attack on Iran which she clearly knew nothing about. But instead I got a twenty minute lesson on how the ghastly Israeli's are booting the Armenians out of Jerusalem!

I'm now going to have to do some reading.....

The far right Israelis have - unsurprisingly - been complete wankers to the Armenians in Jerusalem. You’d think that Israeli Jews - of all people - would have some sympathy for the one other “European” people to have suffered an actual genocide in modern times. But no

It is very sad to see what’s happened to Israel. I am naturally pro-Israel. It has a right to defend itself. I loathe islamism…


But much of it has apparently been taken over by the worst kind of ethno-nationalists, devoid of redeeming features

Trump has really brought peace to the Middle East.

To be fair to the old narcissist his efforts there have been less destructive than his disastrous actions and inactions in Ukraine, which is the conflict that really matters for the Free World.

A very European perspective.

It’s also very correct unless and until China attacks Taiwan.

That rather depends where you live. In Europe Putin is the problem in the ME its Iran or Israel in the States its China and Mexico in India its Pakistan and vice versa.

Israel would very much like us to believe it is defending the free world, of course.

It seems you’ve gone fully for the MAGA world view: that there is no longer a free world, just regional powers and their legitimate spheres of influence.

Because that is the case. Britons aren’t obviously freer than Chinese people. We lock people up for tweets and now we have a blasphemy law

I think the bit in bold says more about your ability to see the obvious than it does about the relative freedom of British and Chinese people.

It just illustrates his talent for hyperbole and trolling.

No, it illustrates the talent of the pb Centrist Dads in ignoring what is now plainly apparent. We were once sort of free to speak, if never quite as free as the Americans

Those days have gone. Look at what we are allowed to talk about and not talk about. Look at what you are forbidden to say - it’s a long long list in the UK. Say it in the wrong way and you go to jail

Look at the subjects banned on here. Look at the online safety act. Look at hate speech laws. Look at the new blasphemy acts. Look at the teacher in Batley. We are NOT FREE