KentK93 said:

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nortex97 here is another reason we need to rethink NATO because so many of our so called allies are letting the lawyers run the show. Most Americans don't know about this story of betrayal of UK hero's:

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The three-hour battle was brutal. It was the first time in decades that soldiers had fixed bayonets and charged across open ground to trenches where the enemy, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and assault rifles, had dug in. Three other soldiers received Military Crosses for their valiant actions that day.

But while L/Cpl Wood was being decorated for bravery, behind the scenes, human rights lawyers had already started the ball rolling on a legal case that would become the greatest smear of British troops in recent history.

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nortex97 said:

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An anchor of freedom/resistance to China/capitalism in South America? In all seriousness we've been steadily increasing our military and economic cooperation with them over the past year, as part of the Donroe doctrine.

We do import a lot of beef/agricultural products I think from the Argentinians, and they jumped on a free trade deal this year.

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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Who gives a ****? They bring nothing to the table. At all.

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sts7049 said:

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nortex97 said:

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An anchor of freedom/resistance to China/capitalism in South America? In all seriousness we've been steadily increasing our military and economic cooperation with them over the past year, as part of the Donroe doctrine.

We do import a lot of beef/agricultural products I think from the Argentinians, and they jumped on a free trade deal this year.

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china's already got deep roots into Argentina whether you realize that or not. they have a "space exploration" site in Patagonia. currency swap deals when Argentina was (and still is) desperate for cash. a friendly president is good but kind of meaningless. we have a long way to go to supercede the head start China has there.

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flown-the-coop said:

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DeschutesAg said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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Here's to hoping negotiations go nowhere and we get back to bombing Iran in earnest.

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Trump said there aren't many legitimate Iranian military targets left to strike from the air or the sea. Trump and Bibi said they have hit and destroyed almost all of them.

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But one thing remains, the Islamic Republic of Iran must be ended.

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A warranted, justifiable objective.

But how can that be accomplished?

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Still have some ayatollahs, mullahs and IRGC leaders that need their one way ticket to paradise.

Over 80% of the people in Iran DO NOT SUPPORT the illegal theocratic regime that has oppressed its population, murdering tens of thousands of them, in what has been 47 years of terror propagated by Iran against its people, its neighbors, its foes, its declared call to destroy the USA and Israel, and now adding attacking their allies to their list of atrocities.

True regime change should remain an objective,...

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...but I believe Trump will accept something less if they agree to and abide by the other demands.

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JUST IN - Trump admin places economic sanctions on a major China based oil refinery and approx 40 companies and tankers involved with shipping Iranian oil — AP

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 24, 2026

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The Iran war cannot be understood in isolation. It is one front in a broader campaign that began the moment Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025. The pattern is unmistakable: the trade war against China (which Washington won), the eviction of Chinese influence from Canada, Mexico, Panama, and Greenland, the realignment of Asian and Central Asian nations away from Beijing's orbit, the seizure of Maduro's Venezuela and its oil redirected to American markets, the flipping of Colombia, and the deployment of U.S. military forces to Nigeria ostensibly to protect the country's persecuted Christian population which brought Africa's largest oil producer firmly into the American strategic sphere. Add to this the ongoing strangulation of Cuba, and a coherent global picture emerges.
Now comes the Middle East. Before Operation Epic Fury, China received 5.35 million barrels per day through the Strait of Hormuz. That figure has now collapsed to approximately 1.22 million. China is already experiencing fuel shortages, with queues forming at gas stations and strategic reserves declining daily. China bought 95% of all Iranian crude exports. The Hormuz blockade, in effect, is an energy embargo on Beijing executed through Tehran.

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DeschutesAg said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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Here's to hoping negotiations go nowhere and we get back to bombing Iran in earnest.

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Trump said there aren't many legitimate Iranian military targets left to strike from the air or the sea. Trump and Bibi said they have hit and destroyed almost all of them.

Quote:

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But one thing remains, the Islamic Republic of Iran must be ended.

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A warranted, justifiable objective.

But how can that be accomplished?

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flown-the-coop said:

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When folks set aside their TDS or attempt to cast everything Trump does as dumb, no plan, war monger, big spender, unhinged, etc… then his "strategy" and plan is pretty obvious and straightforward.

America First is not just about focusing on America above all else, it has another meaning which is to return America to being first in the world at everything that matters.. wealth, trade, education, military, space, technology, etc.

Why we conceded some of these things to China or other areas is something folks will write about decades from now.

And Trump fixing it will similarly be under appreciated until years from now.

Trump certainly has his faults, but he is focused and determined and I believe 2026, our 250th year, will be one that pivots us from an era of fecklessness, capitulation, half assing, concessions to our advisories and we will be firmly on a path to restoring ourselves to the Alpha Dog of humanity.

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Whether or not Europe stands with us, whether or not your journalists do their jobs, whether or not your politicians demonstrate the courage to act, I will fight for my people and my country. pic.twitter.com/bbE5842oiT

— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) April 24, 2026

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They can't defend themselves and bring NOTHING at all to the table. Zip. Zero, Nada.

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DeschutesAg said:

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They can't defend themselves and bring NOTHING at all to the table. Zip. Zero, Nada.

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Apparently the Trump Administration and DoD don't agree with you. They continue to ask them for help.

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DeschutesAg said:

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Ellis Wyatt said:

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Who gives a ****? They bring nothing to the table. At all.

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You sound like Trump. I don't think many US military commanders from the Iraq War 2003-2011 and Afghanistan War 2001-2021 agree. There were 1200 Allied soldiers who died from those two U.S. conflicts. Several thousand more Allied soldiers were wounded, and thousands of those wounded have permanent injuries. That doesn't even count the damage from PTSD. We asked for their help. They came. Show some respect. They earned it.

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flown-the-coop said:

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When folks set aside their TDS or attempt to cast everything Trump does as dumb, no plan, war monger, big spender, unhinged, etc… then his "strategy" and plan is pretty obvious and straightforward.

America First is not just about focusing on America above all else, it has another meaning which is to return America to being first in the world at everything that matters.. wealth, trade, education, military, space, technology, etc.

Why we conceded some of these things to China or other areas is something folks will write about decades from now.

And Trump fixing it will similarly be under appreciated until years from now.

Trump certainly has his faults, but he is focused and determined and I believe 2026, our 250th year, will be one that pivots us from an era of fecklessness, capitulation, half assing, concessions to our advisories and we will be firmly on a path to restoring ourselves to the Alpha Dog of humanity.

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Today, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., Ltd., a China-based independent teapot refinery. China-based teapot refineries continue to play a vital role in sustaining Iran’s oil economy, and Hengli Petrochemical…

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) April 24, 2026

Iran has 93 million people and the average person eats 3 lbs of food a day. 16 thousand metric tons of food a day.

Iran produces about 35% of its food. Their rail capacity through Turkmenistan is only 800 TEU a YEAR or 21 metric tons a day lol

They’re going to starve

— Latinx Adjacent Doctor PhD (@TonerousHyus) April 25, 2026

The rail line out of Iran via Turkmenistan is really for “secret Chinese goods” so things like missile precursors or weapons. So they won’t use it for food or anything tbh and it takes weeks to bring one train in.

Really they only have the small merchant ships in the Caspian

— Latinx Adjacent Doctor PhD (@TonerousHyus) April 25, 2026

Queso1 said:

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Yet here we are.

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flown-the-coop said:

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When folks set aside their TDS or attempt to cast everything Trump does as dumb, no plan, war monger, big spender, unhinged, etc… then his "strategy" and plan is pretty obvious and straightforward.

America First is not just about focusing on America above all else, it has another meaning which is to return America to being first in the world at everything that matters.. wealth, trade, education, military, space, technology, etc.

Why we conceded some of these things to China or other areas is something folks will write about decades from now.

And Trump fixing it will similarly be under appreciated until years from now.

Trump certainly has his faults, but he is focused and determined and I believe 2026, our 250th year, will be one that pivots us from an era of fecklessness, capitulation, half assing, concessions to our advisories and we will be firmly on a path to restoring ourselves to the Alpha Dog of humanity.

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YouBet said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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When folks set aside their TDS or attempt to cast everything Trump does as dumb, no plan, war monger, big spender, unhinged, etc… then his "strategy" and plan is pretty obvious and straightforward.

America First is not just about focusing on America above all else, it has another meaning which is to return America to being first in the world at everything that matters.. wealth, trade, education, military, space, technology, etc.

Why we conceded some of these things to China or other areas is something folks will write about decades from now.

And Trump fixing it will similarly be under appreciated until years from now.

Trump certainly has his faults, but he is focused and determined and I believe 2026, our 250th year, will be one that pivots us from an era of fecklessness, capitulation, half assing, concessions to our advisories and we will be firmly on a path to restoring ourselves to the Alpha Dog of humanity.

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Agree with all of this but I won't let him off the hook of being a big spender. However, I will give some credit that he's thinking about it; he's just thinking about it differently. He's thinking he can generate enough new revenue via tariffs and all of these other geopolitical changes to offset our spending that we have chosen to ignore.

I think he's wrong on that and we won't get to see the outcome of it anyway once the Dems get control back. He has 3 years to get these changes too ingrained that the Democrats can't change it back.

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AGHouston11 said:

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YouBet said:

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flown-the-coop said:

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When folks set aside their TDS or attempt to cast everything Trump does as dumb, no plan, war monger, big spender, unhinged, etc… then his "strategy" and plan is pretty obvious and straightforward.

America First is not just about focusing on America above all else, it has another meaning which is to return America to being first in the world at everything that matters.. wealth, trade, education, military, space, technology, etc.

Why we conceded some of these things to China or other areas is something folks will write about decades from now.

And Trump fixing it will similarly be under appreciated until years from now.

Trump certainly has his faults, but he is focused and determined and I believe 2026, our 250th year, will be one that pivots us from an era of fecklessness, capitulation, half assing, concessions to our advisories and we will be firmly on a path to restoring ourselves to the Alpha Dog of humanity.

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Agree with all of this but I won't let him off the hook of being a big spender. However, I will give some credit that he's thinking about it; he's just thinking about it differently. He's thinking he can generate enough new revenue via tariffs and all of these other geopolitical changes to offset our spending that we have chosen to ignore.

I think he's wrong on that and we won't get to see the outcome of it anyway once the Dems get control back. He has 3 years to get these changes too ingrained that the Democrats can't change it back.

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That's the problem- time. 3 years? Depending on how bad the midterms go he likely will be taken out at the knees.

Congress will be a circus way worse than it is now. Then the presidential cycle starts up and the Republican Party will start to knife each other way worse than it is now. They will turn on Trump too maybe even worse than the first term.

Nobody has seen Trump yet when he's not running for president. No doubt he's going to be part of the upcoming circus.

But time is not on Trump's side and the timing of this attack on Iran was not good.

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sts7049 said:

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the hardest working man in the internet keeping people informed

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AGHouston11 said:

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Queso1 said:

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Yet here we are.

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Maybe Jared can present that to them in the negotiations if they show this time. I'm sure he's tired of the interruptions this is causing for his business deals involving his multibillion private equity firm investing in Israel.

He needs to get something done soon. The likelihood of Israel making it for three weeks without blowing something up is not great.

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