45 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Hmm, I can't help but wonder why Trump isn't doing the same thing for, say, Myanmar. Thousands of innocent citizens (if not tens of thousands) have been slaughtered there over the last few years, or captured and tortured, or used as slave labor for the Tatmadaw.

Would it be because Iran has huge oil reserves, but Myanmar doesn't? Call me a cynic, but I think that's exactly why Trump is willing to 'help' Iran, but at the same doesn't give two hoots about what's happening in Myanmar, which is probably worse than what's happening in Iran.

Myanmar didn't attack Israel , that's the difference

2 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Reported that missiles guided SS Roosevelt and a number of battle ships with missiles capabilities are heading to the Persian Gulf.

The USS Roosevelt is a Nuclear powered Aircraft carrier and there are no active battleships in any navy of the world now.

14 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

The USS Roosevelt is a Nuclear powered Aircraft carrier and there are no active battleships in any navy of the world now.

USS Theodore Roosevelt is indeed a nuclear powered aircraft carrier which I read was docked for repairs. USS Roosevelt heading towards the Gulf is a guided missiles destroyer. There are a few war ships with the name USS Roosevelt.

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

USS Theodore Roosevelt is indeed a nuclear powered aircraft carrier which I read was docked for repairs. USS Roosevelt heading towards the Gulf is a guided missiles destroyer. There are a few war ships with the name USS Roosevelt.

Thanks!

I am easily confused!

Using AI, the Iranian authorities attempt to fool the world with 'pro government demonstrations'.

Iran protests: AI and dated photos mislead about pro-regime rallies | Watch

4 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

I have actually tried to make it simple for you to understand. Nevermind. Limits to helping the dim.

Tu stultus es.

He tells Iranians to keep protesting and yet it’s the opposite to what he’ll let American citizens do. Even a blithering idiot like trump must recognise how ridiculously stupid it makes him look. Of course he won’t acknowledge the fact, but spew some crap that only he and his minions believe, as tries to BS his way out of another demonstration of his hypocrisy and weak leadership.

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

I believe that rapid assistance such as some targeting of the leadership would be well received. However, I think that it is too late for that and the USA is incapable of the art of discretion. The regime has beat off the protests and 2500 were sacrificed.

Trump left the job unfinished last June. He let Khameini survive and didn't finish off the IRGC leadership sufficiently. And, now, Trump's indecision will doom this uprising along with all the others.

A very interesting article about Iranian opposition to the regime :

Why western diplomats are wary of predicting end days for Iran’s regime

Lack of mass defections from the regime

Vali Nasr, author of the book Iran’s Grand Strategy, told the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a US thinktank: “There is no sign of any defections from within the regime or that it has in any way fractured. I am not certain the balance of forces necessarily lies with the protesters. Crowds win when the other side falls.”

Ray Takeyh, senior fellow of Middle East studies at the CFR, agreed, saying: “This is not yet a national movement. There are a lot fence-sitters trying to figure which way they want to go. They will have to feel some degree of immunity to do as they did in 1978.”

Different approaches to handling the crisis but hardliners won out

The reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian said on the third day of the protests, “Don’t go after America or blame anyone … it is we who must find a way to solve the problems.”

However, the true power centres inside Iran – the 86-year-old supreme leader, the IRGC and the Supreme National Security Council – clearly decided the contrition needed to end.

Senior figures in the government have so far cohered around the message that the security forces had no choice but to confront an Israeli-inspired insurrection.

Economic reforms vital

There are private admissions that the underlying issues have to be grasped even if reforms involve taking on the banks and IRGC’s dominance of the economy. It is these economic reforms that challenge Iran’s elite that may create a true split at the top of the government – which is why they have always been postponed.

Takeyh warned: “The underlying causes of dissent – economic mismanagement, corruption, foreign policy disasters that have cost billions, and the lack of opportunity – cannot be addressed by the regime.”

One way or another, it is this impasse, once the mourning is over, that will have to be addressed.

5 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

For a man who react by the seat of his pants, who cares what he said today.

Indeed, only crazies take notice of Trump's lying B.S.........😒

Go ConocoPhillips! I wonder how much of the Trump portfolio is in oil stocks?

What does the US have to do with it? Aren't Iranians banned from immigrating to the USA? Aren't refugee and asylum applications closed?

On 1/15/2026 at 9:01 AM, Purdey said:

War, what's it good for?

Enriching the plutarchs, impoverishing the rest.