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'A few points of etiquette to begin with.' Is there no end of Steve's talents? or smugness? Anyway, he is obviously struggling to work out what Trump might have done other than carry out a surprise aerial bombardment of Iran at the behest of Netanyahu.Given that there was no imminent threat of attack by Iran that would give Trump the unilateral authority to order immediate military action, he should have gone to Congress; they have the exclusive power to declare war, not the president. This was an illegal attack. If military action was indeed deemed necessary, and Congress had approved it, then a clear strategy should have been developed with clear aims and a rigorous risk analysis run.There should have been discussions with other countries to ensure they understood the reasons, the aims and the plans and could decide themselves how much they were prepared to engage with the endeavour.You know, basic competent planning......Instead, we get a complete shit-show; no plan, no clue, no legal authority; just an asshole in the Whitehouse threatening the Global economy, security etc and slagging off allies and telling them to get oil themselves if they want it, while Netanyahu bulldozes southern Lebanon and murders medics, journalists etc.And, to top it all, sanctions on buying oil from Putin have been lifted so he can carry on bombing the crap out of Ukraine and threatening Europe.Yes, Steve, I can see why you are so confused with the whole thing, but then again, you're the guy who wanted the BBC to fly tout-suite over to Trump to pay him 10 billion dollars. You're smugness, arrogance and 'etiquette' is doing a hell of a lot of heavy lifting in my opinion.

Gerry Boyce ● 2d

I’ve stayed away from this forum for some time, and reading the tripe here from the usual suspects (Steven Rose, Robert Wheeler – but no Hawkes, and I thought he would have been wetting himself in excitement over all the bombing. Perhaps he was). Trump bleats that his NATO allies haven’t joined in his foolish war, but NATO, he should be reminded, is a North Atlantic defensive alliance, so there was no reason for it to become involved in an aggressive war far away from the North Atlantic that he didn’t even think to inform it that he was undertaking. And now he proposes to flounce away, inviting us to clear up the mess he has created! And I’m sick of reading the excuse that Iran wanted to eliminate Israel when it had no possible chance of even beginning to do. Before all this happened, Iran was a very long way from developing a nuclear bomb (despite Netanyahu’s endless claim of the last 30 years that it was weeks away from that), so the excuse that the threat was “imminent” is simply false. The regime in Iran is vile, make no mistake and I’d be perfectly happy to see it replaced, but stupidly bombing it from the air and hoping that would work was a fool’s errand, as was failing to realise that Hormuz Strait was a disaster waiting to happen. But no, whatever stupidity Trump undertakes is breathlessly applauded by the dismal trio (well, duo at the moment, pending a fresh supply of incontinence pants); the latest farce is all too likely to end in disaster, but no criticism of the perpetrator is contemplated.

Richard Carter ● 2d

On the contrary, Ivonne, I do pay attention to what you and others write and indeed I quoted Michael’s actual words in my earlier post.1) I have no doubt that people are concerned about a range of economic consequences of the war. But it is not ridiculous to suggest that pump prices loom large. In fact the YouGov poll found that 69% of respondents mentioned petrol prices as having the greatest impact on their lives with unspecified costs coming in second at 12% and next heating bills at 11%.2) I am sure that you are capable of distinguishing between Trump the man and Trump the president. But personal dislike tends to influence political judgment. Just to take one example, how many contributors to the Forum have paid tribute  to Trump for bringing about a ceasefire in Gaza? The reason, I suspect, is that most of those who opposed Israel’s campaign in Gaza simply cannot bring themselves to give Trump credit for anything, no matter what he does. That is what is meant by Trump Derangement Syndrome.3) America is helping Israel defend itself from Iran as well as doing the rest of the world a favour. Are you happy that Iran is a short step away from constructing a nuclear bomb? If not, what do you think should be done about this,  negotiations having failed.4) Obviously you don’t support the Iranian regime. No civilised person could possibly support a bunch of murderers and thieves. But I am afraid Trump and Netanyahu are running the only game in town. If you don’t want them to deal with Iran, who is going to do it? The reference to Britain’s intervention over seventy years ago to overthrow Mossadegh is irrelevant. That (disastrous)  intervention was to remove a democratically elected leader. One of the aims in this case is to remove a tyrannical regime which murders its own citizens, which is why so many Iranians have supported the attack despite the obvious danger to themselves from missile strikes.I don’t underestimate the dangers of the American- Israeli intervention. It is is not clear that the Americans have a plan. But something has to be done to curb  if not remove the current Iranian regime.

Steven Rose ● 2d

Oh, Steven, it appears that you hear what you choose to and not what is being said to you.1)  People are concerned about the effect of increased fuel prices.  As I said before:  "It will affect all distribution services, be it food (due to higher oil prices and increased costs of fertilizers), drinks, clothes as well as delivery services from online shopping, just to name a few." Are you saying they should not be worried about this?2)  Trump is a bully and I dislike him enormously as a person.  But I am not incapable of separating the character of a person with the actions he/she takes.  The fact that I disagree with the attack on Iran as it happened does not mean that I am incapable of rational thought.3) a)Netanyahu is a bully as well and is the PM of Israel. By the way, Trump is the President of the US.  That does not give them the right to attack a country (particularly Trump) on hearsay. 3) b) People are so supportive of Zelensky and Ukraine because the country was attacked by Russia.  Ring any bells?  Israel wants to defend itself - quite rightly too.  Is the US defending itself?  What about Trump's "we will bomb them and destroy them (or words to that effect)?I am no sympathiser of Iran's regime.  That does not automatically mean that I agree with Netanyahu or Trump. 4) "... but not to the point of wanting to do anything about it, especially if (it?) caused economic hardship here."  Steven, you really are the limit!!!  "Do anything about it?"  What would you do about it?  Imitate 1953 when Britain and the US deposed Mossadegh (democratically elected?) and installed the Pahalavis?  I believe then it was a CIA-MI6 coveted coup.  Was it called Operation Ajax?

Ivonne Holliday ● 2d

Meanwhile in Lebanon: Israel's military has said it will occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the end of the war against the Hezbollah armed group, Defence Minister Israel Katz said. He said the return of more than 600,000 displaced Lebanese residents would be "completely prevented" until north Israel's security was ensured.Mr Katz added that "all the houses in the villages adjacent to the border in Lebanon will be demolished in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun model in Gaza, in order to remove once and for all the border-adjacent threats from the residents of the north".Also, two UN peacekeepers were killed and two injured in an explosion today in southern Lebanon, 24 hours after another UN Peacekeeper was killed and one injured  by a projectile.On Saturday, three Lebanese journalists were killed in a targeted Israeli strike in southern Lebanon; Ali Shoeib, a reporter for Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar TV, and reporter Fatima Ftouni and her brother, cameraman Mohamed Ftouni, both from Al Mayadeen channel, were killed in the town of Jezzine.Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described it as a "brazen crime" that broke the "most basic rules" of international law by targeting reporters, "who are ultimately civilians performing a professional duty.This is the second time Israel has been accused of targeting journalists in Lebanon since the US-Israel war against Iran began a month ago.On 18 March, Al Manar reported its presenter Mohammad Sherri and his wife had been killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut while they were sleeping.Elsewhere, The World Health Organization said on ​Saturday that nine ‌paramedics were killed and seven others wounded in ​five separate ​attacks on health care in ⁠southern Lebanon.The latest ​incidents struck medical ​teams in five separate villages, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom ​Ghebreyesus said in ​a social media post.Oh, and then Israel's parliament passed a law making the death penalty a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military court of lethal attacks.Sixty-two politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voted in favour and 48 against the bill, championed by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.So pretty much the same old same old from Israel. I suspect that asking asking Steve to "avoid making wild statements based on prejudice rather than facts" is like asking Norman Bates to stop cosplaying his mother. 

Gerry Boyce ● 2d