4 ms·

I'm surprised this has not been mentioned, for context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_massacres https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_massacres

tgv 7mo ago
I think that's because nobody believes for one second that these strikes are a retaliation for that.
- philk10 7mo ago
  Epstein files and plummeting poll numbers are more likely reasons
  - yoyohello13 7mo ago
    My guess is Hegseth is cumming in his pants at the idea of starting the 10th Crusade.
    - eunos 7mo ago
      Then Hegseth and Caine must be prepared to face the next Taiwan strait crisis with depleted munitions.
croes 7mo ago
Rookie numbers. Wait until they got liberated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War
throwaw12 7mo ago
Are you saying those protested actually got funded by Israel and because Iran killed them, now Israel is retaliating? Now I really wonder if those protests were indeed fueled and funded by Israel, because we have seen videos of mosques being burned down by protestors, which is strange for Shia Muslim country, even if they don't like their government
- yoavm 7mo ago
  "A 2020 Online Survey by Gamaan found that 8.8% Iranians identifying as Atheist and a large fraction (22.2%) identifying as not following an organized religion and only 40% self identified as Muslims." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism_in_Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism_in_Iran
izietto 7mo ago
Maybe because nobody believes in the "exporting democracy" excuse anymore
- JumpCrisscross 7mo ago
  > nobody believes in the "exporting democracy" excuse Has this been argued?
  - 13415 7mo ago
    Not directly but OP seemed to intuit some sort of moral justification for this war of aggression ("humanitarian reasons"), and few people believe that to be a key motivating factor for the White House.
    - reliabilityguy 7mo ago
      > Not directly but OP seemed to intuit some sort of moral justification for this war of aggression There is an absolute moral justification for this war. Saying that US is the aggressor here is an absolute revisionism of history. Let us not pretend that Islamic Republic minded its own business since its inception, and suddenly the US and Israel decided to wage war on it. One example of IR's aggression is Beirut bombing in 1983 sponsored and planned by IR.
      - 13415 7mo ago
        Both from an international rights and from a moral point of view you're objectively wrong. This is not even worth a discussion. The fact that you need cite a terrorist attack from 1983 to justify an illegal war of aggression in 2026 instigated by a US president without Congressional oversight speaks volumes. > Islamic Republic minded its own business since its inception That's a straw man argument since nobody claimed that. Just to anticipate another weak argument that is a non-starter, a war of aggression is also illegal if it is started under the pretense of caring about a human rights situation. This kind of justification is quite common anyway. For the same reason, preventive wars are also prohibited and immoral. Not even you want to live in a world where such wars are common, you're more likely merely arguing from the perspective of someone whose country you believe to be in a position of strength.
yoavm 7mo ago
Not surprising - people don't count deaths in the Middle East if they're caused by fellow Middle Easterns, except Israel. Living in Europe I've never heard about a protest against Saddam (250,000 - 1,000,000 dead), Khamenei (30,000 in a week?), Assad (> 300,000 civilians) etc. This is business as usual. It's only news if someone else does it.
- Rover222 7mo ago
  this is so true
eleventyseven 7mo ago
Because HNers are not so gullible to swallow and regurgitate this pretext. The Trump administration doesn't care about the people of Iran, any more than Bush cared about the Iraqi Kurds or Afghan women. Just a pretext for geopolitics.
kwar13 7mo ago
If you think Trump did that because he cares about Democracy I have some news for you regarding the Jan 6 rioters...
jraby3 7mo ago
Compare how much Israel was in the news for targeting militants these past two years in Gaza. How biased is the press? Iran slaughters 36k people in a week and... crickets. Israel refuses to let its hostages die while Hamas hides out in hospitals and schools and the world is against Israel not Iran.
tim333 7mo ago
Yeah, the: >Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting, saying 'help is on its way' stuff if pretty relevant.

tgv 7mo ago

I think that's because nobody believes for one second that these strikes are a retaliation for that.

philk10 7mo ago
Epstein files and plummeting poll numbers are more likely reasons
- yoyohello13 7mo ago
  My guess is Hegseth is cumming in his pants at the idea of starting the 10th Crusade.
  - eunos 7mo ago
    Then Hegseth and Caine must be prepared to face the next Taiwan strait crisis with depleted munitions.

croes 7mo ago

Rookie numbers. Wait until they got liberated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War

throwaw12 7mo ago

Are you saying those protested actually got funded by Israel and because Iran killed them, now Israel is retaliating? Now I really wonder if those protests were indeed fueled and funded by Israel, because we have seen videos of mosques being burned down by protestors, which is strange for Shia Muslim country, even if they don't like their government

yoavm 7mo ago
"A 2020 Online Survey by Gamaan found that 8.8% Iranians identifying as Atheist and a large fraction (22.2%) identifying as not following an organized religion and only 40% self identified as Muslims." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism_in_Iran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism_in_Iran

izietto 7mo ago

Maybe because nobody believes in the "exporting democracy" excuse anymore

JumpCrisscross 7mo ago
> nobody believes in the "exporting democracy" excuse Has this been argued?
- 13415 7mo ago
  Not directly but OP seemed to intuit some sort of moral justification for this war of aggression ("humanitarian reasons"), and few people believe that to be a key motivating factor for the White House.
  - reliabilityguy 7mo ago
    > Not directly but OP seemed to intuit some sort of moral justification for this war of aggression There is an absolute moral justification for this war. Saying that US is the aggressor here is an absolute revisionism of history. Let us not pretend that Islamic Republic minded its own business since its inception, and suddenly the US and Israel decided to wage war on it. One example of IR's aggression is Beirut bombing in 1983 sponsored and planned by IR.
    - 13415 7mo ago
      Both from an international rights and from a moral point of view you're objectively wrong. This is not even worth a discussion. The fact that you need cite a terrorist attack from 1983 to justify an illegal war of aggression in 2026 instigated by a US president without Congressional oversight speaks volumes. > Islamic Republic minded its own business since its inception That's a straw man argument since nobody claimed that. Just to anticipate another weak argument that is a non-starter, a war of aggression is also illegal if it is started under the pretense of caring about a human rights situation. This kind of justification is quite common anyway. For the same reason, preventive wars are also prohibited and immoral. Not even you want to live in a world where such wars are common, you're more likely merely arguing from the perspective of someone whose country you believe to be in a position of strength.

yoavm 7mo ago

Not surprising - people don't count deaths in the Middle East if they're caused by fellow Middle Easterns, except Israel. Living in Europe I've never heard about a protest against Saddam (250,000 - 1,000,000 dead), Khamenei (30,000 in a week?), Assad (> 300,000 civilians) etc. This is business as usual. It's only news if someone else does it.

Rover222 7mo ago
this is so true

eleventyseven 7mo ago

Because HNers are not so gullible to swallow and regurgitate this pretext. The Trump administration doesn't care about the people of Iran, any more than Bush cared about the Iraqi Kurds or Afghan women. Just a pretext for geopolitics.

kwar13 7mo ago

If you think Trump did that because he cares about Democracy I have some news for you regarding the Jan 6 rioters...

jraby3 7mo ago

Compare how much Israel was in the news for targeting militants these past two years in Gaza. How biased is the press? Iran slaughters 36k people in a week and... crickets. Israel refuses to let its hostages die while Hamas hides out in hospitals and schools and the world is against Israel not Iran.

tim333 7mo ago

Yeah, the: >Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting, saying 'help is on its way' stuff if pretty relevant.