European Commission President days Iran shouldn't have nuclear weapons. Israel has right to defend itself

Would you also like to see Tony Blair arrested for the 2003 invasion of Iraq? Seemingly on much more tenuous grounds that BN has. Or is it just the fact that it is Israel that makes it much worse somehow.

No one has the right to take anyone else's life imo. So I would not support assassination I would want justice and retribution not death, where's the justice in that?

No, I genuinely underestimated how unphased you say you would be about "assassination as a policy tool". In that sense: if it helps, I did assume that - because I genuinely never heard anyone advocate for it in an even remotely universalist sense.

We will not see common ground here - I still think it would be catastrophic because I do not want to live in a world where "random foreign power assassinates leader of another" is normal. Far too destabilising for my liking.

But, yes, I did assume that ... because I genuinely have never come across a position that just thinks "this is fine".

I don't think Netanyahu will be assassinated. I think he will have to answer for the decisions he made during the war after the war. As will other key players. It's not for us on MN to decide who will be arrested for war crimes or who won't but I would like to think a full investigation will be carried out after the war.

You say that I know very well that neither all pro-Israel folks nor all Israelis are the same.

Yet you made an assumption about me that was false based on an assumption that I would admire Netanyahu. I've never said that so I honestly think you just made the assumption based on what another pro Israel person said.

I've seen quite a few posts on here wishing Netanyahu gets assassinated. No screaming blue murder.

That makes me feel both a little reassured but still alarmed.

Because I fucking hate the guy with a burning passion - but I would be opposed to having him assassinated. I DO want him arrested and in The Hague.

And, yes, I know very well that neither all pro-Israel folks nor all Israelis are the same. Somewhere on this forum I have actually posted what turned me pro-Palestine: it was seeing the West Bank with my own eyes at a time when I would have been in Tel Aviv for work every few weeks, working with an Israeli partner firm.

Still cannot get behind "assassination as an international relations method", though.

No @SomeWomanSomewhere I would not be screaming blue murder if someone suggested assassinating Netanyahu.

I am not a fan of his though I hope and expect that he will be removed from power at the next democratic election in Israel rather than being assassinated.

Please do not assume all pro Israel people are the same. We are all different and while some MN posters may admire Netanyahu, I don't believe many of us do. In any case, I have not heard many pro Israel people sing his virtues on these threads, but if some have that's because we are not all the same.

I just can't take this seriously. Sorry.

Yes, that is correct (though I should like to note that there is no internationally recognised definition of "terrorism" - that would be because Bin Laden was a "freedom fighter" and "our guy" when he was fighting the Soviets).

Now, please explain in coherent terms that do not presume "everybody thinks we are the goodies" why, say, China, would accept a world in which it is acceptable to assassinate heads of state - but only for us, not them.

Please note that China sees Iran as a vital partner, not a terrorist. And might have a motive to assassinate Trump or even Starmer.

"Everyone must share my views" is not a norm.

There's a special set of rules which apply to terrorists. They have a completely different mindset to me and you.

That is utterly and completely irrelevant!

What you are demanding is a world in which everyone agrees that there is a very special set of rules that applies to only us and nobody else - and in which we determine who belongs to "us".

You have every right to want that - but the likelihood of everyone accepting this is about equal to the one of me being the next pope (I happen to not only be a woman but also an atheist): zilch!

Have you met "realpolitik"?

Comparing Western governance to dictatorships 🙄

You know you would be screaming blue murder if someone else posted they hoped Netanyahu got assassinated and appealing to all sorts of norms and standards.

You may not believe it but: most of us are about equally as opposed to Khamenei as you.

But there is a difference between "opposing a regime" and "publicly calling for the abolition of any and all international norms and standards and endorsing assassination as policy".

Are you even aware that some ~85% of the global population live in countries of the Global South? That many of them do not think fondly about what I will term "the political West"?

If China deemed us a threat, I still would abso-fucking-lutely NOT be okay with them assassinating Starmer (whom, for the record, I despise - and not even over foreign policy).

Many pro-Israel posters on here like to repeatedly claim that people who support Palestinians are "radical" or "extreme".

What you are advocating for here is basically "international anarchy": anyone who has beef with any state can just decapitate their government. That is a recipe for chaos. Because, no, as much as you might want it to be: it is not going to be possible to create a world in which only "we" play by a separate rule set.

This is insane!

@quantumbutterfly The point about the dancers is that the men who just doing a bit of routine spying, couldn’t contain their joy at what they were seeing in 9/11 because they were looking forward to having the US retaliate.
Israel has started something they can’t finish and now wants to drag the US into direct war in Iran. This has echoes of 2002- most analysts believe it would have been more prudent to try and draw Iran back to the negotiating table. It’s pretty obvious that a country that the more you attack a country of 90 million people, the more likely it will feel the need to be armed in the long run

Only nutjobs think Israel was behind 9/11 or - if anything there is more of a hint of Saudi nefarious activities but in the end was the rich Bin Ladin and his acolytes. I just find conspiraloon stuff so depressing and so many people seem to be going down those rabbit holes including Trump. Sorry if I was a bit rude and I appreciate there is alot of anti-semitic Jews run the world stuff all over X in particular.

Nobody blames Israel for climate change, for plastic pollution, for covid, for inequality, for Russia-Ukraine war, … The list is long.

I agree these conversations are not meant to lead anyone anywhere. We all know what we know. It’s just good to be able to occasionally say that.

A discussion around Israel being blamed for everything under the sun, is also relevant.

Anyway back on topic - including Trump as it's relevant !! I half suspect he's going to leave Bibi waiting at the church or more appropriately the Synagogue.

In an appearance on the White House lawn, President Trump just declined to answer a question about whether the U.S. will strike Iranian nuclear facilities. “I may do it,” he said. “I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

archive.ph/LOpPU#selection-1341.0-1341.241

An obsession with someone isn't useful to a discussion.

What Trump shite - who happens to be a key element in this "drama" ?

Why are spamming the board with your Trump shite?

Why are we talking about this shite ?

So the nut job conspiracy theories have decided that it was either the US that flew the planes or Mossad. Well I suppose that shouldn't surprise me, when you see how some are so desperate not to face the real threat.

You think Iran might be a source of instability in the region?

Rumors are circulating that Trump-aligned negotiators and representatives of the regime are engaged in discussions in Oman. This might have been an enormous psy-op from Trump to pull off a deal !

Nioh-Berg is getting confused !

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1935345663560081550