Iranian attack hit water desalination plant in Kuwait

[Ihatetomatoes]

Cannot find a link yet but was on BBC as breaking news.

Iran continues to hit civilian infrastructure in countries they are not at war with.

As reported by Gulf News and other sources,

Two petrochemical and energy facilities in Bahrain were hit by Iranian drones early Sunday, sparking fires at operational units and storage tanks.

Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) confirmed that several of its units were affected. All fires have now been extinguished, and the situation is under control.

No casualties have been reported, while damage assessment teams are on site to evaluate the full impact.

Similarly, BAPCO Energies reported a fire at one of its storage facilities following a hostile drone strike. The fire was fully contained, with no injuries reported. Damages are under assessment.

https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/bahrain/fires-erupt-at-bahrain-petrochemical-and-energy-facilities-after-drone-strikes-1.500496850

This thread has become very difficult for me to scroll - so I'm just posting to try and clear the glitch

Not at war with, but houses about 8.5k US troops in peacetime, and has a major US navy base. a command HQ no less. There is a US airfield too.

Now I am not 100% sure on this, but if Bahrain was host to an Iranian Navy HQ and an Iranian airfield, I am not sure they would declare "neutral country" and leave them alone.

Not at war with, no.

Bad enough to target civilian infrastructure of countries you are at war with, which US & Israel are also guilty of. Potential war crimes by all concerned.

I am pretty sure hitting oil facilities is not a war crime.

By the way, did you think about that desalination plant legal conundrum.

Remember, I asked if you thought if it was legally black and white ?

I'm glad no-one was killed/injured.

The Iranian regime attempting to bring in numerous countries is how they operate. They have had their proxies in various countries and they all periodically launch their terrorism. The innocents in the countries that they are based in all suffering for having them there. Yeman, Lebanon and Gaza would be so much better without their respective terrorist organisations who cling on causing ongoing misery. No country improves until terrorists go.

No one is obliged to answer every question you ask @RedTagAlan and I observe that engaging with you often leads to a load more questions even though you often ignore direct questions yourself. MN is not an authoritarian regime where people can demand things of others, thank God.

Hitting oil facilities could potentially be a war crime, so could hitting water desalination plants of course. Iran have done both so I think could be sanctioned further after the war by those countries that disagree with how they have conducted themselves.

Quote : ". MN is not an authoritarian regime where people can demand things of others, thank God."

Yes, thankfully there is nobody here reporting posts etc. Cos that is authoritarian.

Good to see you have mellowed a bit from hitting desal plants is a war crime to could be.

Mn has always been moderated like that, if it’s not wanted then I suppose other sites / platforms will be freer to post whatever.

No, reporting posts is not authoritarian.

If it was then MN would discourage it rather than encourage it.

There are site rules to keep the site a (relatively) pleasant place to engage which is why they have rules around personal attacks, racism, homophobia and other unpleasant things.

"Yes, thankfully there is nobody here reporting posts etc. Cos that is authoritarian"

Reporting posts for being racist, antisemitic, being personal attacks on others is reasonable moderation, not 'authoritarian'. There are of course sites for people that wish to launch abuse at others with no moderation.

I guess MN could add an ignore or block button as an alternative, when people are racist, homophobic, antisemitic or launch personal attacks 🤔 or would that also be considered 'authoritarian' 😂

A previous discussion site I used to use had both an “ignore” and a separate “report” button. Something I would like to see on MN really 🤔

Israel has attacked a major Iranian petrochemical site and there are reports of a second site being targeted.

An Israeli attempt to assassinate a Hezbollah figure in Lebanon on Sunday instead killed a senior leader from a political group that is strongly opposed to Hezbollah.

Approached by the BBC, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged the strike apparently failed to kill the intended target and that it "regrets the harm" to civilians.

It makes you wonder if collateral damage is even a consideration in these 'targeted' attacks. For context, this was a residential apartment block in a Christian neighbourhood, not some Hezbollah outpost...and they missed their intended operative anyway!

I really despair - I watch the news with such a sense of helplessness. All these wars are achieving is masses of additional trauma and difficulties in negotiating future stability and peace.

I remember back in the Afghanistan and 2nd Iraq war, when they were filling Gitmo, there were loads of stories about how people were using the US military to settle family feuds and the like. Someone you don't like ? Just whisper in the ear of someone desperate for intel.

I daresay that still goes on. Especially when the politicians are looking for numbers of enemy killed for the media. I mean they have all these 2000lb bombs and all these planes flying over a place with no air defences.

I would not even be surprised if there were daily "quotas" to meet. Same as ICE in the US under Noem. "Get me headline names to deport".

Latest from his WH press conference

Trump: "They'll have no bridges, no power plants, no anything. I won't go further because there are other things that are worse than those two, and we might have -- well, if I had my choice, what would I like to do? Take the oil Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home."

Trump: "Venezuela has worked out so incredibly. We have 100 million barrels of oil right now in Houston being refined. It's been great. The relationship with Venezuela has been fantastic. It might be beyond long-term. You understand."

Trump: "If it were up to me, I'd like to keep the oil. I just don't think the people of the United States would really understand it."

No mention of the protestors? Or regime change?

I suspect he has given up on the protestors. After all, he did tell the world via Fox that he had sent them arms via the Kurds. So probably all arrested by now. And the Kurds too of course.

He was just asked about the children in Iran. (Nobody asked him about the girls school)

Q: What's your message to children who find themselves in a war zone?

MELANIA TRUMP: Well, all of this is happening for their future. So they will be safe in years to come.

TRUMP: We're keeping them as safe as we can keep them

I wish had not just seen what you wrote. I feel an anger.

I mean they really should be good at answering questions about protecting kids. School shootings and all that. Then again, they are super crap at that too.

But fear not I suppose. Ted Cruz will soon be on Fox with his plans to arm the teachers with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. That is their usual response.

We appear to have a new definition of what a war crime is. From the CNN feed.

"Trump “not worried” about war crimes as he threatens critical infrastructure
By Riane Lumer
President Donald Trump said Monday he is “not worried” when pressed on whether US strikes on power plants and other critical infrastructure in Iran could constitute a war crime.
“I’m not worried about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
He added: “You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump has warned repeatedly that the US could strike power plants, bridges, and other infrastructure in Iran if Tehran fails to make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil thoroughfare. Over the weekend, he said Iran had until Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST to make a deal."

Just to repeat what he said :

“You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Seems discussing/ debating what war crimes are is rather a waste of Time. Trump as instigator of this war has issued his decree.

Reminder. It was Trump who tore up the JCPOA.

"Trump says Iranian people 'want to hear bombs because they want to be free'
The president said that military action is ultimately helping the people of Iran because “they want to hear bombs because they want to be free”, in response to a question from PBS News’ Liz Landers.

Trump added that the only reason that Iranians aren’t in the street protesting is because “they will be shot immediately” by the regime, as opposed to the ongoing strikes by the US and Israel across the country.

“The Iranian people will fight back as soon as they know they’re not going to be shot, and as soon as they can get weapons,” Trump added. “If they had weapons … Iran would give up in two seconds because they wouldn’t be able to take it.” "

These lines sound awfully familiar...

What’s that last line referring to?

Another reminder: you saying I am pretty sure hitting oil facilities is not a war crime.

And that Iran hitting a desalination plant in Kuwait was a legal conundrum.

You were questioning whether it was legally black and white.