Does the US really want to play this game? 90% of Israel's water comes from desalination plants, and now we've given Iran the justification to strike back in a similar manner.
Does the US really want to play this game? 90% of Israel's water comes from desalination plants, and now we've given Iran the justification to strike back in a similar manner.
116 Comments
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 150 pts · 160d
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 159d
beacon of democracy? when was that? it was always a shitty racist money first country from the beginning
kent_eh@lemmy.ca · 12 pts · 159d
They should have put that phrase in quotation marks.
Just because the US calls themselves that doesn't make it true.
queermunist@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 159d
The US briefly tried out democracy during Reconstruction but the white terrorists quickly defeated that experiment.
tastemyglaive@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 159d
We can already ascertain (I trust certain sources) that the US has likely lost more military personnel than the Iranians, to say nothing of the trade in production (including trade war limits making some hardware functionally irreplacable), cost, depletion of stockpiles, economic leverage of the strikes. They're really "smoking 'em while they've got 'em" since the Mossad network and Starlink strategy collapsed. Seems like they lost hope.
If anything this attack could be one last stab to slow the development of Iran, which is intruding into very high tech industries dominated by the US and western Europe, such as pharmaceuticals and even nuclear fusion in due time.
The west fears having to unleash the power of certified genius women (and men, but it's much more pronounced how their talents benefit Iranian industrial capacity and affect this war, they are a huge driver of the missile program) the way Iran and China have. Girlbossing and slaying is more about inflating the size of the high value service industry.
The future is bright, actually. Our horizons were limited. I think humanity will become something unrecognizable. One day all people will understand death on their own terms, without metaphor. Do not fear the genius women. Sexual selection is the reason we aren't scraping bugs out of tree bark. This will be even better.
eldavi@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 159d
I want to believe in this so I will
Tigeroovy@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 160d
Really makes ya think.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 159d
nuko147@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 158d
And even weirder that EU condemns Iran's attacks and not USA's. Only Spain had some dignity, the rest are crap.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
Get a load of this nazi, Kallas and other bootlickers say the same, mask off
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/merz-iran-not-protected-international-175532183.html
Damage@feddit.it · 3 pts · 159d
You mean there same country that vaporized two cities' worth of civilians?
edible_funk@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 159d
Weak virtue signaling, real chuds know the firebombs were worse.
BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 159d
Yeah, firebombing of Japanese towns and cities was more atrocious given the majority of housing materials. As well easier for the USA to do at that time.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
They had a satisfactory rehearsal in Dresden before that.
joostjakob@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 159d
The strikes against Qatar and UAE are hardly military in purpose though...
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 15 pts · 159d
joostjakob@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
Lots of collateral damage then
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 158d
ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 158d
Or put military bases and equipment there to begin with
joostjakob@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 157d
The usa shouldn't have started this war, for sure, but that's a pretty heartless statement.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 157d
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
Couldn't be more military.
Took out US radars and equipment and troops and made them run from their bases.
And just now S.Arabia too:
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/09/iran-war-updates-oil-brent-wti-crude-110-gulf-gcc-uae-iraq-saudi-arabia-kurds.html
joostjakob@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 157d
Lots of the collateral damage affected plenty of civilians then. I must admit I've saw so much about that aspect that I assumed it was intended.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 157d
IDK about civilians.
I do know Iran doesn't target civilians.
But also that the US military nearly completely abandoned their bases in those countries.
They got housed in 'civilian' hotels, appartements, etc in those countries.
If you've seen so many videos you surely saw the american filming from a flat right? Same happens in ukraine where the news was complaining evil Russia hit a civilian hotel and so many innocent civilians.
While the videos show victims carried away in uniform and 2 days later the ukro army fires the guy responsible for holding a military meeting so close to the frontline. Military using civilian infrastructure makes them a legitimate target.
Iran has very good intel on where they are since the population doesn't see them as enemies unlike their sell-out governments.
If anything, it's another warcrime by the US since they shouldn't put military targets among civilians.
cmbabul@lemmy.world · 105 pts · 160d
Iran already had a water shortage, this is pushing a wounded critter into a corner and expecting it to not fight for its life.
discocactus@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 159d
Oh they are counting on it fighting for its life. Ideally an audacious "terrorist" strike on some liberal city before midterms.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
MOssad working hard on it, I'm sure
raicon@lemmy.world · 97 pts · 160d
Learning war crimes from their daddy Israel
Maeve@kbin.earth · 21 pts · 160d
↔️
lustyargonian@lemmy.zip · 73 pts · 159d
The decade of war crimes
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 159d
consequences of letting Israel get away with all their war crimes. they are now normalized.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 158d
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
THe US existed much earlier
sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml · 62 pts · 160d
That's genuinely some of the most despicable shit
kent_eh@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 159d
Most despicable so far...
QinShiHuangsShlong@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 159d
I would question if it's even top 5 when you take into account the atrocities committed by Amerikkka in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq etc.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 58 pts · 159d
That was dumb as fuck wow.
Not that it was every in question in this war but...
BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 159d
At this point Iran needs to realize this won't be an occupation, it's an extermination. They'll level all the critical infrastructure and watch them suffer.
sns@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 57 pts · 160d
Did they mistake it for an elementary school?
JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 51 pts · 160d
Smells Like Trump War Crime
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 159d
US war crime.
nobody cares what face is in charge of that terrorist country
TwinTitans@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 160d
Sounds like terrorism.
ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com · 32 pts · 160d
It's terrorism when you're brown. When you're white, it's a precision strike.
doomslang@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 159d
Sparkling terrorism
yogthos@lemmy.ml · 41 pts · 159d
Attacking desalination plants is not a front the US wants to open. Another horribly idiotic strategic decision by the burger reich. Iran is 3% dependent on desalination, meanwhile US vassals in the region are at 40-90%.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online · 15 pts · 159d
Still illegal, still monstrous.
yogthos@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 159d
oh absolutely, it's a war crime plain and simple
mirshafie@europe.pub · 7 pts · 158d
As an Iranian, I hope that Iran can show restraint here. Please do not target desalination plants, and be mindful when attacking power plants in the Gulf region. These countries are extremely weak and fragile, power outages and water shortages could cause massive widespread suffering that I wish upon no-one.
With that said, pipelines in KSA and Azerbaijan should probably get a visit from a 136 as soon as possible.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 158d
Looks like the vassal states are abandoning their US masters.
Just as the US is running from every base there.
idriss@lemmy.ml · 39 pts · 160d
Iran so far has been the adult in the room. I get that a lot of things are fucked up there from economy to freedoms, but boy that's nowhere close to what the US/Palestine occupiers are trying to do to them. I come from a shithole too and I keep shitting on our government for a good reason, but I would definitely prefer them over being holocausted by US/Palestine occupiers.
orc_princess@lemmy.ml · 25 pts · 160d
Iran's issues are literally because of US imperialism. Their economy isn't doing great because of insane illegal sanctions, and their paranoia comes from having been under siege their whole existence. I believe things will get a lot better for Iranians after the aggressors leave the region.
Maeve@kbin.earth · 5 pts · 159d
I was waiting for them to get it, but you know...
Maeve@kbin.earth · 7 pts · 160d
🧐
shawn1122@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 158d
The economic issues were a direct result of US foreign policy.
In a January 2026 interview at the World Economic Forum and his February testimony before Congress, Scott Bessent took credit for engineering a "dollar shortage" that triggered a currency crisis and mass protests in Iran.
Bessent used phrases such as "Making Iran broke again" and described the resulting economic turmoil as "economic statecraft with no shots fired."
Through sanctions, the dollar shortage and currency crisis/hyperinflation led to the collapse of one of Iran's major banks, which led to the protests prior to the war starting.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 158d
It wasn't always so...
Don_alForno@feddit.org · 38 pts · 158d
Few acts say "crimes against humanity" better than bombing a country's water supply.
mirshafie@europe.pub · 11 pts · 158d
There's a certain dam in Iraq which could have been targeted at any point during the Iran-Iraq war. Doing so would have guaranteed ended the war in Iran's favor, killing hundreds of thousands of people in a single act in the process.
Some things are not worth doing. Winning like that is not winning.
AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 160d
Ah yes, because nothing says "sound military strategy" like depriving civilians of fresh water.
smeenz@lemmy.nz · 11 pts · 159d
Remember that cruelty is the point with this administration
Stealing truckloads of cash from the working class isn't enough, they need to also see the poor and defenceless suffer needlessly in order to get their kicks.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 159d
Cruelty is the point with ANY administration when it concerns brown people.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 159d
Standard US tactic.
They've starved millions for decades with sanctions everywhere. This is just more blatant
Dragon@lemmy.ml · 32 pts · 159d
Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of War
DupaCycki@lemmy.world · 30 pts · 158d
Ah yes, desalination plants - the top priority military targets when invading a country to free its people.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 158d
They also made a wise decision preemptively taking out the elementary schoolgirls.
More dangerous than even Khammaaazzz!
geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml · 29 pts · 159d
"We are going to help Iranians with their water problems which are caused by their governent!"
apftwb@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 160d
Something something Collective Punishment something something Geneva Conventions
HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 23 pts · 160d
Something something white exemption from the Geneva Conventions.
d3adpaul77@lemmy.org · 26 pts · 159d
finally the US is safe from Iranian unsalted water! mission accomplished Orange man
luciferofastora@feddit.org · 25 pts · 158d
Conventions on war crimes are a mutual agreement on restraints both parties place on themselves. They work, as long as neither party wants to lose face or support by being the one to break their word, and as long as both parties can afford to.
Trump never gave a shit about keeping his own word, let alone anyone else's.
I'm not sure Iran can afford to keep theirs now.
buddascrayon@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 158d
He is actively hoping for retaliatory action from literally anyone so he can justify calling for martial law and suspending the constitution.
vfreire85@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 158d
and the democratic party establishment will actively oppose him, saying "just wait and see until you lift martial law, we'll vote you out so bad, and then keep sending money and weapons to israel just like you did".
CADmonkey@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 158d
Finger wagging intensifies
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 24 pts · 159d
Fucking shitters. There is no rock bottom.
razen@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 159d
I thought we arent supposed to hurt civilians in a war according to international laws but yelp it is indirect and also US is above all those things
facelessbs@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 159d
Oh that’s because this isn’t a war. I mean come on learn the difference.
Since it isn’t a war there are less rules and we ( the USA) can just do as we please with no repercussions at all. None at all.
razen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
Oh my bad, i think i read the wrong definition of war. It is a special defensive military operation.
HansGruber@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 158d
Is it a special military operation?
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 158d
yes /s
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 158d
Plenty EU vassals have said
And this nazi genocider bootlicker isn't the only one.
Shame on the EU too. Mask off
PattyMcB@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 160d
This really is our generation's Viet Nam, isn't it?
StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 159d
I think we re-enter the middle east in some capacity every 5-10 years since like desert storm. Its not new. People are just sick of it. It could be weapons, it could be troops. We never really take our hand off the wheel over there.
shawn1122@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 158d
It's military keynesianism and the US economy has been running off of it since world war 2.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 159d
that was real fighting with troops, even if with disproportionate means.
there is zero possibility of boots on the ground here. This is the standard US tactic of cowardly bombing from a distance they use since then to avoid another US casualties trauma.
humanspiral@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 160d
Every other country in region, Israel included, is much more dependent on desalination for water than Iran as a country. Unclear why they want as many dick moves as possible.
IIUC, on same day Iran apologized for attacking neighbours, this attack was launched from Bahrain, one of the/the most dependent desalination country on earth, that is a rock throw away from Iran.
wheezy@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 159d
In response to OPs question. I am really wondering if this the point at which the US, especially under Trump, plays the "blame the Jews" card.
We've been watching the right wing shift towards anti Israel views. The tucker Carlson crowd etc.
Maybe Trump is too demented. But, I feel like his defining characteristic is to be good at "reading the room".
I just don't know where it goes with the evangelical Christians that think this needs to happen to bring back Jesus. That's literally the 20% of people that always agree with Trump. But, honestly, at this point. I think they will follow Trump and the pastors will give them a reason to hate the "the Jews".
I just don't see how Trump gets out of this otherwise.
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 159d
they will 100% turn against Jews, even all those "I love Israel apartheid and genocide, if you're against it, you're antisemitic and hate jews"
PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml · 13 pts · 159d
They (bipartisan USA plus UK, Germany and so on) have zero scruples right now about persecuting the antizionist Jews for opposition against Israel, so when the cannibalising of vassals finally hits Israel they will immediately drop all the pretense and go openly antisemitic.
thelunaticmartin@thelemmy.club · 5 pts · 159d
I think he risks being returned to the Earth if he turns on Israel.
wheezy@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 159d
Israel is a piece. If this war ends up threatening the one true ruler of the US, Capital, it won't matter what Israel wants.
I think this is the part that a lot of people will eventually be shocked by. Because they are following the wrong "leader".
Israeli interest and Israeli leaders are absolutely interwoven in American foreign policy. But, if the interest of capital see it within their best interest to drop Israel, they will.
Now, I think this will be mostly symbolic, I don't think US military support would ever drop. Or even much in terms of capital investments in Israel. But, I can definitely see them using Israel, specifically Benjamin Netanyahu, as a scapegoat for the failures that have already occurred because of the war with Iran.
And, this would bring support in from a lot of Trump's base that he has lost to the Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and Candace Owen narratives. If Trump played it well enough to capture their antisemitism, while at the same time, not entirely alienating his Christian Zionist base by using Netanyahu as "the problem" instead of directly blaming it on Israel.
It's just my though. My brain is rotted at this point though. I hate all of these people but am way too aware of how they shift and manipulate their narrative when things don't go as planned. It's a path forward I could see him taking.
BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 12 pts · 159d
Destroying critical infrastructure like that is a terrible idea. Like, I hate this war, fuck Israel and Trump/GQP but if you're invading somewhere, you don't want that infrastructure damaged/destroyed for your own use.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 159d
Following Israeli war tactics. Just destroy it all.
pigup@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 159d
Are they trying to invade with the purpose of taking over? I know it sounds stupid, but I consider this all a distraction from the Epstein files. I think they just want to take shots at somebody for a distraction and then leave a mess. It's the billionaire way.
RiverRock@lemmy.ml · 17 pts · 159d
From a US military perspective, this is actually perfectly in line with standard procedure. Holding ground, especially ground so far away, is costly and difficult. So the new strategy these last 15 years has just been to destroy civic infrastructure and collapse the state. It removes a country's ability to resist resource extraction, it creates a long-term "frontier" combat zone that's highly profitable for arms companies, and it serves as a petri dish for incubating new proxy forces to be used later, either as goons or scapegoats (or both).
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de · -1 pts · 158d
i'd say resource extraction requires political stability, actually, since mining sites are big and difficult to defend and also immobile, so they can't just be moved out of the way when there's danger. and also the long transport lines for minerals are long and therefore difficult to protect.
RiverRock@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 158d
That low level of area-specific stability can be achieved with proxy forces or mercenaries guarding corporate facilities
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de · 0 pts · 158d
i don't think so
RiverRock@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 158d
Okay
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 158d
Fuck off, thousands of people are dead this is not a 'distraction' its peoples lives.
pigup@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 158d
You fuck off. I was putting myself in the rapist president's mindset. Not speaking from my own heart about the totality of the horror of the situation.
definitemaybe@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 158d
It literally is a distraction. And your outrage at that is exactly parent poster's point.
The Republican Apparatus (and Conservatives around the world, for that matter) have discovered that they can continuously manufacture new outrage to distract from the actual policies they care about.
With the Tea Party, a couple of decades ago, they mastered weaponized wedge issues to distract. (The "War on Terror" was a manufactured war, and that strategy goes back decades.) But they have since escalated to crimes against humanity.
And it's working. I haven't seen many headlines about ICE or Epstein recently because the average American is bored of hearing about it.
Meanwhile, they are enacting policies to further concentrate wealth and power amongst the 0.1%.
Alfredolin@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 157d
Or more burnt out than bored maybe.
Bloomcole@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 158d
USSA has been terrorizing Iran long before anyone knew who Epstein was.
That whole cancer country is to blame.
KeenFlame@feddit.nu · -1 pts · 158d
Nobody is invading
kreskin@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 158d
Hitting critical civilian infrastructure like schools, hospitals and desalination plants are all war crimes. As are double tap strikes where you bomb the same place later to kill aid workers. I imagine Israel asked the US to join in Israels ongoing campaign of war crimes so they dont have to be alone in that. When the US whitewashes its crimes in a few years I suppose Israel will hope to blame the US for all of their years of war crimninaity and sleeze their way out of their own accountability.
IndustryStandard@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 159d
NATO terrorism knows no depths.
tostos@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 159d
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online · 2 pts · 159d
Been saying that for longer than this.
TomArrr@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 159d
Don't worry. It appears that there is a plan to help all of us with that, and it began a few days ago 😞
PointyFluff@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 158d
Nothing Says "Trump Rapes Children" like...checks notes..."War crimes!"
bold_atlas@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 158d
Iran, contact me if you're ever somehow able to start targeting the US mainland.
I'll adjust your fire.
sveltecider@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 158d
New candidate for most pointless war in American history?
flandish@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 160d
oh they’ll strike back. eventually. they’re hopefully gifting flight sim steam keys to an entire generation of newly radicalized teenagers.
Fishnoodle@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 160d
I mean ... Good. Fuck Israel. I hope the entire country goes without water. And food. And medicine. And weapons. And electricity. Take the fucking air from their lungs if you can
bdonvr@thelemmy.club · 22 pts · 160d
Uhhh might need to reread that title
orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 17 pts · 160d
Did you misread the title? Or the article?
Fishnoodle@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 159d
The article stated that this could set a precedent for Iran to strike Israel's desalination plants, and it is real relied on desalination for up to 70% of its water
orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 159d
You provided zero context for that quote in the first statement and it looked like you simple were commenting on the title, which of course refers to the current real scenario in which the US and Israel did another war crime.
backalleycoyote@lemmy.today · 11 pts · 160d
In a stunning turn of events, Iran reveals rather than nukes they spent decades developing the ultimate WMD, Mega Maid.
matlag@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 158d
It's understandable to be pissed at Israel for what they do to Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, but just like the critics of this very dick move: killing civilians is not going to solve anything. It just creates more resentment and hate.
0x0@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 158d
Israel has a draft, both genders.
Most israelis support the Gaza genocide.
"Civilians" are a minority over there.
matlag@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 158d
When Russia invaded Ukraine, a lot of Russians bought the "special operation to de-nazify Ukraine" narrative. Some still do today.
When the US invaded Iraq, a lot of Americans thought it was to free Iraqis and destroy WMD.
It took the end of WWII for a lot of Germans to realize what was happening in the concentration camps.
Israel is not a special place with people fundamentally different from the rest of the world. People are pretty much the same everywhere, and propaganda works everywhere.
davel@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 157d
A lot of Western media believed it until the day of the invasion.
Previously. Previously.