US intelligence says Iran government is not at risk of collapse | Hacker News Reader

US intelligence says Iran government is not at risk of collapse

reuters.com

48 pointstartoran33 comments

I keep thinking that instead of spending approximately $1B a day attacking Iran - killing, maiming, hurting people, poisoning the ground, damaging infrastructure, creating a future humanitarian criteria, what if, everyday, we dropped a $1B in cash in $50 bundles?

Would we have a better outcome?

Taking money in taxes and giving it to poor people is the worst outcome for American Conservatives. This way the money goes to contractors that provide materials and services to wage war.

But how would billionaires exploit that to stay in power, artificially create more scarcity and uncertainty, and make more money?

I keep thinking what the world would look like if the Bush wars didn't happen and the money went instead into global development - green energy transition, education, healthcare. How much solar and nuclear does 1.2T USD buy you?

But then I take off my red communist beret off and salute the stars and stripes and remember what really matters.

Freedom isn't free. It's got a hefty fuckin' fee.

In all seriousness, if I ever had access to a time machine, I would want to see what the world looks like now in the timeline that Al Gore became president. I fully suspect that September 11 is one of those events that, in Doctor Who parlance, is a static point in all timelines, so I want to see how Gore would have responded, and what ramifications that would have had over the next 20 years.

Gore might have invaded Afghanistan, or at least start military operations. I highly doubt he would have invaded Iraq.

Also, just reminding everyone that he won the election. Republicans stole Florida, and the Supreme Court approved of it.

just created an account on HN so I could reply to this comment: why the heck did you have to remind me of that! 20 something years removed I had forgotten that little detail and was so happy in my ignorant bliss!

Trump would have to find another distraction from the allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor. This just seemed easier in his mind.

We ran this experiment already. Obama handed them $1.7B in cash [1]. Not a good outcome.

[1] https://apnews.com/article/united-states-government-fd411341...

That money went to the Mullahs, not the ordinary people.

Any significant transfer to the ordinary people will flow, in large part, to the government.

Putting cash into a somewhat closed system is particularly inflationary.

So, this well-meaning humanitarian idea of cash transfer (a) funds an authoritarian regime while (b) adding inflation woes to the people it's trying to help.

And then again [1]

[1] - https://mast.house.gov/2023/11/biden-handed-over-16-billion-...

Some figures estimate a ground force of 500K. That isn't really the problem though. We have about 700K+ violent criminals in prisons but they would have to be trained and serve combat tours in exchange for clemency. I do not know what percentage would be fit for duty. Beyond that we have millions that would volunteer for such an invasion. I have yet to see any movement on the underground missile cities. Those can not be reached by bunker busters or nukes. They are 500m under mountains. Their leaders could live in the underground cities for decades.

This propaganda channel [1] suggests we are destroying these complexes with a small bunker buster (BLU-109) but that does not align with the depth of 500m which the video even states is the depth of these missile cities. Something is off here.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYQJNpaZqmc

When Iran initially published how videos of how fantastic their underground cities were, they showed that they had munitions stored in the tunnel itself. Back then plenty of people pointed out that if you light one end of those tunnels on fire, there's no need for any additional ammunition to reach the deepest point ...

Back then plenty of people pointed out that if you light one end of those tunnels on fire, there's no need for any additional ammunition to reach the deepest point

I pointed that out here in another thread but was crapped on for pointing that out and for even suggesting there were 500m deep bunkers. I was also accused of posting links to videos that had to be made by video production software despite being 10 year old CNN videos. I can't tell who is trolling, gas-lighting and astroturfing who any more. HN is infected with manipulation groups, probably expected during a conflict with Iran. That or its just a bunch of children.

Those lines are at the lowest point in their tunnels so someone or something has to make it into that lower level. If they can it should make for quite a show.

Yeah, because that's worked out really well in the past, for example in Germany (Dirlewanger Brigade) and more recently Russia. Hint: What do you think will happen when you give a bunch of violent killers military weapons and set them loose in another country?

What I don't understand is why Congress is doing nothing. Today we were told Trump went to war because he 'felt' we were threatened by Iran. Absolute BS. See video here: https://x.com/The_Kremlinn/status/2031757780248297564?s=20

This on top of everything else. Goodbye American empire. It was nice while it lasted.

Because congress is controlled by the Republican party and the Republicans are authoritarians who have bent the knee to Donald Trump, elevating him over their country and sworn duty.

That's true, but it does seem like a time for Democrats to be screaming at the top of their lungs. It wouldn't accomplish anything, but they do have an election coming up, and I'd imagine that "We're going to stop this stupid war" is a good campaign slogan.

Perhaps they don't want to develop outrage fatigue, or it's too early, or something. But I'm not hearing nearly as much protest as I'd expect.

Maybe you're too young to remember but it was the exact same thing for the war in Irak.

No, the Bush administration provided false intelligence to congress that time.

Powell had the decency to go in front of the UN and lie to the whole world. Trump doesn't even have that much class.

lie about what?

is it so inconceivable that non-elected people in pentagon circles etc, are honestly trying to keep the USA safe, and well, have the embarrassing job to provide the orange man with a menu card of options? if Trump or Clinton or any politician class clown then selects one of those options, i'm glad they didn't come up with it themselves.

He was threatened by Iran though.

By the way, the '30k' protestors killed numbers I've heard from US media was fake. OSINT numbers of 15k death is way more likely, and the number from HRANA is 7k confirmed, 11k to be confirmed [0], 50k inprisonned (of which it seems a lot will be executed, which IMHO is worse, and liberating them would have been a more correct, if flimsy, ground for invasion than the current excuse)

[0] https://www.en-hrana.org/the-crimson-winter-a-50-day-record-...

We can liberate them by sending them to heaven.

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