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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   324 thread views

Transnational Thursday for March 12, 2026

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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If the Iranian regime comes out the other side of this without being removed from power, the regime will spin it as a credibility win because they held together and the United States couldn't dislodge them. So hopefully there is an effective plan in place to dislodge the regime because the alternative is much worse.

Or to put it another way, "Kill lots of people" is not a viable war goal even though Hegseth seems to think it is.

Kill lots of people is absolutely valid war goal. The thing is US and Israel not so slow down the killings. Which they seem to have slowed down in the second week.

No, it very much isn't.

"Kill people required to achieve this strategic goal" is a valid war goal. Same with "Kill these specific people". Even "Kill or drive away everyone in this area" might be. But just "Kill lots of people" isn't because it doesn't achieve anything useful.

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