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PaperclipPerfector  8d ago (text post)   25522 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 23, 2026

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Another view is that given the conditions, this isn't really the Iran war, it's the Lebanon war and the Iran war is a sideshow and a distraction. The casualties are higher in Lebanon, there are troops on the ground in Lebanon, Israel is considering expanding its territory into Lebanon, occupation will inevitably result in settlements which will not be removed, etc. Perhaps the purpose of the Iran war never had anything to do with Iran herself, which is why the goals against Iran never seemed achievable, but were instead more local to protecting the Israeli homefront against Hezbollah. The USA distracts Iran and forces it to accept Hezbollah's defeat.

Wow, another Middle East war where the Israeli interests were real but the American interests were illusory.

Do you think America does not have an interest in curtailing Iran?

No.

What interest do you believe the US has from curtailing Iran?

  • Stopping Iranian oil from flowing to China, a massive subsidy that enables China to industrialize at our expense
  • Cutting off Iran’s funding of terrorists that threaten America and our allies
  • Peace and Prosperity in the Middle East is good for America’s bottom dollar and ability to project strength around the globe
  • Revenge for Iranian attacks that killed Americans

Stopping Iranian oil from flowing to China, a massive subsidy that enables China to industrialize at our expense

Do you think post war Iran won't sell oil to China? Even if that did happen (which would immediately start a trade war, and we'd be back to "no more rare earth for you") , why wouldn't China just buy oil from someone else? Oil is quite fungible.

Furthermore, what is the subsidy exactly? Unless you're referring to the US Navy securing sea lanes worldwide, in which case

  1. this has clearly been massively accretive to the USA

  2. the entire rest of the world is being subsidized too, so why single out China?

China acquires energy at below-market prices from rogue states sanctioned by the American-lead world order. Russia, Venezuela, Iran. If these countries normalize relations with that order and sell at market prices China will pay more than it did previously.

China paying marginally more for oil (as it rapidly electrifies) is a very shitty win considering the cost

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