A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like “in Minecraft”) and comments containing it will be removed.

Image is one of many rallies in Iran in support of the government and the leadership.

short summary here, longish summary in spoiler tags below: Western standoff munition stockpiles now substantially depleted, therefore Western aircraft activity directly over Iran increasing (as is footage of attempted and actual hits against them) as the US attempts to transition more to using bombs dropped directly onto targets, Iran is increasingly in the driver’s seat and controlling the conflict, world economy is fucked and yet could still get much worse very soon, if you require a car to live (especially if it’s not electric) and cannot work from home then you have my sincere condolences

longish summary here

While I’ve seen several estimates on the current stockpiles of US and Zionist missiles and interceptors - somewhere in the realm of a third depleted, perhaps even up to half - it seems like we’re reaching the point at which the US does not want to commit even more standoff munitions and is trying their luck against the Iranian air defense network directly.

We have already seen footage of Iran attempting to shoot down, and sometimes actually striking Western fifth generation planes like the F-35, and more footage along those lines is appearing for other plane models (with one side claiming that they evaded interception and the other claiming they hit it, etc etc, propaganda is everywhere, you know the drill). How much the US is willing to test their planes against Iranian air defense is a matter of debate. Strictly speaking, a few fighter jets and bombers shot down would be no catastrophic loss in the grand scheme of things, as the US has hundreds. However, the narrative of such a thing would be quite bad for the US - “You’re telling me an OBLITERATED Iranian military can shoot down some of our most advanced equipment?? What are we gonna do against China?!” - and given Trump’s deranged jingoistic rhetoric aimed to buoy markets, it’s clear that he cares very deeply about narratives. Additionally, with Chinese exports of several critical metals to the US banned, the prospect of replacing these aircraft (and indeed the standoff munitions and the interceptors and the ground radars etc) is looking questionable.

All the while, Iran continues its strikes across the Middle East. Missile and drone strikes are reportedly on the uptick again, demonstrating that Iranian military capabilities have by no means been “destroyed” as Western propaganda claim, though it’s impossible to sure there was ever a significant downtick due to Western censorship and outright fabrications. People around the world are gradually realizing the magnitude of the economic disaster that is occurring and may yet occur. Refineries and factories which deal with oil and gas directly are starting to slow down or stop production, and those who make products downstream of those are starting to follow them like dominoes. Outrage at gas station prices is rising, and many countries are considering limiting civilian driving and implementing work-from-home policies akin to the coronavirus pandemic. And now, threats are being made by Trump against both Kharg Island (where most Iranian oil is shipped from) and the Iranian electrical grid - which is highly decentralized and would require a prolonged bombing campaign to completely take out -and the promised Iranian reprisal would be apocalyptic to the Middle East. It would make oil prices rise to previously unfathomable heights as oil infrastructure turned off and remained off for months, perhaps years, and set in motion one of the world’s greatest humanitarian catastrophes as the desalination necessary for tens of millions of people is shut down. It would also not be a symmetrical problem, as Iran does not rely on desalination for its water supply.

Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the RedAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine

If you have evidence of Zionist crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA reports on the Zionists’ destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.

Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.

Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.

  • joaomarrom [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    75·
    21 days ago

    presented without further comment

    Edit: actually, nah, I found the EU’s excuse for abstaining, and it’s a doozy

    full text from transcript, emphasis mine

    We regret that our key concerns were not adequately reflected in the final text. We are concerned that this will send a wrong message on an issue where we do not fundamentally disagree.

    We were prepared to support a text that emphasises the scale of the atrocity of the transatlantic slave trade, the importance of remembrance, and the need to continue combating slavery in its contemporary forms. Instead, the text before us raises a number of legal and factual concerns that we cannot overlook.

    First, the use of superlatives in the context of crimes against humanity is not legally accurate, such as the use of “gravest” in the title and throughout the text, which implies a hierarchy among atrocity crimes, when no legal hierarchy between crimes against humanity exists. It risks undermining the harm suffered by all victims of these crimes and lacks legal clarity crucial for ensuring accountability. We firmly reject introducing ambiguity in this respect.

    Second, the selective inclusion of lengthy, historical, and contentious references to regional jurisprudence and selective and unbalanced interpretation of historical events - such as in Preambular Paragraphs 21 and 23 - is at odds with accepted UN practice, as well as the stated universal and forward looking objective of this initiative.** It risks creating divisions when unity is both necessary and achievable**. The role of the General Assembly is not to substitute itself to the academic debate amongst historians.

    Third, we are also concerned by certain legal references and assertions that are either inaccurate or inconsistent with international law. This includes suggestions of a** retroactive application of international rules which was non-existent at the time and claims for reparations**, which is incompatible with established principles of international law. The principle of non-retroactivity, a fundamental cornerstone of the international legal order, must be strictly upheld.** References to claims for reparations also lack a sound legal basis. Any framework for reparatory justice must be grounded in existing multilateral instruments. **

    For these reasons, the Member States of the European Union regret that they are not in a position to support resolution A/80/L.48.

    Repeating our strongest condemnation of the slave trade and reaffirming our genuine commitment that we have demonstrated through concrete domestic and international action, we are compelled to ABSTAIN, solely out of profound respect for the subject matter and its complexities.

    This abstention should not be interpreted as leniency toward these abhorrent practices, nor in any case as acceptance of or acquiescence to the legal formulations in the text. We reserve our full position on these matters in all current and future relevant processes.

    So if I understand this correctly, the EU objects to chattel slavery being called the gravest crime against humanity, and they don’t agree with having to pay reparations for Europe’s role in this crime.

    I couldn’t find the preambular paragraphs, but searching the document (PDF file) it seems like the two paragraphs that make the historical and legal references they disagree with are the following:

    Taking note further of the Organization of African Unity Abuja Proclamation on Reparations for African Enslavement, Colonization and Neo-Colonization of 1993 and African Union Assembly decision 934 (XXXVIII) of 16 February 2025 on the qualification of slavery, deportation and colonization as crimes against humanity and genocide against the peoples of Africa, which collectively consider slavery and colonization as serious violations of human dignity and affirm the continental commitment to the recognition of these historical injustices and the healing of its wounds through reparations

    Taking note of the designation by the African Union of 2025 as the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations” and of the period 2026–2036 as the Decade of Action on Reparations and African Heritage, as well as the Accra Declaration on Reparations and Racial Healing and relevant initiatives by the African Union

    I might be mistaken but what it seems like is that the US, israel and Argentina disagree with the whole thing because they’re Nazis and the EU disagrees politely because they don’t give enough of a shit to pay reparations for the crimes they committed in the past. Let bygones be bygones. We see you, we hear you, we stand with you, now fuck off.

    • woodenghost [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      44·
      21 days ago

      About the first two issues they raise: what a strange coincidence, that the only countries who seem to have a problem with these random technicalities are the perpetrators of this gravest crime against humanity! And they still live high on the privilege they got from it.

      About the third point: of course, that’s the real reason.

      References to claims for reparations also lack a sound legal basis.

      That’s why they are trying to move towards a legal basis with this very resolution.

    • HoiPolloi [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      44·
      21 days ago

      First, the use of superlatives in the context of crimes against humanity is not legally accurate, such as the use of “gravest” in the title and throughout the text, which implies a hierarchy among atrocity crimes, when no legal hierarchy between crimes against humanity exists. It risks undermining the harm suffered by all victims of these crimes and lacks legal clarity crucial for ensuring accountability. We firmly reject introducing ambiguity in this respect.

      I think the problem they have with ranking atrocities would be because all of greatest crimes against humanity were committed by Europeans and Americans.

    • Salah [ey/em]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5·
      20 days ago

      I’d have critique on labeling anything the ‘gravest crime against humanity’ at this moment in time because it could imply that the current world order is better, even though it’s a continuation of the crimes of our past. However, this resolution is a clear and important message to the imperial core that the majority of the world recognises their crimes and it’s a rejection of the narrative that the holocaust was the single most horrible crime of which jewish people were the only true victims.

      So I think this is a wonderful resolution with a wonderful result and it clearly shows the division between the great satan, its allies and the rest of the world.