The lack of appetite in the US didn’t stop this. And the lack of appetite among normal Iranians won’t matter much.

War is better for regime survival than peace. This is a country ruled by a very scared elite that isn’t held accountable for anything and whose only means of survival is creating continuous distractions from domestic failures. And it’s similar in Iran.

> Its hard to think of a full scale war that was started by the U.S. that didn't have popular approval at the time it was launched.

There's not been a President like the current incumbent.

the protests in 2003 were massive

that read would have predicted the US not bombing not bombing iran, and yet here we are. the current administration doesnt care what people want. trumps own base is against and they'll still do it. the "nothing ever happens" bet is not looking likely. with the calculus trump and netenyahu have shown, this looks like its heading towards US boots in iran

Trump only wants to get richer. He'll do as many wars as he can get away with. Laws don't matter anymore. He just struck Iran because he felt like it and announced it on his social media network. This is beyond Idoicracy.

Missiles don't sell themselves

It’s hard to think of another president with a huge number of such dedicated followers, who actively hates the mass of Americans who don’t support him, and with a Congress so unwilling to exercise its power.

Let’s say Trump decides to order an invasion. What would happen then? Mass protests? Surely. Impeachment? No way. Military decides enough is enough and removes him? Definitely not. He realizes how unpopular this move is and backs down? Lol. Lmao.

Which experience is that?

What is this commentary? We literally just attacked them. We punched them in the face. We're doing the war. Not them.

We changed the regime in both Afghanistan and Iraq. That worked great at preventing a prolonged war.

This "oh the Iranians actually want to be bombed" stuff is absolutely nonsense.

I think you meant to say:

Change of the US regime would help lessening the risk of a prolonged war.

From what can be glanced from the news seeping through it seems that the population has been largely ready for it for a while now.

If these young Americans actually want to stand for any noble values, they better see Israel as an enemy, because otherwise they would be utter hypocrites. Currently there are few countries in the world, that act more despicable than Israel. Russia probably, but which else? I mean, what they do is state organized terrorism and the US outright supports it.

If it wanted nuclear weapons, it would just buy some from Pakistan.

Their actions do not follow the conclusion you state.

What is clear now though to any Iranian is that they should get nuclear weapons asap. Diplomacy is just a tool used by the west to string you along while they get ready to bomb you

It is very likely false that Iran had nuclear weapons, or was within weeks of having them. This was also the position of US intelligence, until they were forced by higher-ups to speak different words.

Of course, Iran very much wanted the ability to make a nuke, and they probably could have had one ready in 1 or 2 years. But the proof put forward in defense of this strike is claiming Iran was weeks away from nukes. That proof is dubious.

(Also interesting to consider how US retreat from the nuclear deal under Trump 1 has affected and shaped the current situation)

> Remember that in the middle east, Iran is considered a dire enemy.

It's a dire enemy because they're Shia and the rest (with some exception in Eastern Saudi Arabia) are Sunni.

Yes, dubious proof. A quick Google search can reveal this claim has been bs for decades, consistently evaluated by the US’ own intelligence, up until a day ago [0]

But that doesn’t matter anymore

0. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c056zqn6vvyo

No it hasn't, you don't sit on 60%-enriched Uranium for 3 years (they announced it back in 2022!) if you plan to make a bomb.

IAEA also confirmed that Iran didn't have ongoing military nuclear project.

The reason why they raised their enrichment level was to raise their bargaining power to force the US to come back to the negotiation table in an attempt to get rid of the sanctions.

They almost succeeded since US and Iran were supposed to meet last Sunday, but that was not taking Israel into account, which killed the chief negotiator and convinced Trump to bomb Iran just 3 days in the “two weeks” negotiation deadline he had set earlier this week.