Iron Bru › Forums › Non Football › The Principle of International Law › Reply To: The Principle of International Law
My big problem with Bowen is that he lets his own bias sway his output. Best exemplified when a weapons arsenal was found in a Gazan hospital and he did an earnest “in Palestine, it’s not uncommon for weapons to be anywhere” take. Which got him deserved mockery because, while I have no doubt that weapons are more profiligate there, I doubt stashes of AK-47s, grenades and other weapons are in every home for ordinary Palestinians and it’s not an excuse for weapons stashes in hospitals. Plus, he seems pig headed when it comes to errors. Errors happen, but I always have more respect for those who own it and learn over those who act like those who pointed it out are the real problem.
That said, I don’t have much of an issue with his article here. I have no trust that any of the Israelis or Americans have a knowledge of how to push for stability. It seems more chaotic than Iraq in 2003 and that didn’t end up well, despite early successes. The British stance of not getting fully involved, but backing our citizens and allies from Iranian strikes is probably the right one though.
One thing which will become frustrating is the seemingly inevitable polarisation of this topic, which I suspect will become like the Israel-Palestine or trans rights public debates. One side will say if you don’t back Israeli-American action you’re not a patriot and want the Iranian regime to continue to oppress its own citizens and ferment war elsewhere, even if you aren’t one of the shameless lickspittles for the Ayatollah. And the other will say if you find any joy in the Iranian regime failing, hoping for some positive change there and criticise protests with Ayatollah pictures (there have been some previously) and Iranian regime flags, you’re a warmonger and a white supremacist.
One thing this has shown is that the real loser since Oct 7th in terms of geopolitical standing has been the Islamic Republic. They have never been so weak, only offering pitiful retaliation, but retaliation aimed at countries not involved with the current war efforts. The rest of the Middle East have turned against them, not Israel-USA so far. Even the most hospitable towards Iran, in Qatar, have now cut off all ties with Iran. It’s isolated and its proxies have never been weaker.