Canadian Foreign Policy & Affairs II

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

It has nothing to do with the government. Think about the Trump nonsense happening. It's a sideshow to distract from the reality: court cases, investigations are BIG business. It's like the slow moving real estate development industry: designed to maximize return for all players, from city bureaucrats, planners, architects, contractors to developers.

It's truly amazing how many right wing conservative Christians support this war, so their Jesus, who was Jewish, can return to save them only? The only religion opposed to this illegal occupation/war, eg the Anglicans, get their property destroyed in Gaza for having the courage to speak the truth.

Ukraine Russia conflict was simply an exercise to perfect the modern battlefield, essentially a model for Israel to follow in Gaza. Now they're trying to get Lebanon and Iran involved, so they can justify another drone war.

My position, as a Unitarian, is peace. My God clearly isn't the Jewish, Muslim nor Christian God.

As somebody noted above, all of your theories require massive cooperation from disparate factions that have no common linkages or interest. If anything these wars go against the interests of the large corporations, with significant damage being done by homemade rockets, homebrew drones. That certainty isn’t good for the military industrial complex.

[Wigs]

Israel's Billions of dollars of USA made fighter jets (F-35s, F-15s, F-16s: a more formidable Airforce than Canada), helicopters (Cobras, Apaches), bombs, missiles, arms certainly is beneficial to the US military industrial complex and the homegrown Israeli military industrial complex.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...Defense_Forces

All defense contractors want conflict and war in Israel (and the world) to be neverending.

War is (arguably) the most devastating yet highly profitable enterprises on the planet.

IDF even stated Gaza is a training ground for new weapons and future weapons development.

[Wigs]

The IDF even purpose built a mini Gaza training facility in 2005 for $45 million.

The Muslim call to prayer echoes through a remote town in southern Israel that has known only war.

Its 500 buildings, the tallest eight stories high, are deserted. Its narrow alleys are adorned with militant murals and posters honoring slain Palestinian fighters. It cannot be found on any map.

Officially, it’s known as the Urban Warfare Training Center. The Israeli soldiers who run military drills here call it “Mini Gaza.”

The military began building the $45 million facility in the Tzeelim army base in 2005, toward the end of the second Palestinian intifada. Over the previous five years, Israeli troops had battled Palestinian terrorists in cities and towns across the West Bank and Gaza.

Since then, Israel has fought four wars in Gaza against the Islamic terror group Hamas, with some battles erupting in densely populated cities and refugee camps.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/mini-g...nown-only-war/

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Ukraine Russia conflict was simply an exercise to perfect the modern battlefield

So Russia's invasion (it did not begin as a "conflict") was that country wanting to get into the game as it is played today, is essentially your point about that?

And it's not "was"... it still is. Past tense does not apply.

Please go soak your head in a bottle of vodka, before you come back with any more bullshit theories.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Hybrid247

I know this Israel-Palestine conversation has kind of run its course on this thread, but I came across a pretty disturbing quote from Netanyahu in 2019 that brings a lot into question with current events. Leaving this here for people to chew on.


https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/statu...186619?lang=en

Did anybody not know that Netanyahu was a PoS with terrible judgment? Look at the company he keeps. Trump, Orban, Putin and Erdogan.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

As somebody noted above, all of your theories require massive cooperation from disparate factions that have no common linkages or interest. If anything these wars go against the interests of the large corporations, with significant damage being done by homemade rockets, homebrew drones. That certainty isn’t good for the military industrial complex.

People fearmongering about the "Military Industrial Complex" will never get this. The threat of war is always more profitable than actual war. Real war usually is followed by peace with reduced spending on arms. The threat of war usually results in massive military spending and runs until the threat ends. Just look at spending during the Cold War and after that. Even today, among the major powers, nobody but Russia and China are really spending at Cold War levels (which should tell you their intentions).

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

So Russia's invasion (it did not begin as a "conflict") was that country wanting to get into the game as it is played today, is essentially your point about that?

And it's not "was"... it still is. Past tense does not apply.

Please go soak your head in a bottle of vodka, before you come back with any more bullshit theories.

Yep. Anything to get in a dig against Ukraine defending itself from Russian aggression.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

People fearmongering about the "Military Industrial Complex" will never get this. The threat of war is always more profitable than actual war. Real war usually is followed by peace with reduced spending on arms. The threat of war usually results in massive military spending and runs until the threat ends. Just look at spending during the Cold War and after that. Even today, among the major powers, nobody but Russia and China are really spending at Cold War levels (which should tell you their intentions).

Yes. US defence contractors have even noted this to shareholders. When at war there is much greater pressure on margins. Profit margin on next generation weapons much higher and acceptable than new tech to save soldiers lives.

[urbandreamer]

I could care less about taking sides in either the Russian Ukraine war or Israel Gaza. Both are pointless, yet both probably rose out of the excessive profits from the real estate & stock bull markets. Higher interest rates help those with cash, but the super rich need war to continue their giant ROI. The usual suspects in both Ukraine and Gaza, once they're both "ethnically cleansed" will profit for decades from the coming rebuild. I can see Israel building a luxury waterfront resort to replace their trips to Egypt, meanwhile exploiting Palestinian laborers living in tent cities across the border.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Yes. US defence contractors have even noted this to shareholders. When at war there is much greater pressure on margins. Profit margin on next generation weapons much higher and acceptable than new tech to save soldiers lives.

Also, soldiers adapt at war time. In Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers quickly learned to bolt on scrap metal to counter IEDS and spray silly string across doorways to find fishing line triggers. That stuff isn't very profitable for defence manufacturers.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Real war usually is followed by peace with reduced spending on arms.

Except the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing for 75 years. Now with this War on Hamas and a gigantic humanitarian cluster**** disaster in the Gaza strip, Peace is not in sight anytime soon.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I could care less about taking sides in either the Russian Ukraine war or Israel Gaza. Both are pointless, yet both probably rose out of the excessive profits from the real estate & stock bull markets. Higher interest rates help those with cash, but the super rich need war to continue their giant ROI. The usual suspects in both Ukraine and Gaza, once they're both "ethnically cleansed" will profit for decades from the coming rebuild. I can see Israel building a luxury waterfront resort to replace their trips to Egypt, meanwhile exploiting Palestinian laborers living in tent cities across the border.

How do the “super rich” make money off of any of these wars? Russia is primarily using old Soviet kit, supplemented with some low cost drones made with off the shelf parts. Ukraine has no access to advanced weapons and is using used 20th century used weapons from the US, supplemented with cheap homebrew drones. Hamas is using homemade rockets and IEDs the Israelis are using dumb bombs. Trillions of dollars of advanced, expensive weapons are sitting around unused and unwanted. If anything these are terrible wars for the “super rich” and their excess real estate profits.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Wigs

In 2018 the Israeli Basic Law passed by a very slim margin, 53% of the Knesset vote which immediately removed Arabic as an official language and turned Israel into an Ethno-State
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basi..._Jewish_People

Many non Israelis don't even know this law was passed 5 years ago.

It allows for legal subjugation of the 2.1 million Arabs that live freely in Israel and comprise 21% of the total population. Not all of these folks are Palestinian or Muslim. Now they feel like second class citizens. Imagine how citizens of the West Bank let alone Gaza feel if free Arabs in Israel now feel second class.

This is an overly dramatic take. The nation state law was a symbolic resolution. Nothing in it wasn't already longstanding state policy. The removal of Arabic as an official language sounds bad on paper but it didn't actually change much. Prior to 2018, the Israeli government was legally bilingual but in practice Arabic was only used in the provision of state services to the Arab minority (it was never used as a working language in government). The legal right of Israeli citizens to receive state services in Arabic was unchanged.

The Israeli left lost a lot of credibility with the electorate after they whipped up drama about the nation state law. This contributed heavily to their failure to remove Bibi from office in 2019.

[Wigs]

You may think I'm being overly dramatic

This is what's occurring post 10/7:


https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...b-fd756b2e0000



https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...b-7fba5a020000



https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...f-febfb9800000


https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...f-fefbe7c60000



Homicides up 76% for Arab Israelis (this was as of October 13th)
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...f-ee6b77430000


https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...b-6e1f9be30000

I'd be terrified to be an Arab living "freely" in Israel right now, let alone Palestinians in the West Bank or the hellscape that is now Gaza.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

The Israeli left lost a lot of credibility with the electorate after they whipped up drama about the nation state law. This contributed heavily to their failure to remove Bibi from office in 2019.

The vote was 62 in favour to 55 against, with 2 others abstaining. That's a lot of legislators that knew it would be discriminatory against 2.1 million Arabs or 21% of Israel's population, and any other current or future minorities.

[Acajack]

Scary thought though economies in the West are doing cautiously OK right now: economic downturn occurs as geographically contained (for now) wars rage on involving our allies, with no end in sight.

Remind you of anything?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Scary thought though economies in the West are doing cautiously OK right now: economic downturn occurs as geographically contained (for now) wars rage on involving our allies, with no end in sight.

Remind you of anything?

So far the 21st century has been a broad recapitulation of the 20th century.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

So far the 21st century has been a broad recapitulation of the 20th century.

Warmer, tho :p

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Wigs

In 2018 the Israeli Basic Law passed by a very slim margin, 53% of the Knesset vote which immediately removed Arabic as an official language and turned Israel into an Ethno-State
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basi..._Jewish_People

Many non Israelis don't even know this law was passed 5 years ago.

It allows for legal subjugation of the 2.1 million Arabs that live freely in Israel and comprise 21% of the total population. Not all of these folks are Palestinian or Muslim. Now they feel like second class citizens. Imagine how citizens of the West Bank let alone Gaza feel if free Arabs in Israel now feel second class.

There is no requirement in international law for countries to give minority languages official status. Canada/New Brunswick is an outlier in this regard. Various treaties require national minorities to receive services in their native languages, which Israel does.

I think it was a dumb move by the Israelis, but it is not legal subjugation.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I could care less about taking sides in either the Russian Ukraine war or Israel Gaza. Both are pointless, yet both probably rose out of the excessive profits from the real estate & stock bull markets. Higher interest rates help those with cash, but the super rich need war to continue their giant ROI. The usual suspects in both Ukraine and Gaza, once they're both "ethnically cleansed" will profit for decades from the coming rebuild. I can see Israel building a luxury waterfront resort to replace their trips to Egypt, meanwhile exploiting Palestinian laborers living in tent cities across the border.

Another baller take. Truly out of this world.