At this point, I just don't care.

I'm not sure if I'm rooting for Israel to blow Iran off the map, or for Iran to blow Israel off the map. The stupidity of religion, mixed with the stupidity of politics, makes what is ostensibly the holiest place on the planet into the most war-torn place on the planet for at least the last millennium. Perhaps blowing it off the planet would start us toward removing this most peculiar of afflictions affecting humanity, religion.

Bah! I just don't care anymore...

In b4 paid shills...

gameshowhost: FormlessOne: ostensibly the holiest place on the planet

Nuke Mecca.

Kill both sides, and let their imaginary, barbarous, asshole gods sort it out.

'Iran is going to kill us all! Three, two, one, launch!'

It's sad that good people in both countries suffer under these shiatty war-mongering leaders. If only there was a way to blow both of their military theocracy governments clean off the map, and leave everybody else standing, I would support that 100%..



"You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins"

FormlessOne: Perhaps blowing it off the planet would start us toward removing this most peculiar of afflictions affecting humanity, religion.

You're kidding yourself.
What's the holiest Jewish site in Jerusalem?
The old retaining wall for hill on which their long-gone temple stood.
If all that shart gets blown up, you'll just have people bowing and scraping at their Holy Rubble.

Dubai Vol: Nuke Mecca.

Seeing what the Saudis have done to the place, that would be an improvement.

FormlessOne: I'm not sure if I'm rooting for Israel to blow Iran off the map, or for Iran to blow Israel off the map.

Nothing much will come of this. Maybe they'll lob a few missiles at each other, but that's all. It's just another round of huffing and puffing from the leaders of the two countries. (does ahmed ... something have any real power?)

The iranians deserve better. It's not their fault they've been saddled with sixty years of crappy leaders. As for Israel, well ... that country will either go the way of South Africa or the way of Serbia/Yugoslavia.

Uncle Tractor: Mecca

I didn't think that photo was real until I went to google maps and saw that's exactly what the Sauds are doing to Mecca.

just...

wow...

Why can't evolution hurry up and evolve the religion out of us? Real Housewives and American Idol seem to be filling that niche nicely for our psyches.

Uncle Tractor: Dubai Vol: Nuke Mecca.

Seeing what the Saudis have done to the place, that would be an improvement.

[i560.photobucket.com image 640x668]

Dear god, that is one ugly-assed clock tower. I couldn't find the recent article that showed pictures of the historic holy sites the Saudis are trashing to build these hideous monstrosities, but there's a picture in here of how it looks from below: Link (new window)

I can't believe these fat, lazy, greedy a-holes were able to conquer the Ottomans, who had more style and culture than the House of Saud ever will.

cc_rider: I can't believe these fat, lazy, greedy a-holes were able to conquer the Ottomans

It's not like they took Istanbul. They just convinced the Turks to get out of their local sharthole.
The Turks were probably happy to go.

Fark Me To Tears: (*sigh*)

The cynic in me is tempted to think that Israel doesn't want peace in the Middle East... ever.

That would be the realist in me, not the cynic. A peaceful mid east would be devastating for the political class there.

Mecca is getting bulldozed because Wahhabist Muslims believe deference to historical buildings/grave sites/etc. is a form of idolatry. If progress (driven by increasing pilgrim's wealth and numbers) dictates bulldozing them and rebuilding, they do. They have a problem with people doing the Catholic thing of worshiping at the bones/houses/artifacts of early Arabs. As much as I like a charming old city, this isn't necessarily wrong.

cc_rider: Uncle Tractor: Dubai Vol: Nuke Mecca.

I can't believe these fat, lazy, greedy a-holes were able to conquer the Ottomans, who had more style and culture than the House of Saud ever will.

They didn't conquer the Ottomans. They kicked the Ottomans out of the poorer Arabic lands after two centuries of Ottoman decline, with the help of the fact that the Allies were fighting the Ottomans in the west. The Ottomans still existed in Anatolia for a few years after.

And the Arabs don't need to be apologetic about their culture versus the Ottomans. Ottoman culture was an amalgam of Byzantine, Arabic, and Persian cultures. There wasn't much to Turkish culture before Ataturk. The script was Arabic, the language was full of Arabic and Persian words, the religion was Arabic, the architecture is a knock-off of Byzantine with Arabic and Persian design elements, their learned classes were mostly Byzantine.

Sure, Israel keep threatening other sovereign nations with nuclear annihilation, but they're the good guys because they're Jews. Maybe they'll invade/take out Iran, but that's ok because it's full of Muslims, and the Jews need lebensrauma buffer zone. Sure, Israel are violating non-prof treaties in having nuclear weapons, but that's ok, because they're Jews, and the victims are Muslims.

I don't get why people hate Israel so much.

"The military option (against Iran) is not an empty threat, but Israel should not leap to lead it. The whole thing should be lead by the United States, and as a last resort," Moshe Yaalon, Israel's strategic affairs minister, told Army Radio on Tuesday.

Umm no, you started flying missiles around you are on your own son.

Aqua Vishnu: Umm no, you started flying missiles around you are on your own son.

Don't forget. They have the all-powerful creator of the universe on their side too.

/which makes me wonder what the hell they need with us.

Good for them.

APPROVES

0Icky0: Aqua Vishnu: Umm no, you started flying missiles around you are on your own son.

Don't forget. They have the all-powerful creator of the universe on their side too.

/which makes me wonder what the hell they need with us.

With what their "benefactor" has allowed to happen to His chosen people, would you trust Him?

Bigdogdaddy: Good for them.

And if they drag their biatch, that's us, Kenny, into their little war?

Is there some way we can just transport all the oil someplace then we can let these religious fanatics blow themselves away?

mister aj: Sure, Israel keep threatening other sovereign nations with nuclear annihilation, but they're the good guys because they're Jews. Maybe they'll invade/take out Iran, but that's ok because it's full of Muslims, and the Jews need lebensrauma buffer zone. Sure, Israel are violating non-prof treaties in having nuclear weapons, but that's ok, because they're Jews, and the victims are Muslims.

I don't get why people hate Israel so much.

I believe that attacking Iran nuclear facilities is a stupid move. Aside from that i enjoyed how you ignored Iran's threats against Israel, from their leaders speeches to having signs of "death to Israel" fronting their military parade, the fact that they fund, train and support (and in Hizballah's case, command) terrorist organizations currently fighting Israel, the fact that they are actively working on the development of nuclear weapons and have been violating non-prof treaties repeatedly (You ignored the fact that Israel is not signed, naturally).

Hopefully Iran gets nukes to deter Israeli aggression.

A lot of anti-semites posting in here today.

TappingTheVein: mister aj: Sure, Israel keep threatening other sovereign nations with nuclear annihilation, but they're the good guys because they're Jews. Maybe they'll invade/take out Iran, but that's ok because it's full of Muslims, and the Jews need lebensrauma buffer zone. Sure, Israel are violating non-prof treaties in having nuclear weapons, but that's ok, because they're Jews, and the victims are Muslims.

I don't get why people hate Israel so much.

I believe that attacking Iran nuclear facilities is a stupid move. Aside from that i enjoyed how you ignored Iran's threats against Israel, from their leaders speeches to having signs of "death to Israel" fronting their military parade, the fact that they fund, train and support (and in Hizballah's case, command) terrorist organizations currently fighting Israel, the fact that they are actively working on the development of nuclear weapons and have been violating non-prof treaties repeatedly (You ignored the fact that Israel is not signed, naturally).

Ignoring the factb that Israel is a rogue nation that completely flaunts the international framework to prevent nuclear proliferation and has a history of nuclear cooperation withn odiious repressive regimes was a pretty big miss on his part, considering how directly it relates to the topic at hand. Good on you for pointing it out

Ed Grubermann: With what their "benefactor" has allowed to happen to His chosen people, would you trust Him?

Seriously. I think history has pretty much shown it's better to keep your head down and avoid attracting his attention. There are plenty of gods people, pick another one.

HotWingConspiracy: Hopefully Iran gets nukes to deter Israeli aggression.

Oh if only zombie Raygun was here....

I don't know who to root for in this, the world would benefit if either one of them or both got nuked.

Alphax: 'Iran is going to kill us all! Three, two, one, launch!'

They're coming right at us?

Alphax: 'Iran is going to kill us all! Three, two, one, launch!'

In all fairness, Iran was coming right at them . . .

Alphax: 'Iran is going to kill us all! Three, two, one, launch!'

yeah that's basically it. they're so afraid because they know it's what they would do if they were in their place.
"These people can't be trusted! They're just like us!"

Tatsuma: Praying at the Kotel is only an intermediary of what we used to have (the Temple), and what we'll have again very soon.

Is construction underway? Or is this a metaphorical or geologic "soon"?

ghare: Alphax: 'Iran is going to kill us all! Three, two, one, launch!'

They're coming right at us?

Shakes tiny fist at ghare.

In all seriousness, both sides have ballistic missile capability, but only one has (publicly acknowledged) ABM of any sort.

/Iran has sweet-ass Photoshop skills though.

Fark Me To Tears: The cynic in me is tempted to think that Israel doesn't want peace in the Middle East... ever.

You have that almost correct.

Just replace "Israel" with "Palestinians and their supporters" and you will have it 100% correct.

HotWingConspiracy: Hopefully Iran gets nukes to deter Israeli aggression.

With the US invading the nations on either side, calling Iran out as part of the "axis of evil" and being bombed by Israel I don't see how anyone can be surprised the Iran might consider pursuing nuclear weapons.

I feel badly for the sane Palestinians and Israelis who have to deal with this bullshiat as a part of their daily lives.

Ed Grubermann: And if they drag their biatch, that's us, Kenny, into their little war?

I long for the day that Israel starts shiat and the US finally mans up and tells them that they're on their own.

Damn it, I thought he stopped posting in non-TF threads.

Tats, let it be clearly said: I find the rhetoric about wiping your nations off the earth clearly too much and hyperbolic, but they really need to knock off the posturing and bullshiat. Israel has turned into the kid in the trenchcoat with the persecution complex that, once warranted, has now just worn thin and turned the kid into a douchebag.

I know you have "enemies." But they're letting them win by turning into militarized dickholes in ways that I'd bet your god never wanted.

These complaints are entirely political and utterly unrelated to the religion of the people involved.

(note: maybe he didn't; that said the torah isn't exactly all peace and puppies)

TappingTheVein: I believe that attacking Iran nuclear facilities is a stupid move. Aside from that i enjoyed how you ignored Iran's threats against Israel, from their leaders speeches to having signs of "death to Israel" fronting their military parade, the fact that they fund, train and support (and in Hizballah's case, command) terrorist organizations currently fighting Israel, the fact that theyare actively working on the development of nuclear weapons and have been violating non-prof treaties repeatedly (You ignored the fact that Israel is not signed, naturally).

That's one awesome alternate reality you have presented there.

In the REAL world, Israel has been breathlessly threatening Iran for the last eight years. Saying "IRAN IS WORKING ON THE BOMB!" every six months or so. Trying desperately to rally the world around the "destroy Iran" mantra.

Problem is, nobody is buying it except the US. Nobody. The IAEA goes in and says, "Um, no, no evidence that Iran has been doing that." No difference to Israel, because six months later they trot out the SAME script.

Israel is more isolated than EVER in the world, and an attack on Iran would be catastrophic for her. She can rely on NO help from any of her neighbours (certainly not Egypt this time around, and ditto for Turkey, two of her earlier powerful allies).

When the Palestinians got UNESCO membership, Israel turned around and the very next day announced new settlements in East Jerusalem. Which essentially spits in the faces of all those 140 countries that voted the day before.

Like I said, an attack on Iran by Israel would be catastrophic for Israel. It would be considered an action by a rogue state, and the USA is no longer anywhere near as influential in the UN as it used to be. Used to be that none of this Palestinian mmbership stuff would have gone ANYWHERE before, because the US could just bribe or threaten other countries to vote against or abstain,

Different world.

Don't buy Sabra brand hummus!