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Like all those feel-good renewable stories you have to dig a little deeper. Denmark has long been claiming high penetration rates from wind. I was looking at this stuff in 09 and nothing much seems to have changed but basically Denmark is a small economy with a lot of wind power capacity. When a lot of wind power comes on its grid it can export the excess across the Baltic for storage in the numerous dams of the much larger economies of Sweden and Norway (just a shipping channel between Denmark and Sweden). When the wind dies they pay to re-import the power. Its an expensive way to run a grid but it does get them to nearly half renewable energy. Norway, incidentally is at 100 per cent renewable because it has masses of hydro power. It is as I've always said. If a grid already has lot of hydro (or access to hydro in Denmark's case), then its much easier to get high penetration rates of wind. Without hydro there's lots of problems. None of this is cheap, as I noted. Denmark's power costs are high even in European terms - a point the article carefully avoids mentioning.

The deviation which can be reasonably expected using accepted drilling techniques is 2000 ft. at reservoir top and if a conventional vertical drilling rig were used each platform could only cover a circle of approximately 4000 ft. diameter. The equivalent reach using a drilling rig slanted at 30 degrees is 3500 ft. allowing coverage of a circle of 7000 ft. diameter from a single platform. By opting for slant drilling, the Stage I development required only 3 drilling platforms as opposed to the 7 required if vertical drilling rigs were to be used. Truly bizarre as even here we directionally drilled just on extreme occasion. I see in my minds eye the 3 rigs as opposed to 7 but I wonder if the costs were. Thanks for the link @James Regan

Guys, what is with the ‘slant drilling’ bullshit? If you work in the oilfield then you know that ‘slant drilling’ is an inaccurate term. Do they erect the derrick or raise the mast at an angle? It is ‘directional drilling’, and that is not initiated at the surface. You guys know this!!!

I managed to get the interconnections point in one sentence. Their economy seems to be bubbling along nicely too https://tradingeconomics.com/denmark/gdp-growth-annual

It is a bonus, not because non-Americans are so more educated or intelligent, but they are much more open for new ideas, not polluted by the idea of exceptionalism, it is sad that only very few Americans are able to abandon narrow-minded view of the world in discussion. Maybe this they have to some extent common with Chinese, they are both citizens of Middle Kingdoms (US and China), at least in their own eyes.

The sooner we get out, the better. The area is a giant tar baby. The more we win, the more we lose. And yes, protect the embassy of course, but in general, the best protection is to not be there.

Denmark breaking new records helped by interconnections with Germany and Scandinavia. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-denmark-windpower/denmark-sources-record-47-of-power-from-wind-in-2019-idUSKBN1Z10KE

A lot of people have asked about doing a breakdown on Iran and how the USA is draw them out to be. So today we are going to look at the US Iran conflict and see why we are in the position we are today. Things we will be looking at in this breakdown are, the current state of economy, what countries play a part in the conflict, we’ll look at a timeline, how the American presidents got along with the different presidents or leaders in Iran, and to wrap things up I will share some of my thoughts on the conflict. First let’s look at the current date of the Iranian economy where young Iranians are experiencing a 27% unemployment rate and university graduates are experiencing a 40% unemployment rate. Inflation is reported to being 40% but people are suspecting it being way higher. Professor Steve Hanke with the Johns Hopkins university, one of the worlds leading economists on inflation suspects the real inflation rate is 250% So what does this mean for the average consumer? In the last 12 months red meat prices are up 57% milk and eggs are up 37% and vegetables are up 47% The Iranian currency called the Rial has lost 60% of it’s value against the USD. In the last 12 months Iran has lost over 10 Billion USD in oil revenue. Both the USA and the UK have played a very large part in recent Iranian history, so have Israel and Saudi Arabia. Russia, Venezuela and Lebanon have also played a big role. Here is the timeline of important events: 1908 -Anglo Persian oil company starts 1914 – British government buys 51% share in the company (the APOC later changed name to BP in 1954) 1925 – 1941 Reza Pahlavi becomes shah 1941 – 1979 Mohammad Reza Pahlavi takes over as shah 1951- Mosaddegh becomes prime minister Parliament votes to nationalize oil Britain imposes embargo, halts exports 1953 – CIA & MI6 orchestrated a coup CIA documents released 60 years later confirming they were behind it 1963 – The shah launches the White Revolution 1. Between 1963 and 1978 the number of students increased from 1.5 million to 10 million 2. Total number of schools multiplied by 3.24 times 3. Education spending increased from 45 billion rials in 1963 – 1967 to 551 billion rials between 1973 – 1977 4. Women gained the right to vote 5. Women were able to run for office, serve as judges and work as lawyers for the first time 6. The marriage age for women was increased to 15 years 7. The personal income of Iranians skyrocketed 8. Oil revenue increased from $555 to over $20 billion by 1976 1978 – The shah kept discounting Ayatollah Khomeini’s influence 1979 – Shah & family forced to leave January 16th 1979 – Ayatollah Khomeini returns after 14 years in exile on February 1st 1979 – Revolutionary forces take the American Embassy on November 4th 1980 – The shah dies from cancer in Egypt on July 27th 1980 to 1988 – Iran/Iraq war – 1.5 million deaths (USA supported Iraq) 1981 – The American hostages are released just as Reagan is sworn into office on January 20th 1988 – Iran air bus shot down by USA killing 290 people including 66 children 1995 – Clinton places oil and trade sanctions on Iran 2003 – Iran suspends uranium enrichment program Allows tougher UN inspections of its nuclear facilities 2006 to 2010 – USA succeeds 4 rounds of sanctions against Iran 1. Stop enriching uranium 2. Stop exporting weapons 3. Banking restrictions 4. Trade and travel restrictions 2012 – Iran currency loses 80% of its value since 2011 2015 – Obama nuclear deal $150 billion or $1.8 billion in cash 2018 – May 8th Trump withdrew from Obama deal 2018 – August 7th Trump enforces new round of sanctions on oil and banking Traditionally the American presidents that are on the republican side have gotten along with the Iranian leaders if they have been more on the pro west side, but as soon as they have been on opposite sides of the specter there has been conflict. If there has been a Democratic president and the leaders in Iran have been pro west there have been some issues, but if the leaders of Iran have been anti west, then there has been little to no conflict. The shah got along with Eisenhower, Nixon, and Ford, but not with Kennedy, LBJ, or Carter. A lot of people ask, “So Masih, do you think this is ever going to stop?” My answer is always “I don’t think so” because if you think about it, the more conflict there is in the middle east the more the US/UK and other countries have to get involved in the region in order to try to “fix it” giving them more power in the region. If there is no conflict in the middle east, then there is no reason for these countries to get involved leaving them no influence in the area. Here are some of the formulas the superpowers have used to keep their influence in the region: 1. Creating sanctions with strong requests that cripple the economy they are targeting 2. They befriend and support the number 1 enemy of the country they are targeting 3. They infiltrate the nation with opposition creating chaos 4. They create internal division weakening the country allowing them to step in and take control easier.

I take it you missed the Physics lectures on "transparency of atmospheric gases to infrared light'?

Guess, this formate produces the generations we are having today......... Judging from his eyes, Suleiman might not be a bad person. If he did what was accused, was there a question raised as in "Why" had it been done?

I know nothing about oil drilling. All I did was recount an old conversion with some colleagues regarding the Kuwait invasion.

Decreasing acquisition costs show how subsidizing of renewables through surcharges and higher grid costs kills existing nuclear( and coal) and prevent new investment in nuclear. Very good graph.

This is just a throwback to gunboat diplomacy of the previous century. Instead of say, opium, the prize is now oil. European nations got tired of aggression after the carnage of two world wars. The US is the only Western country still continuing this practice today. I just got back from a holiday to Shanghai where I visited a museum, so this is fresh in my mind. Incidentally, the previous time I visited Shanghai (to conduct a seminar) was in 1994, and the place is now totally different.

Marcin, you are being completely ridiculous. Knock off the hysteria.

Fair point. Interconnectors also allow for sharing of surplus capacity when one part of the continent is suffering extreme weather. Although the UK is generally a net importer its electricity and gas interconnectors often work in reverse in extreme weather. Cold weather but also hot weather when many of Frances Nuc are on maintenance / reduced output due to heat. On occasions we import LNG as the UK has 3 very large terminals and exports the piped gas to Europe if the price is right.

6.88 c are pure taxes - electrici Denmark's GDP /head is about $51000 and its growing moderately. For most Danes living on a Sandbank which is typically less than 30 metres above sea level makes them more sensitive to global warming and in particular rising sea levels than say Texans. It came as no surprise they made it quite clear that Greenland is not up for sale. 6 million Danes will need that when Denmark is eventually washed into the North Sea.

Must have been the 80s as my Dad was OIM of the Morcambe Flame that Bay Driller was tendered to! If my memory is right it was British Gas Company? https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-16151-MS

Let's remember that, historically, all Iran's government of the day ever had to do was to give up its nuclear weapons program and the West (and specifically the USA) would be satisfied and leave Iran alone, to its own devices. The US really is not particularly interested in the internal politics or even the social structure of various other countries; they put up will all kinds of oppression and abuse of women in places like Burma, and all through Africa, and do nothing about it. What gets the US going is the thought that nuclear weapons are going t spread, and especially to unstable regimes with loony dictators or mullahs at the helm. It is only a matter of time before some mullah or ayatollah or Guard General decides to go launch one of those bombs. You know it is coming. So the US response is self-interested, sure, but also a direct reaction to the continued efforts of the ayatollahs to go build working nuke weapons and the delivery systems to go blast Israel off the map, if they cannot reach the USA mainland. And thus the US is faced with a classic existential dilemma: do we stop them now, by whatever means necessary, or do we do nothing al let it happen, and then try to deal with the nukes and rockets later on? And the US govt has made the decision to stop it now. If that means the assassination of various Iranian military or political leaders, then that is just seen as collateral damage. As long as the ayatollahs continue to try to build nuke bombs, you can expect the US to respond with a lot more than a hit on some radical general. You can expect a nuke strike on the facilities that manufacture those bombs. Now the Iranian mullahs perfectly understand this and, in concert with their chums inside North Korea, have built those facilities deep inside mountains;. That is not going to work. I predict the US will whack at those mountain tunnel openings with nuke warheads and turn them into molten glass and radioactive dust, specifically to entomb the hidden manufacturing sites. Don't kid yourself: the US government, and with the support I might add of the US people and probably the support albeit silent of the European people, are perfectly prepared to see that happen, and if one of the results is the mass death of say 500,000 Iranians, that will be considered an acceptable collateral damage. The mullahs are leading Iran into a disaster. Iran cannot survive a direct confrontation with US military might, and it is inexorably headed that way. The best bet for Iran is to overthrow the mullahs and establish a secular society, and I see that coming soon enough. The US could trigger that by simply announcing that, once the mullahs are overthrown, the US will issue 50,000 special student visas for Iranian students to come to the USA to study. With that incentive, the ayatollahs would be history within a week. And airdrop some guns and ammo in the countryside at random, just to spur things along. Nobody likes the ayatollahs and the mullahs. Including all the younger Iranians, now over half the population.

Unless your thinking is that KSA runs state supported terrorism such as Iran for example then KSA would have been a legitimate target as @remake it is expressing an opinion on, maybe he’s right lots of Saudis there but should we judge a a whole nation by a bad batch of eggs? Plus why would the US bomb the most strategic partner in the region that would only start conspiracy theories 🤔🤔

I was working for a unit of Schlumberger when 911 happened. Some of my colleagues told me that Schlumberger was responsible for the slant drilling that took Iraqi oil from across the Kuwait border. Saddam was already aggrieved that he bore the human and financial costs for fighting the Persians. He was incensed that a fellow Arab country didn't share the costs and even took his oil. Oh, and he mistakenly thought he had the greenlight from the US to invade Kuwait. This turned out to be false unlike the greenlight he had for the starting the Iran war, and using poison gas.

Just ask for help anytime. Glad to help. BTW I believe I have used one red arrow ever. And hey I’m American. Sigh the right red propaganda I deal with. The width and breadth of extremism. And I did warn ya’ll about Trump. Lol If Trump would have had this Iranian on a deck of cards like GW did maybe the killing would have been more popular and certainly not as surprising. If he wasn’t golfing he might of thought of that.

Yep. The consequence of Italy, Germany and Japan drawing the US in world war. Winners write the laws. Some countries like to live in the teeth of the tiger and complain bitterly when bitten rather than just survive and do the best for their people. If your a country that consistently wars, dreams of expansion or allows your religious leaders to expand conflict. Don’t expect anything but trouble. Kind of a simple concept. Iran, Russia and N Korea etc love to poke the tiger. Even when the bones of tiger kill are strewn across decades. Many foreigners of this ilk may be educated but have questionable common sense. Try working for a living and help your neighbor and leave that tiger alone.

It should be clear that Saudi government was not involved with the 9/11 attacks. So why would they be a target? That the perps held Saudi passports makes no difference, it was not a Saudi state operation. Iraq was only marginally involved, and the main location of the training camps was Afghanistan.

See potential Kurdistan. They have been fighting for a state of their own since WWI. https://iranpoliticsclub.net/maps/maps15/index.htm Azeris would possibly prefer being part of Azebaijan, though I think they do better economically within an oil rich Iran. Neo cons have been trying to assemble a plan to breakup Iran for decades. But the central government does not treat the minorities badly, and incomes are better for the most part than neighboring areas. The only group that has been treated unfairly are the Arab (Sunni) minority in the oil region and on the northern gulf coast. But it is more about being overrun and bypassed by the oil riches, not about oppression.

So let's put some facts on 911: Hijackers by Airplane: American Airlines Flight 11 Mohamed Atta - Egypt, tactical leader of 9/11 plot and pilot Abdul Aziz al Omari - Saudi Arabia Wail al Shehri - Saudi Arabia Waleed al Shehri - Saudi Arabia Satam al Suqami - Saudi Arabia United Airlines Flight 175 Fayez Banihammad - United Arab Emirates Ahmed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia Hamza al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia Marwan al Shehhi - United Arab Emirates, pilot Mohand al Shehri - Saudi Arabia American Airlines Flight 77 Hani Hanjour - Saudi Arabia, pilot Nawaf al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia Salem al Hazmi - Saudi Arabia Khalid al Mihdhar - Saudi Arabia Majed Moqed - Saudi Arabia United Airlines Flight 93 Saeed al Ghamdi - Saudi Arabia Ahmad al Haznawi - Saudi Arabia Ziad Jarrah - Lebanon, pilot Ahmed al Nami - Saudi Arabia Based on the above the USA attacked the sovereign nation of Saudi Arabia ooops.

Then ask yourself why Saudi Arabia was not the target for said retaliation in this instance.

How the heck can you possibly connect the Trump impeachment to the killing of an Iranian commander? There is almost no chance that the Senate will remove him from office regardless if he actually targetted this commander or not! Your bias is forcing you to take childish leaps of logic.

When foreign powers would want to partition your country as was interest and active actions of US, Israel and Saudi Arabia (real club of friends of common beliefs) in Syria you would ask devil from hell to help you prevent it. Accidently and luckily for Assad, Russian interests were in line with his country interests, Russia wanted to keep his naval base in Tartus and Syrians to keep independence and their motherland. The arguments that attacks by US, Israel and Gulf countries coallition was the answer for human rights attrocities of Assad against protesters is laughable. Syrian Army, one of the leading in Middle East in the first weeks of protests lost over 1,000 soldiers trying to fight with foreign jidadist mercenaries, very well equipped, trained and ruthless. You know that over 2 miilion civilians fled other regions of Syria to arrive at Damascus under protection of "butcher Assad". Ask non-Americans, Europeans, virtually any knowledgable person, you do not need to believe me, these are facts reported by various sources in many international media.

It seems that if the USA claims it, then it is so, and thereafter they can commit whatever crimes they like because they make the rules and that is the end of the story.

I do not like this nation-profiling going on here. It is done mainly by Jan, he needs national identification for his stereotypes about people. You are above this Tom. When I was against US exceptionalism, too close mentally to ubermensch idea for me Iwas tagged as Chinese. I think forums like this are to exchange ideas, and I do not necessarily need to know nationality, let the thoughts speak for themselves. Remake it is Chinese it is obvious, mentally still resides in Mainland China. If he is actually in Mainland China it shows clear devotion to his motherland as with his knowledge and command of English he could stay in country of his tertiary education. If you really want to trace him it is easy, share the cost of the fee with Ward, he will have his bot mission accomplished.

The closing of an embassy and repatriation of its staff are by international law. All host countries can demand removal of an embassy, and by that same law the embassy must be removed, indeed, not removing it is considered an act of aggression. It is part of international law embedded in treaties everyone has signed to.

The USA invasion of Iraq was unilateral: it was opposed by the UN Security Council. Mr Kofi Annan expressed this clearly. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm You believe the UN SC is a law making and law abiding body. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now imagine if they had listened to Ahmadinjead back then and instead seized the Soviet Embassy!

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-student-leader-says-he-regrets-1979-u-s-embassy-n1075626 At the time, what led to the 1979 takeover remained obscure to Americans who for months could only watch in horror as TV newscasts showed Iranian protests at the embassy. Popular anger against the U.S. was rooted in the 1953 CIA-engineered coup that toppled Iran's elected prime minister and cemented the power of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The shah, dying from cancer, fled Iran in February 1979, paving the way for its Islamic Revolution. But for months, Iran faced widespread unrest ranging from separatist attacks, worker revolts and internal power struggles. Police reported for work but not for duty, allowing chaos like Marxist students briefly seizing the U.S. Embassy. In this power vacuum, then-President Jimmy Carter allowed the shah to seek medical treatment in New York. That lit the fuse for the Nov. 4, 1979, takeover, though at first the Islamist students argued over which embassy to seize. A student leader named Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who later became president in 2005, argued they should seize the Soviet Embassy compound in Tehran as leftists had caused political chaos. But the students settled on the U.S. Embassy, hoping to pressure Carter to send the shah back to Iran to stand trial on corruption charges. Asgharzadeh, then a 23-year-old engineering student, remembers friends going to Tehran's Grand Bazaar to buy a bolt cutter, a popular tool used by criminals, and the salesman saying: "You do not look like thieves! You certainly want to open up the U.S. Embassy door with it!" "The society was ready for it to happen. Everything happened so fast," Asgharzadeh said. "We cut off the chains on the embassy's gate. Some of us climbed up the walls and we occupied the embassy compound very fast." Like other former students, Asgharzadeh said the plan had been simply to stage a sit-in. But the situation soon spun out of their control. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the long-exiled Shiite cleric whose return to Iran sparked the revolution, gave his support to the takeover. He would use that popular angler to expand the Islamists' power.

Nice idea, but I think that Iran would not run out of anything since it can be fed by Russia as long as it is interested. Both the US and Russia have an interest in creating a degree of instability in the Gulf in order to divert investment into their own oil and gas fields. I don't expect Iran's government would survive at all. Their people are not supportive. They will use the opportunity of the Iranian forces engaged in real war to take down Qom. It may end up the most bloody overthrow of a ruling class we have seen since the Bolsheviks. The new government would settle on whatever terms demanded of it. If the theocracy remains, then the war will only stop when Iran cedes away influence anywhere and loses its oil fields permanently. BTW the California threat is hot air. No Democrat will ever be elected dog catcher let alone have a seat in Sacramento if they actually did that. The state already looks like Singapore vs. Indonesia, with 1/3 of the state in poverty and sky high electric rates. Brazil and China are more economically egalitarian than CA. It is an empty threat and just bravado.

United States operates freely and without consent and often against the will of many sovereign nations. At the end of the day, it is always the power of the arguments against the argument of power. All countries are just bullies exercising their raw power to meet its interests. Human rights only apply to own citizens, others are collateral damage. It was always like that and always will be. Some countries try to bring narrative to their actions calling people they kill terrorists, and countries they invade rogue powers. It often also happens that public opinions of these bullies believe these narratives (all other countries do not believe, few dare to speak up). But at the end of the day raw power, mainly military power is what rules. Smaller and weaker nations has always tried to bring some appearance of civility to these barbarian rules, creating League of Nations and recently United Nations. But strongest countries like United States, Soviet Union/Russia, British Empire, Roman Empire always had upper hand by means of their military or economic superiority. Funny example is China, it still purports to believe in sovereignty and international organizations. My take is for not more than 10 years. Later, when all these fancy military gear will be completed it will be great bully like currently United States is. They would somehow divide the world between them, or not come into agreement but clash in nuclear war. But it is not of concern for other 205 weaker countries, we can only watch and hope they will come to some agreement. But to conclude, in the next 10 years, while China bides its time, US has the world all to itself to plunder.

It definitely doesn't mean squat to Iran. It was a mistake to let go the oil and create the post colonial middle East. It is an artificial creation structured around misconceptions of the colonial powers as to governance - heavily centralized vs. the traditional regionally autonomous structure, hence endless instability, civil war and mass atrocities. Letting them control the oil was equally stupid. Just as the US kicking UK and France off the Suez Canal in 1956. Besides Iran, none of these countries existed before WWI. All were colonies of the Ottoman empire and British Empire. And the Ottoman loss in WWI put those in UK and French control. They should have carved out oil provinces to keep for themselves, giving the US the Saudi portion and stayed there. The population centers and their rural environs would have been made into a collection of small states as they had effectively been as Turkish provinces. Now the choice appears to be to separate the oil from the people of the region. Considering Turkish realignment, it should help cause disruption if a Kurdistan state were carved out of Iraq and Iran sitting on top of 1/2 of Iraqi oil.

#1 terrorist is the world is the usa. Killed more ppl than Bible lmao!

This bot thing becomes real entertainment here, Unfortunately I have not received this bot warning private message from Ward. So I am lost as prey for bot infiltration Ward please elaborate more about the subject, do you have any test to discover bots ? Do they harass you only in cyber space or also in reality ? I am going to test my friends, some are recently behaving in a strange way, they could have been taken over by rogue AI.

I have chosen this really true statement, because it had 3 red arrows. But I think remake it was to nuanced so I will explain it in more straightforward way. What Trump did was similar to making a poop by himself at the center of ballroom at the major international meeting. Is this type of "action" available for anybody ? Yes. So why nobody but Trump is using this way of "expressing" themselves ? Because others think 3-5 moves ahead, are not that impulsive, eager for instant gratification, etc. Was it strategically important to kill Suleimani and Al-Muhandi? If Yes, there were thousand opportunities to do it in a better, more nuanced way. And Trump did it in the worst possible way: through terrorist attack, public assassination at major airport, and later bragging about this assassination as a patriotic way, American way of solving problems in international relations. Trump twitted US flag as a way of bragging about this horrible act !!! Was it Al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden doing this or President of large and democratic nation ? There were very few real reactions from around the world relating to this action, apart from typical diplomatic blah, blah: "We are concerned about this, and all sides should show restraint, etc." Why ? Because all are shocked, because they never seen Trumps poop in the ballroom before. All countries allies and enemies need time for this very information to sink in, so to speak. There is shortage of Don Perignon in Beijing, for a reason. And Iran will probably do nothing in the near term like next month, stay low profile, although there are news that US is continuing its terrorist rampant spree of assassinations and kidnapings the following day. The best action for Iran is to let US show more to the world that US is a new terrorist force in town. And I am sure that was the message from Moscow and Beijing to Iranian authorities. The best international community action would be no action to let the US domestic politics (this impeachment circus) to return to town. Test question before any of you will start critisizing this comments ? Try to google when it was last time that major global power used terrorist tactics, assassinations to pursue their foreign policy goals ?

Hmm, Christopher Stevens, CIA operative, was killed by a Sunni mob. I find it hard to believe a Shia general can command the Sunnis. Iregardless of whether Suleymani did orchestrate attacks, his targets were not innocent civilians so I doubt you can classify his actions as terrorism. Besides he is a high ranking government military official. American military officials regularly plot killings - can they be murdered by another country, and the event not considered an act of war?

Tom, each and every analyst will tell you that killing Suleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was a huge political mistake made by Donald Trump. Consider a few observations and opinions: - Only upside is that personal power and contacts of 2 generals vanished. But Quds is a large formation, replacement was already appointed. The same with PMF, the replacement would be announced fast. Military machinery will work as previously, now only with better morale to fight common enemy and conduct vengeance for the death of martyrs, - Killing of Suleimani strengthened Iranian authorities and significantly weakened any dissenters, - Iranian nation is now more united against foreign power, - Iraqi nation is now more united against foreign power, - United States used terrorist methods in non-war situation for the first time since Cold War ended (for Americans it does not matter, you are all exceptional, but allies need to think about Plan B), - I think European Union should think about common armed forces including nuclear weapons, cause we do not know if tomorrow US will not kill important Russian general in Warsaw or Berlin and draw us into catastrophic war. - US became too irresponsible warmonger, and remember its civilians are safe 5,000 miles from here, all other people are just collateral damage, - Such escalation will bring a lot of casualties. It is a typical, arrogant act of war. Probably less than 1,000 US casualties and more than 50,000 of Iraqi and Iranian casualties, but for Trump it would be 1,000 too many. - Trump probably lost re-election, he was elected on anti-war agenda and MAGA, and this act is pure warmongering without much sense, because no US foreign policy goal was achieved. - At the end of the day who cares, US has capacity to kill ALL 80 million of Iranians and ALL 40 million of Iraqi so US wins in any scenario.

Mindnumbingly misguided ideas of the dumbed-down America that Trump has created and if you think you have a point just remember that in almost 20 years the USA could not defeat a non-aligned goat herding nation called Afghanistan and now contemplates aggression against a top 10 non-nuclear military power.

I am. It's obvious I'm not referring to individuals. Hint: I'm referring to a country. Can you guess which one? I won't cater to delicate pedants such as yourself.

In my humble opinion, the US should leave southern Iraq to it’s own devices and move their entire mission, military and diplomatic to Kurdistan. The Kurds generally like Americans and appreciate what they can do to assist the Kurds militarily and economically. This is my opinion after roughly two years spent based in either Erbil or Taq Taq. The Southern Iraqis have shown neither the will or the effort to rebuild after Saddam, and as usual blame the situation on the US. Leave it to them. If they want to jump into bed with the Iranians, Russians or Chinese, let them and we’ll all sit back and watch how that turns out.

MSM spin. "Iraqi mourners" waving Iran-backed Hezbollah flags? Iran is instigating this.

What age do you presume we are? From some of the people on here I've had discussions with, I bet you'd be surprised... See - either PE Scott is younger than you'd think, in denial, or simply doesn't expect to see the correct conditions to be useful in the distant future...

Shhhhh..... We need them. Given the right conditions, theyll make fine oil & gas one day....

Because 50 year old and older run the world, they do the smart work, they create the companies and the jobs, the control the levers of power, politics, banking, business, and religion. The military is slightly younger due to retirement requirements, but the joint chiefs are dinosaurs too. All claims of stopping the world from burning every drop of oil and natural gas that they can get their hands on are the same as all claims of eliminating poverty or stopping illegal immigration. They are sound bites for NON-dinosaurs to believe, because the dinosaurs know better.

Fozzir, Marcin just wants us to keep fighting other peoples wars and keeping other people safe so that they can take advantage of the USA...and perhaps immigrate there illegally when their own country goes down the toilet.