The Index

War is not a morality play. It is not written in the language of heroes and villains. It is a deplorable bureaucratic process, a strategic wager, and a human disaster.

Iran may not be Iraq. But America, still, may be America.

And that’s what should worry you most.

War is not a morality play. It is not written in the language of heroes and villains. It is a deplorable bureaucratic process, a strategic wager, and a human disaster.

Iran may not be Iraq. But America, still, may be America.

And that’s what should worry you most.

https://www.theindex.media/p/iran-is-not-iraq-but-america-is-still-america-b0f4

I write about tech + humans + philosophy. Skeptical tech optimist, EA aligned, building internet businesses.

Farcaster OG.

https://linktr.ee/joanwestenberg

> When Trump pulled out in 2018, Iran resumed enrichment, turned off  cameras, accelerated its program. That wasn’t the response of a wronged party seeking diplomatic redress. 

"Diplomatic redress" sounds like a gentleman's disagreement you can appeal to the WTO to. On the other side was always "maximum pressure" and capitulation (give up their ideological position of actively opposing Israel, voluntarily or by force).

When the US violated their side of the bargain - once Iran already made its concessions of destroying centrifuges, shipping out material! - Iran/EU tried to keep the JCPOA going for a while, but e.g. Germany couldn't prevent it's own ex-state owned phone company from shutting off the Iranian embassy in the face of secondary sanctions.

The justifications that the regime is messianic don't hold water, and no one has even bothered to make a serious argument that this is so.