[reliabilityguy]

> Pointlessness of this war aside

This is not a pointless war. You may not like Trump or Bibi, but geopolitics-wise this war make perfect sense on many levels.

First, it limits China's ability to hoard cheep oil as Iran has to sell its oil with a discount due to being sanctioned. China hoards oil as it plans to attack Taiwan and it understands that there will be sanctions on oil trade. So, to minimize the shock on its economy China hoards oil. [1]

Second, Iran is the reason why Gulf states are surrounded by instability: Houthis, armed and funded by IR, in Yemen make Saudis and UAE uneasy. Iraqi militias funded and armed by IR as well sabotage internal politics of Iraq the same way Hizballah destabilizes Lebanon. No one in the Gulf (except Qatar maybe, up until recently) wanted strong IR. These countries and their peace is essential for US and the world economy.

Third, if IR gets nukes, most of the Gulf nations would want nukes too. They already see themselves surrounded by IR-funded militias. We do not need more nukes, we need less nukes in the world. And I have no idea how people simply ignore the fact that IR already has 400+kg of 60%-encriched uranium. Why if not for bombs?

So yeah, geopolitics-wise this war makes perfect sense. Islamic Republic is major destabilizing factor in the region, and this war attempts to resolve it.

Why the current admin cannot articulate it clearly, idk.

[1] https://jkempenergy.com/2026/02/15/chinas-oil-stocks-and-rea...

[SimianSci]

I call it pointless because I and many other Americans have been told these things before. We are always in a constant "Red Queen's Race" with other nations as a means of establishing dominance. We subsidize allies like Israel with billions of dollars that have never been allocated by our congress, and which only serve to subsidize the healthcare of Israeli citizens while we continue to have nothing of the sorts.

"Bro, just trust me Iran is SO CLOSE!" for the past 40 years is not convincing us that this war has any benefit to us. Americans are already on the hook for trillions of dollars in debt we cannot pay as a country, and now we want to continue exploding the deficit to the tune of $1 Billion per day. Its existential threat after existential threat with no consideration to the actual troubles americans are facing in the here and now. Its just endless wars with no end in sight. Outside of manufacturing consent on behalf of Israel, posts such as yours seem highly dedicated to trying to convince nobody aside from the wealthy few Americans with international holdings.

[reliabilityguy]

> I call it pointless because I and many other Americans have been told these things before. We are always in a constant "Red Queen's Race" with other nations as a means of establishing dominance.

Well, if it's not the US, then someone else will. So, it can be US then.

> We subsidize allies like Israel with billions of dollars that have never been allocated by our congress, and which only serve to subsidize the healthcare of Israeli citizens while we continue to have nothing of the sorts.

Aid to Israel is basically giving them weapons for free, i.e., paying US-based companies. I have no idea how did you jump from weapons to subsidizing Israel's healthcare.

> "Bro, just trust me Iran is SO CLOSE!" for the past 40 years is not convincing us that this war has any benefit to us.

What is the purpose of having 60%-enriched uranium if not for bombs? If Iran has 60%-enriched uranium today, it means that they did start to work on it 10s of years ago. So, these people who said it were right.

I am not sure why you advocate for the spread of nuclear weapons, especially with regimes that are known to spread instability in the region.

> Americans are already on the hook for trillions of dollars in debt we cannot pay as a country, and now we want to continue exploding the deficit to the tune of $1 Billion per day.

This is a valid issue, and it has to be resolved. However, it has nothing to do with the war. With this war, or without, the debt is a structural problem of US politics. So far, for the past 20 years, everyone just kicks the can down the road.

> Outside of manufacturing consent on behalf of Israel, posts such as yours seem highly dedicated to trying to convince us that this isnt a pointless war from the American perspective.

It is absolutely not a pointless war. If this war is won, it secures long-term peace in the region, which will absolutely benefit the US. I have no idea why you think that having a regime that funds most of the terror groups in the regions, and spreads instability is good for the US.

PS And I am not even talking about how this would enable the US to focus on defending Taiwan from China.

[the_af]

> It is absolutely not a pointless war. If this war is won, it secures long-term peace in the region

If there's one thing I'm absolutely, 100% sure of, is that this war won't secure any long-term peace in the region.

We're in fairy tale narrative mode, I see.

[nebula8804]

>Aid to Israel is basically giving them weapons for free, i.e., paying US-based companies. I have no idea how did you jump from weapons to subsidizing Israel's healthcare.

Sick and tired of this old argument: Its still adding to the debt, so its socialism to increase military contractor stock prices.

[Jensson]

> Its still adding to the debt

Not really, this increases the profits of American oil and gas exports, USA is one of the countries that benefits from higher prices.

You could argue that just benefits petrol companies, but overall USA doesn't really lose on this its mostly the rest of the world that pays for it, and it might redistribute a bit inside USA.

[reliabilityguy]

Aid to Ukraine adds to the debt too, as many other things.

[FpUser]

>"but geopolitics-wise this war make perfect sense"

For the US - maybe, assuming they do not get bloody nose at some point.

[orwin]

> Houthis, armed and funded by IR, in Yemen make Saudis and UAE uneasy

I mean, I also would be uneasy if the 3-year old I tried to kill multiple times and failed were suddenly given a firearm, but maybe next time we try to prevent Saudis from killing their neighbours first, to avoid creating yet another resistance group that use terrorism and asymmetrical warfare?

[reliabilityguy]

> but maybe next time we try to prevent Saudis from killing their neighbours first, to avoid creating yet another resistance group that use terrorism and asymmetrical warfare?

It was not us that said to Iran to fund Houthis. Some things are due to choices that are made by others, and not the US. I do not get this whole idea of denying agency.

[orwin]

I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that if Saudis don't want to feel uneasy, they shouldn't meddle and bomb their neighbours.

Also they shouldn't execute a hundred unarmed Africans after bringing them to work on neom (I wonder if they were surprised to be shot at, did they run? Did the police execute the one who survived the first hits?), and let their vanity project kill more than 53k 'workers' (slaves?) in 15 years, but I mean, most of them are African or Indian, so who cares?

Don't get me wrong, Iran is an abhorrent country, who jail and execute people to make examples. Saudi Arabia is just way, way worse. And at least average Iranians seems empathetic and ok human beings. Average Saudis aren't.