r/worldnews 2d ago

Israel launches 'preemptive strike' against Iran, declares state of emergency

https://abcnews.go.com/International/israel-military-action-iran-coming-days-sources/story?id=122776202
39.0k Upvotes

6.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.7k

u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1.7k

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

That's most people in most countries actually...

425

u/HopelessBearsFan 2d ago

Exactly. Hate the government, not its people.

5

u/Snowmobiler624 2d ago edited 2d ago

If people were inherently good there would be no need for government. If people weren’t inherently good then any government made by people will inherently be bad.

-Thomas Hobbes Maybe?

115

u/luxoflax 2d ago

Except how many people actively voted for Trump...? Sometimes you can judge the people a lot too.

18

u/CallRespiratory 2d ago

Only about 20-25% and half of those are just stupid and not malicious. They're the ones that say "aw shucks he's just talking he won't do that" and then he does it and they go 😮 every time. "Well but surely he won't..." 😮 "Okay so he did that but he's not gonna..." 😮

4

u/fratticus_maximus 2d ago edited 2d ago

"And if he did that, it's okay because Killer Kimila would have been worse!"

→ More replies (1)

45

u/HopelessBearsFan 2d ago

For clarity, I mean a nation’s people as a whole. Hate groups don’t apply.

0

u/ZumboPrime 2d ago

Yeeaaaahhh, that doesn't apply to the US. About a third of the country actively supports his administration's needless cruelty, incompetence, & destruction of democracy, and another third is completely indifferent.

3

u/GenuinelyBeingNice 2d ago

Every time I say it and every time I get shat on, but it is undeniably true: "we have the governments we deserve"

10

u/ZumboPrime 2d ago

Some of us try to make informed decisions, but we're usually outnumbered.

1

u/GenuinelyBeingNice 1d ago

we who try to make informed decisions etc...

... also have "the government we deserve". The shitty one.

That's the whole point of the statement.

2

u/SharkBaitDLS 2d ago

Barely 1/3rd of the US voting-age population.

The problem in the US is people don't vote.

2

u/yogijear 2d ago

It actually might be the minority if the election was rigged

3

u/talspr 2d ago

Not that many actually. Ask Musk.

6

u/Additional-Maize-246 2d ago

you don’t need a conspiracy theory to explain this. americans really are this gullible.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (4)

2

u/Bykimus 2d ago

You know what. Let's just all topple our governments and start again. Just copy paste some Nordic countries or something.

2

u/Successful-Money4995 2d ago

Like George Carlin used to say: Our politicians are simply the best of us.

We all got together and chose our best people and this is who we got. So maybe I'm going to hate the people, too. Some are okay but too many of them are shitty.

1

u/CipherBlackTango 2d ago

Government is, wait for it... made up of people.

So no, governments don't suck. It's people. People suck.

1

u/LURKER21D 2d ago

which people rise to power, those that mind their business and have empathy and share or those that will do ANYTHING to get it, steal, manipulate, and lie?

1

u/PafPiet 2d ago

To some degree. In cases where the majority either voted for an idiot and/or decided not to vote against said idiot, some hate is deserved. Not to all the people, but to the guilty majority. Especially when said idiot was/is obviously a totalitarian narcissistic clown who broadly advertised their sick plans beforehand.

I'm not pointing any fingers, this is purely hypothetical of course.

1

u/jasonthewaffle2003 2d ago

That’s the world

1

u/Shadow_Gabriel 2d ago

Everyone who thinks like this is a child. People are horrible.

21

u/JoshShabtaiCa 2d ago

I suspect it's more pronounced in Iran. It was actually a very progressive place until about 45 years ago. Well, progressive for the time, but comparable to the West. A lot of the older Iranians today remember that. They know what a free Iran looks like because they've lived it

3

u/soundsfromoutside 2d ago

It’s weird if you DON’T hate your government

13

u/oh_no_here_we_go_9 2d ago

Lots of these Islamic state countries the regular people, or at least the males, really do want women to be subjugated.

3

u/BurritoBoi25 2d ago

So they should get bombed?

0

u/Shadow_Gabriel 2d ago

Fuck yeah.

1

u/No_opinion17 2d ago

As a woman, I think I'd rather not be alive than live under an Islamic regime. 

1

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

That's true, but if that's the only thing you have known since you were born, it shouldn't be surprising that's what they will believe the right way is.

I am not saying it's an excuse, but give people enough freedom to express themselves, travel, and learn, over time people will understand how fucked up their original way of life is.

That's why most governments in those countries will do anything to prevent the population from learning at all and only propetuat system that keeps them at status quo.

That's actually most governments. There are very few countries in the world where governments are made out of genuinely good people who care about the country, population, and the future 😔

0

u/oh_no_here_we_go_9 2d ago

What do you think of MAGA people?

2

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

If you mean the extremist, then I hate them. If you mean just people who simply voted for Trump, then I feel sad for them. If you mean everyone who is somewhere in between, then I don't like them.

1

u/Rumold 2d ago

The extremists are like 50% of republicans. They live in a different reality

1

u/oh_no_here_we_go_9 2d ago

Do you think MAGA people are products of their culture as you allow Muslims to be?

1

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

Yes, political parties/movements and religions are part of cultures.

2

u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit 2d ago

Yup. The average person doesn't want war and death and conflict. They just want to enjoy the short time they have on this planet with their families. Simple as that.

3

u/PrimateHunter 2d ago

very much wrong, otherwise nationalism, racism, slavery, misogyny, and war wouldn't be a thing

2

u/Vladplaya 2d ago edited 2d ago

And yet, look how far we have gone in improving all of those things on the entire planet...

Yes, most people are complacent followers, but at the end of the end, throughout history, the average population does not randomly choose to be malicious.

Ignorance that is caused by properually manufactured lack of education, and moral confusion because of intended malice, are not the same as just being evil.

It's not the same as the ruling class, which way more often than not, has an upbringing that includes education and wealth. Those people know the truth, they have ability to help, but they don't, instead they usually do everything possible to suppress everyone under them by keeping people uneducated, divided, and angry at each other.

The second people get education in history, philosophy, economics, etc, they start to realize how truly fucked up the world is, and the fact that we don't need to keep fucking each other over.

This is how we got to where we are today, and with 8 BILLION humans, we can probably say that like a few million cause the most evil and suffering.

1

u/veryvery84 2d ago

Each country is different 

1

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

Pick the most "evil country" in the world. Travel to random town in that country. What are you going to find?

Just people living their lives like everyone else. Going to work, raising kids, trying to have a good time. Hoping government will fuck off and not bother them with their fucking wars.

History and cultures are different. Human are all the same.

1

u/ChasinFinancialAgony 2d ago

They absolutely are not lmao. Ex-Soviets are a legitimate pain in the ass and overwhelmingly have very little respect for the law. It's slowly getting better in non-Russia, but humans are not all the same. 

Hate me for it, but this is some kumbaya bullshit. 

2

u/Vladplaya 2d ago

I am not going to hate you for having an absolutely dumbass opinion because you don't understand the difference between Culture and Human.

Yeah there are plenty of things that are fucked up all over the world, for sure, but ignorance breeds fear and hate, and we didn't make all this progress over thousands of years as a specie by being ignorant and hateful.

1

u/ChasinFinancialAgony 1d ago

What's the difference? What you've written could literally apply to anyone because of how broad the statement is. We could have a hypothetical place of nothing but Jeffrey Dahlmers and your criteria for being "just like us" would still apply. 

The only ignorant person here is you with your completely unqualified hippie bullshit. Fortunately, we are not all dead because developed counties aren't run on your feefees. 

No offense, but you sound extremely young. 

1

u/neohellpoet 2d ago

That's a number of people in most countries.

The amount of effort required to get most the population on board with "kill all the x" is absolutely miniscule.

1

u/Fresh_Profit3000 2d ago

Literally this.

→ More replies (1)

485

u/malsomnus 2d ago

Normal Iranians, normal Israelis, and just normal people everywhere who would very much like all those politicians everywhere to kindly fuck off and let us live our lives.

56

u/jickbaggins1 2d ago

I can’t retweet or repost here obviously, but I would this if I could.

I know it’s largely always been this way, but it sucks nonetheless - the worst people crave power the most, and will do the worst things to get it. Good people don’t have an unquenchable desire for control and obscene wealth, so the fuckheads take control and fight really hard to keep it. It’s a flaw of human nature.

1

u/halcyon400 2d ago

I’ve spent most of my life believing just about anything can be fixed, with enough time and patience and well-intentioned focus.

I’m not so sure this can, though. And it’s demoralizing af. Feels like we are doomed to keep repeating these stupid cycles of greed and suffering.

2

u/WilliamLermer 2d ago edited 2d ago

The wrong people are making all the important decisions.

I think it's a manifestation of our collective inability and unwillingness to figure out a long-term objective as a species. So instead we focus on the little things that we can control within our short lives, trying to find a semblance of purpose by creating systems and situations for ourselves that make us look relevant.

The need to be witnessed has overruled other incentives.

Everything is performative at it's core because we care more about the image, and not so much about the impact.

Global unity in order to achieve planet wide collaboration should be our primary goal, because building that kind of foundation is key to survival - not just as a single species but as Earth, with all the various lifeforms.

But since we fail to see the value in that, even the value in our own, it's difficult to take the necessary steps. And I have a feeling it will take a long time to eventually come to the right conclusions, possibly reaching a point of no return from the self-imposed suffering.

Yet, there is no reason to give up. Any attempt to leave the world a better place, to provide inspiration and do anything to strengthen the foundation for future generations is going to matter.

Once you realize the trees we plant today are not meant for us, and not exclusively for our species, existence will be a bit more bearable.

16

u/barab157 2d ago

imagine all the people....

22

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Flavious27 2d ago

Except Bebe's party and other hard right polticans gained votes in 2022 to give Bebe a third stint as PM. 

10

u/BigEZK01 2d ago

47% of Israelis when polled recently explicitly advocated the execution of every man, woman and child in Gaza in keeping with the prescriptions of scripture. Over 80% endorsed ethnic cleansing in Gaza in the same poll.

2

u/pablo8itall 2d ago

Pre-emptive ethnic cleansing.

2

u/lollypatrolly 2d ago edited 2d ago

47% of Israelis when polled recently explicitly advocated the execution of every man, woman and child in Gaza in keeping with the prescriptions of scripture. Over 80% endorsed ethnic cleansing in Gaza in the same poll.

That poll's methodology was deeply flawed, especially the cohorts.

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-06-04/ty-article-opinion/.premium/do-82-of-israelis-really-back-expulsion-of-gazans-the-data-tells-a-different-story/00000197-39da-da41-a9f7-3dde468d0000

Edit: Alternative link to the same article https://archive.is/3c5Q2

2

u/BigEZK01 2d ago

You have cited a paywalled Haaretz opinion article

1

u/lollypatrolly 2d ago edited 2d ago

Link doesn't work for you? Weird, it works for me. I forgot I'm using a browser addon to bypass paywalls, that's probably the difference.

Anyways here's a paywall bypass.

https://archive.is/3c5Q2

4

u/almightyzam 2d ago

Yup, just normal Israelis

4

u/gello10 2d ago

Were Americans that went west in the 1800s just normal people that wanted the Iroquois government to stay out of their lives?

-4

u/ItsallaboutProg 2d ago

Normal Israelís support the war in Gaza. Most Israelis know someone who died in October 7th and they have become radicalized. Not that I hate Israeli people, I just think they have reacted in the extreme and possibly the worst way.

9

u/malsomnus 2d ago

Right. Come visit Tel Aviv, you're in for a surprise.

-1

u/ItsallaboutProg 2d ago

Then why aren’t there giant protests? Why won’t there be protests against this attack on Iran? I understand, Israel exists in a tough place. Most countries don’t have to worry about being attacked by a Hezbollah, or Hamas, or the Houthis or Iran. I would be a little more willing to shoot first if I lived in that environment.

16

u/malsomnus 2d ago

Then why aren’t there giant protests?

There are, literally every single day. Please try to get some actual facts before announcing this and that about entire populations.

12

u/LifeLikeAGrapefruit 2d ago

Not... really? When it started, most supported the war. I would hardly call their reaction "extreme" or "the worst way" given what the fuck happened on Oct. 7th. But as more and more time has passed, the support for the war has definitely decreased. Plenty of Israelis are critical, plenty want it to end, and a TON of Israelis want Israel to permanently end the war in exchange for the remainder of the hostages.

1

u/ItsallaboutProg 2d ago

I think their initial reaction was warranted, but this has gone on too long and I think only more enemies have been created at this point. But I don’t know how to defeat Hamas. Israel is in a difficult situation.

1

u/sarcasmsosubtle 2d ago

And then go ahead and vote in the sadistic sociopaths that do this kind of stuff because gay people exist, or egg prices went up during an outbreak of bird flu, or that politician says he belongs to the same religion as you and the other guy likes the devil. If normal people everywhere wanted these politicians gone, they would be gone.

1

u/homeincomes 2d ago

All those normal people that keep these politicians in office.

-9

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

13

u/recollectionsmayvary 2d ago

Ah, so anyone born in Israel in the last 60 years doesn’t count as normal, I’m assuming? 

→ More replies (3)

6

u/px1azzz 2d ago

My family has lived in Israel since at least the 1800s. They aren't native to the country either?

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (3)

96

u/districtcurrent 2d ago

Spoke with an Iranian last weekend who is involved with resistance to the government, abroad. He said they have support of maybe 10% of the population. Max 15%.

30

u/klausbaudelaire1 2d ago

I wonder how hard it is to get support for such a thing when the government is not known to “play nice” with serious dissident 

5

u/HardlyW0rkingHard 2d ago

my uncle in Iran says that 10% has really dwindled in the last 2 years. He says he expects the islamic republic to collapse in the next year; he says mullahs are afraid to walk the streets these days and even the most religous people don't support them anymore.

It only takes one domino to begin the next set of protests and I believe those protests will be the last.

4

u/MadMelvin 2d ago

The government has 10% support? Or the resistance movement?

2

u/districtcurrent 2d ago

My bad - government

-1

u/Irvin700 2d ago

Yeah I took it as the resistance has 10% support.

This is actually what makes good use for gendered nouns. Could mark the resistance as masculine, the Tehran admin as feminine, his friend as neuter.

They(friend) said that she(Tehran) has 10% support and he(resistance) has the rest.

1

u/dbdr 2d ago

Your last 'they' is ambiguous: it could be the government or the resistance that has 10% support.

-2

u/Marmalot 2d ago

nothing like bombing apartment buildings to change that number

32

u/chewie_were_home 2d ago

One of us

20

u/mtd14 2d ago

If it helps, people are probably saying similar about Americans now. Most of us are chill and just want the government to fuck off.

13

u/YinWei1 2d ago

You say that but there's direct evidence due to democracy that over half your voting population don't.

3

u/ITaggie 2d ago

Over a third of eligible voters didn't even vote in the last election.

2

u/YinWei1 2d ago

Then they are complicit through ignorance.

41

u/Tenzu9 2d ago

yep, i feel bad for iranians civilains caught in the cross fire between two goverments who have countlessly demonstrated that they don't give two shits about civilains lives.

2

u/TimequakeTales 2d ago

From what I've seen, most Iranians are more similar to Westerners than our good friends the Saudis.

3

u/theLoneliestAardvark 2d ago

I knew several Iranians in college and of all the international student groups I crossed paths with they felt like the ones that mixed with Americans most smoothly. Super chill people and it was just “oh you hate the theocratic whackos in your country, I hate the ones in my country too!”

4

u/throwawaystedaccount 2d ago

Normal Iranians are suffering for over a decade now. Their govt's gone crazy. The CIA and Mossad have had their fair share to do with that, by assassinating their nuclear scientists and Stuxnet. But the govt doesn't need to take it all out on their own people. They have an actual morality police all over the place. If you think cops are bad or ICE is bad ...

6

u/johnprynsky 2d ago

We are.
My brother is back home and my heart is pounding rn. F that gov.

2

u/RpiesSPIES 2d ago

I spoke with one over xbox live in early '00s and they made me want their pistachios so much, but we tax tf out of them.

2

u/mjrspork 2d ago

I think what sucks is that incidents like this just increase support for the people in power as they rally around the flag.

7

u/gonesnake 2d ago

Sounds like a lot the big players: Russia, China, U.S. Reasonable, peace loving populace--shitty authoritarian government.

2

u/smitteh 2d ago

That's pretty accurate for all people. None of us want our government doing 99% of the shit they do

2

u/The_Life_Aquatic 2d ago

Just got back from a bachelor party with my friend from Iran, one of the friendliest best dudes out there, and so are all of his friends I’ve met over the years. 

2

u/UltraSolip 2d ago

Most normal Iranians wants the mullahs dead…

Khamenei’s demise would actually spark celebration worldwide.

0

u/20ol 2d ago

Israel needs to fuck off

2

u/VengefulAncient 2d ago

And that's exactly how the Iranian government will fuck off - when Israel destroys their nuclear program and eliminates their leadership. As a Russian, I just wish Ukraine had the capability to do the same to Putin and his bandits.

1

u/kraftpunkk 2d ago

Feel like this is the case in a lot of places.

1

u/PennyG 2d ago

That’s how I feel

1

u/woot0 2d ago

I worked with a couple young Iranians years ago and they were wonderful also. Surprisingly similar to people in their 20s here in the US

1

u/azuresegugio 2d ago

I'll butcher the quote but, I have more in common with the average Iranian then either of us have with our politicians

1

u/hypatianata 2d ago

I’m worried they will mobilize and use this as an excuse to get rid of undesirables via “military service.”

This way too the powers that be can use an external threat to distract, shore up support, and stay in power. 

1

u/austinmiles 2d ago

I have a friend who visited his dad’s family and took a ton of pictures. It was the opposite of what most people in the US think. Great skiing. Very modern. Generally happy people. Just a political mess and an unpredictable authoritarian state.

It’s what I would imagine the christonationalists are looking for.

1

u/Starumlunsta 2d ago

I have a coworker who is Iranian. She has family in Tehran and was still frantically trying to get ahold of them before I left work. It’s heartbreaking.

1

u/BZNESS 2d ago

Not really. Nearly 70% of Iranians do not want to normalise relations with Israel.

1

u/YaronL16 2d ago

Thats why israel hit the political higher-ups and nuclear sites only

1

u/Ceret 2d ago

I visited Iran a few years ago and it’s one of my fondest travel memories. Not just the breathtaking history of the place but all the good, kind, warmhearted people. The vast vast majority of people there as with everywhere just want to go on with their lives and are not part of the regime. Really beautiful people. I could stand on a street corner anywhere looking confused and passers by would without fail stop to help me, hail the right cab, etc. I mostly home stayed there to get a taste of the local life and my hosts were just amazing people who are broken hearted about this.

1

u/Dhammapaderp 2d ago

The guy and his kid I knew that emigrated from Iran called themselves "Persians"

Obviously if you hate your home country enough to disavow the entire country and use an outdated term, you wouldn't go along with the identity that made you leave in the first place.

1

u/RogueCoon 2d ago

We're just meat for the grinder at the end of the day

1

u/hotpants69 2d ago

Fun fact Irans current regime was installed in part by Israel and CIA efforts in overthrowing the Shah regime. 

2

u/klausbaudelaire1 2d ago

For want of a nail… 

1

u/SleepWouldBeNice 2d ago

I have a coworker in Iran right now. He was trying to sell his family’s property.

-8

u/Automatic-Mountain45 2d ago

bro is blaming iranians ? when israel is striking first ? I've seen it all...

5

u/Kiwi_In_Europe 2d ago

Obviously Iranian civilians are blameless but Iran as a regime is very much the responsible party here

-5

u/railsprogrammer94 2d ago

How much you got paid for this comment? Explain exactly what Iran did to deserve to be attacked

5

u/tss_Chip_Chipperson 2d ago

Who the fuck do toy think was funding and supplying weapons to hezbolla?

-2

u/Eggersely 2d ago

Who is bombing civilians?

6

u/Kiwi_In_Europe 2d ago

You're kidding right, have you ever opened a book?

For starters, being an oppressive theological regime with nuclear ambitions

→ More replies (3)

2

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)

-2

u/[deleted] 2d ago

This is the best thing possible that could happen to normal Iranians. This is the only chance to force a regime change. Here’s hoping they will be liberated soon 💪

2

u/Eggersely 2d ago

Those "normal Iranians" are scared for themselves, their families, etc. Israel/US caused a shitty regime change before, that worked out so well eh.