Last one to post wins

[DezNutz]

We should be seeing China take up arms now. Military activity in Ecuador. I think China will figure it out. Although China had been moving away from its dependency on oil faster then we have. It just would affect their military.
I don’t think they have EV military vehicles yet.

Moving away from its dependency on oil?

No one is moving away from dependency on oil. That's environmentalist horsesheit. Gasoline and Diesel are a by product of oil refinement along with Kerosene and a few other things. While the use of Diesel and Gasoline may be reduced by EVs, the dependency on oil isn't going anywhere. Oil is used in the manufacturing of pretty much everything including EVs, Solar Panels, Wind Turbines, and almost all of other environmentard Green products. The average person would have difficulty finding a product in their home that isn't dependent on oil in its manufacturing.


As for Iran, promises made, promises kept.

[Lil Lola]

Yes we still need oil but it does not renew fast enough so we will eventually we will have no choice but to find new sources of energy. Especially since some people think it’s a good idea to blow up oil refineries and oil reserves. We do nothing but shoot ourselves in the foot.

[Dmanwuzhere]

I like to think of humans as a virus on the planet, and as such, we are constantly evolving. So oil is as relative as we make it.
We can already run machinery, electricity, and vehicles on alternative energy. The tech now isnt as efficient or as visually appealing as it could be. But it exists.







Engineer 775 has left this method to dabble in solar. I personally don't like solar; the life of the cells vs price isn't great in both home and vehicle applications.

But the point is, as a virus, we will always mutate our direction of living based on needs or even wants, and the fuels we need can change on a whim https://www.thriveoffgrid.net/ .

[Lil Lola]

lol China is sending a special envoy to Iran to “mediate” they are going to protect their interests. Interesting


Dman lol we are more of a fungus than a virus lol. We die we don’t lay dormant. Or wait no Dez is a fungus..jk Dez

Awesome!!! A charcoal gasifier!!! lol now that’s what I am talking about!!! See Dez you can learn a lot from Dman. He’s knows his sh*t.

[Lachlan]

lol it all boils down to trade defanging Iran weakens Russia and China if we can get a regime change friendly to the US, it hurts them both badly. Blame it on the chase of the nuke, but the goal is disrupting our enemies everywhere we can. Those who think Trump is a Putin puppet isnt paying attention to the details lol About 90% of Iran's oil exports are directed to China, which accounts for approximately 15% of China's total oil demand. Then you have Russia set to make a killing as well from Iran. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/ ... -deal-with
Add Venezuela oil being redirected, and you begin to see the strategy to weaken China and Russia without going to war with either.

But Iran's targeted leadership still needs that find out lesson



Hmmm Leo,

Key events leading to Ayatollah Khomeini's takeover of Iran include widespread protests against the Shah's autocratic rule and Western influence, culminating in his departure from the country in early 1979. Khomeini returned from exile on February 1, 1979, and within weeks, his revolutionary allies declared Iran an Islamic Republic, establishing Khomeini as the leader.

The only culpability we have for the Shah's loss of power is that we supported him until we couldn't.
By the late 1970s, the Shah's regime faced widespread discontent due to authoritarian rule, economic issues, and social reforms that alienated various groups, including religious leaders and the middle class.
As opposition grew, the U.S. began to question its support for the Shah. In late 1978, President Jimmy Carter sent a diplomatic mission to assess the situation. The conclusion was that the Shah could not maintain his rule, leading to a shift in U.S. policy.
The U.S. hesitated to intervene decisively to support the Shah during the revolution. This lack of support contributed to his inability to quell the protests and ultimately led to his exile in early 1979.

Had we continued our support, it would have required boots on the ground as our technology wasnt what it is now.

Are you saying you would have supported a boots-on-the-ground war for the USA, Leo?
And here I thought you were full of Soy! I don't even want to think about our death toll for such a campaign back then.
But your sudden testosterone level boost hasn't made you any smarter.



Here's what I am currently watching, trying to catch up on his content

Trump is definitely anti china for sure but anti putin is a bit of a stretch to put it mildly. Russia produces a significant portion of it's Shahed drones by itself now, not sure exactly what percentage but I know Russia domestically produces a lot of those drones now. I would say the stoppage of oil from Venezuela and Iran harms mostly China.

Meanwhile things Trump has done just thinking of the top of my head to weaken Ukraine and strengthen Russia (and doing basically no research is):
Stopped intelligence sharing with Ukraine for I think it was a few months last year.

Lifted oil sanctions on Russia (at the moment briefly but could be longer term).

Stopped donating weapons to Ukraine for free (which I do get to some extent as Ukraine does need to pay for some equipment in my opinion). I do think some things should be given for free such as missiles that are going to expire which I heard is actually cheaper to donate to Ukraine for them to use than actually disposing or replacing it. In addition the Ukraine war has really boosted the arms industry especially the manufacture of artillery shells.

Instead of making a show of unity with Zelensky last year, he decided to argue with Zelensky about how Ukraine does not seem to want peace with Russia weakening both Ukraine and American negotiating positions with Russia. Even if most of Trump and Vance's points had been valid (which they weren't) the fact of the matter is that they could have had that argument in private without doing it wide out in the open in front of the media.

Weakened NATO by threatening to annex Canada (country part of NATO) and Greenland (autonomous territory of a country part of NATO) and as I'm sure you are aware NATO is an alliance designed to counter Russia.

Stopped the flow of oil from the middle east which significantly impacts and weakens many countries as they rely on this oil such as: the European Union most of whom are American allies (although not for long at this rate), Japan (US ally), South Korea (US Ally), other asian allies like Taiwan to a somewhat lesser extent (although still significantly impacts their economy), my own country Australia (US ally as well) imports a lot of oil from the middle east indirectly (the oil is refined in asia into fuel then sold to Australia), not to mention affecting the gulf states economically and militarily (some of whom are US allies although I will list every country attacked) Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. This also resulted in attacks on Turkey (NATO member) and the UK's base on Cyprus. Israel was attacked as well but it's been attacked by Iran before so that I would not really call Trump's fault.

Should Trump have declared war on Iran? I am not sure. On the one hand Iran was hostile towards the United States. On the other hand they had not stopped selling oil to US allies. I think a much cheaper way to put pressure on Iran to negotiate would have been hitting all it's proxy groups in the region instead like Hezbollah, the Houthis, PMU and IRI and then if Iran starts firing missiles you can claim they escalated first, claiming the moral high ground and then bomb Iran in retaliation. This war has weakened Iran for sure but I am skeptical this will magically result in a regime change friendly to American interests.

So if anything, Trump has greatly weakened america's allies and by extension weakened America. Trump is not liked by most of America's traditional allies or really any country outside of America because at any random moment Trump might decide to spontaneously raise tariffs whenever he feels whimsical. Putin and Xi are looking on at this in delight and (trying) to exploit the weakening ties between America and her allies and is only largely unsuccessful because they assume in two years time Trump will be out and someone less erratic and more sane will lead America and everything will be fine again.

[Dmanwuzhere]

A 30-day reprieve on the sale of Russian oil with a price cap of 60 bucks per barrel is hardly what I would call pro-Putin.
I don't care if Ukraine and Russia fight for 10 more years, they deserve each other as Zelensky doesnt want peace. The war has been a great excuse for him to avoid an election he would lose.
He's a grifter and a beggar.
Why should we help him at all?

As for our wonderful allies, such as yourself, you can piss off.
You want to rest assured we have your back, but can't bother raising your defense spending to such a low amount of 3.2 or 3.5,
I don't remember which amount y'all find reprehensible.
Instead, you think it's on us to defend you on only our dime and whatever you feel like paying.

Your country is turning to shite, and this isn't WW2, and the men you raise are not the same caliber as those who were our allies then.

Canada can s**k our balls; it is a joke under its current leadership and the leading political party, which is why provinces want to leave Canada.
Quebec, Alberta British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, to name a few.
Canada is not an ally any more than any other nation that expects a take from the USA without a give from itself.

Lucky it's not me in there, as I would withdraw from every international committee and really make it America first.
No foreign aid, no diplomatic interventions. Period.
Do you want the US market to buy your product? Then it must be made here.

We have our own problems, the same as every other country, so you work on yours, and we work on ours.
I would definitely acquire some national acreage by the pen or by the sword, but you wouldn't be able to come anywhere close to us.
Play games and try to cause drama? New acreage!

As for the delight of China and Russia, that's your narrative; Trump's current actions have cut oil to China by a nice percentage, and Cuba's next.
Of course, Canada is willing to sell to China, being such great allies and all.
That wouldn't happen if I were in there.
Russia also sells to China, so there might be a slight grin there.

Iran chose their targets; Trump didn't, nice try. Those attacks are Iran's fault. Iran has attacked everyone around them or threatened to every time they felt heat. Fook Iran, they were word bullies holding people hostage with threats of actions, thinking the Strait of Hormuz was their do anything they want to anyone hole card. (Which none of our wonderful allies will help protect) So I hope you feel the rise in prices and remember your nation caves to little word bullies because your version of our democrat party has TDS and really cant be bothered with helping as they only want help when natural disasters or war strikes them but cant be bothered with world policing in any other form other than as a backseat driver telling the USA what it should or shouldnt do.

Our "allies" have been weak for years, living off the USA titty.

So with all due disrespect, if you are in an allied nation but don't do and haven't done your part in years fook off with a baseball bat sideways in your crap cave


P.S. Here's you a list of Iranian targets Trump is responsible for because everything is his fault
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/iranexternalops/

[Meliva]

Yeah, at this point, I'm mostly in agreement with Dman-our 'allies' in Europe, are feeling less and less like 'allies' as I grow older. I mean, the way so many Europeans feel SO damn comfortable just, judging the US, criticizing the US, degrading the US, dismiss and diminish the help we gave Europe in the past-all while they neglect their military spending, and just, count on the US to be their shield- most of Nato can't even be arsed to do 2% for military-it's supposed to be a military alliance right? Yet they feel comfortable spending pennies cause they figure if shit hits the fan, the US with our bloated military budget will swoop in. This wouldn't be SO upsetting to me if they were at least thankful and respectful to us-instead they mock us, brag about their superior healthcare, and social services-which they couldn't afford if they didn't get to slack off defense spending by relying on the US. There are good folks in Europe, and I'm sure some are grateful and like the US-but it feels like I mostly only see those who love to talk shit about the US-and that makes it VERY hard for me to consider them 'allies'. So often it feels like the US is just, set up to be the bad guy. If we get involved we're insulted and judged for trying to be the 'world police' told to mind our own business, told we're violating international law, etc. etc.-at the same time if we stay outta something, we're told we're not doing enough-that we don't care, we need to do more-etc. etc. It's no wonder so many Americans are growing more and more keen to the idea of America first-the rest can figure it out on their own honestly.

[Lachlan]

Yeah, at this point, I'm mostly in agreement with Dman-our 'allies' in Europe, are feeling less and less like 'allies' as I grow older. I mean, the way so many Europeans feel SO damn comfortable just, judging the US, criticizing the US, degrading the US, dismiss and diminish the help we gave Europe in the past-all while they neglect their military spending, and just, count on the US to be their shield- most of Nato can't even be arsed to do 2% for military-it's supposed to be a military alliance right? Yet they feel comfortable spending pennies cause they figure if shit hits the fan, the US with our bloated military budget will swoop in. This wouldn't be SO upsetting to me if they were at least thankful and respectful to us-instead they mock us, brag about their superior healthcare, and social services-which they couldn't afford if they didn't get to slack off defense spending by relying on the US. There are good folks in Europe, and I'm sure some are grateful and like the US-but it feels like I mostly only see those who love to talk shit about the US-and that makes it VERY hard for me to consider them 'allies'. So often it feels like the US is just, set up to be the bad guy. If we get involved we're insulted and judged for trying to be the 'world police' told to mind our own business, told we're violating international law, etc. etc.-at the same time if we stay outta something, we're told we're not doing enough-that we don't care, we need to do more-etc. etc. It's no wonder so many Americans are growing more and more keen to the idea of America first-the rest can figure it out on their own honestly.

That may have been true 4 years ago in that NATO members were not paying up at least 2% of their GDP on defense but now in 2026 that is no longer true. As of last year apparently every single NATO member is at or exceeding 2%. In fact just doing a quick google search now it seems like the majority of Europe has agreed to increase defense spending up to 5% gradually (which was discussed last year). I did not know that before today lol.

Here is a video I watched a bit ago which compares data from 2021- 2024. I think there are not really much figures from 2025 presumably because they don't want Russia to get accurate numbers of their defense procurement (although this is my opinion/guess).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lRZyP_6ojI&t=9s

To be frank I do not think these claims of Europe criticizing or denigrating is true. At best this is a exaggeration. I was there last year visiting cousins in the UK and Scotland I had never met before and the handful of times America came up I would say a good 95% of their complaints were of Trump or the Trump administration specifically not America as a whole. I think Americans have always to some extent complained about Europeans and vice versa. Or really any country will complain about other countries to an extent.
Of course I do not live in Europe so take my opinion with a grain of salt. In Australia we basically feel the same way. We don't like Trump but still like the American people as a whole. I think you are assuming just because a handful of political figures have criticized America in the past this does not represent the European's general view of America and her people. I think if you were to go there right now and go around asking people if it is the American people and way of life they dislike or the Trump Administration, most will say Trump. I have found if you speak to someone with an opposing viewpoint on whatever issue I have found that the differences in opinion are not as great as they appear to be initially.

[Meliva]

Do you not see how that's still a problem? That it is only VERY recently, within the last 4 years, that NATO members started meeting the 2% or higher goal. We more or less had to brow beat them into it-and let's face it-they only got their shit together because many Americans and the US government is getting fed up-the ties between us are getting weaker, more distant, Russia invaded Ukraine I think in 2014, and again in 2020? 2021? Not good with dates-and the US warned Germany and others not to be reliant on Russian oil and exports-that was ignored. I honestly think that the way things are going, the US and Europe won't be allies for much longer. Things change-what may be an enemy today will be a friend tomorrow and vice versa. I'd be very keen on distancing the US from Europe and it's issues-I feel like for too long they've benefitted at our Expense. The point is though-that it's not a shock that NATO members are starting to FINALLY spend what they were SUPPOSED to be spending this entire time when the writing on the wall makes it seem like they might not be able to rely on US protection for much longer.

[Lachlan]

A 30-day reprieve on the sale of Russian oil with a price cap of 60 bucks per barrel is hardly what I would call pro-Putin.
I don't care if Ukraine and Russia fight for 10 more years, they deserve each other as Zelensky doesnt want peace. The war has been a great excuse for him to avoid an election he would lose.
He's a grifter and a beggar.
Why should we help him at all?

As for our wonderful allies, such as yourself, you can piss off.
You want to rest assured we have your back, but can't bother raising your defense spending to such a low amount of 3.2 or 3.5,
I don't remember which amount y'all find reprehensible.
Instead, you think it's on us to defend you on only our dime and whatever you feel like paying.

Your country is turning to shite, and this isn't WW2, and the men you raise are not the same caliber as those who were our allies then.

Canada can s**k our balls; it is a joke under its current leadership and the leading political party, which is why provinces want to leave Canada.
Quebec, Alberta British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, to name a few.
Canada is not an ally any more than any other nation that expects a take from the USA without a give from itself.

Lucky it's not me in there, as I would withdraw from every international committee and really make it America first.
No foreign aid, no diplomatic interventions. Period.
Do you want the US market to buy your product? Then it must be made here.

We have our own problems, the same as every other country, so you work on yours, and we work on ours.
I would definitely acquire some national acreage by the pen or by the sword, but you wouldn't be able to come anywhere close to us.
Play games and try to cause drama? New acreage!

As for the delight of China and Russia, that's your narrative; Trump's current actions have cut oil to China by a nice percentage, and Cuba's next.
Of course, Canada is willing to sell to China, being such great allies and all.
That wouldn't happen if I were in there.
Russia also sells to China, so there might be a slight grin there.

Iran chose their targets; Trump didn't, nice try. Those attacks are Iran's fault. Iran has attacked everyone around them or threatened to every time they felt heat. Fook Iran, they were word bullies holding people hostage with threats of actions, thinking the Strait of Hormuz was their do anything they want to anyone hole card. (Which none of our wonderful allies will help protect) So I hope you feel the rise in prices and remember your nation caves to little word bullies because your version of our democrat party has TDS and really cant be bothered with helping as they only want help when natural disasters or war strikes them but cant be bothered with world policing in any other form other than as a backseat driver telling the USA what it should or shouldnt do.

Our "allies" have been weak for years, living off the USA titty.

So with all due disrespect, if you are in an allied nation but don't do and haven't done your part in years fook off with a baseball bat sideways in your crap cave


P.S. Here's you a list of Iranian targets Trump is responsible for because everything is his fault
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/iranexternalops/

I would hardly call a country that was attacked and hand land taken from them that they don't want to give up "not wanting peace". And it is not even that. Russia wants land it has not even taken yet. That is about as stupid as in a hypothetical world where America was not as powerful and got invaded, other countries telling you guys to surrender Alaska or Hawaii. Zelensky agreed to a ceasefire last year and Putin flipped flopped about, delayed things, agreed to a ceasefire and then broke it. As it has multiple time since 2014. Even if a deal was reached Russia would break it as soon as your backs were turned.
Russia's minimum demands are control of the Luhansk, Donbass, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Oblasts. Russia only fully controls the Luhansk Oblast. No European or American peacekeepers, a reduction of the entirety of Ukraine's armed forces down to 100,000. A change of government to a pro Russian one.
In exchange Ukraine gets what? Some mineral wealth taken away from them by America, maybe (although very unlikely) military intervention by the US to protect them when Russia inevitably invades again, maybe they get a bit of help in rebuilding their cities and economy.
So in essence you think Ukraine should give Russia more land which they do not control, reduce their army so Russia has an easier time invading them and they should change their government to a Russian controlled one. That is basically unconditional surrender. I assume you are not stupid and I cannot see why you think Ukraine should take this oh so fantastic deal.

I never said Iran had not attacked other countries or was not hostile at all. As for protecting the strait I don't think it is necessarily other countries are wholly against it but if they chose to protect the straits then you guys will go "oh why don't you help us bomb Iran" and if these countries refuse then you will complain about that instead. It is funny to me that you think other countries have not helped America in the past in wars. In terms of wars where America was the aggressor we have Vietnam and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a matter of resources as well. America has functionally unlimited military resources to draw from. Other countries such as my own do not. In a few weeks the USN could send a fleet bigger than the size of Australia's navy to any region whereas Australia could send it it really pushes itself perhaps 2 ships and even then that would be a big undertaking. So I don't think think you have fully considered this. Besides it is early days yet. Countries could flip around in a week or two and decide to send their ships after all.

What makes America so powerful compared to Russia or China is apart from it's aircraft carriers and unparalleled logistics capacity is it's network of bases across Europe, Asia and the middle east that allows it to project power far more easily. If America were to suddenly withdraw from everything and become isolationist again you would not have access to these bases anymore. Also this is not the 18th century or something. It is now a globalized economy. No country, not even America can fully produce everything it needs or have all the resources it needs without interacting with other countries. You basically want to go the way of North Korea and go full isolationist and if you are not aware that is not exactly going well for them.

For some strange reason you have brought up China. I did not say Trump's actions did not hurt China. In fact I was basically agreeing with you that Trump is and always has been anti-China. I was talking about how with weakening political ties to asian countries that China has been unsuccessfully trying to turn them over to their side as well as all the Pacific Islander nations as well which it has had some success with.

As for Australian defense spending Australia cannot just suddenly boost it's defense spending from just over 2% to 3.5% within a short time frame. No country can do that. Australia is spending more though on new frigates, new subs from the US, anti air defense, unmanned stealth submersibles, unmanned stealth drone fighters as well. It is not like Australia is sitting around twiddling it's thumbs. We are spending more on defense. Not as much as you would like yes and I do somewhat agree with you like defense spending currently is 2.1% of GDP and then in one decade the target is 2.3%. Which is kind of a pathetic target. I think at minimum this target should be between 2.5% and 2.75%.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine Australia has done well in plugging major gaps in our defense. Australia now has modern air defense systems and more are arriving. Apparently for 30+ years Australia only had short range air defenses which is completely nuts to me like that is like a huge amount of governments that failed to see a glaring problem so thank goodness for that.
Modern tanks have arrived to replace our older but still capable M1A2s and new APCs and IFVs are now being produced to replace our old ones. Thank god our M111's are finally being replaced.
Our air force seems to have been the one thing not mismanaged by multiple governments with the old hornets replaced with F-35's. So now for combat aircraft we have the growlers, super hornets and F-35s so no problems there.
Our navy was not in the best shape with the aging but still capable ANZAC frigates and the modern Hobart Class destroyers. Now after a much needed naval review the Hunter class is finally getting underway although that will be a while yet before anything is completed. Our 2nd tier frigates (Upgraded Mogami Class) from Japan will start to come in the next few years though.
Subs we are waiting on you guys to build and/or lend us some Virginia class submarines after that embarrassment with the French.
I think it is less about how much money we spend and more about how we used our funds in the past. The liberals and nationals coalition government bungled around chopping and changing things so badly the labour government had to spend almost a full term fixing their mistakes.

So anyway we are doing our best to get ourselves into shape as fast as we can. We just cannot push our defense spending up as fast as you want us too. I mean our stealth unmanned subs are already in full rate production and operational and our stealth drone fighter is very close to being operational as well. Correct me if I am wrong but I don't think the air force or navy is developing anything similar at the moment.