Mark, that is not the whole story…

You speak to the singular, “to HIS home…”

Israel has bulldozed many homes over the years, and there are examples of families cooperating with Police simply because the risk to the family home is too great.

Note that in the October 7th attacks, copy cat attackers voluntarily joined in. They were living or visiting Gaza at the time, there is little evidence of widespread participation of residents in israel also joining in…

One of the volunteers in the copy cat attacks was a naturalized u.s. citizen from Texas, who happened to be in Gaza visiting family, was silly enough to post images of his participation in various crimes to his social media accounts.

He subsequently was arrested when he returned to Texas. Not sure of the exact details, but I believe he was extradited to israel for trial.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 12:09 pm: Edit

Israel calculates that their bulldozer policy reduces terrorism by 50-90% and increases informants giving info to Israeli intelligence by 500%. How they came up with those numbers is unclear.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 02:55 pm: Edit

Probably better to not ask.

they COULD tell, you, but then they would have to kill you to preserve the secret.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 05:04 pm: Edit

Maybe the Israelis had a control group? AFAIK they didn't bulldoze homes in Gaza.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 07:02 pm: Edit

That would be a bet, that you would lose… technically.

There are videos on you tube, use key words israeli bulldoze Palestinian homes.

It is NOT the Israeli Defense Forces, actually it appears to be Israeli settlers.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 10:45 pm: Edit

The Israeli government has a policy of destroying the house of any terrorist, making it a point that the family cannot recover their belongings first.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 01:44 am: Edit

Imagine if they would, in the name of keeping the peace, also bulldozed the homes of settler terrorists... It won't happen but it is amusing imagine the look on their faces with that new policy

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 06:09 am: Edit

CMC:

Yeah...all those militant Jewish settler radicals who go into mosques and detonate their suicide vests would think twice before doing so ever again...yeah...it would absolutely end that problem...

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 09:34 am: Edit

Radical settlers do, rarely, kill Palestinians, usually when those Palestinians are engaged in acts of violence, but sometimes in an overreaction. Some have been jailed.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 11:40 am: Edit

Wait a minute! Are we talking about those Israeli settlers living in the kibbutz settlements growing vegetables, fruits and herding animals for wool and meat?

I guess you are right, why would anyone want to preserve a lifestyle that allows them to work in the fields, raising families and presumably exercising freedom to worshiping God?

It is not like there are citizens of Sweden doing much the same thing…oh wait! There actually are people living an agrarian lifestyle in Sweden.

Hummm…

Must be something else about the Israeli settlers that has got CMC upset.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 01:19 pm: Edit

Weeell, I suppose there would be, if I had the patience of reading all of the wikipedia page on "Israeli settler violence" because it is is very long.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 01:35 pm: Edit

Chuck, the effectiveness of the method can of course be questioned, but SVC seems to think it has merit. Feel free to discuss it with him directly. I’m content to raise the occasional mild counterpoint.

By the way, any Israeli mosque shooter of course don’t use a suicide vest (as far as I know) but a Galil.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 02:10 pm: Edit

Now for something different (and on topic).

Reuters reported that the CIA before the attack on Iran presented an assessments to the White House that warned that if Ali Khamenei were killed, he would almost certainly be replaced by other hard-line figures.
Also a separate U.S. intelligence report noted there had been no IRGC defections even during January’s mass anti-government protests.
Also the Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine several times warned that the Iranians would attempt to close the strait in the event of hostilities. (Wall street journal)
Lastly WSJ also reports that planning was handled by a very small group that included JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth.

(Regrettably the articles are behind paywalls, but for those interested it should be possible to find more information on the internet.)

I figure with time we will learn more about the thinking in the WH. Right now it's something of a mystery.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 05:52 pm: Edit

In other news, the U.S. Department of War released video of Air Force A-10 Warthog ground support aircraft now operating over Iran.

The fiscal budget, 2026 included funding for 103 A-10s…. Lots of people wanted to retire all the A-10’s, (there are a few who support continuing the A-10s in service, starting the United States Marine Corps., do we really need to go any further down the list?)

I, for one, look forward to hearing how well they function in the current conflict.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 06:23 pm: Edit

What with the celebrations for Pi day, something else of note occurred.

in a rare act of public dissent, protesters in Morón, Cuba, vandalized and partially burned a local Communist Party headquarters on March 13–14, 2026. Demonstrators set furniture from the building on fire in the street and threw rocks, protesting severe food shortages, fuel scarcities, and nearly daily blackouts, resulting in five arrests.
BBC
BBC
+3
Key details regarding the incident:
Location: The incident took place in the central city of Morón, Ciego de Ávila province.
Cause: Widespread anger over severe, long-lasting power outages and food shortages, which demonstrators blamed on government mismanagement.
Actions: Protesters chanted "Libertad" (Freedom), threw rocks at the building, and dragged out furniture to start a fire in front of the municipal party committee office.
Aftermath: The Cuban Interior Ministry confirmed five arrests and an investigation into the vandalism. State media indicated that other nearby establishments, including a pharmacy and a state-run market, were also targeted.
Context: The incident occurred amid a deepening energy crisis and rising, yet rare, public expressions of anti-government sentiment.

Any one wish to lodge a prediction when the next Regional Communist Party HQ gets torched?

By Eddie E Crutchfield (Librarian101) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 09:20 pm: Edit

I guess how you feel about the West Bank occupation is what brings up the point. Many including the UN and the World Court and many human rights groups do consider it illegal, but then in the Middle East on any day it is determined by who has the biggest gun.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, March 15, 2026 - 11:02 pm: Edit

There is no bigger gun than a nuclear bomb. That is why Israel has them; that is why Iran wants one.

By Budget Shoulder-Length Dolls on Monday, March 16, 2026 - 06:53 am: Edit

Authentication Error

By Jason E. Schaff (Jschaff297061) on Monday, March 16, 2026 - 07:57 am: Edit

The WSJ is reporting this morning that a cyberattack on medical device and IT system manufacturer Stryker has been linked to the Iranian intelligence services.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, March 16, 2026 - 12:47 pm: Edit

The US has bombed 6,000 targets; Israel has bombed 9,000.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Monday, March 16, 2026 - 02:33 pm: Edit

How many target points have Iran attacked?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, March 16, 2026 - 02:45 pm: Edit

As many as they can.

Seriously, the number is meaningless. Iran is attacking cities; the US and Israel are attacking specific buildings and weapons.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - 01:53 am: Edit

Obviously the numbers are interesting when discussing international politics and military matters. As are what is being targeted.
The Wikipedia got a page called the "2026 Iran war". (I should i have remembered that they are quick to make new page on contemporary events)

Iran has fired Missiles 1,209+, Drones 2,194+
at targets in 12 countries. I haven't looked for info on how many got through.

Interestingly the United Arab Emirates has been attacked the most: missiles 262, Drones 1,475.
Then, in no order, comes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Israel with between 160-330 attacks each (missile and drone combined)

Total Casualties in Iranian attacks have been light, except for Israel who had suffered 19 dead and 3,369 wounded. The latter number is noteworthy. I recall seeing somewhere about cluster munitions and missiles. It could be there is an Iranian counter to the IDF AA. Still people should be in their shelters.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - 11:44 am: Edit

An Israeli air strike killed Ali Larijani, the defacto leader of Iran.

Mojtaba remains hospitalized, if not dead, and not functional. He is reportedly gay (something not tolerated by Islam or Iran. His father, the previous dictator, had warned against giving Mojtaba the power, saying he wasn’t up to the job.

Brigadier General Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the IRGC political repression Basij command, was killed in another Israeli air strike. Most of his top commanders were killed with him.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - 01:23 pm: Edit

It appears to be a total decapitation series of strikes that kills or incapacitates the government, military, and religious centers of power in Iran.

The previous rulers of Iran managed (or perhaps I should say, mismanaged) the national economy into a disaster.

Recent reports are now saying that up to 50,000 protesters have been killed by the government’s crackdown in January of this year.

If this continues, the only remaining group that hasn’t been targeted by the u.s. and israel will be the Kurds.

The Kurds also happen to be the only semi organized group that could move into and occupy the North Western area of Iran.

Looks like the Plan SVC mentioned some weeks ago is still a viable option.