I have reservations about war with Iran too, but Joe Carolan and his ilk are hypocrites of the highest order
I have deep reservations about military strikes on Iran. Over the past 30 years Western meddling in Middle Eastern politics has never led to democracy. Instead the destabilisation of Iraq led eventually to ISIS and a refugee crisis of epic proportions as millions of people surged into Europe. Ditto the bombing of Libya. The invasion of Afghanistan was likewise a catastrophe as the Taliban took over the country immediately upon the United States’ withdrawal from the country, except that billions of dollars worth of military equipment provided to the Afghan military fell into the hands of the Taliban as well.
Is that to say that I oppose strikes on Iran? No. The truth is that I do not know what the right course of action is. The difference between the American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the present situation in Iran is that there was no homegrown, grassroots appetite for change in Iraq etc, whereas practically the entire population of Iran has apostasised from Islam and hates the IRGC and is actively protesting against the ayatollahs at present. (And the Iranian government has responded by murdering tens of thousands of innocent people.) But I have extreme reservations about whether military strikes are the right course, while at the same time sharing the longing of Iranians for the downfall of that despicable, murderous regime and wondering whether if military strikes had not been conducted it would have been a huge missed opportunity.
I will dance for joy with the local Iranian population in Auckland (with whom I have been protesting against the regime for the last few weeks) if the ayatollahs are overthrown and the country transitions into a stable, free democracy. But I think their celebrations about the impending downfall of the ayatollahs are premature. I am deeply concerned about the possibility of the destabilisation of Iran resulting in a colossal refugee crisis into Europe or East Asia.
But I have absolutely no respect for Joe Carolan and his bunch of commie goons, who are holding a meeting in Auckland this week to protest the attacks on the IRGC. Where was the postmodern left a few weeks ago when the IRGC was gunning down tens of thousands of protesters? In September/ October 2025 the media reported that 20,000 people marched against Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza. But the total number of civilians killed by Israel in Gaza over the course of a two year war was about 35,000 civilians (and 35,000 combatants) in an extremely complex urban warfare environment, whereas Iran killed 30,000 civilians deliberately in the space of two days.
20,000 hippies didn’t show up to protest that. I have been at most of the Iranian pro-freedom protests (if you want to stay in the loop, NZ Against Hamas is advertising them each weekend at facebook.com/nzah.public) and there have been countless speeches asking where the anti-Israel protesters are. They simply didn’t show up. There were only ever a handful of Westerners at these protests. But now that Israel and the US are bombing military targets within Iran, Carolan and crew are protesting their actions.
Hypocrites. Absolute hypocrites. Their sympathies are with the butchers of Tehran, despite the fact that Israel and the US are democracies which respect freedom of speech. Personally, I think we should do a swap: if the postmodern left loves the IRGC so much, they should go and live there. We, in turn, can take in Iran’s pro-democracy protesters.
And where are their protests against Iran’s rocket attacks against Israel, if they’re going to protest rocket Israel and the US’ rocket attacks on Iran?
But if the postmodern left’s hatred of Israel and the US has nothing to do with the death toll in Gaza, there must be another motivation. What is that?
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