would argue that Muslims are, by default, required by their religion to make the hajj. You make it sound as if it’s opt in, but their religion mandates it with some exceptions.

Nah dude, the vast majority of Muslims never go to mecca. It’s not a mandate anyone enforces but yourself. I think only like 9% of Muslims ever actually get to make the trip.

In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State shall have the exclusive right to construct and to authorize and regulate the construction, operation and use of:

(a) artificial islands;

(b) installations and structures for the purposes provided for in article 56 and other economic purposes;

© installations and structures which may interfere with the exercise of the rights of the coastal State in the zone.

There no language in the EEZ article that mentions “territorial military outpost”.

According to who?

In the exclusive economic zone, the coastal State shall have the exclusive right to construct and to authorize and regulate the construction, operation and use of:

(a) artificial islands;

(b) installations and structures for the purposes provided for in article 56 and other economic purposes;

© installations and structures which may interfere with the exercise of the rights of the coastal State in the zone.

Can you link what article that falls under?

Nah, there’s pretty clear rules. It’s just that the main power in the region tends to ignore them when it suits them. Again, how is the Philippine government breaking international law?

I think that’s more plausible than China’s claim that their exclusive economic zone stretches over a thousand miles off their coast, and supercedes both Vietnams and the Philippines exclusive economic zones…

What’s your point?

You seemed to be suggesting that what the Philippines is doing is breaking the rules of unclos, but you haven’t explained how.

but flouts it at every opportunity. International law for thee but not for me.

How? They are allowed to protect the resources in their exclusive economic zone. China on the other hand is still attempting to enforce a claim that was invalidated by international courts in 2016.

Seems like you might be projecting on the behalf of China.

And how exactly does China’s claim work within unclos? The shoal is only 190nm away from the Philippines and should be part of the Philippines exclusive economic zone. If there is any questions of legitimate territorial claim it would be with Vietnam not China.

Also, stopping any navigation within your own exclusive economic zone goes against unclos, let alone stopping navigation of a country in their own exclusive economic zone.

Tbf, I don’t know if Bush knew about the eventual consequences of the action before hand. Not that it absolves him of any responsibility. However, I think that was near the time where he was just hanging at Camp David for weeks on end and letting Cheney and Rumsfeld run the show.

But yeah, the Bush administration appointed Bremer to the CPA specifically to disband the Baathist party and the Iraqi military.

Aliyev was nominated in 2018 by the New Azerbaijan Party as presidential candidate, he called for “the return of Azerbaijanis to these lands” and establishing this as “our political and strategic goal, and we must gradually approach it.” [5][6][7] In December 2022, Azerbaijan initiated its “Great Return” campaign which ostensibly promotes the settlement of ethnic Azerbaijanis who once lived in Armenia and Nagorno-Karbakh.[8][9] At his inauguration speech in December 2022, President Aliyev said “Present-day Armenia is our land. When I repeatedly said this before, they tried to object and allege that I have territorial claims. I am saying this as a historical fact. If someone can substantiate a different theory, let them come forward.”[10][11]

Since the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has increasingly promoted expansionist claims to Armenian territory and in particular Syunik.

Totally, just for defense… Trust me bro.

Japan is still a fairly insular nation, especially in regards to the topic of history. During the Meiji restoration they basically rewrote their own history, which also kinda requires you to ignore or reshape everyone else’s history to suit your perspective. As a result, I doubt world history is very well covered in their public education.

what Russia is doing is ok. Who cares if the laws says that territory is Ukraine’s, there are Russians in there. Let them keep it.

Lol, my dude. Just because there are some situations where international law support material and historic reality, does not mean all situations which don’t are inherently wrong.

The only way your example makes any sense is if you do not acknowledge the historical context. It also requires you to selectively apply the logical framework of international law so it doesn’t apply to the land dispute that predates it.

since my whole argument is based on respecting international law, I have nothing else to say.

Didn’t you already admit that you were wrong and that azjeries broke international law? So it kinda seems like you either don’t have an argument, or you are being very dishonest about your biases.

How devious of the Albanians and Turks to start moving there 1000s of years in advance to later “denazify” the area.

Lol, you are conflating Azerbaijan’s founding with the region in which we were discussing. Can you make any kind of rebuttal that isn’t based on logical fallacy?

He’s only arguing because he’s biased, and I suspect ethnically azeri. Even by his own criteria he is incorrect, as they have occupied internationally recognized areas of Armenia.

I already made them aware of “Azerbaijani soldiers crossed several kilometers into Armenia in the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik. Despite international calls for withdrawal from the European Parliament, the United States, and France, Azerbaijan has maintained its presence on Armenian soil, occupying at least 215 square kilometres (83 sq mi) of internationally recognized Armenian territory.”

Which they ignored, they are still only making a mix of semantic or pedantic arguments.

did no such thing. Word “Armenia” means a specific thing. “Armenians” mean another thing.

Again, a pedantic dispute. Armenia means different things under different context, and to different people. You are just trying to force a specific interpretation based on international law, one that has no real power nor influence over the specific topic.

But if a town populated by only Armenians living in, say, France was attacked by, say, German forces, you wouldn’t say that Germany attacked Armenia. Germany attacked France, because it’s about the country.

In this wild hypothetical, would this Armenian town in France have French citizenship? If so then no, they would be attacking the French. However if these people were only Armenian citizens who were being harbored in France, then yes.

Speaking of ships, according to the maritime law, vessels flying a country’s flag are considered an extension of that country’s territory.

That is also a legal fiction utilized to pervade complications with international laws. Though its recognized by international law, it offers no real protections extended to non citizens under the flag. This is why you still hear of American ships flying under the flag of the Cayman Islands ect

But if what Armenians did in 1993 (capturing seven Azerbaijani-majority districts outside the enclave itself) is justified and OK, then what Russia is doing now in Ukraine is also justified and OK.

You mean when they migrate more Azerbaijan citizens to the area to make a pretense for territorial disputes in the first place…? Kinda sounds exactly like what Russia was doing in the first place.

You can’t decide these things based on “historical territories”, the international law exists for a reason

Yes to validate the winnings of territorial dispute for the side who has the most economically powerful friends.

Also, why are you still arguing…you were wrong.

The military forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in a border conflict since 12 May 2021, when Azerbaijani soldiers crossed several kilometers into Armenia in the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik. Despite international calls for withdrawal from the European Parliament, the United States, and France, Azerbaijan has maintained its presence on Armenian soil, occupying at least 215 square kilometres (83 sq mi) of internationally recognized Armenian territory

So this is settled then right? Or are you going to make another excuse to stan for Azerbaijan?

Oh yeah, I forgot. Not only do I disagree with the pedantic nature of your rebuttal, but you are incorrect based on your own criteria.

Azerbaijani soldiers crossed several kilometers into Armenia in the provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik. Despite international calls for withdrawal from the European Parliament, the United States, and France, Azerbaijan has maintained its presence on Armenian soil, occupying at least 215 square kilometres (83 sq mi) of internationally recognized Armenian territory.

So yeah, wrong on all accounts.

So it’s simply false to say "Azerbaijan attacked Armenia

International law does not dictate reality, nor does it prevent or resolve conflicts over territorial disputes. If it did, Armenia would still possess the land they have historically occupied since basically recorded history. You are throwing a dart and then drawing a bullseye around it.

Secondly, nations do not attack land masses, they attack people. Azerbaijan attacked Armenian citizens, and a nation is composed of its people.

If the US carrier fleet was attacked while at port in a different country, would people tolerate the pedantic excuse of, “they didn’t attack America because they don’t have sovereign reign in the area they were attacked” ?

Territory that’s historically and ethnically Armenian…

Well, it makes sense considering Russia has done nothing to stop Azerbaijan from attacking Armenia.

But why would Russia, which I’m told is a great anti-imperialist force, side with Azerbaijan over a country they have a defense pact with?

Surely it wouldn’t be because of something as materialistic as oil… Somewhere in Moscow there is a think tank frantically thinking of a way to blame this on NATO.

I think that’s being optimistic, after Iraq no one is going to trust the US enough to not instantly screw over the opposition just as hard as the government they’re over throwing.

The only reason Bush had the opportunity to declare mission accomplished is because the majority of the Iraqi military gave up before/during the invasion because we cut deals with the Baathist, and then immediately turned on them.

When Bremer made being part of the Baathist party illegal, he basically outlawed anyone with a college degree in the country from joining the new government, and instantly turned the people who betrayed sadam in Iraqi army into a militant.

I mean, they probably aren’t’t producing any of the hardware. You can pretty easily build very similar UAVs to the ones used in Ukraine just ordering through your local hobby shop.

The difficult part is in assembly, but it’s about the same technical level as building a PC at home. Likely the only difference between what they have and what you can build at home is the hardware/programming they’re using to jump frequencies so they’re harder to highjack or shutdown remotely.

It’s been a while since I handled an automatic, but depending on the rifle, they do creep up quite a bit when you mag dump. The smaller NATO rounds aren’t bad, but something like 7.62x39 from an AK is pretty uncontrollable.

I don’t really see the point of loading down your barrel for training, you really don’t want to mess with your muscle memory for marksmanship. Even if this was for exercise, it still doesn’t make sense, it’s not like it’s the 1800s and everyone is standing in line formation waiting for a firing order.

Also, you don’t need personal experience with automatic weapons to understand the well known phenomenon of barrel creep. Semiautomatic rifles creep upward, hell even musket training from the 1800’s advised to aim low at the waist because of it.