Yeah, that is not the way to bet.
True.
Right, or very little. It is a religious authoritarian government, which does not care directly for the voice of the people. Maybe mass protests- maybe.
So it is not the people, but the leaders. Now a different debate could be had on why the people put up with the theocracy and how happy they are, but that is not relevant to the attacks- which were caused by the leadership wanting nukes.
Yes, it is . . . but it isn’t the Iranian leaders.
And, so, even this thread is not safe from hijacks…
I didn’t get warned, but in light of the thread so far and past moderator direction, this doesn’t make sense to me:
Moderator states that this is NOT a breaking news thread, and discussions can range around the subject…
ISTM that “why are the US and Israel bombing Iran” is well within the topic (and has been discussed throughout the thread).
Why is it now off topic?
Sorry, I was off making breakfast. And now I’m trying to eat it. We’re discussing what you pointed out and will have more clear guidance shortly. I will retract the mod note if it is not in step with what prior moderation is.
There just has to be a limit to how wide-ranging the thread is, and it already seems pretty omnibus to me.
First, I apologize, @iiandyiiii, for giving confusing and contrary moderator instructions. It is understandable why you got confused, and that’s on me.
Second, after discussion among P&E moderators, the following is directed to all posters:
The subject conflict is likely to be protracted and branch off into many different lines of potential discussion. The current thread has already become unruly. For these reasons, as well as our rules against having omnibus threads, we’ve decided a better approach going forward is to divide the discussion into the following separate threads:
The current thread is to discuss actual actions being taken. It’s not a Breaking News thread, but let’s keep the discussion confined to what is actually happening and the immediate, direct repercussions.
The second thread relating to this action is to discuss your speculation about our underlying reasons for bombing Iran and other targets. This includes history lessons and what previously happened that causes you to believe the US is taking these actions in the present.
The final thread relating to this action is to discuss what you believe will be the consequences of our actions.
We will start the two new threads in P&E and link to them from the original thread. Going forward, please be mindful of posting in the thread that most closely matches what you want to say.
We understand that there is overlap in these discussions and will grant some latitude between threads for that. However, if your discussion becomes obviously off topic, we will step in.
If obvious off-topic discussions continue in the original thread for more than 24 hours, we will issue mod notes and/or warnings as appropriate.
These are frustrating times, and they provoke a lot of understandable anger. When emotions are running high, the best thing you can do is discuss the issues in a respectful manner. These are part of our rules. We don’t wish to chill discussion, but we intend to enforce our rules to facilitate constructive discussion and not just fish-slapping contests. If you are unable to discuss these matters in a thoughtful way or would prefer a free-for-all, you know where the Pit is.
Thanks mods. Great answer.
And let us not make any of those into yet another 'trump sucks" thread. We have plenty of them.
And what a headache to wrangle too, I think you all are doing as good a job as humanly possible with this mess.
I just want to say, while we all contributed to the discussion on how to move forward, @Aspenglow did all the actual work. So she deserves more sucking up. 
Seriously, she was the MVP for this solution.
It’s kind of you to say, and I appreciate positive feedback as much as the next mod. But we (kinda) all knew what we were signing up for when we took the position. I mean, the salary, the corner office…
Oh, wait.
Anyway, we make mistakes but we really do just want to keep this a civil place for lively discussion for as many posters as possible. I think we managed it this time. Both @What_Exit and @ParallelLines were essential contributors to our solution, so thanks belongs to those guys, too.
And while we’re spreading the good feeling around, a tip of the hat to the fine posters that are, by and large, actually taking the conversation to the appropriate threads! Sure there’s overlap, but you’ve been weaving and dodging to move responses to the most appropriate one within any reasonable human expectation. Give yourselves a hand as well.