• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Israel/Palestine

America is still the Superpower. The second war going on behind the scenes has been the microprocessor war. You will not win any war without powerful microchips that power everything from your planes to your ships, submarines and weapons.

America still is decades ahead of China and anywhere else in the world for that matter when it comes to advance microchips. The gap is not closing either, at this point with the acceleration of AI and Nvidia, it is widening.
 
Last edited:
DistortAMG said:
America is still the Superpower. The second war going on behind the scenes has been the microprocessor war. You will not win any war without powerful microchips that power everything from your planes to your ships, submarines and weapons.

America still is decades ahead of China and anywhere else in the world for that matter when it comes to advance microchips. The gap is not closing either, at this point with the acceleration of AI and Nvidia, it is widening.
Click to expand...
Taiwan is winning that way. Nvidia may design the chips in the US, in the same way that ARM does out of Cambridge, but they're manufactured in Taiwan.

The "stealth" war is over Taiwan and if China succeed in taking complete control of it, it's game over for Nvidia. China doesn't exactly care much for IP rights.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Taiwan is winning that way. Nvidia may design the chips in the US, in the same way that ARM does out of Cambridge, but they're manufactured in Taiwan.

The "stealth" war is over Taiwan and if China succeed in taking complete control of it, it's game over for Nvidia. China doesn't exactly care much for IP rights.
Click to expand...

TSMC build the chips yes, but they are built at TSMC with the worlds most advanced semi conductor machines, of which there is only one company on the planet capable of building such complex machines. They are built by Dutch firm (with very strong American interests) ASML. Which run on, you guessed it, American built software. Taiwan are only winning the war because they are under the wing of America, so it is essentially America who are winning the war, it's their chips, their designs, their machines and their software. They are just using Taiwan as the location to build them, but not for long as TSMC is coming to America, plants are being built now. It is impossible for anyone to say it is Taiwan winning that way when their fabrication plants run on what is basically Western / American owned and designed machines and American software. Without America they would not be winning anything. America have allowed them access to ASML and the software needed to run their machines. If China took Taiwan, they will no longer get access to the latest ASML machines or software, meaning China's chip progression would once again be frozen in time. As global fabrication processes move forward as they have for decades led by ASML technology. It certainly would not be game over for Nvidia if Taiwan was taken. America have the advance chip designs from Nvidia, they have the advance machines, they also have the vast engineering knowledge and software. all they will need is a place to build them. Which with TSMC opening in Arizona and other US locations means that wont be an issue. China on the other hand are the opposite, they have non of that. They have places to build the chips, non of the other attributes that make up the eco system that allow the USA to build such complex chips.

In short it is very difficult for anyone else to do it, apart from TSMC, thanks to Americas influence. America are rushing to build semi conductor plants in American right now. America also have the full eco system which as of now no other country has. Something crucial in building advance microchips.

China do not have access to the ASML machines, software, or the tight engineering back and forth that is needed between chip designers at say Nvidia and chip fabs such as TSML.

AMD somehow got a form of their first generation Ryzen processor design approved by congress to be given to China, for them to manufacture. They were handed the blue prints on a plate about 7 years ago now. China manufactured the same chips as AMD, using their own machines, fabs and knowledge, the chips turned out to consume about 3x as much power as their American counterparts and have nearly half the processing capability. These are the same chips, built from the same design. It just shows how valuable the machines, software and decades and decades of knowledge are to building these extremely complex pieces of silicone. Something America keep very close to their chest.

It is no secret microchips will win a war, it is also no secret that America are by far winning that race, you just need to look at any of the huge tech company's which are all almost American, to see why. Your nuclear powered submarine that is capable of locking onto 30 targets at once does not run on magic, it runs on silicone. Extremely fast and precise silicone, that no one else apart from the USA has the complete eco system to design and build them. If China took over Taiwan on it's own, they would have some machines, some outdated software all from the manufacturing aspect, you wouldn't have the design experience, skill and knowledge from say Nvidia, Apple or AMD, or the very latest in cutting edge ASML machines. Extremely advance chip design relies on tight integration of all aspects of the design and manufacture process, if you miss a piece of that puzzle, you are not making advanced chips. China taking Taiwan will give them some pieces of the puzzle but not all, so as we saw when they were allowed to build AMD chips, they won't be any good.

With AI again now being led hugely by once again, American company's, the gap will grow wider, as AI will improve every aspect of the design and manufacturing process.

ARM is also very different to say NVIDIA, ARM licence the designs to ANYONE, even China. All the Chinese based designs are pretty slow though. Apple and Nvidia based ARM designs? Blisteringly fast. Why? Because of the design integration. The design of NVIDIAs chips are totally different in the sense that they do not sell the designs, not yet anyway, but even when they do, the actual design will be a closely guarded secret. They certainly wont give company's an open book into their chip designs as ARM does, thus it is like comparing Apples to Oranges.
 
Last edited:
BarryZola said:
There's 'intel' that Iran are planning to bomb Israel in the next couple of days in retaliation for Israel apparently striking the Iranian consulate in Syria a couple of weeks back, killing some senior Iranian military leaders in the process. Hopefully if this happens Israel will be left to fend for themselves as they don't deserve any help from anyone after their behaviour in the past several months.

www.bbc.co.uk

Joe Biden expects Iran to attack Israel 'sooner than later'

Israel says it is ready to defend itself against retaliation for an attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
What an ignorant and insensitive post. Just because you disagree with the Israeli government's actions does not mean that the people of Israel deserve to be abandoned. It's also worth pointing out that Israel has never relied on the rest of the world for direct help during times of conflict. Other than receiving financial support for its defenses, it does not go to war alongside other nations, it has fought solo throughout its short history.

Whether people care to admit it or not, there is a legitimacy to the Israeli need to defend itself from Hamas. It wasn't that long ago that Hamas committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, resulting in the abduction of someone in my own extended family, the attempted murder of others in my extended family, and the brutal murders of people in my family's and friends circles.

No Israeli that I know wants to see Palestinian civilians perish in this war either.

But there have been some seriously tragic miscalculations from the army, and some concerning policies from the current far-right government also.

Israelis and Palestinians are both deserving of peace. There are legitimate traumas on both sides of the conflict. But it's important to stress that Hamas, PIJ, and Hezbollah are a particularly nasty bunch who don't even represent the best interest of their populations, and their sponsors in the Iranian Ayatollah regime are no darlings, they are brutal organizations who do pose a threat to global security in all kinds of ways as the leading sponsor of global terrorism.

Here's hoping the war will come to an end soon, Israelis are desperate for this, but importantly they also want to live a safe reality free of Hamas and similar threats. I'm not sure what the solution to the overall middle east conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is, it is a far more complex situation than anyone in here thinks it is, you have to have family and friends living in that part of the world to truly grasp the complexities of the conflict... but its resolution does have to involve the dismantling of Hamas and organizations like it, in addition to the eventual abolishment of the current Israeli government, which will inevitably happen once the war is over. Netanyahu is not popular and it's likely that he'll be sentenced for corruption. As far as the people in Israel are concerned, he also bears responsibility for the events of October 7th, and he has not been popular since he threatened their democracy months before October 7th through his radical judicial overhaul.
 
Last edited:
On balance, Hamas started this war, without doubt.
However, Israel has beaten up "the people next door", who also have a legitimate claim for the same land, and have not stopped beating them relentlessly, for six whole months since.
Massive reaction, and massive over reaction.
The west stands by and watches the relentless death of many innocents.
The only sensible answer is a ceasefire, and start talking.
This has done nothing for the future safety in the area.
Hamas started this, but the whole world shakes its head as Israel refuses to stop it.
It really is that simple at the moment.

And just because we disagree with another members argument, do we have to resort to insults?
After many years of reading his posts, I have never found Mr Zola ignorant or insensitive,
Very much quite the opposite, so please wind your neck in a little.
 
Last edited:
Hyperia Super Stan said:
What an ignorant and insensitive post. Just because you disagree with the Israeli government's actions does not mean that the people of Israel deserve to be abandoned. It's also worth pointing out that Israel has never relied on the rest of the world for direct help during times of conflict. Other than receiving financial support for its defenses, it does not go to war alongside other nations, it has fought solo throughout its short history.

Whether people care to admit it or not, there is a legitimacy to the Israeli need to defend itself from Hamas. It wasn't that long ago that Hamas committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, resulting in the abduction of someone in my own extended family, the attempted murder of others in my extended family, and the brutal murders of people in my family's and friends circles.

No Israeli that I know wants to see Palestinian civilians perish in this war either.

But there have been some seriously tragic miscalculations from the army, and some concerning policies from the current far-right government also.

Israelis and Palestinians are both deserving of peace. There are legitimate traumas on both sides of the conflict. But it's important to stress that Hamas, PIJ, and Hezbollah are a particularly nasty bunch who don't even represent the best interest of their populations, and their sponsors in the Iranian Ayatollah regime are no darlings, they are brutal organizations who do pose a threat to global security in all kinds of ways as the leading sponsor of global terrorism.

Here's hoping the war will come to an end soon, Israelis are desperate for this, but importantly they also want to live a safe reality free of Hamas and similar threats. I'm not sure what the solution to the overall middle east conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is, it is a far more complex situation than anyone in here thinks it is, you have to have family and friends living in that part of the world to truly grasp the complexities of the conflict... but its resolution does have to involve the dismantling of Hamas and organizations like it, in addition to the eventual abolishment of the current Israeli government, which will inevitably happen once the war is over. Netanyahu is not popular and it's likely that he'll be sentenced for corruption. As far as the people in Israel are concerned, he also bears responsibility for the events of October 7th, and he has not been popular since he threatened their democracy months before October 7th through his radical judicial overhaul.
Click to expand...
To be clear, in the article I was referring to, they were talking about bombing military targets. I wasn't advocating the random bombing of civilians. I probably should have been clearer about that, in hindsight. Of course I agree that the regular people on the streets of Israel don't deserve to be punished for the actions of their out of control leader.
 
The citizens protesting on the streets of Israel are calling for the ousting of Netanyahu after bearing responsibility for October 7th, and his failure to secure a deal to return the hostages, rather than calling for the end of the war (a few brave souls are doing this, however). General support for the war is still relatively high, around 80% or so, and up to 68% of respondents here agree that humanitarian aid should not be distributed in Gaza, which is causing the famine that is supposedly now underway in the North of Gaza. A similar number of people apparently believe that the IDF aren't using firepower indiscriminately enough, which is pretty phenomenal when you consider images like this one.

I consider Hamas a terrorist organisation, not a resistance faction, but they have been allowed to thrive by Netanyahu and his cronies as a forever-enemy for forever-power, essential to his strongman image. He even propped them up financially in order to prevent progress of discussions towards peace. Both sides are completely radicalised to some extent, but there's no symmetry to the 'war', and only one side is completely subjugated by blockade. Israel have the complete ironclad support of the United States, UK and Germany, and seemingly complete impunity, billions in defence and that's despite expanding settlements that are deemed illegal even by those aforementioned countries under international law.

My concerns are now largely with those trapped in Gaza, who have seen entire bloodlines wiped from their family after six months of bombing, and who may perish slowly over the next six months. If they survive, they're left with a territory in which hospitals, universities, halls of records and place of worship have been completely destroyed without trace, their entire future just a political football between the West and the Middle East. In Germany, where I am, Jewish people and Jewish-Israelis who want the bloodshed to end, calling for a ceasefire or a two-state solution, are increasingly in the mind-boggling situation where they themselves are being accused of antisemitism, and even arrested.

Zionism is a hell of a drug!
 
Last edited:
I have to say this thread has been qu it e educational. Thanks to those who have contributed so far with some interesting evidence.
 
Yeah just reading it Twitter now. Egypt and Jordan have closed airspace to civilian flights in order to attempt to shoot them down.

Meanwhile a British tanker has taken off from Cyprus - no doubt fighters are up needing fuel. Biden apparently has gone into his situation room.

Well done Isreal - you just opened Pandora’s box.
 
www.bbc.co.uk

Iran launches drones at Israel in retaliatory attack

Israel's military says its forces are on high alert and is "monitoring all targets".
www.bbc.co.uk

Shortly before news of Iran's drone launch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's defensive systems were deployed.
"We are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong. We appreciate the US standing alongside Israel, as well as the support of Britain, France and many other countries."

Alright, don't bring us into it pal.
 
Just reading the feeds on X

Iran is trying to attack Israel’s air defence systems online

Estimates between 100-250 drones in the air

Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq all closed their airspace to civilian flights

Possible cruise missile launches but not confirmed

Isreal has fighters now in Jordanian airspace to try and shoot down the drones

Expecting US and British aircraft up to do the same

Biden expected to make announcement from White House shortly

This is the first time Iran has attacked Israel from its own soil. Who knows what happens next.
 
This won’t affect us. The risk is Isreal attacks Iran, plus in America and then Russia sides with Iran.

Why we will notice on Monday will be higher fuel prices.
 
GaryH said:
This won’t affect us. The risk is Isreal attacks Iran, plus in America and then Russia sides with Iran.

Why we will notice on Monday will be higher fuel prices.
Click to expand...

There are literally UK jets shooting down these drones from UK bases in Cyprus.

Aside from the fact the Houthi’s (Iranian proxy) have been attacking UK ships for months.

The west and Sunni world could be about to reshape the Middle East
 
GaryH said:
This won’t affect us. The risk is Isreal attacks Iran, plus in America and then Russia sides with Iran.

Why we will notice on Monday will be higher fuel prices.
Click to expand...
I think I miss the "Wold War 3 will kick off any minute now" @GaryH . You used to be cool man.

On a serious note, I'm more worried about this than I ever was with Russia and Ukraine. The west are far more inclined to both face down Iran and defend Israel more than they ever were to face down Russia and defend Ukraine.
 
Iran is not going to unleash missile attacks on the UK... but terrorist attacks from Iran's proxies are probably something to be cautious of. Don't be surprised if the West, Israel and an alliance of Sunni Arab nations decide to take on Iran as a group. Iran is regarded as a very bad actor internationally and are reportedly quite close to acquiring nuclear weapons, posing a threat to its enemies in the Middle East - Israel and the Sunni Arab nations. Those nations, along with support from the West, could very well use this as their long awaited opportunity to stamp out the Ayatollahs, but don't expect a regional Middle East conflict to affect us where we are too much.
 
Last edited:
Hyperia Super Stan said:
Iran is not going to unleash missile attacks on the UK... but terrorist attacks like the one that occurred in a Jewish part of Sydney earlier today are probably more likely.
Click to expand...

I thought that it had been reported that the authorities in Sydney have said that the motive for the attack was not thought to be terror related?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top