Thread

Iran school bombing: grounds to believe US was behind atrocity, UN finds

354 points · 307 comments · hebelehubele

boesboes · 1789645981 · focus · HN ↗
That was never a question right?
1. jvanderbot · 1789654384 · focus · HN ↗
  Colloquially, I think it is well accepted that US launched the missiles. The question is whether they indiscriminately targeted civilians.
  NYT did an excellent analysis showing that the US probably did intentionally target the building, believing it to be part of the nearby compound that received several direct strikes. This analysis is really good [1]
  The definition of war crime is not "Killed civilians" it is "targeted civilians" or "reckless indiscriminate attacks". My understanding of the NYT analysis is that this was very plausibly misunderstood to still be part of the iran national guard compound.
  Everyone gets their own opinion on this. There were 900 or so strikes in the first 12h, and only one school hit, and that school was actually part of the compound before. A horrific accident that was brought on by unnecessary hostilities, i think.
  1: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/us/politics/iran-school-missile-strike.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/us/politics/iran-school-m...
  1. paulddraper · 1789655947 · focus · HN ↗
    To recap:
    A Iranian military structure was converted into a school.
    After conversion, the rest of the naval base remained there (< 100m away).
    Missile strikes hit both the base and the adjacent school.
    ---
    FYI, it's not unusual for schools to be part of military bases. The U.S. itself operates over a 100. [1]
    [1] <a href="https://www.dodea.edu/" rel="nofollow">https://www.dodea.edu/
    alistairSH · 1789661827 · focus · HN ↗
    11 years ago. If we're operating on decade+ old info, that's pretty damning.
    Is there a "reckless endangerment" or "manslaughter" equivalent in the war-crimes sphere?
    bamboozled · 1789669733 · focus · HN ↗
    Is it me or is it reckless to leave a school in part of an old military complex ? That seems negligent to me, for this exact reason.
    Maybe it was intentional too ?
    alistairSH · 1789687520 · focus · HN ↗
    Under that logic, is the entire Barracks Row strip in DC fair game? It's across the street from a historic Marine Corp barracks, why would anybody put shops and restaurants there, right?
    Maybe if the schools was built recently there'd be a case. That's not the case, its as converted a full decade ago. We just didn't bother updating our maps and intel before launching missiles.
    bamboozled · 1789705471 · focus · HN ↗
    In my opinion, a more responsible government would probably not continue to using an abandon military base as a school for this reason. I'm sure the thought had crossed someone's mind that something like this might happen.
    I'm not trying to make excuses for the USA here, it's an abhorrent thing and I do agree, much more care should've been taken.
    No one is suggesting other kids schools are "fair game" so just calm down a bit?
    defrost · 1789705953 · focus · HN ↗
    > a more responsible government would probably not continue to using an abandon military base as a school.
    The UK, the US, Germany, et al are therefore not "responsible government" ?
    Iran is an old country, leaving aside the assorted historical and urban settlements dating back to some 7,000 years before present time, the Median and Achaemenid Empires there data back to ~ 600 BC.
    A lot of buildings and places have prior history.
    bamboozled · 1789714503 · focus · HN ↗
    The age of the country has nothing to do with a 10 year old conversion by, let's a face it a murderous thug regime who kills its own citizens for not wearing Burqa's, who are you kidding?
    It wouldn't put it past me if the IRGC steered the USA towards the school for this to happen, that's the kind of people they actually are. They kill protestors, why wouldn't they kill a school full of kids, what's the difference to them?
    alistairSH · 1789731893 · focus · HN ↗
    You do realize the US qualifies as a murderous thug regime by many measurements. We're actively waging war against Iran for no discernible reason, we're blowing up boats in the Caribbean with zero proof they're drug boats, and we have masked thugs pulling residents off and shipping them to 3rd world nations with zero legal recourse.
    Just because Iran has a fucked government (that we helped install, by the way) doesn't let us off the hook or justify stooping to their level.
    bamboozled · 1789763029 · focus · HN ↗
    Both things can be true, no need to take sides.

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