The US-Iran War Has Begun

[Casey Pelous]

Moral, ethical, and all other considerations aside, isn't someone in a position of authority at least starting to wonder how in the hell the US can spend almost a trillion dollars a year on defense and be, basically, running out of bullets?

 

[Sheera Khan]

Well, if a bullet costs some millions and you're handing them out like candy you've got only so many of them. And the equipment to hand them out isn't cheap either. Remember that ladder costing 74.165 US-$ ? (according to Wikipedia). But even then, you're right, the ammo should last a bit longer just in case there would be a real attack on the US. All an adversary would have to do is wait for the first storm to be over. After that only the normal replenishment rate would have to be taken into account - and that would be a little less than 2 Patriot missiles per day (and some other random stuff).

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Well, if a bullet costs some millions and you're handing them out like candy you've got only so many of them. And the equipment to hand them out isn't cheap either. Remember that ladder costing 74.165 US-$ ? (according to Wikipedia). But even then, you're right, the ammo should last a bit longer just in case there would be a real attack on the US. All an adversary would have to do is wait for the first storm to be over. After that only the normal replenishment rate would have to be taken into account - and that would be a little less than 2 Patriot missiles per day (and some other random stuff).

As I understand it, the Iranians are deploying swarms of drones that cost a few thousand dollars each to produce, forcing the US to use up missiles costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each (or even over a million, depending on what they use) to shoot them down.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Our military planning has been about technological supremacy and mostly fighting air wars. So we have a limited number of advanced weapons and the theory that we can overwhelm any foe in a short time. As Innula points out, Iran has been using overwhelming numbers of far less expensive weapons. It's something Ukraine has been learning to do against Russia, but Iran itself used human wave attacks against better equipped Iraqi troops in the Iran-Iraq war, which is why Iraq started to develop WMDs to stop large-scale troop movement. And we have both Trump and Hogshead caught up in a WWII mindset of throwing more damage at the enemy hoping they will break. They want more battleships and bombers instead of better drones and low-tech weapons.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

...And we have both Trump and Hogshead caught up in a WWII mindset of throwing more damage at the enemy hoping they will break. They want more battleships and bombers instead of better drones and low-tech weapons.

It's worse than that! They are stuck in the ancient world. The drunk dipshit is trying to give soldiers testosterone because he still thinks big muscles mean shit in modern warfare. Modern war continues to become more and more mechanized. Big, strong manly men on foot with guns are only becoming less and less important. As you guys have said, war seems to be moving more and more towards great armies of mass produced drones. Who can make the most cost effective drones in mass is going to be the bigger power. Ukraine is doing much better because they figured that out.

...even before the modern shift towards drones, it was clear that a lot of US military culture was way behind the times. Most of the arguments against women or trans people in the military were centered around the long obsolete notion that war is all about human muscle. There is of course a role for the big muscle heads, but it seems to be shrinking fast.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Reuters: Iran says no talks are under way with United States after Trump calls off attacks

Iran said on Monday there were no talks under way with the United States and no plans for any meetings, contradicting U.S. President Donald Trump who had ‌cited talks he said would take place that afternoon as justification for calling off attacks.

Over the weekend Trump repeated a pattern that has emerged throughout the past five months: announcing plans for "massive attacks" on Iran, only to cancel them at the last minute.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Nick Cohen summarises his podcast interview with Phillips O'Brien

Trump allows Iran to humiliate America

Phillips O’Brien on America’s defeat in the Gulf

nickcohen.substack.com

Evernote Link

Phillips O’Brien is American, but he works in Scotland and is Ukraine’s most passionate defender.

He thinks it is good that we learned about American military weakness before it was too late.

“It was a terrible thing for Europe to become so reliant on America. We’ve now understood that it put Europe in the position of a supplicant.”

America’s allies in the Middle East were no different.

“They would spend billions buying US weapons. They would host US forces, and in exchange the US would provide their security. And that was the bargain. I think they have put themselves in a terribly vulnerable position in doing that because they drastically overrated American power. They didn’t understand the real holes in the American military. They are over-reliant on very expensive systems that are difficult to replace, and now they’re going to have to really take a cold hard look at their strategic vulnerabilities.

“I hate that this war was launched the way it was. I hate the fact that Iran is doing better than people expected, but that is where we are. And it’s good for states to realise that it would be far worse… if they had gone down the road of happily thinking they could always rely on the U.S.

 

[Free]

wtf...

US military asks personnel for ‘creative and unconventional’ ideas to punish Iran

CNN reports a senior CENTCOM intelligence officer asked military analysts to propose fresh ways to pressure Tehran as airstrikes fail to force a deal and concerns grow over casualties, depleted interceptors and the risks of a ground war

www.ynetnews.com

CNN reported Monday that a senior intelligence officer at U.S. Central Command sent a broad internal email asking military analysts to suggest new ways to increase pressure on Iran.

“We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” the officer wrote in the message, which was distributed Wednesday, according to a source familiar with it. A second source confirmed that a senior U.S. military officer had solicited proposals for dealing with Tehran.

Crowdsourcing military strategy. Why not start a Reddit sub to gather intel.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

If only we had experts in the area that were paid for analysis and strategic planning.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

Reuters: Iran says no talks are under way with United States after Trump calls off attacks

TACO.

 

[Soen Eber]

If only we had experts in the area that were paid for analysis and strategic planning that Musk and Trump didn't get rid of.

FIFY

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Our military planning has been about technological supremacy and mostly fighting air wars.

As somebody put it when the F35 was being launched: America is building a death star, instead it should have build R2D2.

 

[Soen Eber]

As somebody put it when the F35 was being launched: America is building a death star, instead it should have build R2D2.

Isn't that Musk?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Do Not Forget That Wars Demand Money

I Doubt The US Can Afford To Escalate And Fight A Long War, Even If It Wanted To

phillipspobrien.substack.com

Evernote Link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Midweek Update #22: The American Age in the Persian Gulf Is Over

The US is Running Out Of Weapons, Pulling Out Forces, And Losing The Faith Of The Region's States. That Will Not Be Easily Undone

phillipspobrien.substack.com

Evernote Link

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Here's a recent poll on the Clacton by election: Kermit the frog is leading by a big shot. But still Count Binface it about 20%. Not too shabby.

What people think what this by election is really about:

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Low turnout and a large protest vote will be enough to undermine Farage's anti-establishment vindication message. Then they can get back to investigating his finances and throw him out proper.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Not sure what Farage, Clacton and Count Binface have to do with the US-Iran war...

 

[Soen Eber]

Not sure what Farage, Clacton and Count Binface have to do with the US-Iran war...

Humor?

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Not sure what Farage, Clacton and Count Binface have to do with the US-Iran war...

Like Trump, we missed the target thread?