The US-Iran War Has Begun

[Free]

Trump's obsessions with A.I. slop and lying about shit are merging.

Trump’s fake AI video of Kharg Island ‘attack’ leaves US military scrambling to explain

The Defense Department was forced on Monday to deny the U.S. had struck Iran’s main petroleum export facility after President Donald Trump posted a fake but very realistic AI-generated video showing a purported attack by American forces.

The video, posted to the president’s Truth Social account, appears to show oil storage tanks and refineries erupting in flames from the perspective of someone filming from inside a helicopter above the carnage, with an accompanying message describing the scene as “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens” and signed as “President DJT.”

But a U.S. official said no such attack had taken place, with Kharg Island not being among the locations targeted overnight in what has been the first exchange of fire between American and Iranian forces in weeks.

Additionally, the head of National Iranian Oil Co, Hamid Bovard, said on Monday that the president’s post was “laughable” and described conditions on Kharg Island as “calm and appropriate.”

 

[detrius]

 

[Free]

Get a load of the Renamer in Chief over here.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Get a load of the Renamer in Chief over here.

Sure. I look forward to all of the headlines reading "Trump Straight Remains Closed" and "Ships Fired On in Trump Straight."

 

[Casey Pelous]

Sure. I look forward to all of the headlines reading "Trump Straight Remains Closed" and "Ships Fired On in Trump Straight."

"Trump Strait still dominated by Iran."

 

[Casey Pelous]

Speaking of the Strait ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-abraham-lincoln-thailand/

The Abraham Lincoln and the rest of the carrier group arrived in Thailand. I have never seen a US Navy ship look so ill-maintained. Good lord, she looks she's cosplaying a rusted out tramp freighter. WTF??

 

[Free]

When asked about the aircraft carrier's appearance, Capt. Dan Keeler, the Lincoln's commanding officer, replied that "it is normal for a long deployment and we're not going to make further comments."

Sounds like the Captain is trying very hard to maintain his command.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Sounds like the Captain is trying very hard to maintain his command.

And keep in the line for a promotion to RADM (Lower Half), which I thought commanding officers of carriers usually were.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

And keep in the line for a promotion to RADM (Lower Half), which I thought commanding officers of carriers usually were.

Aircraft carrier commanding officers are usually Captains, along with their executive officer. Smaller ships are often commanded by Commanders. Carrier strike groups are headed by Rear Admirals, often called Commodores.

 

[Free]

Carrier strike groups are headed by Rear Admirals, often called Commodores.

 

[detrius]

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Speaking of the Strait ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-abraham-lincoln-thailand/

The Abraham Lincoln and the rest of the carrier group arrived in Thailand. I have never seen a US Navy ship look so ill-maintained. Good lord, she looks she's cosplaying a rusted out tramp freighter. WTF??

The Admiral Kuznetsov called, they want their former glory as rustiest aircraft carrier ever back.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Midweek Update #27: When Will The US Run Out Of Patriot Interceptors?

More And More This Looks Like The End Of An Era; China And Russia Must Be Loving This

phillipspobrien.substack.com

 

[Free]

I'm happy to know, just as Trump has been telling us, that Iran's military capabilities are totally obliterated.

US strikes five Iranian oil tankers, as Iran attacks 10 ships, Jordan base

US military says it struck the five Iranian tankers after the IRGC targeted a US warship twice in two days.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The Unravelling Of The American Age Is Accelerating

What Has Happened In The Last Days Is Ominous

phillipspobrien.substack.com

Evernote Link

The reasons for the US unwillingness to step in to help the Saudi government [by attacking the Houthis to keep access to and from the Red Sea open] at this moment, when everything in US strategic history would have indicated that the US should, are probably down to American military degradation. The US can barely fight the Iranian regime and protect US bases and forces against Iranian attacks. As such, opening up a new front in the war might be beyond US capabilities. It is not like there is some free US aircraft carrier strike force that can be easily deployed away from Iran to fight the Houthis. The US has already stripped the western Pacific—the cupboard is bare.

Moreover, the US continues to militarily weaken fighting just Iran. The more information that comes out of the Iranian attack on US bases in Jordan three days ago, the more it seems the US is losing. Not only did the US expend Patriot interceptors in extreme numbers to try to protect its facilities—it also failed in some notable areas. The Iranians, according to US sources (the ones that have consistently tried to minimize US damage) seem to have badly damaged an A-10 Warthog, and more lightly damaged 8 F-15E Strike Eagles.

 

[Free]

Thanks, Trump!

 

[Beebo Brink]

The Unravelling Of The American Age Is Accelerating

What Has Happened In The Last Days Is Ominous

phillipspobrien.substack.com

What Trump is doing is incredibly damaging, but the true sign of our unraveling is that no one is stopping him. The GOP could end this on a dime, but they have chosen not to protect their own country from Trump's incompetence and insanity.

I do wonder if they're fully aware of the damage we're sustaining across the board -- from government expertise in farming and public health to military supremacy -- or if they are lost in some arrogant assumption of American exceptionalism that blinds them to the reality of our current fragility? Do they not care and feel they are personally insulated? So many questions...

I've subscribed to O'Brien's substack. Good stuff.