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It’s been a month. Can we talk about what went wrong in Iran now? The war is costing $1 billion a day.



Photo above – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Minnesota National Guard Lieutenant, asked Americans to “take a knee and pray to Jesus for the success in the Middle East . . .. that the wicked souls be delivered to eternal damnation”.

Imagine the President’s consternation. We apparently CANNOT defeat an adversary with just aerial bombardment. Pentagon generals warned him this might happen. The lessons of Vietnam, Korea, and World War 2s Battle of Britain still apply.

The president’s response to 30 days of war was to have Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth fire the Army Chief of Staff and 2 other generals this week. This might not be a tragedy though – America still has more than 400 active-duty generals and admirals of all ranks. At least nobody fell out of a hotel window, which seems to happen frequently in Russia.

Can we have a discussion about why America isn't winning?

1 – Intelligence failures. Great that we took out Ayatollah Kha-misery in the first 5 minutes. A bunch of other geese in his flock too. But we somehow left tens of thousands of drones and missiles alive. Those weapons are now testing the patience of allies who want to see regime change in Iran too. Sympathetic middle east sheiks, sultans, crown princes, kings and emirs were never warned by the USA that their own real estate could be targeted by Iran. Oil refineries. Desalinization plants Hotels and resorts . . .

2 – The Strait of Hormuz. This is probably planet Earth's most vital shipping lane. More important than the Panama canal, Suez canal, and the English Channel. Hormuz is narrow you can threaten shipping with a shoulder fired RPG from the beach. There apparently was never a workable plan to keep Hormuz open for business. Iran is not only using drones, but also 105 MM howitzers and 50 caliber machine guns. The mines are just starting.

3 – Europe is now running out of diesel and gas. To no one's surprise, NATO members have declined help reopen the strait of Hormuz. They’re not sending ships. US Airforce overflights from nearby NATO bases are now on hold by several nations. Apparently, some EU heads of state have pivoted to Russia for energy faster than you can say “elections are coming up soon”.

4 – Rise up and restore the Pahlavi regime. The US bizarrely announced - in advance – that unarmed Iranian civilians were expected to fight the maniacal Iranian revolutionary guards in street battles. To allow the son of ousted Shah Reza Pahlavi to return and ascend to the throne.

5 – Allowing the Iranian propaganda machine to operate at full speed. Why are their TV stations, radio broadcasts, and state-controlled internet still working? Fake/AI news reports are what keep Iranian civilians sheltering in place. According to fake AI videos entire battalions of US soldiers have already been captured and sent to POW camps. This eruption of disinfo should be the easiest thing to fix.

6 – Stop bombing civilian infrastructure. Iranians aren't going to welcome us as liberators if there’s nothing left. Pivot immediately to the destruction of every bunker and command post where Iranian Revolutionary Guards congregate. If the guards can’t get meet up to talk, they can’t aim and fire their missiles. The IRG is the reason Iran fights on, If the guards do surrender, the newly empowered civilian population will scorch them alive for all their past atrocities. This is an existential battle for IRG maniacs who have nothing to lose. Take out anything in related to the IRG. You wouldn't leave Nazi SS bunkers still standing in World War 2, would you?

7 – Stop declaring victory every 3 days, Mr. President. This is pathetic. After your last speech announcing victory is just around the corner, the WSJ wrote an Op-Ed piece giving thumbs up. Proving that our nation's financial titans are clueless slaves of capital gains and stock dividends.

I’m not suggesting America declare defeat, like we did in Vietnam and Afghanistan. The president will never do that. He will keep firing generals and cabinet members and turning to less competent replacements whose only attribute is personal loyalty. America now looks like a banana republic. Neither the party in power nor the opposition party shows any path forward to the rule of law and consensus. Congress is fixated on the 2026 midterm elections and believes ICE funding will be the key issue. After the election, then what? Schedule an impeachment debate? This is their endgame? We've seen that before, too.

I’m just sayin’ . .. .


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hegseth-tells-us-army-chief-of-staff-to-step-down-immediately/ar-AA202nkA?ocid=BingNewsSerp
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Seems pretty clear that tRump went against almost all cabinet advice when he attacked Iran on Feb 28 (Hegseth was probably gung ho). And it seems pretty clear that tRump expected Iran to fold and "welcome us as liberators" once the Ayatollah was dead.

Since those expectations failed miserably, tRump seems to be in a "bombings will continue until morale improves" phase. He had a concept of a plan that at it would be easy to conquer Iran. Since that didn't work out his new concept of a plan is to call something (anything) a victory and withdraw. But that plan won't work with elevated oil prices.

So he's still rootling around for a way to withdraw without losing too much more face. In the mean time, the Epstein files are off the front page; that's his silver lining!!
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SunshineGirl · 36-40, F
Has Jesus made a formal response to the Pentagon's request for aid?
SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F
an F15 and 2 US helicopters were shot down yesterday. This appears to be the result of Iranian missiles which were supposed to be all used up, rather than the intervention of Jesus or Allah.
cuppatea · 31-35, F
Every day I am thinking that Trump is in the war to manipulate the stock prices on oil. There is something very manipulative about his narration. My bet is he is profiting in more ways that we are aware.

Bankrupt Americas economy and get rich while doing it ... Isn't that in the GOP handbook? Then when Democrats get into office they blame them. Rinse, Wash and Repeat.
SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F
@cuppatea i can't say you're wrong. the counter narrative among conspiracy theorists is that he was trying to take the Epstein files off the front page.
Waveney · 41-45, M
How about: Withdraw immediately, apologise to Iran and then all of your allies, and pay reparations for the horror inflicted on innocent civilians.

I'm just sayin'
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SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F
@22Michelle carrier task forces - a dozen or more ships - are the only reason carriers can survive. But a nuclear strike takes out the entire task force in about 5 minutes.
TexChik · F
@SusanInFlorida A retaliatory strike takes them out as well, no one wins a nuclear war...and no one is going to fire a nuclear missile at a carrier group. Carrier groups are vitally important because they aid in the projection of power all over the world
22Michelle · 70-79, T
@SusanInFlorida And lots of low cost drones make carriers move way back out from shore.
TexChik · F
And yet...we still have not overtaken the amount of Fraud that has occurred in Minnesota. California will probably be times 10. Blue states are corrupt. But you libs don't complain about that...
SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F
@TexChik agreed. but i think there is plenty of fraud (and sex abuse) to spread across both political parties. these crimes are a feature of political activity, not a bug.

 
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