NEWS US involvement in Iran

[BigRed389]

I thought they flew left not right out of WhitemanView attachment 42839

Supposedly just a deception op.

Flights in the open to Guam to keep all the OSINT watchers busy, which also happened to align nicely to the “maybe give it 2 weeks” narrative.

Real strike package over the Atlantic route.

Also notable there was that shitload of tankers and F22/35 moved a few days ago.

[Updated] B-2 Spirit Bombers Struck Iranian Nuclear Sites

While most reporters were focused on the B-2 heading to Guam, the actual strike package was already flying east over the Atlantic Ocean toward its targets

theaviationist.com

 

[JTS11]

Somebody pointed out on X that Israel and the US are in a fierce competition to see who can come up with the most bad ass name for an ED pill you can get off a late-night infomercial. 😁

Rising Lion vs Midnight Hammer

 

[Brett327]

Man... if this is true, and it wouldn't surprise anyone with a non-sycophantic world view....then yes, by golly....great job! we very well may have a secdef and dni that are being kept out of the planning processes and discussion. bravo, well done indeed... JFC......

Considering the incumbents, that’s probably a net benefit in the grand scheme.

 

[Brett327]

Probably the Vinson based on proximity, last I was tracking the Nimitz was still enroute.

With NGJ aboard, IIRC.

 

[Flash]

Is it an AF thing to wear your class ring on your left hand, and your wedding ring on your right?

It's a military college thing, or at least was. Wearing your class ring on your left hand, usually along with your wedding ring on the outside, was where most military college grads wore their rings up until Vietnam-era or a bit after. You'll see it in a lot of older official pics of Annapolis and West Point grads, but it largely went by the wayside post-Vietnam and not many do it nowadays. Other military school grads from VMI, Citadel and Norwich also did it too but largely went out of fashion around the same time but there are a few who still wear them on the left hand out of 'tradition'. General Caine is a VMI grad and VMI rings, along with Norwich rings, are absurdly huge so wearing his wedding ring on his right may just be practical.

If they were as close to getting nuclear weapons as it appears, then I'd say bombing their nuclear facilities was the right call. "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" aren't just slogans, they are policies of that regime. I also think the Israelis, given their titanic intelligence penetration of Iran, probably would know if the Iranians moved the material out.

It seems that Iran has been close to getting nuclear weapons since at least 2023. The political will of the United States to tolerate that, and to keep Israel reeled in has obviously changed since then. Either way Iran has been a bad actor and there’s no disagreement there. Unless something (the regime?) drastically changes, the Iranian proxy war doesn’t end because the US dropped bombs on a few nuclear sites.

So where does it end?

Israel has been claiming that Iran has been close to getting nukes for over two decades now, so I am a little wary to the claims that things have changed much with that more recently. The one big thing that has changed is Israel's willingness to strike its enemies in a more open and conventional manner since Hamas attacked them in October 2023.

 

[SynixMan]

Hey @mad dog - watch check?

Rolex GMT Master II. The only real Pilot's Watch

 

[Hair Warrior]

You aren’t seriously going to suggest that strategies begin and end with each administration, changing all the time…are you?

What was Obama’s strategy for Syria, exactly?

 

[Griz882]

What was Obama’s strategy for Syria, exactly?

Read my post above. As noted…it isn’t hard to grasp.

 

[Griz882]

Supposedly just a deception op.

Flights in the open to Guam to keep all the OSINT watchers busy, which also happened to align nicely to the “maybe give it 2 weeks” narrative.

Real strike package over the Atlantic route.

Also notable there was that shitload of tankers and F22/35 moved a few days ago.

[Updated] B-2 Spirit Bombers Struck Iranian Nuclear Sites

While most reporters were focused on the B-2 heading to Guam, the actual strike package was already flying east over the Atlantic Ocean toward its targets

theaviationist.com

The Air Guard tanker base at KPSM has been busy…I just figured it was their two-week summer “camp.”

 

[Hair Warrior]

Read my post above. As noted…it isn’t hard to grasp.

So the factions in power now in Damascus are the same the US has been backing for the past decade? (Narrator voice: They are, in fact, not the same. Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa was actually the emir of the US-designated terrorist organization al-Nusra front from 2012-2017 which was also aligned with ISIS.) And Obama upheld his famous red line on Syrian chemical weapons? (Narrator: He did not.) And about those chemical weapons Asad supposedly stockpiled, whatever happened to them after the regime fell in Dec 2024 and why aren’t we hearing about them or proliferation risks? (Shrug.) And the Obama administration also had a clear and successful strategy for Libyan intervention in 2011? (Cameraman pans to present day Libya, which is basically a failed state in which Russia and others are backing competing factions in a civil war)

 

[Griz882]

So the factions in power now in Damascus are the same the US has been backing for the past decade? (Narrator voice: They are, in fact, not the same. Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa was actually the emir of the US-designated terrorist organization al-Nusra front from 2012-2017 which was also aligned with ISIS.) And Obama upheld his famous red line on Syrian chemical weapons? (Narrator: He did not.) And about those chemical weapons Asad supposedly stockpiled, whatever happened to them after the regime fell in Dec 2024 and why aren’t we hearing about them or proliferation risks? (Shrug.) And the Obama administration also had a clear and successful strategy for Libyan intervention in 2011? (Cameraman pans to present day Libya, which is basically a failed state in which Russia and others are backing competing factions in a civil war)

Don’t be intentionally ignorant - read AND comprehend what I wrote (clearly you did not). If you still don’t understand just accept that it might be beyond you…but it is all there and you have no argument but to argue.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Don’t be intentionally ignorant - read AND comprehend what I wrote (clearly you did not). If you still don’t understand just accept that it might be beyond you…but it is all there and you have no argument but to argue.

I question your thesis statement that Obama and team “pulled off regime change” in Syria, which they clearly did not, or that it could be described as “remarkable” given the outcome in 2024/25. We’ll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Random8145]

Israel has been claiming that Iran has been close to getting nukes for over two decades now, so I am a little wary to the claims that things have changed much with that more recently. The one big thing that has changed is Israel's willingness to strike its enemies in a more open and conventional manner since Hamas attacked them in October 2023.

Something unique this time is the IAEA saying Iran having enriched uranium far beyond what was needed for a civilian program and also the leaders of France and Germany speaking out in support of Israel's actions, which makes me think the intelligence on this must've been really clear.

 

[Random8145]

Supposedly just a deception op.

Flights in the open to Guam to keep all the OSINT watchers busy, which also happened to align nicely to the “maybe give it 2 weeks” narrative.

Real strike package over the Atlantic route.

Also notable there was that shitload of tankers and F22/35 moved a few days ago.

[Updated] B-2 Spirit Bombers Struck Iranian Nuclear Sites

While most reporters were focused on the B-2 heading to Guam, the actual strike package was already flying east over the Atlantic Ocean toward its targets

theaviationist.com

I've also read it was to keep the Chinese warned as they had to move a bunch of assets out of that area.

 

[Griz882]

I question your thesis statement that Obama and team “pulled off regime change” in Syria, which they clearly did not, or that it could be described as “remarkable” given the outcome in 2024/25. We’ll have to agree to disagree.

I’m ok with that. I learned long ago that history is a continuum, not a block of time. It is quite possible for something started years ago to come to fruition much later. But I will not one error that should be fixed. I did write “regime change” when in fact I should have written “regime ending.” The basic idea was not to pick a winner, but to ensure a loser.