NEWS US involvement in Iran

[zippy]

My feelings on this are "WOO-HOO!," "Wow it worked!," "Team America - Fuck Yeah!" and "What happens now?"

My feelings have been ”fuck…”

The only ways things don’t get worse is the Iranian regime is cool with the US bombing their facilities (maybe their nuclear material went to another country for safekeeping already as they claimed?) the Iranian people become anti regime, the Iranian regime not funding Shia’s throughout the Middle East to attack US interests, religious zealots become sane etc.

IMHO There’s not a lot of long term good that can come from the US bombing Iran.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Great Job !!!

Tactically, yeah. Well done. I suspect the B-2 pilots might tell you something similar to what NEPTUNE SPEAR dudes said, "we'd trained for this and executed so many similar raids, this was just another." So, yes, it appears to have been well executed, but.... Now what?

ETA: And gold-star sticker to all involved for not leaking.... It's a low bar, but they appear to have cleared it - this time.

ETA: When does Tulsi tender her resignation?

Even funnier is that I heard Party Pete was iced out of the Iran conversation/discussions. #OPSEC_Clean!

 

[JTS11]

Even funnier is that I heard Party Pete was iced out of the Iran conversation/discussions. #OPSEC_Clean!

Also, DNI Gabbard was out of the loop...or maybe she was just on a NG drill weekend and couldn't participate?

 

[ea6bflyr]

Also, DNI Gabbard was out of the loop...or maybe she was just on a NG drill weekend and couldn't participate?

I hear they are both “persona non grata” by Trump.

 

[Random8145]

My feelings have been ”fuck…”

The only ways things don’t get worse is the Iranian regime is cool with the US bombing their facilities (maybe their nuclear material went to another country for safekeeping already?) the Iranian people become anti rengime, the Iranian regime not funding Shia’s throughout the Middle East to attack US interests, religious zealots become sane etc.

IMHO There’s not a lot of long term good that can come from the US bombing Iran.

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.

 

[IKE]

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

It's common in many European cultures for the wedding ring to go on the right. I've seen Americans married to for'ners adopt the right-hand wedding ring convention.

 

[zippy]

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? Regime change? The Israels don’t have the power to do it. They couldn’t even take out the nuclear sites on their own (and they knew that when they attacked they would force the US hand). The US tried to encourage home grown regime change in Iraq and that failed. It took the US invasion of Iraq (Iraq WMDs was the excuse) to accomplish that and the execution and follow through was a disaster (Its easy to argue that Iraq and the Middle East was more stable with Saddam in power than the power vacuum that got filled by terrorist extremist and Iranian influence). Afghanistan was a disaster in execution and follow through as well. The US doesn’t have the political will to follow through on invasions anymore to influence end results favorably (Look at what it took/takes in Germany, Japan and Korea) so what’s the point there?

Regime change in the US every 2-8 years doesn’t bode well for foreign policy consistency without an existential threat (such as the Soviet Union). Another US induced power vacuum in the Middle East doesn’t make the world a safer place.

 

[Random8145]

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? Regime change? The Israels don’t have the power to do it. They couldn’t even take out the nuclear sites on their own (and they knew that when they attacked they would force the US hand). The US tried to encourage home grown regime change in Iraq and that failed. It took the US invasion of Iraq (Iraq WMDs was the excuse) to accomplish that and the execution and follow through was a disaster (Its easy to argue that Iraq and the Middle East was more stable with Saddam in power than the power vacuum that got filled by terrorist extremist and Iranian influence). Afghanistan was a disaster in execution and follow through as well. The US doesn’t have the political will to follow through on invasions anymore to influence end results favorably (Look at what it took/takes in Germany, Japan and Korea) so what’s the point there?

Regime change in the US every 2-8 years doesn’t bode well for foreign policy consistency without an existential threat (such as the Soviet Union). Another US induced power vacuum in the Middle East doesn’t make the world a safer place.

The belief is Israel had a backup plan to take out the Fordow complex on their own if necessary but it would have involved ground forces and been more risky. I don't know if Israel could do regime change or not. Knocking out their nuclear program doesn't stop Iran's proxy wars (only heavily degrading the proxies does that) nor does it stop Iran from launching their missiles (destroying the missile launchers and stockpiles does that) and it won't even stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. But it does severely set them back a good bit for now. I am sure the regime will restart as soon as they can though. That regime and form of Islam is like goutweed. It grows tall and spreads all over. You can cut it down constantly but it always grows back. You have to take out the roots to kill it.

 

[Griz882]

I’d argue a bit to the contrary. Mr. Obama and team actually pulled off a remarkable regime change in Syria. The Neocon position is to make every nation a little U.S. but comes with a ridiculous refusal to demand the defeated set up a republIc style government. All styles of excuses are made ranging from fear of being called a colonialist to “they” can’t understand democracy. In Syria Obama’s team wanted to (a) weaken Iran and (b) remove a dictator who was too close to Russia. Little concern was given to what came next because you don’t know - it was an excellent piece of “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” thinking. Trump/Biden/Trump pulled off the same thing (but at a slower pace and not as coordinated) in Iraq by slowly dismantling Iranian militia efforts in and around Baghdad.

While I question if Trump has the focus, he could do the same in Iran. Destabilize the government, weaken their military, and promote change from within. Like Syria it could be done with air strikes, help from Mossad, and a handful of SOF types. Go slow, go easy, and let the Iranians do their own heavy lifting.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Mr. Obama and team actually pulled off a remarkable regime change in Syria.

what

 

[Griz882]

what

It isn’t hard to follow…

 

[Griz882]

I managed to download the cockpit footage moments before the strike.

 

[Gatordev]

I suspect the B-2 pilots might tell you [...] "we'd trained for this and executed so many similar raids, this was just another."

Do you think they trained for this for two weeks, lead by a combat experienced pilot, only to have no one actually successfully complete the training except the pilot leader? And then went anyway?

They should make a movie about that.

 

[KODAK]

Hey @mad dog - watch check?

View attachment 42834

JFC, don’t encourage him..