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Not to say that they thought of everything... but they kinda thought of everything. Helps to have a Hog Driver running the design and implementation. There was "NO" way they were going to block the gunsight.

Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please. -

AQOWwNckO8Hgeut2t_iW3rCk6rq6TpIXzFkW1tY2T5pMqzp9s4icSdsEtv2ub3UQtxCAoeP67MN322HYJuW0m8E3QJBR3xoz.mp4

To the extent things have gone quiet, it's largely due to you libs going on and on about personality issues. Yeah, we get it, he says stuff that's in poor taste. All of us wish, and have stated, our desire for a president with classier chops, but this is where we're at. You all pin that on us. I'm fine with it because I understand the choice that had to be made: elect a jerk, or elect complete ineptitude. The one part about Trump's manner I do appreciate: it drives you guys nuts. I will admit that's a bonus I'll miss when he's gone. The ranting and raving about it on this forum, however, is just tiresome when we should be exchanging ideas about strategic happenings instead. Apparently they did get the memo. And I distinctly remember predicting, right here on this message board, barely three days ago, that there was a lot more at play to "opening" or "closing" the straight than met the eye - you responded with this mess. Now, here we are, and lo and behold, what's happened? We closed the straight. It's almost like I can see a larger play at work. You'd call it 4D chess. I just understand that we're the ones with all the strategic leverage. I promise you I can't predict the future, it was just the obvious play. So yes, while Iran has played their very last card by closing the straight, we played a card I saw in the deck that trumps it: we closed it harder. Others here didn't really get it. They can close it, but we can up the ante and beat them at their own game. Or did you actually think we were just going to let them control that waterway on their own terms? Like seriously? Did you think Iranian and Chinese oil tankers would be doing business as usual all the while the lights went out on our allies and we flounder in the channel? Get real dude. We're a superpower. That's not chest-beating. It's looking objectively at who's who in this conflict. Of course we want it open. But it's going to be open on our terms, not theirs. So give it time. I'll spell out the next part for you again: Iran depends on the straight for 90% of their exports, 85% of their government revenue, and additionally import HALF of the gasoline they use to generate power. They need it open far, far more than we do, as they hemorrhage $3 billion dollars a week and risk massive long-term (self inflicted) damage to their oil infrastructure. As I said before, we can play the waiting game while they waterboard themselves. That's the strategic leverage. Can you see it? Or are you queuing up yet another anti-Trump tirade? This is effectively the sequel to my last post, with the added benefit of hindsight including events which I suggested would take place, actually having taken place. You didn't respond thoughtfully when it was prognostication. You didn't address how Iran is far more dependent on the straight that we are. Maybe now you will since it's actually happening?

Yeah i’m shocked that another dumbass statement by POTUS hasn’t caused stable minded conservatives to come unglued on an Internet forum. The actual haters don’t get it, even after we’ve told them a million times, he’s not out savior. And yes, even with his narcissistic self love and abundance of dumbassery at times, he’s still significantly better than kamala would have ever been.

Do you just get a kick out of posting really stupid shit to ensure your credibility remains at rock bottom?

Maybe you guys just got boring? Sorry, that was vague. You guys got boring. Negotiations don't matter if both sides don't leave the table at some point. It's not even certain Iran has a centralized enough government to negotiate anymore. Vance played the hand well. So far.

So now we're going with the "lalallaa I can't hear you" level of debate. Got it. Yes I hate Trump as a person. But I've argued the policy not the man. Weird how different conflicts can have different stances. It's almost as if you're comparing apples to oranges! Ukraine: Defensive. 0 American lives. Extremely costly for 1 of our 2 global adversaries. Important for stability in Europe. Protecting a fledgling democracy Brought new critical positioned nations into NATO. Iran: Offensive. Absurdly more expensive per day than Ukraine in 2 months (iran: $48B + $1B/day vs ukraine: $120B of $180B congressionally allocated spent in 1507 days). Costing American lives and showcasing our weaknesses to China. Disrupted global economic stability, drove inflation up again, and empowered a tier 2 adversary while alienating allies.

Pooter wrote Not one person in here can explain how we’re in a better strategic position wrt Iran today than we were a month and a half ago. Or a year ago. Or when we had the JCPOA. Iran has more influence, leverage, and credibility right now than at any point I can remember. What are you smoking?

Saw this article with morning coffee, which tries to address drone defense vs ground troops, I think. Yahoo TechThe Iranian Drone Problem Forced a Radical Fix — The Mari...US marines just gave the M4 a driver-assist system for shooting drones. The modern infantry battlefield is quietly undergoing a transformation that feels as much like a shift in automotive control sysAnd then there's this company, which takes standard guns and turns em into automated, anti-drone point defense systems. Looks like they got rigs for Ma Deuce, 30mm Bushmaster, and the 7.62 minigun as well as the pic below, M240. Bullfrog M240An autonomous M240 weapon station to handle the full kill chain up to group 3 UASSeems like companies are seeing the current battlefield and are making stuff.

TR approves!!

@Clark Griswold …

1000%. This is the absolute most un-American thing that is somehow enshrined in American law. I totally get and would support a similar concept IF it were after appropriate due process and the person found guilty, much like what happens to people's trucks and guns after they get caught AND convicted of poaching. But to put the burden of proof on the citizen is completely upside-down and the fact that it hasn't been struck down only proves how far removed the Supreme Court is from actually reading the Constitution and doing it's job. With the qualified immunity removal in some states, legislators that passed that need pass a law to hold themselves to the same standard. If they pass a law that would would meet a similar threshold of 'obviously illegal' (like Colorado's ban on verbal only counseling to help a teenager wondering if they should actually be the other gender that got struck down 8-1), they need to be tried and convicted of violating their constituents' rights. A good starting point would be an identical punishment to what a law abiding citizen would have gotten under their unconstitutional law.

Not today ISIS.

Aren't two threads entirely dedicated to people either bitching or cheering about Trump enough? Talking overall national security policy and such regarding Iran is one thing, but this thread has gone entirely off the rails.

Does everyone not just use the 'unread content' option? I haven't browsed the forum ever.

Yes. It's terrible. Everything is spread out. Too much wasted space. There should be one discussion forum, no sub-forums. Get rid of all the pinned topics.

The US has not been good at the money/cost side of warfare since Vietnam. We outproduced Germany in WWII in part by making something that is 80% as good as the German equivalent for half the price and then making 4x as many. When we had Cold War defense budgets, we could get away with making a bunch of the most advanced (expensive) weapon we could find, but hopefully this is a bit of a wake up call for our acquisition side (probably should have occurred in the 2005 time frame).

So you're complaining that the administration didn't share classified intelligence?!? Speaking of which, do you have access to any real reporting outside of open source? Because if so, there's a lot you don't actually know. Go ahead and criticize all you want, but rralize you may not be the smartest guy in the room...

Woah holy cow Obama and Biden launched a war of choice against Iran with no plan based on pressure from Israel, blatantly lying about an “imminent nuclear threat” our own intel agencies assessed the Iranians weren’t pursuing? I must’ve missed that part of the last decade.. Oh actually none of that happened and they did address the problem like semi-competent politicians. They negotiated the JCPOA which, while imperfect, provided a baseline for enrichment limits, inspection intervals, and further diplomacy. Trump then ripped it up while promising a way better deal, launched a war, and is now floundering to try to get back to some semblance of the diplomatic solution we literally already had.

Some of us do, but we can't talk about it here...

Getting through the strait IS a short trip...

Chinese Seamen?

Of course an AI would say Cyber is primary, tip of the spear.

This is your guys’ actual problem. It’s legitimate delusion. And you project it on others. You say they’re the delusional ones so you don’t have to embrace the reality you are supporting right now explicitly. But this quote right here describes your and many others “delusional syndrome.” You have to understand we aren’t even that mad at the president. Politicians do politician things. But it is your choice to determine if you have any specific morality in how you interpret those actions. Im disappointed in people like you simplifying complex arguments and everything into us vs them. And the ends justify any means is the antithesis of Christianity.

🤦‍♂️ This isn't the full clip. ......it's missing the part immediately preceding this, where she says: "The question was, if Iran was to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, what would our response be?" They clipped it so it just began with: "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the President, we will attack Iran." The full clip is posted below. It's so wild to see how the people always lamenting "fAke NeWs," are actually the one's most easily duped by it. This interview, for anyone interested in the actual context, was a follow-up to an answer she had given the previous day, where she described a nuclear exchange. A legit nuclear war in response to an unprovoked Iranian launch of nukes on Israel. ....Not the train wreck that's unfolding now - an offensive war started by the US and Israel just months after Don the Con said we had already "obliterated their nuclear program."

@Sua Sponte No I did not, thanks for putting that out. I do not support that and think it’s a bad post. Invalid response to Negatory regarding this specific post (my bad).

You guys realize that image was posted on Trump’s Truth Social, right?

Wow, talk about Old School!

Okay. I found the problem. Somehow the default Theme got reset to that garbage that you screenshotted (is that a word). I've fixed that in the settings, and now everybody should be seeing something similar to the second screenshot that @gearhog posted. As to the above the fold vs below the fold discussion... I'm not trying to aggressively drive engagement. However, I think we should have a user-friendly design. I agree that I don't understand the difference between the Squadron Bar and the General Discussion subforums anymore. Let's be honest, almost every thread devolves into political name-calling. All of that said, I'm open to suggestions on how to streamline some of the subforums.

Didn't know grandpa Facebook memes were leaking here as well.

I mean, y'all are just throwing soundbites past each other, but the Trump administration's efforts to pull back from Climate Change hysteria has definitely been a positive.

The court has rightly punched Hegseth in the nose again. Court voids latest Pentagon press restrictions “The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time, and even more so in time of war,” U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman wrote Thursday. “The Constitution demands better. The American public demands better, too.”

LOL at the libs on this site lamenting the increase in gas prices as if it means literally anything. What's your position? That we can't go to war because the price of a commodity might increase? Mmmmkaaay. And furthermore that somehow the degree of success in the conflict will be measured by the price of said commodity not rising above an arbitrary threshold that is determined by numerous other factors? LOL. Bottom line: we're crushing it in the foreign policy department. Venezuela? Done. Russia? Completely hemmed in. Cuba? Teetering. Iran? Nearly completely decimated - from the air alone. Numerous other terrorist proxies? On their back feet, at best. Is the world fixed? Nope. But it has been made a lot better than it was - by a TV show host - let that sink in and consider what it says about the rest of our political class. You all are upset about words. You need to look at the state of the world.

And I didn't say anything about opening it up. See, everyone is only thinking about one side of this. Iran can close it down and cause the world pain. Us? We'll be fine. We're energy independent. If Iran keeps it closed much longer, they risk alienating themselves further and strangling their partners. So from their perspective, it's not a scalpel which can cause localized pain to the United States. It's a tool of indiscriminate destruction which they can use, but only by causing mass collateral damage to everyone else they hope to win to their side or currently do illicit business with. Or do you think we're going to allow Iran to only "tax" imports to the West? Hmmm. Time is on our side, not Irans. We can easily sit back and let Iran run whatever scheme they want to where it concerns the 40 mile choke point. In turn, we can easily run ours from further afield. Iran can close it. Cool. They can likewise only open it under terms which suit us. That's the bigger picture. I mean even the simplest google search reveals that Iran depends on the straight for more than 90% of their oil exports and import 400,000 barrels (per day) of gasoline - fully half of what they use. So yeah, they're strangling themselves while we can sit back and watch their economy turn to dust.

It has to do with the perpetual emphasis (by the left) on things that don't matter in juxtaposition with things that do. You all look at the price of oil - which is not even close to historic highs - and cry the sky is falling. Meanwhile, we destroyed a 1/3rd of our wealth because of "feels" and it's no big deal to you all. Just pointing at the hypocrisy is all. On the notion of Iran being in a stronger position. We'll just have to agree to disagree. And I'll have to laugh. We just made them our bitch in dramatic fashion. They have no long-term ability to project power. And they will be unable (for years) to be a serious maker / supplier of weapons in the middle east or anywhere else. They cannot be the petro supplier-of-last-resort to China. As much as you think Iran controls the straight of Hormuz, we control it more. And as much as China depends on oil flowing through the straight of Malacca, well, let's just say we're in control of that one too. We're 100% in the driver's seat. That you can't see that speaks to how blinkered your worldview is.

Not sure what a Biden covid inflation rant has to do with our current war of choice in Iran and its negative consequences, but you do you man. And yes Iran is in a stronger position. Our president told them that when he said their plan was a good basis for negotiations. But dont take my word for it, let’s see how the neocon right is taking the news: Huh weird. Nobody seems to want to talk about it. Must be going swimmingly. FFS Fox News’ top headline the day of the ceasefire announcement was a lady missing in the Bahamas. Anyone done a wellness check on Shapiro and the Adelsons today? 😂😂

My position is that the price of gas is just one of the many crappy side effects from this stupid and counterproductive adventure. It’s also funny that a metric every right winger was obsessed with “I did that” under Biden has now suddenly lost its importance. But to your broader point: If Iran is utterly decimated why is their regime still in place and now charging tolls in bitcoin and or Chinese Yuan to pass through the straight? If they’re decimated why is our own president saying THEIR 10 point plan is a good basis for negotiations? You guys keep saying funny macho shit like BOOM! ROASTED! TOTALLY DECIMATED! GAME, BLOUSES! But at some point we’re gonna have to confront the reality that Iran is in a stronger geopolitical position now than at any point in at least 10 years

Hormuz Strait MonitorStrait of Hormuz Live TrackerReal-time monitoring of the Strait of Hormuz shipping crisis. Ship transits, oil prices, stranded vessels, global trade impact, and crisis timeline.

lol one of us is raging and calling people toddlers and it isn’t me. I’ve already listed things trump has done that I like. This war isn’t one of them. I’m perfectly willing to call a spade a spade and say when something is good policy or bad policy no matter who did it. This war is turning out to be very bad policy and it doesn’t matter if it was started by Trump, Biden, Kamala, Mickey Mouse, or Pickle Rick. I’m sure Trump’s ‘we’re gonna exterminate all of you’ rhetoric was uniquely unproductive, but in general I’d be saying the same thing no matter who was in charge. Not one person in here can explain how we’re in a better strategic position wrt Iran today than we were a month and a half ago. Or a year ago. Or when we had the JCPOA. Iran has more influence, leverage, and credibility right now than at any point I can remember.

Brabdawg in the hizzouse! The conventional military might of Iran for the last four decades - besides a few days of this conflict - has been countered by a couple formations of fighters, a few patriots, and the iron dome. I bet you’d argue the Houthis are a regional power because they can launch ballistic missiles. Also are you a cool guy with a security clearance 😎?