Hal Berenson #🟦

'Russia positioned itself in this Iran crisis as the voice of reason while in reality it continued to support Iran through all sorts of means' @annaborsh from @WashInstitute tells @Nicole_Zedeck 👇For more news and updates, visit our official website👇 bit.ly/i24NEWSEN

The real question is how much Modafinil and Armodafinil they consumed!

@hoshizorarock @Schizointel That sounds positively Yiddish!

アメリカの皆様 日本語の授業を始めます。 今日は日本の楽しい表現です。 日本の表現に【別腹】と言う表現があります。 食事でお腹がいっぱいになった後でも、デザートや甘いもの、特別に好きな食べ物だけは「まだ食べられる！」という意味の、ユーモラスで可愛らしい表現です。「メインの食事とは別の腹（お腹）がある」というイメージから来ていて、本当にお腹が空いていなくても、甘いものやお寿司の締めの一貫など「特別枠」で入るスペースがある、という軽快なニュアンスで使われます。 トラブルや満腹の状況があっても、「別腹」で前向きに楽しむ——そんな日本人の柔軟で明るい食文化を表す、前向きで微笑ましい表現です。 英語の表現: • There's always room for dessert.（デザートのためならいつもスペースがある） • I have a second stomach for sweets.（甘いもののための第二の胃がある） 日本では食事の席で「もうお腹いっぱいだけど、別腹があるからケーキ食べよっか！」と笑いながら言うのが定番です。 日本とアメリカにも食文化の違いはありますが、こんな可愛い表現を通じて、互いの文化を楽しく理解し、もっと親しみを深めていきましょう。 次回の授業もお楽しみに！

@thinkdefence 🤣 True

Spend all day every bemoaning the state of UK defence, but woe betide some random American saying the same thing.

While Lebanon & Iran conflicts are related, these are 2 different arenas and should be treated as such. Iran attempting to include Hezbollah in the ceasefire would be a boon for the Axis of Resistance, and would undermine Israeli attempts to secure its northern border.

@WeaponScientist That’s fair. Invest downside of having replied to you is that now all the hate being heaped on you is being force cc’d to me. I wish people would figure out the difference between hate and discussion/honest criticism, but apparently too much to ask.

@halberenson I have no idea what we’ve actually agreed to. Just noting the consequences if we have agreed to Iran’s terms as published

Without exaggeration, I think this is America’s Suez moment. We are staring down the barrel of possibly the worst strategic defeat in the history of the United States—worse than Afghanistan, Vietnam, or 1812–should we accept Iran’s conditions.

Things that are NOT considered war crimes on this hellscape of an app: 1. October 7th 2. Cluster bombs 3. Using child soldiers 4. Human shields Things that ARE considered war crimes on X: 1. Bombing legitimate military targets according to the DoD's Law of War Manual

In other words, there is no agreement.

If you were cheering when the Ukrainians hit the Kerch Bridge or Russian rail yards or Russian power stations or Russian oil refineries or Russian Banks or Russian airports but jeer when the United States plan to do the same, you may want to ask yourself why you have a hypocritical double standard

@Osinttechnical What time zone?

The Pentagon will hold a press briefing at 8:00 am tomorrow morning.

I am bleeding my pockets dry paying astronomical prices for a half broken internet connection just to read what the outside world is saying. And let me be honest, it is absolutely infuriating to see how completely disconnected so many of you are from the actual mood of the people inside Iran. Do not lose your nerve. Do not be afraid. The narrative you are seeing right now is a complete illusion. The voices currently being amplified online are fake, manipulated, and engineered by the cyber army of this cannibalistic regime. They have locked us in a digital prison and severed our connection to the world specifically so they can control the narrative and project a false sense of fear and submission. We are not cowering in the dark. We are watching a dying terrorist syndicate thrash in its final days. Do not judge the resolve of the Iranian people based on the fabricated noise of our captors. Wait until these walls come down. Wait until this internet blackout is broken and you can finally hear the unfiltered, undeniable roar of a nation that has been stripped to the bone. You will see exactly what an unstoppable force looks like. Hold the line. Level the playing field and we will finish the job.

@AirPowerNEW1 You are taking the word “criminal” too literally

@halberenson I don't think one has to be qualified to be a lawyer to make out that this being 'criminal' is pure unadulterated BS.

@AirPowerNEW1 Which makes the failure to acquire a replacement, even if just VL JASSM-ER, somewhere between unexplainable and criminal.

@AirPowerNEW1 True. Though they still do seem to be useful. For now.

But having said that, any money not spent on a decades old, vendor locked TLAM, is good broadly speaking for the weapons portfolio. If the Navy does not have a NG-LAW in its classified budgets, its probably better to invest procurement dollars into other programs within the Navy or the other services.

@AirPowerNEW1 Dereliction of Duty is a chargeable misdemeanor for many public officials, and it sounds like roughly the same level offense under the UCMJ. I’m not a lawyer either, but I can pretend to be one on X.

@halberenson I don't see how it is 'criminal'. But I'm not a lawyer.

@halberenson Tomahawk is of questionable survivability against a near peer threat anyway.

Modern surface combatants without a properly equipped and tested organic Ballistic Missile Defense capability are going to be increasingly challenged in current and future high threat environments. Whether that's for defending itself, protecting the fleet or providing an Air and Missile Defense umbrella to troops ashore. US Navy is moving forward with equipping AEGIS with several layers of TBM defeat via the SM-6 (SBT) and PAC-3 MSE, Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) and the SM-3 upper tier / mid-course defense capability.

@AirPowerNEW1 I can’t resist being a bit snarky: We’ll have plenty of VLS cells for MSE because there won’t be any Tomahawks left to put in them. 🤣 No, you don’t have to tell me about the huge Tomahawk purchase in the FY27 budget. Finally.

Incorrect on so many levels. SM-6s “primary” purpose is defeat of cruise missile swarms at extended range using NIFC-CA for guidance. Then they layered on the terminal ABM capability. Then they layered on AShM capability. While SM-6 can defend a much larger area than MSE, MSE is better against BMs close-in given its design center. Then there is just a production capacity difference with MSE produced at roughly 4x the rate of SM-6, something that will continue as both ramp up. By buying both the Navy can (a) increase the overall rate of interceptors delivered compared to trying to ability to scale SM-6 and (b) preserve more SM-6s for its other roles. AShBM (and drone) excitement aside, the biggest threat to the Carrier Strike Group remains AShCM saturation attacks. Bottom line is that it is like the rest of the Navy’s traditional approach to air defense. There are various rings around the battle group that continually thin out the threat, starting with eliminating the launch platforms, with each inner ring going after missiles that leak through the outer ring(s).

@AirPowerNEW1 Wdym no? The SM-6 design purpose was to fill the terminal phase ballistic missile role? Literally all of its testing was done against modern maneavouring ballistic missiles?

Doesn’t sound like the “complete” opening of the Strait of Hormuz that @POTUS called for as a condition of the ceasefire

The @WSJ makes me pay through the nose to get through its paywall, and now they are harassing me to turn off my ad-blocker. Sorry, they do not get to double dip. If the harasment continues they will likely find they’ve lost a paying customer.