Ron Ray

🚨 ALERT: The Trump-Vance administration has dropped a bombshell on America’s enemies, announced that “No more taxpayer dollars for hostile nations that hate America. If you vote against us at the UN, chant ‘Death to America,’or fund anti-American NGOs, you’re cut off. Period.”

The difference between the Trump Administration and the Obama Administration is now abundantly clear. When Americans are in trouble Trump will move heaven and earth. Obama/Hillary didn't lift a finger. They abandoned our men and women serving in Libya. Which America do you want to be a part of?

Do you understand how risky that operation was for President Trump? Can you imagine the headlines if we lost a dozen other soldiers trying to rescue that one soldier? Every Democrat and groyper on twitter was salivating and desperately waiting for this to blow up in President Trump's face. President Trump took that risk because he cares deeply about every one of our soldiers and in this country, we don't leave any of our heroes behind.

My message here clearly struck a nerve. A few friends from when I was press secretary, domestically and abroad, don’t like what I said. Instead of seeing how Western European nations must change, they just want to attack Trump. The reason it struck a nerve is because they recognize that this time NATO nations are being held to account. They know they’ve come up short for decades and by denying us overflight rights, they’ve gone too far. Americans are fed up, especially with France and Spain. Trump won’t stand for it and they know it. They now fear the consequences of their inaction. The UK, unlike its days under Thatcher or Blair, is wishy-washy. They’ve often been a good allie, but this time they want to sit it out and have it both ways. We can use their bases, but only for limited operations. At least the UK spends real money on defense. France, Spain, and Italy are another story. So too is Canada. None of these four contribute seriously to NATO. They’re laggards, trying to get away with it. Spain and France force our pilots to fly thousands of miles out of the way (I thought they didn’t like carbon footprints) en route to Iran. Eastern Europe is a different story. They spend more on defense and they understand power. They lived under Soviet domination and recognize weakness when they see it. They won’t be weak. Western European governments, especially France, are good at issuing communiques and statements. They enjoy hosting conferences. They love to ponder deeply. Getting them to act is another matter, unless it’s to purchase Russian LNG, which they still do. The world is changing. Out of this war will come a new group of younger nations that understand real power and the importance of strength. The UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Eastern Europe will emerge stronger than ever. Western Europe will continue to fall behind. As for Trump, you don’t have to like him. He often says things none of his predecessors would say. But don’t underestimate the fact that US taxpayers are fed up with nations that don’t pull their weight, and then force our pilots to take risks and longer flights so we can rid the world from the menace that is Iran. Today’s Western European leaders would rather mollify Iran and pay them ransoms (trade) than support the US. Things are different today. We all know it. The UK, France, Spain and Italy (despite its Prime Minister) have earned the consequences that will unfold. They could have and should have supported us. Not as a NATO alliance. But as individual free nations. All we wanted was overflight rights and full access to airfields. They’ve made their choices. Soon, they’ll see the results.

Just for the record, our President , Secretary Hegseth and General Caine never left the White House all weekend while the intense search and rescue was underway of our downed man. 🇺🇸 This is leadership

در خاک ایران فرودگاه سیار ساختند، هواپیما نشاندند و بلند کردند. ۲۴ساعت بالای سر خلبان‌شان پهپاد رزمی گذاشتند تا کسی جرات نکند تا شعاع ۳کیلومتری نزدیک شود. جمهوری اسلامی حتی نتوانست در خاک خودش یک بالگرد بلند کند و گشت هوایی بزند و نیروی ویژه جستجو اعزام کند. خفت و خواری کامل سپاه

Israeli Special Forces and American Special Forces did the impossible last night. They stormed into enemy territory and saved a fellow American brother in arms in one of the wildest and most historic rescue operations humanity has ever seen. What a time to be alive. 🇺🇸🇮🇱

Who agrees that Razin Caine is the biggest upgrade ever from Fatass China-Lover White Rage Milley?

Hearing a bunch of dumb regime loyalists also got killed last night because they wanted the $60k bounty and climbed up the mountain only to realise fighting US troops isn't like beating teenage girls. Good riddance really.

We saw what “Unqualified” Pete Hegseth has done with: Training, Standards, Recruiting, DEI and Trans Narco boats, Midnight Hammer and Maduro Colonels and Generals who do not support the President’s vision Now, it’s large scale traditional war… He’s doing incredible things

Incredible that this French general’s “insights” lasted all of one day before the U.S. military created a makeshift landing strip and flew in multiple large aircraft to rescue a downed pilot.

🚨 NEVER FORGET: Yesterday they told you Trump was in the hospital and the US Military bombed their own pilot. Meanwhile, Trump was working in the Oval Office and the US Military pulled off the impossible to rescue the WSO. You don’t hate these people enough

For those in the American media—and in Iran—who struggle to read the president, here’s a translation into your language of his latest statement: “Dear IRGC leaders: The United States military just extracted a single American, alive, from inside your territory. Not one American life was lost in the process. Take that as a demonstration. We can concentrate overwhelming firepower anywhere in your country. We can go where we want and do what we want, and there is very little you can do to stop us. Your one remaining card is your ability to strike civilian infrastructure in the Gulf—countries that once tried to restrain me. That card no longer works. Your terror attacks have turned them from hesitant partners into supporters of your defeat. And I refuse to be deterred by this terror tactic. If we can pull a pilot off a mountaintop, we can send forces to seize uranium and destroy your underground missile complexes. I am prepared to do all that if I have no choice. But to do it without losing American lives, I must first take down dual-use infrastructure—bridges, power plants, energy grids. That will set your country back decades. So let’s be clear. Cut a deal on uranium, missiles, and proxies. Stop attacking Gulf states and Israel. Open the Strait to international shipping. If you don’t, we will act with overwhelming force to protect our interests. Thank you for your attention to this matter. —DJT”

𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄𝐃 — 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 Both crew members of the downed F-15E Strike Eagle are safe. President Trump posted “𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮” on Truth Social Saturday night. The WSO — a Colonel — sustained injuries but is expected to make a full recovery. Now that the fog of war is clearing, here’s the full operational picture of the most dangerous combat search and rescue mission since Operation Epic Fury began. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 — 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 𝟒𝟗𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧, deployed from RAF Lakenheath in the UK, was sh∗t down by Iranian fire over southwestern Iran while conducting a deep strike mission — the kind of high-risk penetration run the F-15E was built for (Air & Space Forces Magazine). It was the 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 (Associated Press). The specific weapon system that brought it down has not been officially confirmed by the Pentagon. Iran claimed it used a “new air defense system” — analysts assess the most likely candidates are Iran’s 𝐁𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐫-𝟑𝟕𝟑 long-range mobile system (domestically produced), the Russian-made 𝐒-𝟑𝟎𝟎, or the Russian-supplied 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚 shoulder-fired MANPADS — one of Russia’s most advanced infrared-guided missile systems, capable of targeting low-flying aircraft and cruise missiles (NBC News, 19FortyFive). Iran initially claimed they’d downed an F-35 — wreckage photos confirmed it was an F-15E (The Aviationist). Both crew members — the pilot and the weapons systems officer — ejected safely and made contact via encrypted radio and emergency beacons. But they landed in separate locations in hostile, mountainous terrain. The clock was already ticking. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 — 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟑, 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 U.S. special operations forces located the pilot first. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 — including HH-60W Jolly Green II combat rescue helicopters — went in to extract him from Iranian territory (Helis.com, Air & Space Forces Magazine). The extraction was not clean. During the rescue, Iranian forces 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 that was carrying the recovered pilot. Crew members on the helicopter were 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭 — but the aircraft remained flyable and made it out with everyone on board (Axios, CBS News). The pilot was safe. Simultaneously, an 𝐀-𝟏𝟎 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐠 providing close air support for the CSAR mission was hit by Iranian fire. The pilot managed to nurse the damaged aircraft into 𝐊𝐮𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 before ejecting — the A-10 crashed in Kuwait. That pilot was also recovered safely (Fox News, Military Times). So within hours of the initial shootdown, the U.S. had 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 running concurrently. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐒𝐎 — 𝟐𝟒+ 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 The weapons systems officer — a Colonel, whom Trump later called “𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭” — was wounded after ejecting but 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤. He did what decades of SERE training (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) prepared him for: he moved away from the wreckage, took cover in elevated mountainous terrain, activated his emergency beacon, and began evading capture (The War Zone, NBC News). He evaded for 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 in hostile territory. During that time, the IRGC and affiliated Basij militia units 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 on the ground. Armed tribesmen in the region joined the search (Turkiye Today). And then Iranian state television made it worse. An anchor on 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐕 went on the air and put a 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧: 10 billion toman, approximately $𝟔𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎, for anyone who captured the “𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵” alive and handed him to police (𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵, Newsweek). A state broadcaster calling for the capture of a wounded American servicemember. That’s what he was evading. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 Before the rescue team went in, the 𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 inside Iran — spreading disinformation that U.S. forces had already located the WSO and were conducting a ground exfiltration. While Iranian forces were confused and chasing phantom operations, the Agency used what a senior administration official called its “𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴” to actually find him (NBC News, Axios). “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 — 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘐𝘈’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴,” the official said (NBC News). 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 Late Saturday night (April 4 EST), a 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 was inserted into Iran, linked up with the WSO, and began the exfiltration. They were not alone — 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 provided overhead cover, and U.S. Air Force jets conducted strikes against Iranian forces to prevent them from reaching the extraction zone (Trump statement, Al Jazeera, Fox News). Roads around the extraction area were 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 — cratering them to create massive traffic jams as IRGC units scrambled to respond. The bottleneck worked: Iranian forces couldn’t get through in time. Then things got complicated. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐂-𝟏𝟑𝟎 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 that landed at a forward position inside Iran to carry the commandos and the rescued airman out 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. Commanders made the call: fly in 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂-𝟏𝟑𝟎𝐬 for the extraction and 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 rather than let them fall into Iranian hands (SOF News, CBS News). That’s American hardware destroyed by Americans on Iranian soil — because leaving it behind was not an option. A “𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵” occurred at the extraction site (Al Jazeera, CDM Press). Special operators engaged IRGC forces directly. Despite the ground combat, the stuck aircraft, and the IRGC forces closing in — 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. Zero U.S. casualties in the WSO rescue operation. 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥’𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 Israel was not a bystander. Israeli intelligence 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 the missing WSO — providing intelligence support during the search (Axios). And in a move that shows the depth of the operational coordination: 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 so as not to hamper the search and rescue efforts (Axios). The IDF paused its own combat operations to give the Americans a clear field. That’s an ally. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 Trump was briefed immediately after the shootdown and monitored the operation throughout (Fox News). The White House deliberately withheld confirmation of the pilot’s rescue on Friday — Trump later explained: “𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” Operational security over headlines. When the WSO was finally extracted, Trump posted: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭.” He confirmed the Colonel “𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦” (Truth Social). Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine held briefings throughout the crisis. Earlier in the campaign, Hegseth had stated that Iran’s missile volume was “𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 90%” and their drone capability “𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 95%” (C-SPAN briefing, March 31). The F-15E loss proved that even a degraded enemy retains dangerous capability — but the flawless execution of the rescue proved that American forces can operate deep inside hostile territory, take fire, lose aircraft, improvise under combat conditions, and still bring every person home. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐥 In the 48 hours surrounding the shootdown and rescue: 𝟏 𝐅-𝟏𝟓𝐄 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐞 — sh∗t down over southwestern Iran. Both crew rescued alive. 𝟏 𝐀-𝟏𝟎 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐠 — hit by Iranian fire during CSAR, crashed in Kuwait. Pilot rescued alive. 𝟏 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 — struck during pilot extraction, crew wounded, aircraft remained flyable. 𝟐 𝐂-𝟏𝟑𝟎 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 — stuck at forward position inside Iran, destroyed in place by U.S. forces. 𝟑 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂-𝟏𝟑𝟎𝐬 — flown in under fire to complete the extraction. 𝟎 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭. The United States lost 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 (one shot down, one combat-damaged and crashed, two destroyed in place) and had a fifth damaged — and 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. That is not a failure of airpower. That is a demonstration of what happens when a military prioritizes its people above its hardware. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲. 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

French Gen. Michel Yakovleff saying that establishing an austere airbase inside Iran was crazy and that U.S. officials needed to "stop snorting cocaine" is now a TERRIBLE look for the French military. The U.S. did exactly that, just outside of Isfahan, FFS.

As an Iranian watching this rescue mission unfold, I was praying the American pilot would make it out alive, not just for him, but so the Islamic Republic could not use him as a bargaining chip or claim some twisted “victory.” At the same time, I felt a deep envy. Your government sent elite special forces, million-dollar aircraft, and moved heaven and earth to bring one American home. No hesitation. No excuses. In Iran, the regime uses human shields and recruited child soldiers to clear minefields during the Iran-Iraq war. They treat their own people like disposable tools. They are now recruiting child soldiers as we speak. The Islamic Republic has zero regard for human life. That’s the brutal difference. One side risks everything to save their own. The other sacrifices their own to stay in power. This hits hard when you have lived under both realities.

@libsoftiktok @realMAG1775 @UCSDHealth

Meet Thomas Hood. He works at @UCSDHealth according to his bio. He fantasizes about Trump getting ass*ssinated and beating up Republicans. We reached out to @UCSDHealth and they declined to comment. Republicans are not safe receiving treatment at @UCSDHealth if they employ people like this!!!

Les US organisent simultanément un débarquement au Vénézuela, une attaque aérienne depuis la mer sur l'Iran et une mission derrière la Lune, pendant que des nations qui ne sont pas auto-suffisantes en dentifrice nous parlent tous les jours depuis 50 ans du déclin américain.

Is there any other US ally besides Israel that would send its own troops to the ground in one of the most dangerous rescue operations in history? Israel is America’s greatest ally, and I’m proud of it. We stand side by side, and fight side by side.