Lobo

@aakashgupta Can I ask why? What has Cuda done to deserve this? People living without enough, food, clean water or electricity. It just seems cruel for no reason. What is the point exactly?

The US just ran the most effective energy siege in modern history, and most Americans don’t even know it’s happening. January: the US removes Maduro from Venezuela, cutting off Cuba’s primary oil lifeline of 100,000 barrels per day. Same month, Trump warns tariffs on any country that sells Cuba oil. Mexico slashes deliveries 73%. Russia sends two symbolic tanker loads all year. Result: zero oil tankers have reached Cuba since January 9th. Cuba consumes about 112,000 barrels of oil per day. It produces 30,000 domestically. That 82,000 barrel daily gap is now unfilled, and the effects are cascading through every layer of Cuban society. The grid collapsed March 4. Collapsed again March 16. Collapsed again March 21. Three total nationwide blackouts in three weeks, each leaving all 11 million people without power for days. Here’s what “totally dark” actually means on the ground. Hospitals canceling surgeries. Refrigerators dying, so families buy food daily because nothing keeps. Water pumps shut off, meaning no running water in homes. A woman in Havana told AP her refrigerator broke from voltage surges, then said if power doesn’t return, her family can’t get water. People cooking with firewood in their apartments. Provinces outside Havana getting two to four hours of electricity per day. Highways empty because there’s no fuel for cars. Cuba’s thermoelectric plants were built in the Soviet era and run on heavy fuel oil whose sulfur content corrodes the equipment from the inside. The country can’t import spare parts because it has no hard currency and sanctions block the supply chain. One professor at American University called the technicians keeping the grid alive “magicians” given what they’re working with. The strategy is precise. Block the oil, remove the ally who supplied it, threaten tariffs on anyone who fills the gap, and let physics do the rest. Trump told reporters after a previous grid collapse that he’d soon have “the honor of taking Cuba.” Hours before the March 16 blackout, Cuba announced it would allow foreign investment for the first time in 65 years. A government abandoning a core economic principle the same week its grid collapses three times isn’t reform. That’s leverage working exactly as designed. Two Russian shadow fleet tankers are expected late March. Enough diesel for a couple weeks. That’s the lifeline for 11 million people.

@DanielLDavis1 Let's say they do manage to take the island and hold it, what then? Hold it for however long the war goes on? Or for just a short time? Then how do we get them off the island safely? It is one thing to land there in the middle of night but getting back off safely is very hard.

This post is more stunning than even I can say, the lack of basic military knowledge. To suggest it’s “checkmate” because a single island in the northern part of the Persian Gulf might b taken, exposes a profound lack of knowledge about how national power is even derived. But perhaps even more fundamental, even at the tactical level this is a gross misunderstanding of the profound military difficulty of seizing that defended island with light fighters like marines and 82nd airborne division. It is incredibly difficult with rotary winged aircraft to take the island, because those aircraft move very slowly and are easy targets for a whole range of Iranian weapons. We will likely suffer significant casualties making the effort, and there is no guarantee of success, even with elite marines and 82nd airborne soldiers. Then, once you get on the ground, you will have to fight to keep control of it, and then the expected counter attack from Iran, with a perpetual barrages against our forces, who will be without heavy defenses. As a means of comparison, we deployed 70,000 marines to take Iwo Jima. We’ll be lucky if we get seven or 8000 troops assigned for this mission, if indeed it is KHARG Island. How will the force be reinforced n resupplied? How will wounded soldiers get off the island? How will they be constantly resupplied with ammunition, weapons, food, fuel, and water? And above all, even if you succeed tactically, at great cost, how will this change the balance of power in the war? It will have virtually no impact whatsoever on who controls the straits. There are alternatives for Iran to get oil out besides just KHARG island. It would be more difficult and they would get less of it out, but they have experience of having that island under attack, during the Iran/Iraq war. It’s great to be proud of your country, and have high respect for the US Marine Corps and airborne troops. But arrogance and pride without sober military analysis, could be fatal.

@Greatpartyhuh @ClareFries @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench What do I have to do with showing you that the Canadian Navy is impotent. They are but WTF has that got to do with me? Or this thread? We are talking about Trump sending troops into Iran. BTW: The CRN isn't irrelevant. They help out with intelligence and data collection.

@TimSear85158585 @ClareFries @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Thank you Timmy for so brilliantly illustrating why the Canadian Navy (neh, whole"military") are so impotent and irrelevant.

McCrystal and could not be dumber if he tried. “Enjoy this part” What part @DavidAFrench? Trump has shipped ZERO tanks, ZERO heavy artillery, ZERO heavy logistics units. It’s a bombing and naval campaign with marine and SOF elements. NOT an army WAR. Stop comparing apples to oranges!

@MissFuzzball @BrandonLetzko @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench That must of pissed you off.

@BrandonLetzko @TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench You beat me to it. I HATE that ridiculous mistake.

@EMBurlingame Color me impressed. I was as fit and stronger at 42 then I was at 24. What I didn't have was the stamina. More then 2 days with less then 8 hours sleep kicked my ass. For you to complete SFAS at 42 is impressive, you must of really wanted it.

I turned 42 the second day of SFAS. I was the oldest, but there were a number of guys within two years of me in the Q after. Every one of us made it through. Face it, we're healthier till older now. Also, go look at the ages of the guys who fought in WWII. Lot of forty and fifty year olds.

@Schwalm5132 @joekent16jan19 "Some of you need to go look in the mirror and watch yourself say "I trust politicians" and see if you can say it with a straight face." This is the part that puzzles me. Since when did we start believing politicians over someone like Joe Kent?

Things I have in common with @joekent16jan19 * Joined the Army * Volunteered for Airborne School * Attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection * Was selected for Special Forces * Graduated Special Forces Qualification Course * Passed SERE school(s) * Served in 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) * Fought in Iraq * *Multiple combat tours * Served in multiple countries across the Middle East * Attended funerals and memorials for the same fallen soldiers * Completed Special Forces Warrant Officer Training * Led Special Forces teams * Received additional training above and beyond the basic SF course * Served in a higher-tier units * Retired after 20+ years in the Army Things I have in common with commenters on X: * We are both on X. Commenters: “I guess you SF guys just stick together…” “Brotherhood makes you stupid I guess…” “You should listen to me over him…” If I were to dump Joe just because a bunch of politicians, podcasters, and random people on X told me to, that would say a lot more about me than it does about joe. There is a brotherhood that is forged through shared pain and suffering....and yes, it matters. When you give up time with your family, put your life on the line multiple times in service to this nation, you earn a level of respect and credibility from those who did the same. I still talk to friends on both sides of the political aisle who were right there beside me, getting shot at and blown up together. None of us were thinking about politics when pieces of the wall we were hiding behind were getting blown off by enemy fire. I never stopped to ask, “Are you a liberal?” when a chunk of shrapnel the size of a football screamed past us like a runaway generator. My first radio call after six daisy-chained artillery shells turned our convoy into a dust cloud wasn’t, “Is every conservative okay?” Going through hell together builds real respect. It means when one of us says, “I have a serious concern about something,” I’m going to listen over almost anyone else. What kind of man would I be if I turned my back on Joe after everything we’ve been through, just because some politician who never experienced even 1% of what we did told me to? There’s one particular snake in the grass out there saying “Joe has no honor.” That same individual has been slithering around Washington D.C. for decades while Joe and I were out there putting everything on the line for America, no questions asked. Follow me or don’t. I don’t care. I’m not the disloyal type who abandons a brother at the first sign of trouble after we bled together. I'm better than that. Some of you need to go look in the mirror and watch yourself say "I trust politicians" and see if you can say it with a straight face. Joe tried politics and failed. In all honesty, that's a better quality than for him to succeed as far as I'm concerned.

@ClareFries @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench See,I knew we could be friends. Before you know it we will be besties. Just like how Trump and Kim Jong Un became friends online. 😁

@TimSear85158585 @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Bless your heart.

@crusader4US Following that line of logic, does that mean a outright Trump lover is not to be taken at his word? Or is it only people with TDS who can't be trusted?

McCrystal is a outright Trump hater. I find zero confidence in any comments he makes.

@3d_time_charm @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench I am sure that some part time NG and a Real Estate salesman know alot more then a full time general. Seeing and knowing how a trained professional fucked things up and you think a fucking salesman that skipped out on the draft will do better. Or a ship's captain for that matter.

@TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Imagine thinking a General with McChrystal track record in Afghanistan is an expert in war.

@ClareFries @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Why do you got to be so hurtful? Don't you realize that I am sensitive? Come on now, let's be friends. Come by my house tonight and I will light a fire where we can roast smores and sing kumbaya. See you soon princess. 😘

@TimSear85158585 @CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench You should have stopped at "No I don't know everything."

@BrandonLetzko @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Why thank you for the correction and the compliment. You must of detected that I is really, really, smart from me posting.

@TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench It’s “must have,” not “must of,” genius.

@TrashDragon06 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Tanker? WTF you talking about. I sat behind a desk and pick out things to shoot at before I decided that running and gunning would be fun. And it was, until it wasn't.

@TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Gay people often are intelligent. Potatoes post about things they don't know a damn thing about. You were allegedly a tanker. How the hell do you think your tanks get to war? John. John takes your tanks to war. Maybe do a search next time before you post.

@infantrydort Kind of explains why fuck all gets done or anything changes.

“We negotiate with bombs.” -SECWAR

@tee1823 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench I am not sure how I got them but I have come to the conclusion that there are 102 people with little to nothing to do if they are following me. And fuck Temu. There isn't nothing there but cheap made China junk on that site.

@TrashDragon06 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Potato? Are you a leftist or have we progressed to the point where instead of insulting me by calling me gay, you call me a potato instead?

@TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Yes. He is an expert. How do you think the Army gets to war? One of us actually shrink-wrapped his own helicopters and shipped them on John's ships. Me. He's an expert. I was just a customer. But I've done rail load and I have loaded roll on/roll off ships. You're a potato.

@john_tammes @Thatsalrighty @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench I hear you. Some of us are a little slow to realize that. Plus those young guys seem to hit harder now too. Lol.

@TimSear85158585 @Thatsalrighty @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Second Row. Was fun...but you eventually injury and age out.

@johnkonrad Congrats John. In just a short time you have managed to get yourself an army of hanger ons and bots. So again congrats on your start to making it big on social media.

Trump is NOT escalating this into a major ground war. Let me spell this out with crayons. I’m a US Merchant Marine Captain, O6 (not O3) equivalent. We are a tiny forgotten service with one MF overarching specialty: moving escalatory armies overseas. It’s true a general like McChrystal has far more knowledge about what to do AFTER his tanks roll off our ships. But BEFORE those tanks roll off? They are OUR cargo. We are the specialists. We climb all around those tanks. We secure them, move them, deliver them. Our Commandant, who I talk to every single week, is in charge of that lift. Not whatever general is waiting on the pier. Right now we are in the BEFORE stage. I absolutely 💯 know more about this than any general because I have spent decades training and living the life for THIS MOMENT. When generals want to move escalatory army divisions overseas, they call us. We don’t specialize in every branch. Naval, Air Force, USMC, Special Forces movements have their own lift pipelines. We can help, but that’s not our core mission. But if you want to escalate a war with heavy ground forces? I get a call. The Air Force has already called us to move more bombs into theater. So yes, the air campaign can escalate. But there are ZERO plans to escalate this into a large scale ground invasion. ZERO. This cannot be done by airlift. The USAF can’t even get their own bombs overseas right now, let alone divisions of army units. And if I do get the call, it will be months before we are landing tanks.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ So I repeat… this CAN NOT turn into a major war without my phone ringing. You can send Marines and air assault units without tanks to do raids but a major landing force like McChrystal is talking about just is not happening. Not yet. Not for months, if ever. And when it does happen I will tell you because you can’t move Army divisions in secret. Not since the Army, in a moment of idiocy, sold off its Merchant Marine preposition fleet last year.

@john_tammes @Thatsalrighty @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Huh? Not sure what you are trying say here. BTW: I see you play rugby. I did as well. I played inside center (#12). I also played footbal as a linebacker but liked rugby way more. I did a few international tournaments that were insanely fun. What position did you play?

@TimSear85158585 @Thatsalrighty @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench And the smoking crater you are now in was 100% sure.

@TrashDragon06 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench Fuck really? John is an expert and I am a potato? Fuck what was I thinking? Boy what an ass kicking I just took from you. I know my place now. Thanks for straightening me out.

Naming yourself after a wolf is a disservice to wolves. You are a potato arguing with an expert. Let me reinforce. Until you see news reports of tanks being railroaded... Until you see news clips of convoys of heavy Army equipment heading to the ports to be loaded on to RORO ships, there is precisely zero chance of a ground invasion. You can't magically teleport armored divisions across the Atlantic. And you can't hide it. Change your moniker. You're not even a coyote. Chihuahua perhaps.

@CFMadiera @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench No I don't know everything but I did sign on the dotted line and serve. I got a TBI and headaches for life for my service. Which is why I do not think ANYONE should be going to Iran. Not even the SOF guys. We did Iraq and I know how that turned out.

@TimSear85158585 @johnkonrad @DavidAFrench So…the deck mopping, brass polishing, diesel mechanic knows all about war planning and troop logistics. And how to shitpost on X. Impressive career….