Matthew

@Schizointel What kind of plastic can survive "several thousand degrees" 🤦

What does this say about the quality of our MREs the fact that several thousand degrees of burning, aluminum and fuel couldn't digest it. This is what we're putting into our soldiers stomachs and wrecking their digestive systems with

@HasturYLK @ColbyBadhwar When war with China kicks off, I don't think Trump wants to worry about Iran causing problems which is why he's taking them off the board now and is wanting other countries to step up to handle these things so we can focus on China.

@MkFF05 @ColbyBadhwar Domestically, because they will have beaten the great satan, and internationally, because they will exercise their leverage over the strait...up to this point had been theoretical, from now on it will be $2m per ship. They had to pay a price, but from their POV worth it

Hilarious that Europeans will accuse Americans of being "too materialistic" and then post garbage like this. The life of that WSO is priceless. If it was a European jet that had gone down, the crew would either be condemned to death by their government, or they'd beg the US to save them. No other country on earth could even attempt an operation of this scale.

@HasturYLK @ColbyBadhwar Their leverage over the strait will have been greatly diminished (if it persists at all). This isn't over so it's premature to say the strait CAN'T be opened. Trump wants the countries that depend on the strait to take responsibility for defending THEIRinterests. That mattersmost

@HasturYLK @ColbyBadhwar No they won't have beaten the US; they will have survived with their lives and little else (although that may change). That's confusing image with substance. Regime change is preferred but not the goal here. Defanging is the goal and Iran's military capability has been devastated

@HasturYLK @ColbyBadhwar It's possible they'll survive but how could you argue they'll be stronger than before? Nuke progress erased, missiles either destroyed or used, missile manufacturing is decimated, leadership killed. They'll spend most of their resources trying to rebuild for the next decade

@MkFF05 @ColbyBadhwar I disagree, he's not finishing anything, this was so ill planned it's likely to leave the Iranian regime stronger than before.

@HasturYLK @ColbyBadhwar Iran has been at war with the West for decades. Everyone (especially the EU) just pretended otherwise. Trump is finally finishing it; not starting it. Trump is shaping the stage for the coming war with China IMHO. Everything he does makes sense when viewed through that lens!

@ColbyBadhwar Europe wouldn't have launched a war killing thousands of Iranian men women and children because they elected a moron

@ThatSusLad @esopter0 @prestonstew_ first to capture RU shadow tankers. No one else had the guts to oppose RU like that! Trump is balancing larger interests than just UKR or Iran here and it is rather intellectually vapid to just claim that "Trump loves dictators".

@MkFF05 @esopter0 @prestonstew_ So France, Spain and the UK who have leaders who have stood uo for their countries iver the last month he still has a go at. While relaxing sanctions on his friend that is putin...

Not to overreact, but an American President calling NATO a paper tiger is probably the kind of thing we'll look back on as a turning point in the alliance. A lot of agreements are built on the perception of strength, the idea of what could come together if needed. Saying there's nothing there pretty quickly strips NATO of a lot of it's power. If an alliance isn't as strong as hoped, then we build it up, reform or leave. Publicly announcing to our adversaries that NATO is weaker than they think only benefits those who wish to do us harm.

@ThatSusLad @esopter0 @prestonstew_ No, they have leaders who are too afraid/unwilling to defend trade/supply routes that are vital to their countries. He's not temporarily relaxing sanctions to benefit Putin but rather to remove leverage from Iran in their ability to cripple the global economy. Trump was the...

@esopter0 @prestonstew_ NO! Trump respects leaders who are unafraid to act in their/country's own interest. He despises leaders who refuse to stand up for their citizens out of a self-guilt/hate. Trump DOES advance US interests and opposes Putin/Xi while respecting that they act in their own interest.

@prestonstew_ Trump only considers other dictators allies.

@prestonstew_ Pretty sure our adversaries can see what's happening for themselves and most (RU, China, Iran, etc) have long thought the West lacked the will to oppose them. I think Trump is calling NATO out in hopes they will change/improve before war with China kicks off.

@thur_go_dat_man @SedeCatPA @SaysSimulation I'm not sure how the pre-revolution history changes the fact that the current Iranian theocracy has been at war with the West since their inception. You are acknowledging this but arguing that the past 47 yrs of Iranian aggression is justified and the current US response is not?

@MkFF05 @SedeCatPA @SaysSimulation Mossadegh was overthrown, rendited, & killed with the explicit support of the CIA and MI6 in 1953. Does America just get a pass for that in your mind? You’ve gotta at least gesture towards the possibility that you’ve opened a book in the last two decades. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iran…

There's a very dark, but fascinating symmetry in play here. Iran is trying to take down the world economy to punish America. They are willing to kill many millions of people with the resulting food shortages. So, Trump responds to that leverage harming Iran worse than 1/

@Rebel44CZ I might be. I think the Houthis hit a few with minor damage and boarded one while the Iranians have sunk 3? I guess it helps if the ships are carrying oil or LNG. Not sure how much capability Iran has as of today other than Shahed type drones. Mine/Antiship missiles mostly gone.

@MkFF05 IIRC, there are 2 state-backed schemes to provide insurance. And IMO you are underappreciating the risk that exists there for unescorted civilian ships - Iran has a crapload of weapons with which it can hit them. This isn't like sailing past Houthis...

I really dont understand why those idiots (both those in DC and relevant GCC countries) have not at all prepared for reopening the Strait of Hormuz by force when preparing for this war.

@Rebel44CZ For sure. And Trump has/is trying to get the countries that depend on the strait the most to defend their shipping interests. Hard to say if he'll let the strait stay closed until they do or if the USN will take over if they continue to refuse to defend their own interests.

@MkFF05 During the "tanker war" in the 1980s, which involved attacks from Iran and Iraq, traffic wasnt significantly affected, because attacks were much less likely and because the USN (and some others) provided escorts.

@Rebel44CZ to give Ukraine better weapons for years for fear of "escalation" with Russia.

@MkFF05 Insurance is already solved via state backing - the risk to ships and crews is why nobody cares that insurance is again available. When the US Navy is apparently unwilling/afraid to send its warships through there, civilian ships won't even think about it without being escorted.

@SaysSimulation Pretty sure stealth aircraft have thermal signature reduction designed in. Stealth has never been invisible in any spectrum; just reduced visibility. You have be MUCH closer to detect it in any spectrum.

We have the first operational deployment of a camera-based air defense system, it's good enough that Israel is no longer flying to some parts of Iran - and I don't think this is Iranian tech. The tech could be Russian or Chinese, but I think the systems were supplied by Russia 1/

@SaysSimulation How is this different than any IR based MANPAD or GBAD? Granted modern seekers may not need to be cryo cooled (like Stinger) but that's just a cost issue not a new technology.

@MusaFawundu1 @MAforUkraine @bayraktar_1love You got a link to an official source on that? Trying to sort through all of the noise on here!

@MkFF05 @MAforUkraine @bayraktar_1love They had a hard time taking off because they were heavily hit and damaged by Iranians already.

US C-130 aircraft was destroyed inside Iran during a search and rescue mission to extract pilots from a previously downed F-15.

@thur_go_dat_man @SedeCatPA @SaysSimulation Attacked a US Embassy and took hostages. Supported: -Hezbollah and killed US forces -Hamas -Houthis and attacks on trade/allies, At war with US in Iraq (responsible for majority of US deaths and most violence post invasion). Assassination attempts in US Nuke/missile threats

@MkFF05 @SedeCatPA @SaysSimulation Iran was aggressive by…overthrowing the murderous Shah whom we installed after extraordinary rendition of their democratically-elected secular president who wanted to nationalize the country’s oil to the detriment of British Petroleum? Do you buy crack by the kilo? Read a book!