The military of Nazi Germany functioned pretty well. They lost the war, but that was due to failures of political leadership.
Moderating:
Please avoid political snipes in this breaking news thread. That also applies to a lot of the posts following this one.
Its my understand that Iran supposedly has something like ~350 missile launchers, the majority of which are probably mobile. Within the first few days of the war, Israel had destroyed 120 of them. Supposedly now they’ve destroyed over 200 of them. So even if Iran still has missles in its inventory, it can’t launch them at Israel. The number of missiles Iran is sending keeps dropping each day because every time they fire a missile, Israel destroys the launcher since Israel has air supremacy. Israel is even destroying mobile missile launchers before they even get a chance to launch a missile.
Drones by comparison usually get shot down by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France, the US, the UK and Israel before they even get to Israel.
The issue is at this point, if the Iranian regime continues to stand, they will just regroup and attack again in the future and the world knows it. Israel, the US, Arab nations, etc know this is their chance to bring down the regime in Iran. If they let Iran sue for peace, Iran will just regroup and come back enraged and more strongly armed in 5+ years.
Best case scenario, the Iranian regime falls and a more secular, peaceful government takes over. I think the Iranian people would enjoy that, the vast majority of Iranians do not like the theocracy.
I think I’d like a current cite for that. It is possibly inevitable but a shooting war (on the ground or otherwise) can cause a swelling of support against the other, and a softening of anger against the powers at home. See the changing nature of support in Israel mentioned upthread, for the current event. Especially with Trump’s reported dictating of terms, it’s going to be remarkably easy to build support.
I of course, doubt there is such a vaguely un-biased poll available anywhere, but I just wanted to make the point that the numbers NOW are likely very different than they may have been even three months ago.
[ I’m trying very hard to stick with facts and other current reporting so as to not try to imply political judgement, if I have erred, please feel free to hide my post ]
I wonder what the reason is for waiting for two weeks? ISTM that would just give Iran more time to move equipment and nuclear material out of Fordo.
Full Title: Trump sees disabling Iran nuclear site at Fordo as necessary, says he’ll decide on strike within 2 weeks
Washington — President Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordo, Iran’s most secure nuclear site, and his mindset is that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, multiple sources told CBS News.
“He believes there’s not much choice,” one source said. “Finishing the job means destroying Fordo.”
Ass-derived whim of Trump. Why would you expect rhyme or reason?
There seems to be an unusual divide in the MAGAverse between “F*ck Yeah!!! USA! USA! USA!” and “WTF are you thinking, getting us involved in another Middle East conflict???!!!???”
He may be hoping that either the attacks taper off or Israel brings Iran to its knees. Either way he’ll claim his UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER demand resolved the situation.
If things don’t settle down he can always extend the deadline. Indefinitely. Or just ignore it, confident that the MAGAsses will have forgotten.
Moderating:
The political forum is right over there…
And the pit is just past it.
This is the breaking news thread.
The answer is in the new expression “TACO Trump.”
Here’s one list of times when Trump used the phrase “two weeks” as an excuse to chicken out of taking resposibility
https://www.axios.com/2017/12/15/trumps-timeline-always-two-weeks-1513302785
EDIT:
Oops…while typing this, I see there’s a mod note in the previous post. But I’m going to ask permission to leave my post here, because even though it’s opinion in a breaking-news thread, I think the link I provide isn’t opinion-- it is factually true, and relevant to the news item under discussion (Trump"s statement.of 2 weeks).
Again, this isn’t the political forum.
Here is an opinion piece at the Al-Jazeera website that considers what options Iran have to end or de-escalate the war. Not many, is the short version.
One worrying quote which caught my eye:
”Iranian-backed groups in Iraq could fire “warning shots” to try and exploit US public opinion.”
In other words, Iran might try using proxies to attack US forces in the area, and force Trump to conclude that it’s not good for his image as a peacemaker to be involved. That’s a very dangerous gamble, but if the Iranian leadership can’t see any other viable offramp, they might try.
That’s not going to end their nuclear program. Might slow it down, but it wouldn’t end enrichment. They can make the centrifuges again. The science is still there.
Bomb Frodo? Why would anyone want to bomb Frodo Baggins? Sorry couldn’t resist.
Would you say this Iran situation is like the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960’s? I see some similarities. Seems like a dangerous standoff and we don’t know if there will be a peaceful solution or violence, and if violent how bad will it get and how many countries will get involved. But big differences between JFK and Trump. How would JFK handle this situation? Hard to say.
That’s what I say too!
23 rocket barrage from Iran - at least one got through for a direct hit on Haifa. 3 serious injuries, 21 light.
Yet again, it seems like most of the injuries are among people whow ere not taking shelter.
As the war drags on, it looks like compliance with the warnings might be decreasing, which is concerning - it could do more damage to Israel than anything Iran can do.
Iran just had an earthquake, doesn’t seem to be related to the hostilities:
B-2 stealth bombers just took off from their base in Missouri, accompanied by 8 refuling tankers:
Interesting but I thought we already had B2s at Diego Garcia which is MUCH closer to Iran.
Full Title: US moves B-2 stealth bombers to Indian Ocean island in massive show of force to Houthis, Iran
Note the date:
The Pentagon has sent at least six B-2 bombers – 30% of the US Air Force’s stealth bomber fleet – to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, in what analysts have called a message to Iran as tensions once again flare in the Middle East.
The deployment comes as US President Donald Trump and his defense chief Pete Hegseth warn of further action against Iran and its proxies, while US jets continue to attack the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Not saying you are wrong…but why would they do this unless it is just Trump making a show of it?
Some stealth.
It says later in the thread that they had been deployed to Diego Garcia earlier in the year and then returned to the US.
Maybe the Americans want Iran to know they are moving? Flying over US airspace with transponders turned off would probably be pretty dangerous, too.