Barely Moderating:
It’s fine - given the recent (see emphasis) news on how Republicans are asking for $200B in funding for past, current and future expenses, and the ongoing human life cost are cover all three time periods, this is appropriate.
As was spelled out after the split, this thread is for discussion is for current events and new/ongoing consequences.
Monty
March 24, 2026, 8:48am
1054
Iran has devised a way to extend its missile range.
After Iran doubled the range of its ballistic missiles from 2,000 to 4,000 kilometers overnight, Ran Kochav tells The Post recent launches may have exposed a clandestine program.
Iran’s launch of a ballistic missile over a distance of around 4,000 km., shattering the 2,000 km. range that much of the world hoped it would stay under, likely involved a two-stage satellite-like launch process, former IDF air defense chief Brig.-Gen. Ran Kochav told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Kochav said that the launch had “doubled the demonstrated capability overnight” of what Iran could do when it targeted the joint UK-US base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
Echoing IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir ’s statement on Saturday night that the additional distance probably stemmed from a launch vehicle that used multiple stages, Kochav noted that Iran has been working on such two-stage launch technologies for years to try to launch satellites into space.
Both Israel and the US have warned that Iranian satellite tests could turn out to have dual-use elements, leading to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), both conventional and nuclear. While the Islamic Republic has long denied this possibility, Saturday’s launch has likely exposed a clandestine program it has operated for years for precisely such purposes.
hajario
March 25, 2026, 12:41am
1055
A few thousand more troops. This time Army Airborne
WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) - The Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the U. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter told Reu...
Babale
March 25, 2026, 1:10am
1056
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Trump bloviating about how he’s already won and Iran has already surrendered will continue to happen every few weeks when Trump wants to shock the market, but the war is nowhere near over.
Monty
March 26, 2026, 3:51am
1057
Trump claims there’s already been a regime change in Iran.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said, “We’re in negotiations right now” over Iran, but would not provide details.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday described what has happened in Iran since the start of the war as a “regime change.”
“We have, really, a regime change,” the president said. “You know, this is a change in the regime, because the leaders are all very different than the ones we started off with that created all these problems.”
I don’t think that’s the definition of regime change.
Eric1
March 26, 2026, 8:23am
1058
Thanks for posting that. I must say it was rather informative. It was some courtesy to me as I’m trying to be tactful to respect our thread.
wolfpup
March 26, 2026, 8:34am
1059
We have, really, a regime change,” the president said. “You know, this is a change in the regime
The eloquence of the Orange One is positively poetic!
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty
― Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
Monty
March 27, 2026, 6:23am
1061
Apparently the regime in Iran have found a scary quote to keep people in line. I’d rate it at 8.8. (The bolding is mine.)
Images online show banners quoting Hitler in Persian as Tehran continues arrests and executions of those accused of aiding Israel.
Images circulating on social media appear to show posters bearing Adolf Hitler’s image and a quote attributed to him displayed in several Iranian cities, as the Islamic Republic intensifies its wartime crackdown on alleged foreign spies and internal collaborators.
The posters, shared in posts claiming they were photographed in cities such as Babolsar and Kermanshah, carried a message aimed atIranians accused of siding with foreign enemies.
“The worst human beings are those who cooperated with me in the occupation of their country by a foreigner,” the Persian-language poster said in a quote attributed to Hitler . It continued, “Anyone who is happy about the occupation of his country is like someone who is happy about the violation of his mother.”
I remember when the American military condemned certain groups for operating out of hotels and other civilian areas, criticizing them for putting non-combatants in danger. I guess we can remove that from the books now.
Iranian air strikes have forced American soldiers to evacuate several bases in the Middle East.
Troops are now working from nearby hotels and office spaces, which could endanger both themselves and civilians.
Iran has struck 104 American and regional bases , according to a rough analysis of geolocated strikes by Fabian Hinz, an open-source analyst.
American satellite firms have delayed the release of imagery by at least 14 days, making it hard to assess the damage.
But The New York Times reported that many of the 13 American bases across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had become close to uninhabitable as a result of persistent strikes.
@Monty quoted a Yahoo report, apparently taken from the Jerusalem Post :
Does anyone else find this report really puzzling?
Iran is winning the war. Trump has made us into a global military loser. Just like Russia in Ukraine. Starting a war is almost always catastrophically stupid, as well as morally disgusting.
The problem with deriding the TACO strategy is that by all reasonable measures the global situation is much improved if he does reverse.
If 45/47 were to get painted into a corner where he considers it necessary to escalate rather than reverse, then a whole lotta things are going to hit the fan.
The TACO strategy as being played out is allowing his interests, backers and enablers to make squillions via inside trading.
Monty
March 28, 2026, 4:08am
1067
Apparently the war is using too much of the US’s arsenal.
March 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. military has fired over 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in four weeks of war with Iran, burning through the precision weapons at a rate that has alarmed some Pentagon officials and prompted internal discussions about how to make more available, the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
And now we know the “present” was Trump got from Iran.
President Donald Trump claims the Iranian government has gifted him eight fully-laden oil tankers that were allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz under a Pakistani flag this week as a good-faith gesture in talks to end the war he started nearly four weeks ago.
The bizarre reveal came after he was asked about comments he’d made two days ago , during a swearing-in ceremony for newly minted Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin . The cryptic remark indicated that he’d received a “present” from Tehran during ceasefire negotiations.
Speaking during a rambling Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump revealed the alleged gift when asked to explain what he’d meant by the “present” earlier in the week.
He told reporters that Iran had offered the precious cargo as part of the ongoing indirect talks that are currently being facilitated by Islamabad after he was asked about his prior claim.
“They said to show you the fact that we’re real and solid, and we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. This was two days ago, and they’ll sail up tomorrow,” he said.
More American troops injured.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel struck Iran’s nuclear facilities hours after threatening to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding U.S. service members and damaging planes.
Trump must’ve been readng the SDMB.
Monty
March 29, 2026, 1:26am
1068
The war against Iran is starting to mirror the ramp-up of that in Vietnam.
More than 3,500 U.S. troops, including the USS Tripoli with about 2,500 Marines, arrived in the Middle East, officials announced Saturday, as strikes in the Iran war intensified.
The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that the USS Tripoli, which serves as the flagship for the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group / 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, arrived in its area of responsibility.
It’s the most updated of the amphibious warships, known as a “big deck,” which allows more room for F-35 Stealth Fighter Jets, Ospreys and other aircraft. The ship had previously been based in Japan when the order to deploy to the Middle East came almost two weeks ago.
Central Command said that in addition to the Marines, the Tripoli also brings transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault assets to the region. The USS Boxer and two other ships, along with another Marine Expeditionary Unit, have also been ordered to the region from San Diego.
The US is dropping anti-tank mines in Iran.
According to The Washington Post, the mines used were American BLU-91/B anti-tank land mines, which are deployed by aircraft using the Gator mine scattering system.
The United States has reportedly begun deploying landmines in parts of southern Iran as part of its war effort against Tehran, particularly near the outskirts of Shiraz, according to a Friday report by The Washington Post and claims by Iranian media.
The WaPo report cited four munitions experts to identify the landmines, which were seen in social media posts published over the last couple of days near the city.
According to the analysis, the mines used were American BLU-91/B anti-tank land mines, which are deployed by aircraft using the Gator mine scattering system.
The experts pointed out that the US is the only party with this system in its arsenal, while Israel does not use this kind of mine in its operations.
According to social media posts, the mines were spotted about 4 kilometers from one of the main ballistic missile sites on the outskirts of Shiraz. The Post report also pointed out that mobile launchers are usually positioned near these sites, with the mines difficulting the mobility of the launchers and their attack capabilities.
“Difficulting”? That’s a new one on me.
Smapti
March 29, 2026, 1:47am
1069
The US has 16 AWACS planes in its arsenal.
Three of them now look like this.
Now it’s getting serious…those AWACS are critical to American power projection around the world and hideously expensive to boot…and if the report is accurate (and it appears it is, albeit only one was destroyed and not 3) then that well and truly does hurt. The response to this by the White House could prove interesting or terrifying, potentially both.
Press on.
Smapti
March 29, 2026, 2:20am
1071
I misread. Thank you for the clarification.
Random fact that I read today that made me feel even worse about how this is going to turn out. Trump has been advocating invading Kharg Island since the fucking 80s. By the standards of Trump (who has never shown interest in any geopolitical policy beyond making Donald J Trump very wealthy) that makes invading Kharg Island a sacredly held political belief….
Trump has suggested an attack against Kharg Island as far back as the 1980s, when he told the Guardian he would “do a number on Kharg Island; I’d go in and take it ”
