The truth is out. Hegseth has seriously messed up the war in Iran.
Military Leaders Warn Hegseth
“A recent classified assessment advised that prolonged large-scale operations in the Middle East risk weakening U.S. capabilities elsewhere.”
The Washington Post reports Military leaders warn Hegseth against extending Iran war operations
Several U.S. military leaders have advised Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonging large-scale operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland, according to people familiar with a recent assessment prepared for the Pentagon chief.
The warnings — detailed for Hegseth by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America — appear in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), these people said. They described the assessment to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because the document is classified.
The Aug. 14 orders book directs some troops deployed in the Middle East to remain there through September and some others into 2027, said those familiar with the document. The prospect of extending those forces further compelled military leaders to voice their concern, these people said.
Leaders of the U.S. European Command, the U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Southern Command, along with the Navy’s top admiral, responded with what is characterized in the SDOB as a “non-concur,” those familiar with the assessment said — meaning they disagree with the secretary’s order to extend their forces but will execute it nevertheless.
Overall, the tenor from the military leadership is that the ongoing Iran operation, having reached the six-month mark, has been “too much for too long,” said one person familiar with the assessment.
It’s common for commanders to discuss risk, said the one person familiar with the recent assessment. But the outlook now is “more dire” overall, this person explained, adding thatcertain generals and admirals were more expansive and frank than is usual in telling Hegseth they disagreed with orders to keep providing equipment and personnel when the operation’s trajectory remains uncertain.
Adm. Samuel Paparo, the chief of Pacific Command, disagreed with the level of support he was ordered to continually provide, including an aircraft carrier strike group and naval destroyers, those familiar with the assessment said.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, the chief of Naval Operations, provided Hegseth with the dimmest picture, saying in the SDOB that the Navy cannot sustain its current level ofsupport for the Iran conflict because there is no anticipated end date, those familiar with the assessment said.
The Navy has shouldered an extraordinary burden. It has been asked to supply dozens of vessels for the Iran campaign — first to take part in the U.S. assault and defend against Iranian counterattacks and, for several months since, to enforce Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports as he attempts to force-open the Strait of Hormuz. Deployments for some vessels and crews have been extended by months.
Caudle conveyed to Hegseth that barely one-fourth of the Navy’s destroyer fleet is ready to deploy, a sharp decline from prewar levels, said those familiar with the assessment.
“I typically am not a big fan of extensions, and I push back hard on that, but the enemy gets a vote,” Caudle said, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by the Navy.
Elements of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, which in March mobilized 2,000 soldiers in response to the Iran war, will see their deployment extended to a year, Maj. Gen. Brandon R. Tegtmeier, the division commander, said in a letter dated Sunday.
The letter to the division community, reviewed by The Post, acknowledges the difficulty of the unknowns throughout the mobilization and that leaders “understand that a longer tour weighs heavily on every household, including our own.”
The depletion of Patriot interceptors — as a result of the Iran war and previous donations to Ukraine — has limited the Trump administration’s ability to reescalate the war, as Tehran retains the ability to successfully target U.S. facilities throughout the Middle East.
As The Post and others have reported previously, the Iran war also has drained U.S. supplies of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors — vital not only to the protection of American assets in the Middle East but to regional allies as well — and long-range Tomahawk missiles. About 25 percent of the Pentagon’s Reaper drone fleet has been lost, and U.S. bases there have sustained billions of dollars in damage.
More recently, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of European Command, privately warned the Pentagon that he lacked adequate naval forces to shield Israel and the U.S. homeland from missile attacks, as The Post reported this month.
In the Pacific, key U.S. allies have raised alarm that the Pentagon’s depletion of missiles and air defense interceptors leave them vulnerable to China. The Navy’s only dedicated aircraft carrier in the Pacific, a linchpin of the military’s plan to deter Beijing, was sent to the Middle East to relieve another carrier that has been deployed for more than 300 days.
Why This Happened
- Trump nominated Pete Hegseth, an incompetent buffoon, because he will tell Trump what he wants to hear, and is not afraid to issue illegal orders.
- Trump had an opportunity before the war to prevent it. Instead, Trumo listened to fools who said the US could win the war in days, among them Hegseth and Netanyahu.
- Trump had an opportunity to cut losses with the MOU and walk away but once again listened to Hegseth and Netanyahu.
The Strait is Closed
We are now in a stalemate with the US blocking Iranian ships and Iran blocking all other ships.
Idiotically, Trump insists the strait is open. He insists the US has plenty of ammo but the classified leaks prove he doesn’t.
Realistically, one does not need leaks for proof. That Trump has backed off every military threat provides all the evidence one needs.
Trump has declared the war was won over forty times, but here we are out of ammo and defense missiles to escalate,
Say Good Riddance to Hegseth
According to data analyzed by CNN in August 2026, Hegseth maintains a -22 net approval rating.
Analysts note he ranks as the least popular official within the Cabinet, which historically increases the political risk of retaining an official if controversies mount.
I look forward to the midterms.
Soon after, I propose Hegseth will be impeached on war crimes, resign, or be forced out by Trump.
Trump will look to blame somebody for this fiasco instead of who is really to blame, that being himself.
Republican Bloodbath Coming
The war is unpopular, tariffs are unpopular, and Trump is even losing on deportations once again because of the renewed brutal tactics.
Republicans are not motivated to vote, and Trump has lost the Hispanic vote, the youth vote, and even some of the farm vote.
It’s about 90 percent likely Democrats take the House and I believe it’s about 60 percent likely they take the Senate too.
The longer the war goes on and the higher diesel prices get, the more likely it is that Democrats not just win the Senate but take five or six seats instead of the needed four.
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Nothing is looking good for Republicans in November anywhere.
So it will be back to open borders and Hasan Pikers out to destroy the white race shortly because MAGA is destroying us in other ways. Im thru with both of these parties. What a great country.
Ever heard of a false dichotomy?
Take it down a notch Jodie Foster
Might as well go dig a hole and bury yourself, you racist POS.
I think maybe we racist POSes (what’s a POS? – to me it’s a Point of Sale) should dig holes and think about burying some other people. Thanks to Christianity, we have been burying ourselves for far too long. “White man’s burden” was terribly wrong, however grand it sounded. All you non-racist ignoramuses should read it. At least then you would know what we thought we were doing.
LOL talk about a piece of shit, look at this whimpering victim
As typical the headline is misleading. Hegseth does not decide whether to extend operations anywhere.
That said, Congress has underfunded logistics for decades. Logistics are expensive, labor intensive and not sexy. Modern wars are supposed to be quick shock and awe operations, not multiyear slogs. Apparently Iraq, Afganistan, and Ukraine still haven’t dislodged the two-week war on the North German Plain mindset.
If you have forgotten, that two week war was assumed to end in a nuclear exchange. There was no point in planning for more than that.
I have zero sympathy for the GOP because they’ve done everything they could to alienate the voters. Higher gas prices, $10/lb ground beef that might be horse meat.
We can’t even get a stinkin’ stimmy check from these stumblebums!
I wonder what surprises the democrats are planning with their potential new powers? Couldn’t possibly be worse, could it?
They are going to replace your Starbucks double mocha half calf oat milk latte with poop in a cup cowboy style
Define worse as you see it.
Please allow me to ‘red team’ the leak: it’s not a leak, it’s a forward-facing memo that will be used shortly as justification for calling up a draft.
that is one funny comment 🙂
we don’t have ammo but we will have bodies. When we do draft, we start shooting those soldiers out cannons,
solid plan indeed
Russia found out the meat assaults of WWII don’t work in modern times.
I remember an old history book that commented that during World War II, “we had industrial conscription, although the term was avoided.” If you can force the bodies into factories, with a bit of learning-by-doing you can soon recreate the industrial powerhouses that allowed World War Two, I think. A lot of people can be dragged out of completely unproductive jobs like doing nonsense at universities, and other luxury jobs like looking after old people.
The Navy has to use more of the 27 littoral combat ships like put missiles on them, etc. I see they already have deployed one of those ships with Navy Strike Missiles.
I like that the Pentagon is deploying Boeing’s portable laser system to take out drones and missiles.
Put this on the flight deck of a littoral combat ship along with the Navy Strike Missiles.
Not all the littoral combat ships need to have a helicopter deployed with it.
Why not a whole fleet of Trump-class battleships!
We also need sharks with laser beams roaming the Straight of Hormuz.
As we only build about three ships a year we could have China build them for us. They would most likely float and living aboard would be a pleasure.
imagine those tall, obese American soldiers aboard Chinese ship designed for 5 feet tall and quite lean personnel.
Do your parents know that you’re up past bed time?
They’re used to the strange noises coming from the basement at 1AM. Like someone frantically sanding drywall and moaning.
“Caudle conveyed to Hegseth that barely one-fourth of the Navy’s destroyer fleet is ready to deploy, a sharp decline from prewar levels, said those familiar with the assessment.”
There are 7 Ticonderoga class cruisers, 77 Arleigh Burke class destroyers, 2 Zumwalt class destroyers, and 27 littoral combat ships.
How many do they need for the Iran War ? They need at least 3 to protect one aircraft carrier ?
At any time likely at least 50% of the ships are in homeport as I believe they usually are deployed 6 months out of the year. So estimate that is 38 (of the 77) of the Arleigh Burke destroyers.
I would while in homeport they can have a lot of maintenance and repair completed, and also maybe drydock repairs if there is one nearby.
Why is only 1/2 of the other 37 Arleigh Burke destroyers are ready for deployment ?
That is only about 18 Arleigh Burke destroyers (out of 77) that can be deployed now.
3 of those 18 would be assigned to the aircraft carrier in the Middle East / Indian Ocean.
By the way, the “destroyers” are really battle cruisers whereas the new frigate program called FFx are really what are “traditional destroyers” based on their sensor and weapons capabilities (can deploy up to 16 strike missiles, a helicopter for anti submarine warfare, etc).
Just floating targets without their very expensive munitions.
Cruisers, schmuisers. Destroyers, gestroyers. In the 21st century, there are only two types of naval vessels. Submarines and targets.
Gee, why doesn’t Hegseth just hire you?
Arleigh Burke destroyers 1/ provide anti-ballistic missile defence to allies (NATO, Japan, RoK, Israel) 2/ radars of Arleigh-Burke destroyers deployed close to North Korea, China, Russia act as early warning posts in case any of these adversaries launches its missiles.
This means that certain number of them has to be kept in these operational theaters.
Taking 3 of them to deploy them in Oman Gulf means weakening these 2 functions.
US defence commitments are larger than US military ability to deliver on these commitments.
Now imagine that US commits itself to defend some more countries e.g. Philipinnes.
In my opinion Trump needs to tie this Iran war thing up
An excellent opinion. Unfortunately, Trump’s foray into Iran will end with the movie title..’NO WAY OUT’
Since we’re being really important, in my opinion Trump is running a police action that will probably go on for a while yet. The bad guys have pretty much run out of ammunition. We can’t go in and arrest them (like that idiot in Venezuela) because there are too many of them. But we can shoot them when they try to make trouble in the Strait.
Hegseth’s Pentagon Lurches off the Rails
The resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is the latest sign of severe dysfunction in the Defense Department.
(…)
“Even in less dangerous times, Hegseth’s irresponsible behavior would be a hazard to American national security. The Defense Department is a huge bureaucracy; it requires a leader who understands more than the mechanics of teaching trainees how to do push-ups or how to handle a weapon. Secretaries of defense must grasp the economics of the defense industry, the nature of alliances, congressional politics, the policy process, and dozens of other issues for which Hegseth seems to care little and about which he knows even less.”
Driscol I can’t win this nonsensical war and neither can anyone else.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has resigned after months of tension with Hegseth.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
big whoop. i’m sure he is just another asshole who will go sit on board of some department of war corporation. the revolving door is alive and well.
Same with Clark Kent. But the D’s will probably float him for something.
When the Secretary of the Army resigns in the middle of an ongoing conflict, yes, it is a pretty big deal.
Back when I was a soldier, I had to memorize the name of every single person in my “chain of command”, including the Secretary of the Army, all the way up to the President (who was Clinton at the time).
>> who was Clinton at the time
Ugh. I feel especially nauseous imagining that schemer is my boss’s boss’s boss’s …. boss.
Not like I liked any of them.
so did you “win” any wars for the USA people?
What the blazes for? Didn’t you have other things to remember?
i think it is extremely naive in the 27th year of the 21th century, to believe the us military has any goal to “win” wars. it’s obviously been nothing more than an complete grifter institution and revolving door from flag officers to the war corporations. Ike cowardly spoke out on his last day in office about this military industrial Congressional Complex. ironically the same Ike started our troubles in Persia by committing a military coup and propping up a sadistic amerikan puppet called the shah. for history buffs, see what Ike did with the bonus army massacre. opened fire on us world war 1 homeless veterans during the great depression.
> Ike cowardly spoke out
Yes!! “We must guard against… But at this moment we must [worsen the risk I just warned you about in my prior paragraphs].”
As far as the neocons were concerned, Iraq, Syria and Libya were “wins”. All were turned into failed states, and consequently, no threat to Israel.
Reality is often harsh. Americans don’t like looking at themselves or the horrors that their government does. Actually, Ike started the first nuke program in Iran, “atoms for peace”.
Don’t you love information leaks?! Bottom line, US is shifting resources to the Indian Ocean. As a result:
1) NATO allies will need to dramatically increase their defense spending to deal with Russia. This is already happening (eg. Poland).
2) Japan will need to dramatically increase their defense spending to deal with China (already happening).
Russia is not a threat to NATO and China is not a threat to Japan. Both are increasing military spending to meet Trump’s demands and provide jobs.
Anyone get the idea that this might have been leaked on purpose?
Remember Trump WANTS to dramatically increase the military budget for next year but there is little interest in doing it.
So maybe the idea is to leak papers suggesting the military is over extended and that might cost soldiers lives. That means anyone against spending on the military is going to be denounced as unpatriotic and putting US lives at risk etc. Right out of Goerings playbook in Germany in the 30s.
I haven’t seen or heard of anyone touting the lack of munitions. It’s far more characteristic of the admin just being plain incompetent.
THIS.
That dog won’t hunt
It’s only a matter of time before Iran starts targetting US oil operations that have corporate partnership with the middle east contries. All of Trump’s operations in cooperation with Netanyahu have ended up being net losers for the US, usually bigly.
Yes, but since Trump does not personally suffer, why should he care?
I disagree
The next 2 years will be miserable for him
Not nearly miserable enough, the son-of-a-bitch should be taking a dirt nap now. 66% of the people have had enough, how do we get rid of him, god doesn’t answer, congress won’t act. In 28 months the damage done may be permanent.
Why do you say that?
Mish,
In regard to the House and Senate changing hands, I checked out last week the English and Irish sportsbooks odds on congress changing to Democratic leadership.
Paddy Power (Irish sportstbook) overwhelmingly had the House going Democratic. As I recall it was in the high 60 percent range and the Senate was effectively a toss up. Sportsbooks IMO are more reliable than opinion polls in late August.
Trump will cheat in an attempt to thwart the Democrats from taking power. He has already taken measures through executive orders that may come a cropper should an overwhelming Democratic turnout occur.
However, MAGA state assemblies, state senates with GOP friendly MAGA governors have gerrymandered their states in the GOP’s favor bordering on a twisted pretzel design in many districts to garner more seats in the House. This too may come a cropper in Texas due to further diluting the GOP’s strength in red districts by bleeding more red into a blue district that may result not only in the blue district retaining a Democrat but also turning the former red district more purple and risking the GOP candidate to lose their safe seat.
In Virginia the MAGA state supreme court through out the peoples’ ballot measure on the redistricting map therefore voiding the law’s passage on a contrived state constitutional objection. The legislature appealed to the federal Supreme Court where they refused to hear it. So much for We The People are sovereign.
I look for Trump to throw a monkey wrench into the election machinery. He is already threatening putting ICE and potentially other goon squads at polling stations in an attempt to reduce voter turnout amongst Hispanics and other minorities. Fortunately, mail-in ballots are still legal in all fifty states with some having restrictions.
Were Trump to succeed by postponing, cancelling, the election or subverting it so the GOP holds the congress it will be up to the people to stop him by boycotting, striking, etc. Given Trump’s penchant to wanting to fire first and ask questions later, civil unrest may reach 1960s style riots in the inner cities, and in other urban centers across the country,
With the armed forces in its current readiness category and the over burdened load it also carrying in W. Asia, a likely civil strife within the USA is in a much worst position than the stock and bond markets are signaling.
I mean given how gifted Trump is at winning actual contests of force, and seeing that most big polls place his popularity in the low 30s (with AP putting him at a straight 33/66), I don’t see what his options are other than to prolong the inevitable if he does want to fight. ICE consists of fatass Mexicans who barely speak English and walk around the street like idiots. There’s just no way to throw a coup without the military and without public support, it’s idiocy to the core.
I agree that without the military’s consent and the people’s support Trump can’t succeed.
But given the current sycophantic leadership at the top of the DOD, the lack of a backbone at the remaining DOJ leadership compared to 2017 and the lack of organization within the opposition to Trump and ineffective leadership to Trump as well as the supine Roberts GOP majority it will require the 1-star generals,, colonels, majors, captains, lieutenants, NCOs and the corresponding officers in the Navy, and the Coat Guard to disobey orders and not fire on civilians and the people by any means necessary to demand back their sovereignty should Trump try to steal by any means necessary and for the second time an election.
I am more optimistic since the near mutinies on the USS Gerald Ford, USS Abraham Lincoln and the associated ships within their carrier battle groups, plus the overreach in the other armed forces’ sectors that Trump has lost the vast majority of enlisted corps and the junior grade, experienced officers below the JCS and field commander levels. I also think that maybe mass resignations within the civilian bureaucracies at Homeland Security, DOJ, at the Pentagon, will occur should a small percentage initially walk off the job then others will likely follow should Trump pull a redux of January 6th or declare martial law or some other contrivance that Project 2025 Heritage Foundation authors think up prior to election day or thereafter.
No leaked classified document is needed to find out that the US is militarily overextended in Iran. The six o’clock newscast suffices.
“America First, unless I change my mind” the Bronze 6’3″ 230 pound god
Funny thing is if you see Trump standing next to Xi Jinping, they’re about the same height. And Xi is 5’10”.
One word…’Winning’
So much winning we are getting tired of it.
Fascists always overstep and idiot fascists do it quicker. Where is seal team six…when you really need them?
Iran.
Woocoodanoode?
Trump’s holdout base is factually immune. This will make no difference. I’m not sure what would be a sufficient wake-up call.
Nothing. Not even stumbling through the radioactive ruins of our nation would convince them. See devout Nazis after WW2.
What threats? We’re the threat. Maybe we’ve become less threatening?
Is anyone foolish enough to believe that Trump’s claim Iran has no military is anything other than an admission Team Trump has harpooned the US Military? I sure hope I’m on the other side of their trades.
They’re not having parades. Can’t have a military without parades.
It’s Management 101, but Pete was busy having his hair done for TV. Maybe he didn’t get the ‘roid-shots adjusted right.
He needs something to take the edge off all that cocaine. He’s clearly getting lots of the good stuff.
“Start big Donations to Democrats, too!” Replace “big Donations” with ” BIG BRIBES!”
I find it interesting that according to Trump, the democrats starved the military for years and he built it up to the best ever in the history of the United States. After 6 months of this conflict our military leaders are advising we turn tail. Just another whopper of a lie from our bloviator in chief, but then for a real estate guy, being overextended now and then isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In recent the recent past our country has spent ourselves into a debt situation where it now is a very loud voice in all decisions limiting many if not most, maybe all new spending options for everything from defense to social programs. To get things repaired, spending on existing budget items needs to be cut below the current deficit on an ongoing basis and the debt balance reduced. Otherwise, the burden will never go away. This is going to be painful one way or another for patriotic citizens but not felt in the least by the fools that led us to this point. What a mess.
wondering if you ever served
Proud to have not.
I am very anti-war
Mish, I have followed this blog for over a decade, and that is absolutely true, You have consistently opposed military actions no matter who is in office, so it’s ridiculous when some newb posts, “but-but-but how come you didn’t post about this when Biden did ____________?”
Pretty sure that Mish read George Washington’s farewell speech in which Washington cautioned against the US becoming involved in ‘foreign entanglements’. Eisenhower warned about the ‘military industrial complex’ steering our country.
Does working as a teacher count? Or do you only consider people who kill other people?
Served what? The United States hasn’t been atacked by a foreign country since Japan in 1941. Before that, it was the Confederacy in 1860.
“Served?” To wit, signed up to kill whoever some corrupt lying politician–describes every president we’ve had since the CIA killed JFK (except Reagan)–says to kill.
I can’t help thinking that this is also linked to Ratcliffe’s weird trip to Moscow.
If the US is genuinely overextended in Iran, Trump badly needs a way out. Russia has something to trade — intelligence and technical support to Iran — while what Putin wants in return is greater US pressure on Ukraine (e.g. withholding targeting intelligence).
So maybe Ratcliffe’s visit was more about throwing Ukraine under the bus in exchange for help with Iran. The stated purpose of the visit hardly need a face to face meeting whereas a dishonourable trade would.
I think Ratcliffe’s trip was to negotiate the surrender of Ukraine in exchange for a promise to not attack Western Europe.
Attacking Europe ? ? ?
False narrative, delusional propaganda.
Russia is stuck in Eastern Ukraine for 5 years. 5 years!
Attacking Europe is not difficult. Russia can’t afford to lose the war.
Russia will need a few millions of soldiers and very difficult to recruit.
Maintain occupying Europe is almost impossible.
Russia is also running out of munitions except maybe drones. Sacrificing more youth won’t go over well.
Quite the opposite:
https://policytensor.substack.com/p/russia-has-the-west-outgunned
I don’t think that’s what Ratcliffe’s trip was, but I’m not going to bother getting into it because neither of us actually know and speculation on it is dumb as can be.
Not sure what triggered you, but amused that your rebuff of speculation starts with speculation.
That’s entirely the point, elaborating on my speculation would be dumb because neither of us can prove it. I could go at lengths to explain why America is more with Ukraine now than ever (hint: we really need weapon design and manufacturing right now), and you’d ignore it because only Ratcliffe actually knows. It’s a waste of time is all I’m saying.
Sounds like speculation to me.
I suspect that Ratcliffe’s trip was to put Russia on notice that the United States will resort to nuclear weapons on Iran.
Gotta keep Israel happy.
People can downvote my other comment all day but this right here is exactly what stupid speculation looks like.
What, the words “I suspect” didn’t name it obvious that I was speculating?
Do you have some inside information? Otherwise, without Secret Squirrel Insider Knowledge, all of us are speculating.
Yeah, and speculation is stupid, as said above. “America is going to nuke Iran” is a special level of stupid.
What makes you so sure? Why is that not speculating, which you claim is stupid?
Wouldn’t it be a fitting end if nuclear war didn’t arise from a mighty superpower struggle, but from a useless clown war.
It’s high time the Ukraine was thrown under a bus. The Ukrainians would never have been in any trouble if they hadn’t been willing to host American missiles pointing at Moscow.
A neat argument, spoiled only by the timeline. Ukraine had agreed to host no American missiles aimed at Moscow. Putin raised the hypothetical missile threat in late 2021, while Russia was already massing troops around Ukraine and demanding a fundamental rewrite of Europe’s security arrangements. And unless those imaginary missiles could travel back in time, they don’t explain Russia invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea in 2014 either.
No. Wrong timeline. Biden promised end 2020 that the US would not place missiles in Ukraine. They were quite elated at that in the Kremlin.
Then the US reneged (Blinken) on the promise.
Moscow has been complaining about missile positions in Poland and Romania (allegedly to stop Iranian missiles) for years.
The US intention was to position intermediate range missiles (Dark Eagle) in Europe in 2026 (remember the INF and the Pershings in the 80’s). They haven’t yet, because they can’t build the damn things.
Ukraine has been used as a de facto NATO partner for years. Setting up infrastructure all over and training another NATO interoperable battalion every few weeks, for years on end. The CIA was running the SBU from the same building and had 16 secret bases in UA bordering the Russian Federation.
There were leaked plans in the public domain already in 2013 with proposals to redevelop Sebastopol. The massing of troop in 2021 was in answer to the massed UA army facing off against the LDNR, with an attack planned early March 2022, as per documents found.
Links to all this stuff?
Obligatory “Arthur said he wants to fuck children multiple times” post. Does anyone even need the link anymore?
Why did he need to take a C17 transport plane for that ?
https://infosec.exchange/@kevinrothrock/117194268297133236
Nope
P.s. looks like I was right 🙂
Hopefully, his time in office has pulled back the curtain enough to show the whole world that the USA is long of tooth, and that its late-stage capitalist system is only beneficial to a select few.
As for American style democracy, swinging back to leadership by the other faction of the war party isn’t going to make the world a better place for anybody.
Unfortunately, most empires spill a lot of blood trying to hold the top spot on the podium…I can only think of one that didn’t.
Mind you, after that empire collapsed 109 years ago there was an internal revolution that did spill a lot of blood. In that sense, history may well repeat itself.
In a historic sense, bolshevik revolution was not that bloody…. the following foreign intervention made it worse, though.
Which one? ROME? Germany? UK? China? Japan?
Rome fell much longer than 109 years ago
Maybe not . . . the Romanovs claimed to be the successor to the Roman Empire
Sophia Palaiologos was the neice of the last Roman Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and the grandmother of Ivan the Terrible. Ivan took the title of Tsar (Caesar in Russian) due to that bloodline.
The Roman Empire stayed on in Constantinople until the 15th century.
Seems like Mao hired public relations firms still working to this day.
Unfortunately having a leader like Trump is extremely dangerous because of the yes men he has surrounded himself with. Trump has been making some terrible decisions that will negatively impact our short, medium, and long term prosperity.
Iran is continuing to get some oil out. Some is going out on Chinese tankers the USN dare not touch, some via the Caspian Sea, some overland, and some going out on other neighboring Middle Eastern tankers that get let thru by Iran and the U.S. No doubt considerably less that before as the traffic thru the straight is still 10% of normal.
Having trump as a leader is dangerous because he is an ignorant moron. The yes men are a secondary effect
And a narcissist
TACO should be in old age home counting his money.
Instead Epstein’s man is Commander in Chief.
Well done! You did it.
It’s astonishing that the absolute enormous spending in the military is insufficient to maintain a low intensity conflict with a non-peer state. The grift MUST be enormous. At this point does anyone think we’ll keep China from Taiwan, a mere 100 miles from
The mainland????
The US military ( similar to Russia’s) is 40 years behind in strategy.
Using $1 million missiles to shoot down a $10k drone, while a boon the military defense industry, is just not sustainable. Trump is too stupid to understand this and Hegseth is much too weak of a man to tell him this.
US and Russia’s military aspects could not be more different from each other, they differ both in purpose and application…
US and Russia’s military are designed to fight each other. That is why both Russia and the US failed so miserably in Afghanistan.
We HAVE to consider that when America is distracted and losing steam, it would be a perfect time to get it done. I had a Factory in Taiwan and their Quality (we were making PC boards) was unmatched. Nearly 99.9% ZERO failure rates when they landed here in Fremont, Ca.
They’re trying to have a war from a safe distance, and it is an early working out.
China is just sitting back and enjoying the show as the United States is weakened with Trump’s stupid foray into Iran & the subsidizing of Ukraine. The US is destroying itself from within and China doesn’t even have to fire a shot.
But on the other hand, when this is over, the U.S.A. will have had combat experience, and the Chinese won’t. Remember when, after the Viet Nam War, the Chinese decided to invade Viet Nam, and got kicked out smartly? The Vietnamese had had combat experience, and the Chinese hadn’t.
If you want to call fending off drones “combat experience”.
China appears to be smarter than Putin or Trump. They can see that, even with a military that’s overwhelming on paper, small countries can fight back indefinitely with drones and asymmetrical warfare. They don’t want to fall into the same trap, they figure that with patience taking Taiwan will be as easy as taking Hong Kong.
US aircraft carrier battle group normally operates on approx. 32 month long cycle including 6 month of overseas deployment and 6 months in maintenance. When deployment is stretched to 9 or 10 months it results in much longer time spent on maintenance in dry docks. The 32 month cycle can be maintained by shortening/skipping the high readiness phase (back-up of deployed carriers) and excercises with allies.
When this is applied to the whole Navy it results in total disruption of Navy operations as there is limited number of docks available for maintenance and 3 month longer deployment results in additional 6 or 9 months of maintenance.
Two aircraft carrier groups have already been shreded by White House. Two more are currently deployed and will likely be shreded 3 to 5 months later.
This means that maritime blockade will likely have to finish by the end of this year.
This what admirals are likely telling to Pete Hegseth.
This is what Korea thinks when refusing to pay $10 billion Trump demanded.
Sounds like the perfect justification for another few hundred billion to the military budget to build another carrier group.
That’s likely what Admirals are telling Hegseth, that Trump needs to increase the military budget which is exactly the news they want to hear to justify that increase Trump mentioned.
The Navy has revised the projected delivery date of the fourth new aircraft carrier, the USS Doris Miller, to 2034.
The new Trump class super carrier.
There was a line in the story that only one-fourth of America’s destroyer fleet is ready to be deployed. I would like to see a fuller explanation for this — it sounds like we are spending billions on a military that can’t win a war.
What are the odds of any proceedings in the area of treason after the midterm have changed congress proportioned?
None. Under US law, without a declared war, there can be no treason.
Not that it would stop the traitors, perish the thought.
Treason is such a vague elastic concept, that using it in an ambiguous situation such as a judgment call that is arguably within the decider’s job, poses a serious reverse threat of degrading the rule of law. Banana republics always jail the last prior leader for such things, which does not generally lead to a sound stable system. Instead it creates cycles of intensifying lawfare and vengeance (and extra-legal conflict spilling outside of that). Trump per SCOTUS (2025) has criminal immunity for anything in the scope of his presidential job (which will be interesting when we get to assessing financial crimes).
Turns out the beardo’s and fat generals were not the problem all along. Has Fox “News” actually contributed any one of substance to the government? Usually it’s the other way round. First you get a job in the government, diplay your talent, then go on TV. This is what happens when one recruits a lowly major from the clown show that is Fox “News”.
The showman we elected is comfortable with showmen at his side. For him comfort and constant praise are much more worthy qualifiers than capability.
And “the look” is all important to Trump. The people in the cast have to look right. Maybe there was an exception for RFK Jr who looks and sounds like he escaped from a Marvel villain role.
He likes having a Kennedy in his cabinet for sure. Let’s call him Captain Road Kill?
quoted from Pyrrho My son is an ordinanceman serving in a carrier air wing assigned to a carrier in the Arabian Sea. He tells his brother that they are currently arming F-18s with ordinance that was phased-out in the 1990s.
Sounds disturbingly like the Russians bringing Soviet era tanks out of mothballs. Or wow, Iranians flying our old Phantoms and A-4s.
It’s been said that Hegseth is thinking of running for president in 2028. The jokes write themselves.
Careful. Taco was once a joke. Well, he still is but it didn’t stop him from getting elected.
Twice. Three times, according to his cult.
He would have won 2012 if it wasn’t for the fake BC LOL /s
Yes – – in our family, we call it “Erection Day.”
I re-watch “Idiocracy” every four years.
Another leaked classified document reveals that Lizzo is fat.
We notice how you went ahead and furthered the conversation with your version of an intellectual point. A for effort!
He didn’t even blame the Jews this time!
Not anymore, she fell to the Ozempic harpoon.
Let’s make Kamala Harris Secretary of War!
The world is confused enough already by TACO’s blithering. Her word salad would be the coup de grâce.
I don’t believe this news will surprise anyone who has been paying the least amount of attention to this issue.
It’s not only the current secretary of war, but all the secretaries of defense. Iran is a regional power, yet the US ran out of ordinance and logistics collapsed. That with a trillion dollar budget year in, year out. The Department of War should be renamed after its actual purpose: the Department of Grift.
And it should have an official song: Yakety Sax.
Trumpedo, Trumpedo, Trump pedo, Trump, Pedo, Trump, Pedo Trump.
lol perfect