And awaaay we go

[indusurb]

We could very well be watching the start of WW3. Israel has hit military and civilian targets in Iran, Iran has retaliated with a force of 100 plus drones, with little to no effect. The question is whether matters will escalate from here, and who else will be drawn into the conflict. If this contines, and expands,we will be drawn in, as will Russia and others. Nukes could get even tossed around. This is insanity.

My opinion is that since the Gazan situation is winding down(for now), Netanyahu needed another distraction to keep his ass out of jail. When will the Israeli people wake up and kick his happy ass to the curb. His desperate attempts to hang onto power are going to drag Israel into a real, full blown war, along with the rest of the world. Having Trump at the helm during this crisis is nowhere near reassuring either.

Buckle up, it's going to be a rough ride.

[Walleye]

1. Trump doesn't have time for a war with Iran. He's too busy declaring war on California.

He is a chicken, so he doesn’t want to attack countries that might attack him back

[indusurb]

2. Yeah, but Netanyahu has got him on a string

He'll say jump and Trump will ask how high. Besides, Trump needs another distraction from his other distractions, the gish gallop president.

[Walleye]

3. Yep, now he needs to distract us from the distractions he created

[JohnnyRingo]

32. War is a booster shot against sagging approval ratings.

"The War President" gets a fresh honeymoon period. Somebody in the Oval Office knows that.

[Wednesdays]

56. Wag the Dog. nt

[Ray Bruns]

36. TACO!

[ananda]

50. And thinking about invading Greenland.

California was such a stupid debacle, I can imagine
how it will be overseas... just more clusterfucks.

[twodogsbarking]

4. I remember when you could criticize a country for killing children and it wasn't considered anti-semitic.

So call me names.

[Crunchy Frog]

8. I'm very critical of Israel, but I won't criticize them for this.

After what Iran has done to Ukraine I don't care if the country gets flattened.

Sorry about the children but that's what happens in a war.

[twodogsbarking]

16. Oh yeah, it was war so it's ok. I forgot.

[Crunchy Frog]

20. I don't actually think it's okay, but Iran obviously does.

If they didn't think it was okay they wouldn't have given all those Shahed drones to russia, as well as the missiles that they're giving them now, whose only function is to terrorize, kill, and maim civilians.

As I said. I'm personally against it, but Iran isn't, so I won't be shedding any tears for them.

[Butterflylady]

21. This is not going to end well for anybody.....

Don't you see that....especially Israel.

[twodogsbarking]

25. And the children.

[Crunchy Frog]

27. Fortunately, I don't give a fuck about Israel either.

[Mossfern]

43. " a country?"

If I criticize Russia, would people call me anti-semetic?

Say what you mean.

[twodogsbarking]

57. They might. See what I mean.

[Crunchy Frog]

62. If you criticize russia many people will call you russophobic and act like you're committing a crime against humanity.

[Crunchy Frog]

5. I don't think russia will mind.

This is going to increase oil prices, and I think they now have their own Shahed plants.

They don't really need Iran for anything right now.

[claudette]

6. I have no

pity for warmongers. Preemptive attacks are not self defense. They are aggressive war crimes

[Crunchy Frog]

9. And what did Ukraine ever do to Iran

to deserve to get hit with thousands of their kamikaze drones?

I have no pity for warmongers either. What goes around comes around.

[claudette]

18. Are you

saying Israel is bombing Iran because of what they did to Ukraine? I don’t see your logic. Israel is looking for trouble not trying to end it.

[Crunchy Frog]

24. No I'm not. I'm just finding a little bit of sad irony in the whole thing.

Iran is now experiencing that which it has freely dished out for the past three years. To me it looks like karma.

If it's any comfort, I'm not claiming to be rational about this. I probably have an unreasonable amount of rage over various events happening over the past few years.

[claudette]

52. Well I'm sorry

you’re feeling that way. But I never will agree to Israel’s preemptive start of this war with Iran. Period.

[Crunchy Frog]

61. I would never endorse it. But I reserve the right to derive some schadenfreude from it.

[Mossfern]

40. I believe Israel is bombing Iran

because of their nuclear enrichment - "making bombs."
Iran's intent is to eradicate Israel. It has nothing to do with Ukraine.

[superpatriotman]

7. Iran has been two weeks away from nuclear enrichment

For over twenty years.

[AverageOldGuy]

10. I'm confused

Back in the far reaches of my 80-yr-old memory I seem to recall some kind of multinational agreement that curtailed Iran’s nuclear development and put international inspectors all over their nuclear facilities.

Then a newly-elected American president withdrew us from that agreement, causing it to collapse and removing all inspectors.

And now Trump is begging Iran for a nuclear agreement that includes inspectors.

Or is my old memory failing me?

[LymphocyteLover]

13. you remember correctly

Trump is a danger to the whole damn world

[newdeal2]

14. Just like how he tore up his own trade agreement that replaced NAFTA

He really wants to look like a big tough guy.

[OLDMDDEM]

11. 100% agree.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. but but but Trump was going to bring us world peace!!!! He's a peacemaker!

[Hornedfrog2000]

15. We have been in ww3 since 2015

Its just some people only think wars= bombs. If the USA was smart, we would state that Russia, China, etc have been committing acts of war, and they should have been called that from the start.

But, apparently we are all afraid to say what is happenint.

[purple_haze]

23. You are correct

WW3 is a war of proxies, information and propaganda, and culture. Although I think 2015 is a little late; I believe it started much earlier than that.

[Basso8vb]

35. I've been saying it started in 2014 with Russia's first Ukraine invasion.

[madville]

17. Iran doesn't have the capability to go to war

Directly with Israel. About all they can do to get attention is harass international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz so that’s the most likely place to see an incident maybe involving the U.S. Navy.

Russia has their own bigger problems at the moment to be getting involved in this.

[indusurb]

19. Iran has the largest milirary force in the Middle East

And it is a modern military force, with naval, air, ground and missle/drone forces. In fact looking at it, it seems to have been specifically designed to go toe to toe with the IDF.

Russia is a close Iranian ally, and while not getting directly involved, they can, to some extent, supply Iran with supplies. If Iran and Israel go all out against each other, Russia, and probably the US, will get dragged into the conflict. China is close with Iran, so we can't ignore their possible involvement as well.

[Butterflylady]

26. You are so right....

Yes, with trump at the helm, we are going to get dragged into this. May God help us all.

[madville]

29. And no way to get that force to Israel

Israel’s air defenses make Iran’s missiles and drones mostly ineffective.

Iran sending their dwindling fleet of jets/bombers that can still fly to Israel would be a one way trip for assets they can’t afford to lose.

They can’t send land forces across Iraq/Jordan/Syria, they’d get wiped out before they got halfway there.

Their Navy can’t do much directly to Israel, even if they tried from the Med or Red Sea those ships would be losses in short order. Their Navy is only a serious threat directly off their own coastline.

They can have as large a ground force and armor divisions as they want to go “toe to toe” but they have no way to get it there or support it.

The only way Iran can seriously harm Israel is with a nuke, and they will use one if given the opportunity.

[indusurb]

37. That Iron Dome of Israel isn't infallible

With enough pressure it will break. Iranian air force while aging, has been modernized over the past ten years with the help of Russia and China. You are correct, there aren't going to be boots on the ground in Israel, not for awhile. Neither are there going to be boots on the ground in Iran. This is, initially at least, going to be a war of missles and drones. The Iron Dome can only withstand so much before it breaks.

Also, let's not forget the Houthis and Hezbollah, much closer to Israel.

This isn't going to be a conventional war, but it will be war nonetheless. The biggest question is who's going to throw the first nuke. My bet is Israel. That's when all hell really breaks loose.

[Ace Rothstein]

30. Iran has no defenses.

They're getting attacked in broad daylight by Israel. Their military might looks to have been vastly overstated.

[madville]

41. Exactly

They do have very large ground forces and armor divisions, which are their claim for “military might”, and they are basically useless against Israel.

The air power war is basically one sided in Israel’s favor at this point and their Navy is only a local threat along their shores.

[Crunchy Frog]

33. My guess is that Putin won't mind throwing Iran under the bus if this benefits him, which it does.

They don't really need Iran anymore since they have their own Shahed plants. And they will benefit tremendously from the increase in oil prices. There's no honor among thieves. They may huff and puff a little, but I doubt they'll do anything.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

44. This is a joke right?

Iran's military, compared to a modern military like Israel, US, UK, etc. is hardly anywhere near modern except in a few limited aspects, like their missiles and drones, other than that, their military is a fucking joke.
Look what happened the last time the Iranian Navy decided to tangle with the US Navy:

Not only that, but their Air Force consists of mostly obsolete fighters and bombers that would quickly be taken down by the IAF or the USAF or the USN, the few "modern" aircraft are still no match for a true modern AF.
Then there's this, their Army, which is considerable, has nowhere near the combat experience that Israel or even the US military has, and as has been pointed out, Iran has no means of transporting that Army to any where near Israel, their transport aircraft, which is out dated, would be destroyed long before they got anywhere close to Israel and any ground forces heading towards Israel would have to fight their way through 3 different countries, countries that wouldn't mind giving Iran a what for.

Your whole premise that Iran has a modern military is just bunk.

[Hellbound Hellhound]

46. Goddam MCE, I seem to be two steps behind you in every thread!

I was just about to bring this up, but I'm too dumb to figure out how to post a link so I was writing most of it out manually. XD I'll just leave it to you then, shall I?

See you on the next thread, apparently!

[bronxiteforever]

39. Assuming of course Egypt and Syria are stable & NK

won’t aid Iran with nuclear tech and a bomb. It also assumes Russia will walk away from Iran. I do not think Egypt or Syria are stable and I believe NK could supply Iran through Russian channels. And RussiaPutin is encouraged by Trump’s weakness regarding Ukraine. Trump publicly humiliated Zelensky. That is a photo op that wouldn’t be missed by a blind FSB agent. Russia was accused of walking away from Syria. Despite Ukraine (and Ukraine can’t win without US support), Putin will never give up Iran.

Israel doesn’t have the manpower to occupy Iran, Lebanon, Syrian and overthrow Iran. The Egyptian army is indeed renewing its armaments and the Israeli fundamentalists are itching for a fight with Egypt. Egypt is not stable and prone to an Islamic fundamentalist takeover.

Finally people are also assuming our intelligence is secure. This is a laughable assumption. Tulsi Gabbard, Hogsbreath and the rest of the Putin tuft hunters have undermined the intelligence apparatus. There were even illegal wiretaps in the defense department. Plus Musk, high on his own supply, has hacked into god knows what but probably our intelligence apparatus. I think Musk is antisemitic so where would he leak our intelligence and how much would a government pay him for access. I make this assumption-Putin knows what we know.

[Butterflylady]

22. I'm afraid you're right......

Iran isn't going take this lying down. Netanyaho has opened Pandoras box.

[True Dough]

28. So far, Iran has very much been taking this lying down.

The response has been muted. The Iranian military looks neutered. This is a major incursion against Iran. They would be justified in throwing the works at Israel, but there's been very little in the way of defense or offense.

I'm not particularly worried now. But a "dirty bomb" going off within Israel via some Iranian agents in the future might be the sort of retaliation we see. But that sort of threat has long existed.

[Ponietz]

49. Iran would love to get a Pakistani nuke

They share a 500 mile border and have cordial relations.

[True Dough]

53. I'm sure that's true about Iran's desires

The world can be full of dangerous and horrifying scenarios, but I try not to dwell on them. Most often, they never come to fruition.

[JohnnyRingo]

31. 1st thing I thought of: Are they investigating "the War President" again?

I truly believe he will stay at war as long as necessary to stay out of legal limbo.
Him and Trump are cast of the same mold.

[JBTaurus83]

34. I don't think it's WW3

Iran has shown that it’s toothless. Their attacks on Israel have been failures. Their pawns around the area have all been destroyed by Israel. They have sided with Russia and armed them against Ukraine. I really can’t get into the whole Israel issue because it seems so nuanced. Iran isn’t going to start WW3 though. They can’t even defend their own country.

[Basso8vb]

38. We literally have Iran surrounded with our military bases.

They will never be a threat. Only an excuse for small minded perpetual warmongering.

That's nothing more than gang war mentality and it won't ever stop.

Also don't forget that WE fucked Iran in the 50s by helping to overthrow their duly elected president because they dared to kick British Petroleum out and take back what was rightfully theirs in the first place. It was one of the CIA's first jobs.

This led directly to the fundamentalist takeover of Iran.

All because of oil. Sound familiar?

If you hate Iran, look in the fucking mirror. WE caused all of this in the name of oil.

[littlemissmartypants]

42. I remember...

Not that long ago, when they were allies.

I even had an Iranian boyfriend in college. He now practices medicine in San Diego.

This was before Regan became our first TV President, of course. He certainly took a wrong turn for us, didn't he?

[UTUSN]

45. K&R

[Joinfortmill]

47. Yup, Netanyahu is a menace, but he is not his people, as Trump is not us. Sigh. It's a mess out there.

[claudette]

54. But the

IDF is the same as Nuttyahoo. Just like magats are Dump clones

[twodogsbarking]

48. The United States has been so helpful.

[Sneederbunk]

51. What does victory look like?

[sarisataka]

55. Does anyone else on DU recall when Iran started supplying Russia with drones

to use against Ukraine, how many calls there were for Biden to use US forces to attack Iran?

Israel has more justification for this attack than the US would have had to launch an attack...

[DavidDvorkin]

65. Everything changes when Israel is the one attacking

Then DU suffers amnesia.

[Happy Hoosier]

58. I doubt it.

Iran knows it doesn't stand a chance in a conventional military confrontation.... that's mostly bluster and show. They will ramp up their proxy attacks, but won;t risk a direct a confrontation they know they cannot win.

[BannonsLiver]

59. "Not right now." - Joshua Block, World of T Shirts

[Arazi]

60. A foregone conclusion once Iran's triad was destroyed

Hezbollah was decapitated in the pager attack, Hamas is utterly incapable of attacking Israel anymore, and Bashar Al Assad is no mas in Syria.

Iran spent years building their triad to attack Israel once Iran was getting close to nuclear enrichment. It’s been a very long plan.

Everyone could see it.

Israel’s attack had to be within a few months of Assad’s fall before Iran could reconstitute that Syrian support leg.

By all accounts Israel was building the secret drone base in Iran that was used to attack Natanz yesterday, for almost a year.

[Ping Tung]

63. Violence is the last refuge of the incompetant. isiiac Asimov

[WokeAintWhatIAm]

64. Exactly Right

First thought after hearing this last night was Bebe is trying to keep from being prosecuted.
Because he will be and is guilty of what he was accused of prior to October 7th.
Oh, How the leaders are corrupt.

It is expressed biblically when the people are corrupt the leaders are corrupt, and have lost favor...
We gonna ride this horse to what ever the conclusion it, but here is what it is...