Getting something into some news cycles is easy. Getting something to be the default accepted conventional wisdom upon which most of society baseline interprets anything and everything is harder and takes longer.
War with...Iran?
- Thread starter Technarch
- Start date
I don’t disagree with you on a better use of money but advanced itself and everything doesn’t mean it’s 100% invincible and never detect the plane so that’s not really a big deal. If they were having multiples shot out of the sky every day it would be a different conversation.
Last edited:
Which this? That Qatar didn't expect this? Or that it was incredibly dumb?
Yes, the F-35 has been a money pit sucking up money that could have been better used elsewhere, however, one F-35 getting hit doesn't mean the stealth features didn't work. Alongside stealth having never meant a plane was 100% invisible, we also don't know the full circumstances around what happened. Maybe it was a creative Iranian SAM battery operator biding his time until the perfect moment presented itself. Perhaps the F-35 wasn't operating in full stealth mode and had external stores, thus being less stealthy. Or maybe there was a mechanical problem and one of the weapon bay doors failed to close after launching a missile or dropping a bomb. The fact it took this long for Iran to hit one lends itself to the F-35 actually working fairly well in real world combat.
The "day that lives in infamy"? The thing the whole world decided was a horrible and underhanded thing to do, and part of a war so reviled it led to the creation of the United Nations in hopes it would never happen again? The thing we have a national "remembrance day" for, because it is so seared on our national conscience as a time we suffered grievous wrong? That's what he's trying to equate his own actions with as justification?
Well, yes, he's the Idiot-in-Chief
They're both terrible, and this is what sucking up to this guy gets you, so zero sympathy for Takaichi tbh.
If only we had some earlier clue that he was, indeed, this dumb.
Ahh, yes I suppose that is something only obvious in retrospect. Though, there it isn't so much the stupidity that's surprising as this particular manifestation of it. There are just too many ways for Trump to be spectacularly dumb for it to be reasonable to expect most of them.
Sure, it's obvious Trump would be that dumb, but he's also lazy and there are only so many hours in a day.
Reminder that unless things have changed in the past year, this news would surprise the current President of the United States.
Our boy is a real go-getter in this respect, so don't underestimate him. Stupidity, vindictiveness and rape, that's where he really shines.
Don't forget lying!
Every now and again, there's a basic fact about Trump that just makes me snort-laugh. One is how he seems to have absolutely no concept or understanding of what dogs are or how they work. Another is that he thinks "stealth" means a Star Trek cloaking device.
Right about now it would be interesting to see China start amassing further forces and encircling Taiwan in a real, “I’m not touching you.” maneuver. With a, “Oh yeah, you and what army?” stance toward the U.S.
Yes, the underhanded thing that kicked off a war that ended so well for the kicker offer. That's what we're equating.
De tering, is that the level of commitment that the US President was begging for, wait, no, was sure that wasn't needed, wait, no, was hoping was coming, no, wait, was completely useless, no, wait, was crucial to get this done, no, wait, and now that it is coming but very very happily and proudly not under US control, because DUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH....
My veteran bud and coworker has his best friend on one of those deployed KC-135s. When the collision happened days ago, I had to talk this good and fair man off the ledge for hours and hours until he heard back from his friend.
Then he read that AI shit and lost his goddamned fucking PTSD marbles all over again, and I don't fucking blame him.
They are proudly pissing in the face of service members, past and present. It's no longer even remotely fucking funny.
It is adorable that you think he gives a single rolling flying fuck one way or the other.
We're not supposed to wish ill on others, but yeah, I do. I would happily stand back and watch Trump and all his spawn burn, and would proudly refuse to piss on them to put out the fire. I am DONE pretending that these shit-sucking cum stains are humans and deserve considerations set aside for humans.
ETA: More explicit. I am hilariously un-sorry if this gets me banned.
Last edited:
China is taking the opportunity to run "peaceful reunification" up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes:
China has said that peaceful reunification would resolve Taiwan’s energy supply concerns caused by the Israeli-US war on Iran.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan would benefit from “energy resources, backed by a strong motherland”.
“The mainland’s abundant power supply is more than sufficient to meet the electricity needs of Taiwan’s companies and can ensure that households across the island are freed from the inconvenience and worries of power shortages and outages during peak seasons,” he said.
Taiwan buys 70 percent of its crude oil and more than 30 percent of its natural gas from the Middle East.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/live...ttacked-riyadh-says-trust-gone?update=4416063
These are not ballistic missile launchers though, are they?
It's not a matter of underestimation, it's just that stupidity has infinite depths to to mine. I'm certain that he will continue to dig them out deeper. But, trying to predict which vein of shit he will strike next is quite futile. After all, there are just too many of them.
I'm not one to carry water for the American MIC, but I do wonder if this is similar to the F117 downing in Serbia. Stealth technology has genuinely and fundamentally shifted the balance of military power, but it is obviously not literal invisibility or invulnerability, and I would not be surprised if our military has become very complacent fighting not-even-remotely-peer adversaries. I also wonder what role Chinese help and equipment might play, as they're obviously looking for counters to stealth technology.
Also, to be clear, Soviet and Soviet derived stuff works; it's just literally decades and decades behind the times. Most aircraft downed in Ukraine have been from Soviet equipment on both sides (last I knew), and it is absolutely a danger to traditional (non-stealth) aircraft.
There are supposedly some far right Japanese MAGA wannabes, who go deep on xenophobic sentiments, not just foreign workers working and living in Japan but even foreign tourists.
Takaichi herself use some of that messaging herself for her party in a recent election.
So how do they like Trump now?
If western stealth technology didn't work, well, the "Twelve-day War" simply would not have been possible. Give the devil their due; the west has very advanced aircraft and is exceptional at SEAD.
He is so deeply stupid and malicious that he keeps finding new even deeper depths of unfathomable stupidity and malice than I can ever conceive of when I try to imagine how deep he might go.
The long, fragile supply chains were supposed to be a bulwark against this sort of war. No rational actor would start such war knowing the consequences. Sucks that we can't plan for irrational actors.
To keep them safe from conventional bombs? The US has been threatening to attack them for decades and so they prepared for that. The US starts all wars by bombing the shit out of everything with zero counter play, so why would you keep stuff above ground that could be useful later in the war if you don't have to?
Heck, I don't like foreign tourists in Japan since their behavior has been atrocious recently, and I'm a constant foreign tourist there.
I've mentioned this before, but I will say it again. In Japan being seen as inconsiderate is the worst thing that one can do. Trump's comments would be seen as the height of being inconsiderate since they touch on a very taboo subject. The tourists trashing public areas and hotels are also considered inconsiderate. Japanese expectations are high for everyone, including Japanese nationals. But once you get used to them they're common sense (don't throw trash on the ground, no loud speaker phone conversations in public, choose your words carefully when speaking in an official manner, etc)
This applies to everyone, Japanese citizens and foreigners. But foreigners get some leeway since there are less expectations from them. But even with the lowest bar, Donald Trump managed to go lower. The same "xenophobic" persons who condemn inconsiderate foreigners (the US military presence in bases in Japan especially) would also condemn Trump's inconsiderate comments. So I don't think there is a "how do you like them apples?!?" moment here.
Biden's primary flaw was dogged institutionalism—even in the face of undeniable evidence that the tried-and-true no longer worked.
It would indeed be interesting how he would have reacted to Netanyahu’s prodding on Iran, had he not bowed out and won reelection.
If Biden or Harris were POTUS it would be Israel attacking Iran solo followed by the US slowly being drawn into the conflict, with the same escalation spiral.
See the Gaza genocide with the Biden's White House politely, with just a hint of exasperation, asking Israel to to please follow proper procedures while genociding, then shrugging and giving them the weapons and munitions to carry it out.
Trump is to international diplomacy as a sack of flaming shit thrown onto a dinner table is to the soirée you’re hosting.
Sure, there’s suddenly a lot to talk about but no one really wants to and everyone feels sick to their stomach.
May be? As a institutionalist, it is also very unlikely Biden/Harris would want to break the petrodollars system.
Cross-post reply from the Ukraine thread:
Honestly, the only path I can see to end in some sort of peace without catastrophic damage requires another major power intervene. The US has no offramp. Israel is full mask-off. The Gulf states seem intent on eliminating the competition.
Honestly, the only path I can see to end in some sort of peace without catastrophic damage requires another major power intervene. The US has no offramp. Israel is full mask-off. The Gulf states seem intent on eliminating the competition.
Financial markets are reacting. Unless there's some immediate resolution, it could be the old invisible hand that does the heavy lifting. Markets have been choppy since late last year, so this Iran war could be the final push that causes them to roll over.