4 ms·

No one cares about who made these videos in the US. The bigger issue is why are we engaging in a ground war in Iran when it doesn’t really serve US interests? E

No one cares about who made these videos in the US. The bigger issue is why are we engaging in a ground war in Iran when it doesn’t really serve US interests? Everyone on both political spectrums in the US can see why it benefits Saudi Arabia and Israel, but not the US. We’re using precious resources like missiles that we will need in the Pacific theater in next 1-2 years

harrall 6mo ago
Because it wasn’t planned that far. The administration probably thought it would go like Venezuela. A Middle East historian would have told you Iran has building for all our war for decades because it trusts none of its neighbors. A second problem is that the US knew for a while that we were weak at asymmetric warfare but we didn’t fix it. There was a war game in 2002 (the Millennium Challenge, which was actually set in the Strait of Hormuz) that, though the red team did very much cheat, it did hint at a major weakness that wasn’t resolved. There are US defense companies today that actually specialize in that but they weren’t given the same attention (but boy are they now).
- chaostheory 6mo ago
  Which defense companies?
  - harrall 6mo ago
    Anduril is the biggest one. They are based in Costa Mesa, CA and are building a bigger R&D facility in "Space Beach" (Long Beach, CA) and a manufacturing facility near Columbus, Ohio. Afterwards, you have smaller companies like Shield AI (San Diego, CA), Saronic Technologies (Austin, TX) and some other smaller ones.
- etc-hosts 6mo ago
  When one side complains no fair the other side is cheating, you've probably already lost. Relevant The Far Side cartoon: https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/far-side-fire-arrows-comic.jpg https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/...
- themafia 6mo ago
  > though the red team did very much cheat, My Army buddy once said "If you're not cheating you're not trying." What did they expect? That's the whole point of a red team. Reminds me of Admiral Ching Lee. He used to run red team exercises against US facilities. He once walked into a maximum security facility with a badge bearing the name and photograph of Adolf Hitler.
elzbardico 6mo ago
Because this war is driven by Israel, not the US. The destruction of Iran, no matter what the costs for the world, is seen as an existential matter for the current Israeli government. But, destroying Iran without using nukes is not a Job Israel can do by themselves, they need the US. And while the Democrat establishment (although not the base) don't see an issue with supporting Israel activities in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, a war with Iran was not something the Democrats would agree with. So, they had this window of opportunity with Trump, before the midterms, and they acted. We may not agree, but under the point of view of the Likud, it makes perfect sense.
nashashmi 6mo ago
We will need the weapons to counter when Israel goes off the rails and starts waging war everywhere. Here we are getting snaked into a war that we dont want, by a country that probably wants us to become weaker in the future.
pjc50 6mo ago
The Pacific war is not happening unless Trump chooses to start it. China is also having political issues; a massive purge of top brass is the worst preparation for a war. See Stalin.
- kaveh_h 6mo ago
  To be honest both sides are purging top brass. Chinas top brass was too old anyway.
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
kaveh_h 6mo ago
It’s crazy to believe that US would fight China in the pacific in 1-2 years. At this rate I don’t believe China will do anything as it sees US trashing at every point, making it’s allies and trade partners to rethink their strategy towards betting on US as it’s going full postal.
- chaostheory 6mo ago
  I disagree https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confrontation-over-taiwan https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confron... https://www.brookings.edu/articles/paint-it-black-an-asymmetric-approach-to-chinas-gray-zone-coercion-of-taiwan/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/paint-it-black-an-asymmet...
  - kaveh_h 6mo ago
    https://news.usni.org/2026/03/19/china-not-committed-to-2027-taiwan-invasion-u-s-intel-report-says#:~:text=If%20they%20don't%20invade,and%202030. https://news.usni.org/2026/03/19/china-not-committed-to-2027...
  - kaveh_h 6mo ago
    France just onshored their gold assets well. US allies are losing confidence.

harrall 6mo ago

Because it wasn’t planned that far. The administration probably thought it would go like Venezuela. A Middle East historian would have told you Iran has building for all our war for decades because it trusts none of its neighbors. A second problem is that the US knew for a while that we were weak at asymmetric warfare but we didn’t fix it. There was a war game in 2002 (the Millennium Challenge, which was actually set in the Strait of Hormuz) that, though the red team did very much cheat, it did hint at a major weakness that wasn’t resolved. There are US defense companies today that actually specialize in that but they weren’t given the same attention (but boy are they now).

chaostheory 6mo ago
Which defense companies?
- harrall 6mo ago
  Anduril is the biggest one. They are based in Costa Mesa, CA and are building a bigger R&D facility in "Space Beach" (Long Beach, CA) and a manufacturing facility near Columbus, Ohio. Afterwards, you have smaller companies like Shield AI (San Diego, CA), Saronic Technologies (Austin, TX) and some other smaller ones.
etc-hosts 6mo ago
When one side complains no fair the other side is cheating, you've probably already lost. Relevant The Far Side cartoon: https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/far-side-fire-arrows-comic.jpg https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/...
themafia 6mo ago
> though the red team did very much cheat, My Army buddy once said "If you're not cheating you're not trying." What did they expect? That's the whole point of a red team. Reminds me of Admiral Ching Lee. He used to run red team exercises against US facilities. He once walked into a maximum security facility with a badge bearing the name and photograph of Adolf Hitler.

elzbardico 6mo ago

Because this war is driven by Israel, not the US. The destruction of Iran, no matter what the costs for the world, is seen as an existential matter for the current Israeli government. But, destroying Iran without using nukes is not a Job Israel can do by themselves, they need the US. And while the Democrat establishment (although not the base) don't see an issue with supporting Israel activities in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, a war with Iran was not something the Democrats would agree with. So, they had this window of opportunity with Trump, before the midterms, and they acted. We may not agree, but under the point of view of the Likud, it makes perfect sense.

nashashmi 6mo ago

We will need the weapons to counter when Israel goes off the rails and starts waging war everywhere. Here we are getting snaked into a war that we dont want, by a country that probably wants us to become weaker in the future.

pjc50 6mo ago

The Pacific war is not happening unless Trump chooses to start it. China is also having political issues; a massive purge of top brass is the worst preparation for a war. See Stalin.

kaveh_h 6mo ago
To be honest both sides are purging top brass. Chinas top brass was too old anyway.
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]

kaveh_h 6mo ago

It’s crazy to believe that US would fight China in the pacific in 1-2 years. At this rate I don’t believe China will do anything as it sees US trashing at every point, making it’s allies and trade partners to rethink their strategy towards betting on US as it’s going full postal.

chaostheory 6mo ago
I disagree https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confrontation-over-taiwan https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/confron... https://www.brookings.edu/articles/paint-it-black-an-asymmetric-approach-to-chinas-gray-zone-coercion-of-taiwan/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/paint-it-black-an-asymmet...
- kaveh_h 6mo ago
  https://news.usni.org/2026/03/19/china-not-committed-to-2027-taiwan-invasion-u-s-intel-report-says#:~:text=If%20they%20don't%20invade,and%202030. https://news.usni.org/2026/03/19/china-not-committed-to-2027...
- kaveh_h 6mo ago
  France just onshored their gold assets well. US allies are losing confidence.