US Strikes Iran!

[Nugget]

This just came across my new feed. 

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel ’s effort to decapitate the country's nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.

There was no immediate acknowledgment from the Iranian government of any strikes being carried out. The country's state-run IRNA news agency early Sunday reported an attack on the country’s Fordo nuclear site that activated air defenses. The agency did not elaborate.

The decision to directly involve the U.S. in the war comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that aimed to systematically eradicate the country’s air defenses and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But U.S. and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the 30,000-pound (13,500-kilogram) bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.


“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan," Trump said in a post on social media. "All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home.”

Trump added in a later post that he would address the national at 10 p.m. Eastern time, writing “This is an HISTORIC MOMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ISRAEL, AND THE WORLD. IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR. THANK YOU!”

Trump said B-2 stealth bombers were used but did not specify what types of bombs were dropped. The White House and Pentagon did not immediately elaborate on the operation.

The strikes are a perilous decision, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if the U.S. joined the Israeli assault, and for Trump personally. He won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism.

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Trump told reporters Friday that he was not interested in sending ground forces into Iran, saying it’s “the last thing you want to do.” He had previously indicated that he would make a final choice over the course of two weeks.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will “result in irreparable damage for them.” And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared “any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region."

Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would bring the country’s leaders to give up its nuclear program peacefully.

The Israeli military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, while Iran’s foreign minister warned before the U.S. attack that American military involvement “would be very, very dangerous for everyone.”


The prospect of a wider war loomed. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joined Israel’s military campaign. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the U.S.

And so it begins?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/diplomatic-br...0551712652

[MykeNukem]

This just came across my new feed. 


And so it begins?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/diplomatic-br...0551712652

I just noticed the headlines as I was working on our new news feed at the top of the homepage, lol.

Really hope this doesn't lead to the ultimate shitshow. Iran needs to be checked, but it makes me immediately aware of what this could lead to.

Buckle up ..

[Nugget]

Really hope this doesn't lead to the ultimate shitshow. Iran needs to be checked, but it makes me immediately aware of what this could lead to.

Buckle up ..

I hope not, too; the mind set of the Ayatollah is nothing short of a madman.

I think the citizens of Iran are ready for a regime change; the women, at least.

[Nugget]

Recent reports have said Iran could be 'days away' from making a nuclear bomb, and it now appears uranium was removed from the Fordo facility before the strike on Saturday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had not detected any increases in radiation outside the sites.

A senior U.S. official acknowledged that the attack on Fordo, Iran’s most critical site, had not destroyed the heavily fortified facility, but said that it had been severely damaged. Two Israeli officials with knowledge of the matter also said it appeared that Iran had moved equipment, including uranium, from the site before the strikes.

The strikes ushered in a period of high alert in the region, where more than 40,000 American troops are on bases and warships. While U.S. officials say that Iran has depleted its stockpile of medium-range missiles, the country still has an ample supply of other weapons, including rockets and drones.

Hours after the American attack, Iran fired a barrage of missiles toward Israel, and Israel’s military said it had mounted a new round of airstrikes.

At the very least, world economy is going to take a hit. I'v kept 2 years worth of TP on hand since Y2K, so I'm all prepared. 

I'm wondering when our 'mostly peaceful' protests will begin tearing down the country, or if the radical cells and ubderground network in the US will spring into action.

My hubby is watchung coverage on Fox News, and they seem to be rejoicing in Trump's actions and strong leadership, doing what's absolutely necessary. It makes me sad as I think of all the lives that must have been lost already, and the ones yet to come. I don't have the stomach for violence on any level, though I know it's sometimes necessary.

[Ksihkehe]

Recent reports have said Iran could be 'days away' from making a nuclear bomb, and it now appears uranium was removed from the Fordo facility before the strike on Saturday.

My hubby is watchung coverage on Fox News, and they seem to be rejoicing in Trump's actions and strong leadership, doing what's absolutely necessary. It makes me sad as I think of all the lives that must have been lost already, and the ones yet to come. I don't have the stomach for violence on any level, though I know it's sometimes necessary.

They've been "two more weeks" or months from having a nuclear bomb since the around the time of my birth according to Israel, the warmongering elitist architects of the coming one world government, and defense stock profiteers. There is always a some reason that regime change, that has been a perpetual feature of US foreign policy since WWII, has to happen for the sake of "the free world".

Iran is no more my problem than Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, or any other of the dozens of foreign nations the US has bombed or funded color revolutions in during my lifetime. The world is never any better for it, the benefits to the people always exist in some distant future that never arrives, and the bottom rungs of society continue to fall behind the top few percent whose wealth only keeps growing. Tens of millions of children starve while celebrities jet around the world to speak out against people wasting carbon on staying warm and eating meat. Meanwhile they take drugs to get slim because they're unable to stop stuffing their own faces, living in their homes that consume more energy in a year than entire extended families in third world countries consume in a lifetime.

There is always going to be a reason to bomb. Just like there is now always going to be a reason for emergency declarations that require your rights be suspended or curtailed, that we force medical experiments on citizens, that you have to pay more, that you can't gather with your fellow citizens (unless of course it's government approved riots and then the experts agree there is no risk of spreading disease... that's just at school, the office, the park, or at holiday gatherings). When or if a terrorist attack is perpetrated by somebody that the FBI "had on their radar" expect that Palantir's new digital Gestapo **hi, guys, thanks for reading** will be further empowered to track your every move and flag you as an anti-American threat when you spread "dangerous disinformation".

If we put boots on the ground then Blackrock, JP Morgan, and a host of other companies (Palantir's co-founder has already expressed his excitement to invest in Iran), will get golden tickets to exploit the resources there and government backing to do it. The IMF will dictate sweeping policy reforms to ensure Iran's government is always occupied by somebody appointed by the western intelligence apparatus, that enacts the globalist agenda, and that cracks down on any true populist movement of the people. Meanwhile the tent cities, violent crime, unemployment, and overall decline in the quality of life that our tax dollars are supposed to support, will only get worse. Infrastructure will continue to crumble, the government will continue to fail to provide essential services during disasters, and we will continue to lack standing to challenge the constant violations of our rights in our courts. Not a single person in government has been held responsible for the gross violations of the 1st that were exposed during COVID, are and were ongoing, and I don't see a future where anybody ever will while we pivot from one imaginary emergency to another. Iran isn't my problem, never has been, and never will be.

Iran has been subject to regime change efforts for decades. They are never about helping the people be free from tyranny, they never make Iran less of a threat, and they never improve the regional tensions. It's the same story, every time, in every nation we "free" from tyranny.

Israel's far-right government bombed Iran's capitol with the intent to spur US action. They're empowered do this because they're exempted from any rules about foreign lobbying requirements even though your tax dollars flow back into nearly all federal political campaigns, laundered funds that come with the implicit expectation to act in the interests of a foreign nation. Israel, their government, their murdering of their own citizens, shouldn't be my problem any more than all the other countries in the world. Until we fix our own mess we shouldn't be concerned with theirs and we shouldn't ever be allowing people that maintain foreign citizenship to legislate how and where we spend our funds. Dual citizens should be removed from all elected offices and all positions requiring an oath to the US, just like Omar and any other person that openly expresses their allegiance to any group other than their constituents in America should be removed. Not that anyone is ever held accountable for violating that oath anyway, but we could at least go back to pretending that we don't allow our government to be infested by interests other than those of the people it's supposed to represent.

This is just part of the plan the grand plan that has been on the agenda for decades -that nobody has ever voted for- and that's not in the interests of the people that ultimately pay for it all with their money, their lives, and their hopes of a better future for their children.

Trump is now just another in a long line of useful idiots. His MAGA and MAHA movements are a sad parody of what they claimed to represent and DOGE was just a viral meme. Patel now sees no Epstein conspiracy, Bondi hasn't followed through with her promises, Kennedy praises Trump's acceleration of biotech (weird since the only biotech he accelerated was mRNA), central bank digital currency has simply been privatized, Palantir is laying the groundwork for social credit via digital ID, and we get ever deeper into an existential debt crisis that we have no hope of escaping. You'll just have to suck it up, pay more, get less, and keep your mouth shut while doing it or be excluded from society.

Thank heavens people on the left are protesting Trump, shame it's not ever been about anything that really matters.

[Nugget]

I was reading on American Thinker today where it was pointed out Iran moved everything from all three of the bombed sites last week, and all intellegence agencies knw there was nothing of value left at the sites. 

If that's the case, this is just another 9/11 or WMD show to get everyone beating their war drums. It's going to take a bit more than this, since we'reso divided, I'm afraid; something on the home front.

I wasn't very popular on ATS for pointing ut the path Trump was on. Gung-ho mRNA, digital currency, revamping the IRS, etc. You can't change the entire status quo of decades with unproven methods and not expect some disaterous glitches.....or maybe they have and are counting on such to absolve accountability. Everything Trump is propossing and doing is adding another layer of tracking on all citizens, and people don't want to see it-because our country was lost a long time ago when we were forced to start voting for the lesser of two evils. Our vote hasn't counted since RINO G.H.W. sealed our fate.

[FCD]

Excellent editorial piece, Ksihkehe.  Very well written.

I must admit, my reaction prior to the strike was much the same as yours, and nothing has changed my dim view of Israel trying to drag the US into a wider regional conflict with anyone and everyone.  I have said, and I will say again, Netanyahum and his henchmen need to go (every bit as much as Iran's leadership needs to go).  They are troublemakers plain and simple.  In the same breath though, I also have to say that Iran's response following the strikes has been interesting to say the least.  Most surprising (at least publicly) was Iran's almost immediate threat to blockade the Straight of Hormuz.  This action would do more harm to Iran than anyone else (and they know it), and it makes me wonder why they would make such a threat.  Strategically, what this kind of a threat translates into is how few options Iran really has available to them.  The threat was clearly aimed at the low-information current events consumer (i.e. the MSM) knowing it would generate a huge **GASP!** and countless headline stories (several of which have already appeared...desperate claims of ..."1/5th of the World's oil supply hangs in the balance!!"  **GASP!**  "Gas prices will soar!!" **GASP!**, etc., etc. ad nauseum.).  All from the usual liberal suspects.  What most people fail to realize is that Iran's oil has been embargoed to the West for years, so short of market manipulation it should have no bearing at all.  Plus, Iran doesn't have a prayer of "controlling" the Straight of Hormuz, the best they could hope for would be to block it.  Otherwise, they would be decimated within minutes...and likely will anyway.  Thus, the biggest customer for Iran's oil is China (and probably Russia to a lesser extent) through illegal means.  Blocking the straight would only cut off this link.  In the big picture, it doesn't make much sense...unless Iran is hoping China will engage (which says something about Iran's capabilities and options).

(Note - Only a fool would believe gas prices won't go up short term, but that's just speculators and playing games and MSM hype allowing for profiteering...not a long term natural resources deficit).

From a military perspective, regardless of the actual damage to Iran's nuclear machine, I am impressed that our forces were able to operate freely with almost pure immunity inside the borders of Iran.  This too says quite a bit about Iran's capabilities, or lack thereof.  Plus, Iran is actually not an easy target to hit (at all) when you look at the geography around it, particularly to the east.  (not impossible, but very difficult on short notice and without awareness).  So, while this may work for B-2's, it doesn't work so well for support aircraft like tankers and shorter range escorts.

In summary, in my heart I wish Trump would have stayed out of it, at least until Iran did something truly egregious (which they haven't really).  I think that would have given the US a lot more credibility.  I am tired of war.  Very tired of it.  

Anyway, great post.

edit - I omitted stating the obvious about Iran's threats regarding the Straight of Hormuz. I think Saudi Arabia might have a thing or two to say about Iran trying to pull a stunt like that!

[Ksihkehe]

I was reading on American Thinker today where it was pointed out Iran moved everything from all three of the bombed sites last week, and all intellegence agencies knw there was nothing of value left at the sites. 

Yes, now Netanyahu (Mileikowsky) has intel on where they're REALLY storing their enriched Uranium. This late intel does a few things. If Trump wants to maintain that striking their nuclear capabilities was justifiably done without approval because it was an imminent threat, then that justification must still exist and another strike is required or he'll have difficulty in fighting what may be yet another impeachment. I don't know if there's really any threat of impeachment, but the issue of appearing weak is still there if he decides against striking the *real* location of the Uranium. This pointless strike still gives Iran all the justification they need to attack US bases, which will then be used as further justification for US involvement.

Most surprising (at least publicly) was Iran's almost immediate threat to blockade the Straight of Hormuz.  This action would do more harm to Iran than anyone else (and they know it), and it makes me wonder why they would make such a threat.  Strategically, what this kind of a threat translates into is how few options Iran really has available to them.  The threat was clearly aimed at the low-information current events consumer (i.e. the MSM) knowing it would generate a huge **GASP!** and countless headline stories (several of which have already appeared...desperate claims of ..."1/5th of the World's oil supply hangs in the balance!!"  **GASP!**  "Gas prices will soar!!" **GASP!**, etc., etc. ad nauseum.).  All from the usual liberal suspects.  What most people fail to realize is that Iran's oil has been embargoed to the West for years, so short of market manipulation it should have no bearing at all.  Plus, Iran doesn't have a prayer of "controlling" the Straight of Hormuz, the best they could hope for would be to block it.

Ships have already stopped going through it seems, since the closure (really just a block as you said) was approved. I did see a piece on how the block will mostly impact their allies. China is going to get oil one way or another, so I would expect that there will be increases in the costs as more is expended on transport and China is forced to pay more in the open markets. A spike, then adjustment back to a higher baseline is my guess. Iran's capacity to produce was also impacted in prior strikes, though I don't know how extensively. I don't know enough about the status of embargoes to understand all the flows and how this will change them. I think I saw that there was another ship lodged in the Suez as well, but that could be press alarmism generating clicks.

What I really don't understand is why this isn't a selective blockade like when Yemen targeted specific vessels. As you pointed out they have no real hope of fully controlling the strait, but the uncertainty of potentially targeting of specific vessels would seem like something they could achieve. Do they not have the capability to seize vessels and escort them to port? If they start blowing things up I would expect immediate escalation from the west, but I don't really know what the plan is and what the threat implies.

It seems like the block is a game of chicken. If all the ships just keep going through, what is Iran really going to do that doesn't cause all out war?

[NobodySpecial268]

Ummm, confused Australian here.

Didn't the American president nominate himself for the Nobel Peace Prize not so long ago?


Asking for confused friend.