Sapper Redux said:
I bleed maroon said:
Sapper Redux said:
I bleed maroon said:
Dr. Doctor said:
Glad to know that we went into this quagmire with zero planning against an enemy that has been preparing for the past 40+ years.
Who's looking to take on their perceived 'bully' and bloody some noses.
I'm sure nothing bad will come of this...
~egon
I'm sure you know this, but this is a total fabrication and lie. Don't let your political bias intrude into your desired truth.
The US military, intelligence, and diplomatic community has in fact been planning a version of this action for over 40 years themselves. Israel as well. Think about it - you know this. The difference is that we didn't have a leader during this past time period that posted his every thought and whim on social media on an hourly basis. Past leaders had decorum, discipline, and judgment that were above this sort of thing. THAT's the difference, and is the primary wildcard here - no need to embellish or exaggerate.
The military is usually good at planning operations. They are complete **** at planning for the consequences of operations. People love to blame politicians for failures in Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan, but the simple fact is that the military does not fully consider the consequences of military action. You only need look at the horrible assumptions made regarding strategic bombing or "shock and awe." Additionally, the Pentagon doesn't give two ****s about oil prices or the stock market.
This is where you need civilian leadership to step in and apply their expertise and offer a critical eye towards military plans. It appears there was none in this case.
The hyperbole is strong on all sides in this conflict. Trump may end up royally screwing this up in the end (I have no faith in his Commander in Chief performance myself), but:
1. Zero planning or oversight of the military? Silly falsehood.
2. "Quagmire"? After three weeks? Get real.
3. Fun to exaggerate things to make your political opponents look bad? Sure.
1. What's the endgame here? Seriously, what's the goal and what does success look like in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? Has any of that been explained with any reliability? Because the goals seem to shift daily. The measure of success seems extremely arbitrary. And buy-in from allies and strategic partners who could help guarantee the outcome was never sought and instead the plan seems to be to insult them until they acquiesce. The military can plan different operations for different strategic goals, but the choice of targets and the integration with a larger strategic vision relies on the civilian leadership.
2. Can you point to where I said quagmire? I said there appears to be no planning for the full scope of this conflict and I stand by that. The history of these "operations" is not good and the application of overwhelming force alone, particularly bombing, has an awful history of producing the long term results you want.
3. I'm not exaggerating anything. Trump and Hegseth are doing little more than trolling in public. They haven't done anything to explain the conflict to the American people or explain the actual goals. Those goals seem to shift moment to moment.
Terming this a
Quagmire was in the initial post I responded to which you didn't disagree with in your descriptions (Afghanistan and Vietnam references). I am not sure what the "endgame" is, and I share your concern that we're providing shifting guidance to our military and allies. The loss of our alliance network is perhaps the most troubling thing about this whole thing to me. Mutual trust is built up over a long period of time, and can be destroyed very quickly.
That said, Iran is an established enemy with a proven, stated and reiterated desire to bring death to all of us, so acting at a time of our choosing is probably the wisest beginning course of action. I won't weep for the Ayatollah or his henchmen, even though I'm primarily a pacifist. China and Russia are "adversaries", but have not directly brought death and destruction to the US on the level of Iran and radicalized Middle-Easterners, so I won't even call them enemies at this point. Iran has been our foremost enemy since the end of the cold war, and some sort of confrontation was probably inevitable.
Back to the topic at hand - - I don't think there is any
economically "good time" to launch a war, but if Trump succeeds in taking out a belligerent enemy in a short period of time, at limited fiscal damage, I'll be the first to applaud it. I do, however, share your doubts, and I can certainly foresee a scenario where a $200 billion cost is simply the initial downpayment. I'll wait and see, and remain pragmatic in my assessment of the success of this "mission". I'd suggest people of all political persuasions do the same.