In many areas, we're already careening into $7 and $8 gallons. And it's truly just the beginning.

Just wait until the cost of food skyrockets in the fall...just before elections.

Dems are going to win so much they might have to actually impeach someone, which would *really* piss them off.

@artemis

Like, the US is a toddler throwing a tantrum and Iran is simply taking away its toys.

It very much looks like Iran saying "we didn't pick this fight so we're just trying to stop getting hit". That would be the reason to take out materiel not soldiers.

And sure enough, they started by blowing up most of our radar network with cheap drones and then started sending out the big bombs.

Are you KIDDING me?

Sure, all they did in response was a few warning missiles to let everyone know "we are not defenseless, & we know where to hit you." I saw the news describe those missiles as "symbolic" because of course they were shot down by US & Israeli air defense, but then again...was that a test to see the air defense in action & look for weakness? Was that practice?

It seems as though even those who told Trump the attack was a horrible idea did not have a full picture of Iran's capabilities. It wasn't recognizable at the time, but Trump's first big blunder in this military conflict may have happened almost a year ago at this point.

>[Experts] also pointed to structural challenges, including a shortfall of fortified shelters that could protect troops and equipment at key positions and likely targets.

My spouse, who was at one time stationed on a Navy ship sitting off the coast of Iran believes that the US plan for Iran has always been to give them some soft targets in hopes that Iran would start the aggression & then the US would respond with overwhelming force with the support of NATO.

I do NOT however think the plan was (for instance) for the 5th Fleet HQ to be bombed out & become non-operational. The idea was that the "out of control" IR would attack them & they could immediately respond with maximum force.

I do not think they anticipated the sort of damage Iran could do either.

There is reason to believe that the attacks in June 2025, spurred on rapid development & preparation for a major conflict with the US. It is something they have always known was in the cards, but the events of last year a) told them that further attack was imminent and b) gave them insight into how the airstrikes would be conducted.

I think that is perhaps overstating the case. The media was heavily embedded in both Iraq wars and Afghanistan. The coverage was pretty heavy for counter-ISIS in 2016-7 when I was there.

That said, the current regime is active about keeping the media effectively cut off or force fed.

One tragilarious part is that they are finally getting to fight a "regular" war, the kind the brass has always wanted, and they're still losing.

When I was sitting in Ukraine in 2021 reading books about Vietnam (I had little mission and a lot of time), the parallels with Afghanistan (where I spent 2006) were screamingly obvious--just change the names and numbers.

And then Afghanistan collapsed that summer. As it was always going to eventually.

We don't learn. Institutional memory in the military is very short except with the senior leadership; everyone else gets out. And those leaders too often learned the wrong lessons.

Second--and maybe a counterargument--but the way to make Americans lose the will to fight often IS to kill a bunch of us. See: Beirut embassy bombing in 83, Somalia in 93 ("Black Hawk Down"), et al.

Our modern will to war is married to our ability to conduct it w/o blood cost. I think Iran is quite happy to hit at the soft support network behind the direct military effort, but if they're able to kill 300 at a stroke, we'll suddenly be having a different national conversation.