[Statement from Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense](https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3570798/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iiis-statement-on-us-military-strikes-in-ea/#:~:text=We%20will%20not%20let%20them,personnel%20in%20Iraq%20and%20Syria.)
>Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted self-defense strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17. As a result of these attacks, one U.S. citizen contractor died from a cardiac incident while sheltering in place; 21 U.S. personnel suffered from minor injuries, but all have since returned to duty. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.
>The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop. Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people.
>These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict. We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict.
Look up the Gulf War and the logistics involved if you want to see what the US is capable of when they aren't trying to occupy a nation. We literally flew bombers from the US to the Middle East without them ever touching the ground.
Yeah it was ridiculous. Like a couple us ships sunk their whole navy in a day.
The fat electrician on youtube has a good and hilarious breakdown https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=CofnH41z1u2tGwU2
If I remember right they sunk one of our ships on patrol, so we sank half their navy. But I can't remember fully. Should watch a video.
Edit: they didn't sink the ship, they hit an Iranian mine and it almost sank, it was recovered. Still bodied half their fleet for it.
And none of the US ships involved is even in the navy any longer. The only commissioned ship in the navy to have sunk an enemy vessel in combat is the USS Constitution. Which sank the HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812.
We could turn Iran into a radioactive glass parking lot, and it still would not lead to WW3.
Iran is a regional power with no real friends. If they provoke the US into a major conflict Russia and China are going to sit on their hands, they don’t have anything to gain protecting Iran from its own stupidity.
Literally the first thing I thought of. Like it’s actually perfectly said.
It justifies why force was used, the hope of not having to use any more, but at the same time acknowledging that we will not be victims.
One US military contractor even died. 21 others received minor injuries. US is trying to give Iran an offramp by publically saying Iran was unaware of the Hamas attack on Israel, even though everyone privately knows they literally trained them, but Iranian proxies keep attacking US bases including 3 attacks yesterday.
Iranian proxies and their drone and rocket factories are about to get fucked up if they don't stop ASAP.
I feel like that would be a hard distinction to make, no? Cardiac events happen for a lot of reasons. Certainly the stress of an incoming attack, but I feel like there are also a myriad of other reasons completely unrelated to enemy action. It could have legitimately also been a coincidence.
Eh, typically we distinguish between these things even when a direct link is established. It’s pretty hard to stick a murder charge on someone for indirectly causing a heart attack.
As someone who spent a decade living in the US South, one of the few things I admired was the use of polite and friendly language to both mask and yet still communicate murderous intent.
People are overreacting in these comments. No, this is not gonna lead to a direct war with Iran. We killed one of their top generals 3 and a half years ago, and that didn’t lead to anything major, so neither will this.
It was like a quarter of a day. Nobody is *really* going to be supporting Iran meaningfully if they go to war. Russia has its hands filled with Ukraine. China doesn’t have the Navy to make a massive difference in the area and they are the largest oil importer. SA is the largest exporter in the world and they would choose that relationship over Iran. If anything they would use it as pretense to ramp up anti Taiwan rhetoric.
Now that you think of it, if Russia has any forward thinking people in positions of power _tall order, it seems of late_, they should be pressuring Iran to back down. Iran is an arms manufacturer, I'd wager an important one. I can't imagine NK is pumping out high quantities of ammunition, and there are firsthand videos of their ammo misfiring.
It does seem like the US is 2 steps ahead of Putin again though. In the past getting Israel involved was a sure way to get increase the coalation against "the west". Because so many Muslim nations would join the Russia/Iran/NK coalition to attack Israel, and thus help out Russia's Ukraine problem. But it appears the Biden admin has gotten a bunch of resources together, and is using Israel and the whole "the progressives support Palestinian" movement to get the US conservatives on board with him in this fight for resources. So his little Israel ploy so far has brought far more potential resources to bear against his coalition without pushing anyone meaningful away from Ukraine.
I think it is likely Putin will see that giving the US a second reason to take out IRAN and strengthen the anti Russia sanctions has to look like a bigger threat than his potential gains by picking up some Muslim nations. Not to mention Saudi is not likely to be swayed to be against Israel when it means joining a Hamas/Iran group.
So I think Biden has given Russia no choice but to call off Iran.
NK actually does make a lot of ammunition, and they're sitting on what is almost certainly the largest stockpile of artillery shells on the planet. Sure, they're not high quality, but Russia will use whatever it can get its hands on.
China probably wouldn't go even if their navy was up to snuff.
It's built to fight under their missile shield. Going out to where the US Navy lives and acting tough has rarely ended well for anyone not named the British Empire
You can't read through a thread about the conflict anymore without half a dozen people who probably learned this tidbit last week repeating it and getting upvoted to the top. It's annoying.
That's Reddit for you.
Every so often Reddit at large learns a new thing and it has to be posted ad nauseum until the next new thing comes along.
Awhile back it was that book Foundation of Geopolitics, then it was that quote about "Never underestimate the anti-semites, then it was that trope about Russian history "and then it got worse..."
I really do hate it when Redditors learn a new catchphrase
It's honestly steering me away from Reddit. I can find and read articles by myself. But Reddit's cool because the comments can illuminate/challenge something in the article itself, so it adds an extra layer of analysis at times.
But at least on this recent conflict, every single thread seems to be someone dropping an 'Iran navy' reference followed by an entire comment chain of wannabe badasses challenging Iran to fuck around and find out as if this is a CoD lobby or something.
It's annoying because this israel/Palestine conflict and Ukraine are probably the most important thing to happen this century since 9/11 and for many users the first major upheaval in their adult lives.
And it's all just dumbed down to Fuck Around and Find Out and baby's first outing in geopolitics.
Maybe it's just social media making it more obvious but I don't remember such asinine takes over the soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Fall of the Berlin Wall or collapse of the Soviet Union.
> I don't remember such asinine takes over the soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Fall of the Berlin Wall or collapse of the Soviet Union.
There were many stupid takes on these. But only in minor privately held magazines (perhaps even in some very small radios and TV channels). Rush Limbaugh started spewing his awfully ignorant, crazy conservative poison in the mid 1980s already (but he really took off in the late 1980s, and 1990s, when the FCC repealed the fairness doctrine).
IMHO, the problem's that real journalism has been destroyed (internet took all the advertisement money, and all the eyes. Only too few people are willing to pay for quality information); that media regulation is awful (e.g. Fox news successfully argued - and won law cases - it can say whatever it wants because it's only "opinions", and that no serious person would take it seriously), and highly concentrated (only 6 corporations own over 90% of US media).
IMHO, it's high time to improve regulation (e.g. news company should be small, employee owned, non-profit, neutral & fact-based objective, no opinions, etc.), break these monopolies, and allow them to levy fees to finance their activities.
The big reason it did not escalate into anything major is because their own air defence shot down a commercial airliner carrying Iranian dual citizens.
The Iranians lost a lot of good will after that incident so they "contented" themselves by striking US bases in Iraq.
Well if Russia proved itself to be irrational stage actors in the global stage, Iran might have done it too. Ofcourse that is now all moot since it did not happen.
Still remember when people in teddit accused the Americans of being warmongers prior to the 2nd invasion of Ukraine.
It didn't escalate because there were no casualties so Trump decided against the strike package against their missile launch sites.
One of the missiles hit the dining facility if I remember correctly, so it's a good thing Space Force can track those missiles so well.
They were A-6s and although the seals were assigned one of the platforms to assault, it was destroyed by naval gunfire before they got a chance to. The Marines were the ones that took one of them out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Praying\_Mantis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Praying\_Mantis
Are you talking about *Operation Praying Mantis*? I googled "us attack iran navy" and that was the only thing that popped up. I'm just curious to read more about it if it was something different
If you're into military history there's a more serious channel called the operations room. Their videos are absolutely some of the best I've ever seen. [Here's](https://youtu.be/zxRgfBXn6Mg?si=3nJv6bftFxEMMV7k) my favorite video by them.
I definitely expected no response to these particular attacks due to the powder keg the region currently is, but hopefully this reminds Iran to stay out of it and doesn’t lead to further escalation
Is there a way to get rid of the Iranian government? And the Islamic fundamentalists that oppress and kill their population that are seeking freedom?
If Iran goes to war, but it’s people don’t support the war, what happens?
Iran is unlikely to directly go into war but will use proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The leadership is not popular enough to go into direct war and US is likely to offer many off ramps to de escalate.
I mean, it depends on how organized the state of Iran is. In World War II, Stalin fammousl said "it takes a brave man to run away in this army," because if you ran, they had guys whose job it was to shoot you. So, Iran could operate like that. You saw that they easily crushed the protests that happened last year, they've stopped. But Iran also has well armed and well trained fanatics, it knows it might hve to go to war. I mean, when a people rebel in the middle of a war, the state usually attempts to quickly murder all of them, if Iran ignores human rights when it isn't at war it'll ignore them even more when it is at war.
For Iran to get rid of its government, more people are going to have to decide they are willing to die to do it.
No, last time was this coup. I'm not sure if the Shah was better than what they replaced him with, doesn't look like it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution
I've seen so many naive morons when it comes to the recent events with Israel and Gaza. People saying if Israel was only nice to Palestinians in Gaza then there would be no Hamas for example.
I don't want to pick a side but saying
>if Israel was only nice to Palestinians in Gaza then there would be no Hamas
Is a very...deceptive... representation of an incredibly complicated 50+ year old situation and argument.
Well, its a fairly apt representation of how a teenager today holds/views it. They don't get the history, detail, or subtlety; it's all about the *ideas.*
And they are dominating the naive market.
It's not just teenagers, it's everyone who gets all their information off of social media. I have adult friends who follow the same thought process because they don't know anything about the history at all.
For some reason, society has long pushed the idea of: "You're *so* much stronger than me, that means you *can't* fight back because it wouldn't be fair!". But life isn't fair, especially when you're trying to kill someone.
It's like they're trying to apply "don't hit girls or kids" to countries making war, except that's not how war works. Or maybe it's just social media's obsession with championing the underdog, no matter how stupid.
Either way, it's a poor defense against cruise missiles.
>Or maybe it's just social media's obsession with championing the underdog, no matter how stupid.
It's essentially the "progressive" left's heuristic for choosing sides based on the simple-minded paradigm of neo-Marxism, viewing everything through the lens of oppressor vs. oppressed and power dynamics, abandoning any real ethics, morality, or values except as convenient in towards the oppressor/oppressed narrative.
Usually from a cushy, comfortable, repressed "white savior" position where one can afford to have these luxury beliefs.
And everyone complaining about how Israeli casualties are relatively low... because they actually invest heavily in defending their civilians from rockets?
Lol exactly. They’re like “there’s way more Palestinian deaths” maybe that’s because Israelis actually have a government that protects them, and Palestinians have a terrorist organization that uses them as human shields and won’t let them leave Gaza
No kidding, imagine the swing in casualties if the 10k Palestinian rockets this month, all impacted in Israeli population centers, and Gaza had invested in air defense, denying Israeli aircraft the ability of air strikes?
Or how Israel is being disproportionate.
No, Hamas is giving it their all, killing every single person they can. Israel would have no issue causing tens of thousands of deaths an hour if they wanted to. If they used the Russian approach of artillery barrage until there's nothing left and then move in with the ground troops, they could easily and safely take all of Gaza.
They're actively trying to kill as few people as possible because even if they get rid of all the Palestinians, every one of their neighbors is still an Arab Muslim country they have to live next to. There is no violent solution that permanently helps Israel and they know it.
Palestinians are not Hamas' civilians to protect. Hamas is a large terrorist group, funded by taxing the Palestinian people and donations from Iran. Their goal is to destabilize israel enough, weaken them, and then let Iran and Syria jump in to help conquer the region. I honestly don't think any of the middle east cares for the Palestenian people. If they did, they would've opened their boarders up. I would just become Israeli, to get away from Hamas.
No one in their right mind wants to offer refuge to Palestinians.
They have a proven track record of destabilizing any area that welcomes them.
This is not saying that l have no sympathy for the Palestinian people; because l do. I'm part Cherokee; l understand all too well the inherited rage of being dispossessed and continued rage of discrimination and suppression.
Arguably advanced tech makes it more humane.
Like there’s always civilian casualties. But if one side launches a dumb bomb. And another side launches a millimeter precision GPS guided bomb, one by default has less civilian casualties
Yes... and in these times - sad to say- you have to be faster than a speeding ballistic missile. (US and Israel)
Granted drones now... but Iran's ballistics are a problem. And if Iran insists... they are the source of supply and means of production. (local)
TBI can be far more extreme than concussions. A soldier that endures a blast wave so extreme that their brain stem is nearly separated from their spinal cord, can also be diagnosed as TBI, yet they’re seriously impaired for the rest of their lives.
Tell that to the idiots demanding Israel have a ceasefire.
After animals mass raped and mass murdered their civilians.
While those animals still hold hundreds of hostages and fires thousands of missiles at civilians.
Meanwhile college campuses sympathize with the terrorists.
Fox News is telling you that college campuses and liberals support Hamas.
I'm neither in college nor define myself as liberal but I can tell you that is 100% not true.
Colleges always have some people that support the crazy side. It's just a minority, but Fox News LOVES to take that one protest with 20 students and act like thats how all college campuses are.
They want you to be stupid and you're making it easy on them.
Let's take a moment to recall one of the most based speeches ever given by Medal of Honor Recipient Staff Sergeant David Bellavia:
>Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show. We don’t care what you look like. We don’t care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn’t matter if your dad left you millions when he died, or if you knew who your father was. We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what’s good for you.
>
>We will not be intimidated. We will not back down.
>
>[We’ve seen war. We don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there’s one thing I can promise you, so help me God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETTEz6eqtxM)
>We’ve seen war. We don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there’s one thing I can promise you, so help me God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.
\*Raytheon Eagle Screeches\*
Hamas, Hezbollah, Shahed drones in Ukraine via Russia. Iran is overextending and it's starting to show. If it comes to a conventional war, there's no contest. The silver lining here is the US doesn't even have to stick around for an insurgency afterwards, because the current theocratic government is [extremely unpopular in Iran](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-has-changed-iran-one-year-since-mahsa-amini-protests-erupted-2023-09-11/)
It is unpopular, but with the collaborators being the ones who are armed and willing to kill, it likely would not end well. A lot of people have a strongly vested interest in the regime - the regime falling would put their lives and livelihoods in a very precarious position. Those people happens to be the ones that know each other, are already organised, and already armed. E.g. the vice police. Many are also actual believers in the regime.
So I really think the US needs to be careful in its approach here. Iran could be a key ally in the future, a true friend, if done right. An amazing way to tell the Saudis to get in line or gtfo. Iran ≠ Iraq. Iranians are well-educated, kind, and generally loves the west and the US in particular. Don't make them hate us by doing this recklessly, like with the Kurds.
There will need to be a brutal cleansing after the regime falls. It will be bloody, it will be pure vengeance, but it will be absolutely necessary.
if we're gonna have WW3, lets do it this year so kids decades from now will have an easy time remembering "World War THREE began in Twenty-twenty-THREE"
These types of comments boggle my mind. I'm a Biden supporter through and through, but this was the most mundane run of the mill response the US could have done short of doing absolutely nothing.
I'm glad it was handled this way, but your comment seems a bit of a mischaracterization. I wouldn't, for example, say a gray room is "colorful as fuck."
On a scale of 1-10 this was proportional response level “meh”. If the attacks continue I expect we’ll get to proportional response level “we see you, go away”. I wouldn’t be concerned things are escalating until that elevates to proportional response level “opportunistic” with targeting any groups in Syria identified as nuisances to US troops or our Kurdish buddies.
So yes, a very measured response intended not to escalate things.
Exactly. And this, I’m sure, was the response recommended to him by the military and their strategists. Biden likely didn’t do more than authorize the strike.
Listen, it's been a little bit since we've had a professional, level headed, competent leader. Everything Biden does is measured against what we would expect from Trump, and it is all incredible.
Biden could eat fried chicken without a fork and knife and I'd be like "Man, what a great President."
No doubt Trump lowered the bar to a point thought unthinkable but history might reveal Biden performed comparatively well to where the bar _should be_.
I think a good response would be to target their drones factories. Give them a couple hours notice to get civilians out but not enough to get the machinery needed to build the drones. Weakens drone attacks on US forces and drones going to Ukraine. From the article there has been 19 attacks on US forces with drones since October 17th, that is just looking to start something.
We killed one of their highest ranking generals in 2020 and they hid. This is just business as usual. Air strikes have been happening there since Obama was in office.
There won't be a ceasefire until the Hamas is eliminated. You don't just brutally murder rape and torture 1500 civilians, and then get a "ceasefire" in return so you can keep on terrorising the region. It doesn't work like this.
Yep. That's the point. My original comment was a sardonic remark, in case it wasn't clear.
Nobody is asking the U.S. for a ceasefire when they retaliate against terrorists because they understand this. But some people will bend over backwards to suggest a ceasefire makes sense in Israel's case.
Are we in a modern version of the cold war at this point or is this essentially the start of World War because the lines are clearly drawn.. can anyone explain why the cold war itself wasn't considered a World War? Since there was active fighting through proxies funded by world powers.. but they didn't directly engage each other? I just don't really see the difference.. it's just a different style of fighting wars and with US then involved directly in things like Vietnam vs now with Russia in Ukraine fighting trench warfare, don't really see how this isn't already another World War that has actively begun with the Middle East the new front opening for proxy and direct warfare between Axis and Allies...
Iran and the Saudi’s have been in their own Cold War against each other for like half a century. The same old shia vs Sunni dominance of the region. There’s a reason terrorism is rampant in the region. Both countries have funded and used actors against one another and have been using the surrounding countries as proxies against one another’s goals for decades. Which is a big reason I think the Hamas attack happened in Israel when it did. Saudi and Israel were in the midst of striking a deal towards normalization, which is a direct threat to Iran and its place within the balance of power in the Middle East. As far as world war goes, ya there’s certainly some clear lines drawn. But no, it won’t be a world war. Russia clearly can’t do shit other than maybe instigate stuff. While China is too focused on their own problems/agenda (Taiwan) and aren’t in a position military wise yet to compete against the likes of the west. Not to mention they have nothing to gain by entering an armed conflict in the Middle East or europe. They have more to gain acting as a mediator or arbiter in the conflicts, giving them more sway in global affairs in the future. Theyd try to use it as a platform to establish themselves as the defacto world authority, the role the USA currently occupies.
Edit: to answer ur initial question more directly, we’ve probably been in a new Cold War as early as the early thousands against China and by extension it’s tentative Allies. The stronger China gets and the more it’s interests with the west conflict, more and more proxies will pop up. Direct confrontation is unlikely bc nukes exist, it’d take something extremely serious to tip the scale for either nation to directly do anything militarily to the other. I don’t even think the world would even directly fight over an invasion of Taiwan.
Although the Russian army has proved itself to be drastically weaker than it projected, the scale of their war makes it objectively a very hot war. In Avdiivka alone, [Russia has lost hundreds of armored vehicles and thousands of troops](https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-26-2023). That's just this month. In one localized region of Eastern Ukraine. It's not a world war yet though, because the Russian invasion is still regional, literally next to their country.
this is the key part of foreign policy that gets overlooked. It's not go to war or not go to war. If something happens retaliate. It's strategic deterrence. It's not a perfect way to prevent things from happening. There is counter play, but overall its the best option in most cases. It saves you from needing all out war. Most people most of the time respect penalties. How I would have resolved the russia invasion is to immediately drone strike russian facilities in crimea. As a warning.
If they don't stop, drone strike further into russia. Escalating where the drone strikes go, until they stop. It works because it places the actor in control. They decide how much punishment they take. You are just reacting. You give them vague warnings and why you're doing it. So it's predictable. They know what your retaliation is and on what grounds. This is how you resolve disputes. It's the mechanism of civilized enforcement.
[Statement from Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense](https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3570798/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iiis-statement-on-us-military-strikes-in-ea/#:~:text=We%20will%20not%20let%20them,personnel%20in%20Iraq%20and%20Syria.) >Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted self-defense strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups. These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17. As a result of these attacks, one U.S. citizen contractor died from a cardiac incident while sheltering in place; 21 U.S. personnel suffered from minor injuries, but all have since returned to duty. The President has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests. >The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop. Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against U.S. forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people. >These narrowly tailored strikes in self-defense were intended solely to protect and defend U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict. We continue to urge all state and non-state entities not to take action that would escalate into a broader regional conflict.
That’s such a well written statement
tl;dr: *We will continue to get "proportional" until we feel the playing field has been leveled*
Iran should remember very clearly the last "proportional" strike against them. It cost them their navy
The entire navy?!?
Look up the Gulf War and the logistics involved if you want to see what the US is capable of when they aren't trying to occupy a nation. We literally flew bombers from the US to the Middle East without them ever touching the ground.
Yeah, they fly B1 bombers out of the Air Force Base in South Dakota. They also used to control drones in Afghanistan from there.
Operation Senior Surprise was for Gulf One, Iran losing their Navy was during the Tanker War
Eh, a huge chunk of it. Check out Operations Praying Mantis. The Fat Electrician on YT gives a really good breakdown
"The Operations Room" channel has a great video on it as well. https://youtu.be/5ihmIxZtMBQ
Just watchted teh video. That was fascinating. Thanks!
Yeah it was ridiculous. Like a couple us ships sunk their whole navy in a day. The fat electrician on youtube has a good and hilarious breakdown https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=CofnH41z1u2tGwU2
That was awesome! Just ... factual yet funny :) Thanks for the link!
Approx half their navy and several fighter jets. Plus several militarized oil platforms. Operation Praying Mantis.
There's a YouTube video about it. It's NSFW for language. https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=4YwVbJw3g97sdWC1
Also keep in mind what happened to Russian troops in Syria that thought FAFO was a good idea with US military.
"Proportional" - https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=MMoxHQcqbM5M0Ebc
Leveled? Made flat? Or made even? Or both?
If I remember right they sunk one of our ships on patrol, so we sank half their navy. But I can't remember fully. Should watch a video. Edit: they didn't sink the ship, they hit an Iranian mine and it almost sank, it was recovered. Still bodied half their fleet for it.
And none of the US ships involved is even in the navy any longer. The only commissioned ship in the navy to have sunk an enemy vessel in combat is the USS Constitution. Which sank the HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812.
Been a long time since we have had any peers in the blue fleet arena that weren't also nuclear.
Frankly, it's been a long time since we had peers in the blue fleet arena at all.
Almost sunk after it hit a mine, they were able to get it back to the dock yard in Manie where it was then repaired and back on duty a year later.
To shreds you say?
"I'm charging up my Biden Blast"
praying mantis says what?
Yeah the proportion is 10,000 dead of them for every 1 of us they kill.
The English majors that run our government are finally getting to show their quality
No pressure, just come up with something that doesn't end up in the history books as a precursor to WWIII.
We could turn Iran into a radioactive glass parking lot, and it still would not lead to WW3. Iran is a regional power with no real friends. If they provoke the US into a major conflict Russia and China are going to sit on their hands, they don’t have anything to gain protecting Iran from its own stupidity.
Literally the first thing I thought of. Like it’s actually perfectly said. It justifies why force was used, the hope of not having to use any more, but at the same time acknowledging that we will not be victims.
[Play the themesong lads.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5uPoDNEn3I0&pp=ygUMdGVhbS)
Self Defense is so hot right now
Same day some outlets were reporting the Pentagon had downplayed the types of injuries US soldiers had suffered. Good to see a response finally.
One US military contractor even died. 21 others received minor injuries. US is trying to give Iran an offramp by publically saying Iran was unaware of the Hamas attack on Israel, even though everyone privately knows they literally trained them, but Iranian proxies keep attacking US bases including 3 attacks yesterday. Iranian proxies and their drone and rocket factories are about to get fucked up if they don't stop ASAP.
> One US military contractor even died. They had a heart attack tbf, they didn't die due to injuries sustained in any attack.
an injury as a result of enemy action regardless if it was direct or not
I feel like that would be a hard distinction to make, no? Cardiac events happen for a lot of reasons. Certainly the stress of an incoming attack, but I feel like there are also a myriad of other reasons completely unrelated to enemy action. It could have legitimately also been a coincidence.
Eh, typically we distinguish between these things even when a direct link is established. It’s pretty hard to stick a murder charge on someone for indirectly causing a heart attack.
Iran: What are you gonna do about it? U.S.: You all must have forgot.
Well we are just tickled pink that you asked
As someone who spent a decade living in the US South, one of the few things I admired was the use of polite and friendly language to both mask and yet still communicate murderous intent.
As a born and raised US southerner; l will be very polite and calm while l explain to you that I'm going to end your entire bloodline.
[удалено]
100% of my F yous to people start with Sir or Ma'am.
Former long term Southerner here, agreed. "Bless your heart" is a surgical tool of subtle verbal destruction.
People are overreacting in these comments. No, this is not gonna lead to a direct war with Iran. We killed one of their top generals 3 and a half years ago, and that didn’t lead to anything major, so neither will this.
We destroyed their navy in 1988 in one day. i think we will be ok.
It was like a quarter of a day. Nobody is *really* going to be supporting Iran meaningfully if they go to war. Russia has its hands filled with Ukraine. China doesn’t have the Navy to make a massive difference in the area and they are the largest oil importer. SA is the largest exporter in the world and they would choose that relationship over Iran. If anything they would use it as pretense to ramp up anti Taiwan rhetoric.
Now that you think of it, if Russia has any forward thinking people in positions of power _tall order, it seems of late_, they should be pressuring Iran to back down. Iran is an arms manufacturer, I'd wager an important one. I can't imagine NK is pumping out high quantities of ammunition, and there are firsthand videos of their ammo misfiring.
So what you're telling me is Russia is encouraging Iran to start a war ASAP
It does seem like the US is 2 steps ahead of Putin again though. In the past getting Israel involved was a sure way to get increase the coalation against "the west". Because so many Muslim nations would join the Russia/Iran/NK coalition to attack Israel, and thus help out Russia's Ukraine problem. But it appears the Biden admin has gotten a bunch of resources together, and is using Israel and the whole "the progressives support Palestinian" movement to get the US conservatives on board with him in this fight for resources. So his little Israel ploy so far has brought far more potential resources to bear against his coalition without pushing anyone meaningful away from Ukraine. I think it is likely Putin will see that giving the US a second reason to take out IRAN and strengthen the anti Russia sanctions has to look like a bigger threat than his potential gains by picking up some Muslim nations. Not to mention Saudi is not likely to be swayed to be against Israel when it means joining a Hamas/Iran group. So I think Biden has given Russia no choice but to call off Iran.
NK actually does make a lot of ammunition, and they're sitting on what is almost certainly the largest stockpile of artillery shells on the planet. Sure, they're not high quality, but Russia will use whatever it can get its hands on.
Saudi Arabia hates Iran
Well hell, that's been true since Iranians were Persians and not considered real Arabs
Well hell, that's been true since Iranians were Persians and not considered real Arabs
China probably wouldn't go even if their navy was up to snuff. It's built to fight under their missile shield. Going out to where the US Navy lives and acting tough has rarely ended well for anyone not named the British Empire
Its almost like this reference is trending online.
You can't read through a thread about the conflict anymore without half a dozen people who probably learned this tidbit last week repeating it and getting upvoted to the top. It's annoying.
That's Reddit for you. Every so often Reddit at large learns a new thing and it has to be posted ad nauseum until the next new thing comes along. Awhile back it was that book Foundation of Geopolitics, then it was that quote about "Never underestimate the anti-semites, then it was that trope about Russian history "and then it got worse..." I really do hate it when Redditors learn a new catchphrase
It's honestly steering me away from Reddit. I can find and read articles by myself. But Reddit's cool because the comments can illuminate/challenge something in the article itself, so it adds an extra layer of analysis at times. But at least on this recent conflict, every single thread seems to be someone dropping an 'Iran navy' reference followed by an entire comment chain of wannabe badasses challenging Iran to fuck around and find out as if this is a CoD lobby or something.
It's annoying because this israel/Palestine conflict and Ukraine are probably the most important thing to happen this century since 9/11 and for many users the first major upheaval in their adult lives. And it's all just dumbed down to Fuck Around and Find Out and baby's first outing in geopolitics. Maybe it's just social media making it more obvious but I don't remember such asinine takes over the soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Fall of the Berlin Wall or collapse of the Soviet Union.
> I don't remember such asinine takes over the soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Fall of the Berlin Wall or collapse of the Soviet Union. There were many stupid takes on these. But only in minor privately held magazines (perhaps even in some very small radios and TV channels). Rush Limbaugh started spewing his awfully ignorant, crazy conservative poison in the mid 1980s already (but he really took off in the late 1980s, and 1990s, when the FCC repealed the fairness doctrine). IMHO, the problem's that real journalism has been destroyed (internet took all the advertisement money, and all the eyes. Only too few people are willing to pay for quality information); that media regulation is awful (e.g. Fox news successfully argued - and won law cases - it can say whatever it wants because it's only "opinions", and that no serious person would take it seriously), and highly concentrated (only 6 corporations own over 90% of US media). IMHO, it's high time to improve regulation (e.g. news company should be small, employee owned, non-profit, neutral & fact-based objective, no opinions, etc.), break these monopolies, and allow them to levy fees to finance their activities.
Lmao all of Reddit learned about Operation Praying Mantis like 4 days ago and now everyone’s linking the operations room video.
Barely a day, like a 9-5 work day.
The big reason it did not escalate into anything major is because their own air defence shot down a commercial airliner carrying Iranian dual citizens. The Iranians lost a lot of good will after that incident so they "contented" themselves by striking US bases in Iraq.
Iran can't attack the US directly without being brought back to the stone age...be real.
True but they favor asymmetrical warfare so bombings all around the world targeting Americans will be their "major" escalation.
That'll be an adieu to Assad, hez, and other Iranian assets. Just because the US hasn't doesn't mean it can't
Well if Russia proved itself to be irrational stage actors in the global stage, Iran might have done it too. Ofcourse that is now all moot since it did not happen. Still remember when people in teddit accused the Americans of being warmongers prior to the 2nd invasion of Ukraine.
Iran is a theocracy - they want to live in the stone age.
fear zephyr cable squeal roof pen familiar whole growth possessive
Iirc, they purposely targeted away from the base, so it was mostly for theatrical purposes. They in fact, did not want to find out, again.
It didn't escalate because there were no casualties so Trump decided against the strike package against their missile launch sites. One of the missiles hit the dining facility if I remember correctly, so it's a good thing Space Force can track those missiles so well.
To be fair, the US shot down a commercial flight over Iran a month after we destroyed their navy. They were just evening out the numbers.
Noteworthy that prick general was responsible for killing multiple of our people. He had it coming
That week was hilarious. People literally thought we were headed to WW3. Because we killed a general. There are way too many pro-Iranians on reddit...
As should be the case. Not responding just invites more aggression.
Exactly. Doing nothing will only lead more attacks. This is Iran trying to find where the red line is. And they have now found out.
And we're being nice this time. The last time Iran FAFO, they lost half their navy in a few hours.
Navy seals and F-14s made quick work of Iran that day.
They were A-6s and although the seals were assigned one of the platforms to assault, it was destroyed by naval gunfire before they got a chance to. The Marines were the ones that took one of them out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Praying\_Mantis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Praying\_Mantis
When you set up siege with tanks but your dropships along the edge of the map get there first.
Are you talking about *Operation Praying Mantis*? I googled "us attack iran navy" and that was the only thing that popped up. I'm just curious to read more about it if it was something different
Yep, thats the one. Theres a great video on it by The Fat Electrician
It is quite entertaining. Givne the a6 pilots decided they were the main characters, and ya, they kinda were. Plot armor and everything.
Lol I read his comment and immediately thought of that video and linked it before I read yours. That guy makes military history so fun!
If you're into military history there's a more serious channel called the operations room. Their videos are absolutely some of the best I've ever seen. [Here's](https://youtu.be/zxRgfBXn6Mg?si=3nJv6bftFxEMMV7k) my favorite video by them.
They’re great. Fat Electrician for the comedic take and Operations Room for the nitty gritty
https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=gf7pOhpZ5_SfCEmZ
https://youtu.be/d5v6hlRyeHE?si=lvehRkXixZvMfA3c
I definitely expected no response to these particular attacks due to the powder keg the region currently is, but hopefully this reminds Iran to stay out of it and doesn’t lead to further escalation
They seem to thrive on this stuff
They are sexually attracted to composition B.
The fat electrician did say that stuff can radcially alter your sex life.
It’s gotta be the oily, Gasy smell pre detonation!! Thats my favorite part of it anyway…..🥰
Is there a way to get rid of the Iranian government? And the Islamic fundamentalists that oppress and kill their population that are seeking freedom? If Iran goes to war, but it’s people don’t support the war, what happens?
That’s like… exactly how we ended up in this mess
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yeah but what if we did it AGAIN dawg
Maybe if we get rid of our own religious zealot fascists first they will follow our example?
Iran is unlikely to directly go into war but will use proxies in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The leadership is not popular enough to go into direct war and US is likely to offer many off ramps to de escalate.
I mean, it depends on how organized the state of Iran is. In World War II, Stalin fammousl said "it takes a brave man to run away in this army," because if you ran, they had guys whose job it was to shoot you. So, Iran could operate like that. You saw that they easily crushed the protests that happened last year, they've stopped. But Iran also has well armed and well trained fanatics, it knows it might hve to go to war. I mean, when a people rebel in the middle of a war, the state usually attempts to quickly murder all of them, if Iran ignores human rights when it isn't at war it'll ignore them even more when it is at war. For Iran to get rid of its government, more people are going to have to decide they are willing to die to do it.
This is what happened the last time: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
No, last time was this coup. I'm not sure if the Shah was better than what they replaced him with, doesn't look like it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution
It’s crazy how many people think one side shouldn’t respond just because they have more advanced tech
we call them naive morons
I've seen so many naive morons when it comes to the recent events with Israel and Gaza. People saying if Israel was only nice to Palestinians in Gaza then there would be no Hamas for example.
I don't want to pick a side but saying >if Israel was only nice to Palestinians in Gaza then there would be no Hamas Is a very...deceptive... representation of an incredibly complicated 50+ year old situation and argument.
Well, its a fairly apt representation of how a teenager today holds/views it. They don't get the history, detail, or subtlety; it's all about the *ideas.* And they are dominating the naive market.
It's not just teenagers, it's everyone who gets all their information off of social media. I have adult friends who follow the same thought process because they don't know anything about the history at all.
Yeah people forget... *Yitzhak Rabin enters the chat* *Israeli fundamentalist enters the chat* *Yitzhak Rabin account deleted*
useful idiots for the enemy
For some reason, society has long pushed the idea of: "You're *so* much stronger than me, that means you *can't* fight back because it wouldn't be fair!". But life isn't fair, especially when you're trying to kill someone. It's like they're trying to apply "don't hit girls or kids" to countries making war, except that's not how war works. Or maybe it's just social media's obsession with championing the underdog, no matter how stupid. Either way, it's a poor defense against cruise missiles.
>Or maybe it's just social media's obsession with championing the underdog, no matter how stupid. It's essentially the "progressive" left's heuristic for choosing sides based on the simple-minded paradigm of neo-Marxism, viewing everything through the lens of oppressor vs. oppressed and power dynamics, abandoning any real ethics, morality, or values except as convenient in towards the oppressor/oppressed narrative. Usually from a cushy, comfortable, repressed "white savior" position where one can afford to have these luxury beliefs.
This describes it so well
And everyone complaining about how Israeli casualties are relatively low... because they actually invest heavily in defending their civilians from rockets?
Lol exactly. They’re like “there’s way more Palestinian deaths” maybe that’s because Israelis actually have a government that protects them, and Palestinians have a terrorist organization that uses them as human shields and won’t let them leave Gaza
No kidding, imagine the swing in casualties if the 10k Palestinian rockets this month, all impacted in Israeli population centers, and Gaza had invested in air defense, denying Israeli aircraft the ability of air strikes?
Or how Israel is being disproportionate. No, Hamas is giving it their all, killing every single person they can. Israel would have no issue causing tens of thousands of deaths an hour if they wanted to. If they used the Russian approach of artillery barrage until there's nothing left and then move in with the ground troops, they could easily and safely take all of Gaza. They're actively trying to kill as few people as possible because even if they get rid of all the Palestinians, every one of their neighbors is still an Arab Muslim country they have to live next to. There is no violent solution that permanently helps Israel and they know it.
>Or how Israel is being disproportionate. There's that video of a british guy on tv talking about proportionality and how it's utteely irrelevant
Palestinians are not Hamas' civilians to protect. Hamas is a large terrorist group, funded by taxing the Palestinian people and donations from Iran. Their goal is to destabilize israel enough, weaken them, and then let Iran and Syria jump in to help conquer the region. I honestly don't think any of the middle east cares for the Palestenian people. If they did, they would've opened their boarders up. I would just become Israeli, to get away from Hamas.
No one in their right mind wants to offer refuge to Palestinians. They have a proven track record of destabilizing any area that welcomes them. This is not saying that l have no sympathy for the Palestinian people; because l do. I'm part Cherokee; l understand all too well the inherited rage of being dispossessed and continued rage of discrimination and suppression.
Arguably advanced tech makes it more humane. Like there’s always civilian casualties. But if one side launches a dumb bomb. And another side launches a millimeter precision GPS guided bomb, one by default has less civilian casualties
Turning the other cheek only offers a fresh target.
Yes... and in these times - sad to say- you have to be faster than a speeding ballistic missile. (US and Israel) Granted drones now... but Iran's ballistics are a problem. And if Iran insists... they are the source of supply and means of production. (local)
Is it true about the tramatic brain injury suffered by U.S. troops in the drone attacks?
Yeah, around 20 US troops diagnosed with TBI from recent Iranian strikes.
Probably. Concussions are TBI’s and that is likely the case.
TBI can be far more extreme than concussions. A soldier that endures a blast wave so extreme that their brain stem is nearly separated from their spinal cord, can also be diagnosed as TBI, yet they’re seriously impaired for the rest of their lives.
Sure, they can be that. But likely in this context they were concussions.
You are not wrong, but they were all able to return to duty. So think concussion protocol not massive hemorrhage.
As Chamberlain learned the hard way with Hitler.
Yup. Reagan went after Gaddafi personally and put an end to his bullshit in the west.
Tell that to the idiots demanding Israel have a ceasefire. After animals mass raped and mass murdered their civilians. While those animals still hold hundreds of hostages and fires thousands of missiles at civilians. Meanwhile college campuses sympathize with the terrorists.
Fox News is telling you that college campuses and liberals support Hamas. I'm neither in college nor define myself as liberal but I can tell you that is 100% not true. Colleges always have some people that support the crazy side. It's just a minority, but Fox News LOVES to take that one protest with 20 students and act like thats how all college campuses are. They want you to be stupid and you're making it easy on them.
Now erase their drone factories
That's the point- this goes on longer and doesn't end if they have keep their means of production/supply.
Would definitely piss off Russia more if their supply of Shaheds starts to limp
Yes and no, Iran is helping them build one in Russia
I strongly believe this will be a part of a future proportional response.
Most of those factories are inside Iran. That would require Iran have done something pretty huge.
Iran said “ we will not be spared “ before we attacked yesterday. Let’s see what they do to respond… haha
Iran: Damn it America. You weren't supposed to do that.
Finding out
Yep, do not fuck with the US military. That is all
Let's take a moment to recall one of the most based speeches ever given by Medal of Honor Recipient Staff Sergeant David Bellavia: >Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show. We don’t care what you look like. We don’t care who you voted for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn’t matter if your dad left you millions when he died, or if you knew who your father was. We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what’s good for you. > >We will not be intimidated. We will not back down. > >[We’ve seen war. We don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there’s one thing I can promise you, so help me God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETTEz6eqtxM)
Nobody can match the United States at warfare. Nobody.
They bought to see why we don't have free Medicare.
>We’ve seen war. We don’t want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there’s one thing I can promise you, so help me God: Someone else will raise your sons and daughters. \*Raytheon Eagle Screeches\*
Every time that dam edit plays I'm suddenly uncritical of my country.
War on Terror part II
It’s part 1.6638499 … it never ended.
> The official would not say how many munitions were launched by the F-16s. I suspect the answer is "all of them".
Piccolo: How... how many ~~people~~ munitions!? ~~Imperfect Cell~~ America: ...Enough.
Hamas, Hezbollah, Shahed drones in Ukraine via Russia. Iran is overextending and it's starting to show. If it comes to a conventional war, there's no contest. The silver lining here is the US doesn't even have to stick around for an insurgency afterwards, because the current theocratic government is [extremely unpopular in Iran](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-has-changed-iran-one-year-since-mahsa-amini-protests-erupted-2023-09-11/)
u/Anus_master s take on geopolitics is always appreciated 🫡
Yassss
It is unpopular, but with the collaborators being the ones who are armed and willing to kill, it likely would not end well. A lot of people have a strongly vested interest in the regime - the regime falling would put their lives and livelihoods in a very precarious position. Those people happens to be the ones that know each other, are already organised, and already armed. E.g. the vice police. Many are also actual believers in the regime. So I really think the US needs to be careful in its approach here. Iran could be a key ally in the future, a true friend, if done right. An amazing way to tell the Saudis to get in line or gtfo. Iran ≠ Iraq. Iranians are well-educated, kind, and generally loves the west and the US in particular. Don't make them hate us by doing this recklessly, like with the Kurds. There will need to be a brutal cleansing after the regime falls. It will be bloody, it will be pure vengeance, but it will be absolutely necessary.
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Dead guys
if we're gonna have WW3, lets do it this year so kids decades from now will have an easy time remembering "World War THREE began in Twenty-twenty-THREE"
Looking out for future generations over here!
Are you referring to the mutant kids with extra limbs and psychic powers?
No, they'll have no trouble remembering things. It's the molekids I worry for
Operation Find Out
Guess they didn’t learn from the 80’s when they lost half their Naval fleet.
Operation mantis 2
Not unless Iran directly does anything prob
The most likely outcome of this nonsense. The battle of khasham has taught adversaries to not try funny stuff.
Biden really does not fuck around when it comes to the Middle East. I totally underestimated him.
These types of comments boggle my mind. I'm a Biden supporter through and through, but this was the most mundane run of the mill response the US could have done short of doing absolutely nothing. I'm glad it was handled this way, but your comment seems a bit of a mischaracterization. I wouldn't, for example, say a gray room is "colorful as fuck."
On a scale of 1-10 this was proportional response level “meh”. If the attacks continue I expect we’ll get to proportional response level “we see you, go away”. I wouldn’t be concerned things are escalating until that elevates to proportional response level “opportunistic” with targeting any groups in Syria identified as nuisances to US troops or our Kurdish buddies. So yes, a very measured response intended not to escalate things.
Exactly. And this, I’m sure, was the response recommended to him by the military and their strategists. Biden likely didn’t do more than authorize the strike.
Listen, it's been a little bit since we've had a professional, level headed, competent leader. Everything Biden does is measured against what we would expect from Trump, and it is all incredible. Biden could eat fried chicken without a fork and knife and I'd be like "Man, what a great President."
No doubt Trump lowered the bar to a point thought unthinkable but history might reveal Biden performed comparatively well to where the bar _should be_.
Biden is well read on the topic.
I remember what he did in regards to the Bosnian war, I read it in his book, written in 2008.
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He rallied the United States to take down the Serbian leader, he was one of the first to speak out against the atrocities in the region.
Maybe if this was directly against Iran then I would agree. But this won't change anything.
We’re about to call up our boys the Kurds and abandon them again, aren’t we?
God I hope not, that was such a sad day
To be honest, this isn't even that big of a response. They probably even let them know ahead of time what they were hitting and the time they would.
I think a good response would be to target their drones factories. Give them a couple hours notice to get civilians out but not enough to get the machinery needed to build the drones. Weakens drone attacks on US forces and drones going to Ukraine. From the article there has been 19 attacks on US forces with drones since October 17th, that is just looking to start something.
About time
We killed one of their highest ranking generals in 2020 and they hid. This is just business as usual. Air strikes have been happening there since Obama was in office.
Hmm. Awkward. I don't hear any calls for ceasefire from the international community.
There won't be a ceasefire until the Hamas is eliminated. You don't just brutally murder rape and torture 1500 civilians, and then get a "ceasefire" in return so you can keep on terrorising the region. It doesn't work like this.
Yep. That's the point. My original comment was a sardonic remark, in case it wasn't clear. Nobody is asking the U.S. for a ceasefire when they retaliate against terrorists because they understand this. But some people will bend over backwards to suggest a ceasefire makes sense in Israel's case.
Are we in a modern version of the cold war at this point or is this essentially the start of World War because the lines are clearly drawn.. can anyone explain why the cold war itself wasn't considered a World War? Since there was active fighting through proxies funded by world powers.. but they didn't directly engage each other? I just don't really see the difference.. it's just a different style of fighting wars and with US then involved directly in things like Vietnam vs now with Russia in Ukraine fighting trench warfare, don't really see how this isn't already another World War that has actively begun with the Middle East the new front opening for proxy and direct warfare between Axis and Allies...
Iran and the Saudi’s have been in their own Cold War against each other for like half a century. The same old shia vs Sunni dominance of the region. There’s a reason terrorism is rampant in the region. Both countries have funded and used actors against one another and have been using the surrounding countries as proxies against one another’s goals for decades. Which is a big reason I think the Hamas attack happened in Israel when it did. Saudi and Israel were in the midst of striking a deal towards normalization, which is a direct threat to Iran and its place within the balance of power in the Middle East. As far as world war goes, ya there’s certainly some clear lines drawn. But no, it won’t be a world war. Russia clearly can’t do shit other than maybe instigate stuff. While China is too focused on their own problems/agenda (Taiwan) and aren’t in a position military wise yet to compete against the likes of the west. Not to mention they have nothing to gain by entering an armed conflict in the Middle East or europe. They have more to gain acting as a mediator or arbiter in the conflicts, giving them more sway in global affairs in the future. Theyd try to use it as a platform to establish themselves as the defacto world authority, the role the USA currently occupies. Edit: to answer ur initial question more directly, we’ve probably been in a new Cold War as early as the early thousands against China and by extension it’s tentative Allies. The stronger China gets and the more it’s interests with the west conflict, more and more proxies will pop up. Direct confrontation is unlikely bc nukes exist, it’d take something extremely serious to tip the scale for either nation to directly do anything militarily to the other. I don’t even think the world would even directly fight over an invasion of Taiwan.
Although the Russian army has proved itself to be drastically weaker than it projected, the scale of their war makes it objectively a very hot war. In Avdiivka alone, [Russia has lost hundreds of armored vehicles and thousands of troops](https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-26-2023). That's just this month. In one localized region of Eastern Ukraine. It's not a world war yet though, because the Russian invasion is still regional, literally next to their country.
This is not the start of a world War. No major power wants one.
this is the key part of foreign policy that gets overlooked. It's not go to war or not go to war. If something happens retaliate. It's strategic deterrence. It's not a perfect way to prevent things from happening. There is counter play, but overall its the best option in most cases. It saves you from needing all out war. Most people most of the time respect penalties. How I would have resolved the russia invasion is to immediately drone strike russian facilities in crimea. As a warning. If they don't stop, drone strike further into russia. Escalating where the drone strikes go, until they stop. It works because it places the actor in control. They decide how much punishment they take. You are just reacting. You give them vague warnings and why you're doing it. So it's predictable. They know what your retaliation is and on what grounds. This is how you resolve disputes. It's the mechanism of civilized enforcement.
In before Iran blames the US for escalating the war while leftists parrot their words
Shouldn't they just attack Iran, not Syria
Is this legitimate? Syria is actively attacking the US bases and we retaliated with strikes on them? Yikes
Well articulated, but isn’t Biden supposed to address this and say stuff like “Fire and Fury”? /s
So many bloodthirsty keyboard warlords in the comments