Enoon

2 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

In rowing boats to Kharg island?

They are already there.........dug close in among the installations to avoid being targetted, together with all the munitions they need.

Apologies for repeating this if you already saw it in my post on another thread......that was before I saw this thread title confirming my opinion of the sort of battle sought by Iran:

6 hours ago, Enoon said:

Theoretically the US can capture Kharg Island if it acts as it usually does........as long as it is not concerned about destroying the oil facilities .

If it wishes to capture them intact it will have to do so without medium/heavy close support........and that would be something that its foot soldiers would be justifiably dreading.

In that scenario it would be an infantry battle at very close quarters with the advantage being to the defending forces, closely dug in among the facilities. The infantry munitions are already there, relatively unseen/untouched and in sufficient quantity to sustain a protracted battle.

That is exactly the sort of battle that Iran eagerly anticipates and has prepared for.

Stalingrad in the Gulf.

No doubt the US military would remember the battle as the one that demonstrated conclusively the willingness of the US soldier to die bravely.

Even an "ordinary" assault would result in casualties.......to launch a restricted one, lacking medium/heavy CS, would be, in the words of the White House, to "unleash hell".

Theoretically the US can capture Kharg Island if it acts as it usually does........as long as it is not concerned about destroying the oil facilities .

If it wishes to capture them intact it will have to do so without medium/heavy close support........and that would be something that its foot soldiers would be justifiably dreading.

In that scenario it would be an infantry battle at very close quarters with the advantage being to the defending forces, closely dug in among the facilities. The infantry munitions are already there, relatively unseen/untouched and in sufficient quantity to sustain a protracted battle.

That is exactly the sort of battle that Iran eagerly anticipates and has prepared for.

Stalingrad in the Gulf.

No doubt the US military would remember the battle as the one that demonstrated conclusively the willingness of the US soldier to die bravely.

Even an "ordinary" assault would result in casualties.......to launch a restricted one would be, in the words of the White House, to "unleash hell".

19 hours ago, Alan Zweibel said:

Would only the unconditional surrender of the Iranian government qualify?

Would survival of the government but surrender of their nuclear stockpile qualify?

Would guarantees of freedom for the Iranian people along with the survival of the government qualify?

Would freedom for the iranian people and surrender of the nuclear stockpile qualify?

Would surivival of the government, no nuclear stockpile and cessation of support for allies outside the country qualify?

Obviously, there are other possible combinations

I'm asking because I can recall the extravagant claims made by Trump supporters for the campaign against Venezuela: surrender or overthrow of the government, democracy for its people, elimination of the government sponsored drug cartel, and, of course US access to oil. The last item is the only thing that the US secured but supporters celebrated that as a victory. So would a similarly limited concession from the Iranians also qualify as a victory.

I suspect that supporters of the Iranian "excursion" won't want to commit themselves out of fear of having their understanding of what constitutes victory undermined by Trump once again. And once again having to pivot in support.

No victory for US until Iran stops flying the flag of the Islamic Republic, it submits to US hegenomy, and there are no longer any Iranians fighting against those conditions left on Iranian soil.

Pretty much like Aghanistan was supposed to turn out.

Afghan flag on 11th September 2001:

Afghan flag today:

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand's army intelligence chief, Lt Gen Teeranan Nandhakwang, issued a warning about a possible third armed conflict with Cambodia due to its increased weapon purchases from Eastern Europe. Though current tensions are managed through international law rather than military action, Teeranan cautions against complacency as regional dynamics evolve. Preparations are advised ahead of potential escalations tied to Cambodia's upcoming general election.

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Cambodia's recent military acquisitions and its forthcoming election are seen as indicators of possible conflict. Although the rainy season might delay immediate tensions, Lt Gen Teeranan stresses maintaining readiness. He urged Thai troops to enhance their training, draw lessons from past conflicts, and ensure combat readiness through stockpiling and preparedness.

Army spokesperson Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree confirmed troop deployments near the border, though not as close as before. Reports indicate Cambodian forces are repositioning away from the Thai border. Winthai assured that the situation is under control, with ongoing surveillance and reinforcement of defensive positions, despite some provocative actions reported.

Both countries have adhered to ceasefire agreements, but minor provocations and boundary disputes persist. Maj Gen Winthai acknowledged the potential for increased tensions linked to Cambodia’s elections but noted such developments hinge on various factors. The Thai military remains vigilant, with defensive measures in place to address any escalations, reported Thai PBS.

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  Adapted by ASEAN Now · Thai PBS · 24 Mar 2026

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Much more than usual aerial activity in my area (beneath an air exercise zone) during the last couple of weeks.

8 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

😂😂😂😂 ok how about this. Ceasefire is not going to happen. It has to be a settlement. If so eu gesture is meaningless.

Of course they know there will not be a ceasefire.........they are talking out the issue, Filibustering, while Trump continues to skewer himself.

Good on them.

21 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

Wow. Well at least as a confirmed America hater you can take solace in a new fantasy.

Listen, I have friends who are dyed in the wool Dallas Cowboys fans, I understand how losing affects folks. Always that ring out of reach for you lot...Trump not elected, Trump thrown in jail, Trump impeached, America collapsing from tariffs, Netanyahu jailed, Israel destroyed, Iran winning, that first round pick leading us to the Super Bowl......

How's your fantasy that Kharg was going to be taken during the last week going?

March 14

"With Iran essentially defenseless and disarmed, I predict we will take Kharg Island within a week."

Another MEU has just left San Diego because an assault was never planned for in the first place and the one that is a week or so away from the Gulf is nowhere near big enough........I question that the two of them together are enough.

If the assault had been planned those forces would be there now, ready to go in and "win" within Trumps nonsensical 4 week timescale.

What is happening now is "Mission Creep".

Mission creep is synonymous with bad outcomes for those drawn into its web.

Mission creep has set in because Iran didn't fold as expected.....and it's not going to.

"No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces. Only the layman believes that in the course of a campaign he sees the consistent implementation of an original thought that has been considered in advance in every detail and retained to the end."

Helmuth von Moltke, 1871

The Japanese people know exactly what she meant by those exquisitely chosen words.

No promises from me, but I fully expect him to be raging at her by this time next week.......maybe sooner.

If he needed restraint I imagine it would be quite a struggle to get those XXXl shorts on him (which would have been reported) and I question that the police carry them around "just in case".

He may have been "barely clothed" or "semi-naked" but I do not believe he was naked.

The CCTV footage would prove me right or wrong.......but I'll take their word for it if anyone else has seen it as I really don't want to see it for myself.

6 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Richard, you don't see it, living in Pattaya I see foreigners behaving badly every day.

You are tucked away, I think Bangkok if I remember, obviously a better class of foreigners where you are.

I'm not talking bad about every foreigner in Thailand, my best friends here are foreigners.

I travel around Thailand frequently, I see many courteous, respectful foreigners.

"Tucked away"........in the capital (population about 12 million) of Thailand?

You think that you are not "tucked away" in Pattaya (floating population of about 330,000 including "expats" and transients)?

A notorious, veritable ghetto, of dysfunctional "displaced Western persons", that the scum of the world is inexorably drawn to?

You judge foreigners by their behaviour in the world famous Red Light City of The East?

You believe you have a balanced view, superior to Richards?

Read your own words and understand that you really, REALLY, need to get out a bit more.

12 minutes ago, ravip said:

• Early Modern & Colonial Powers (1500–1900 CE):

  • Portuguese/Spanish Empires (1400s–1800s): Age of Exploration global sea powers.

  • Dutch & French Colonial Empires (1600s–1900s): Maritime, colonial dominance.

  • British Empire (1700s–1900s): "The Empire on which the sun never sets".

  • Russian Empire (1700s–1917): Eurasian power.

  • German/Japanese Empires (late 19th–20th Century): Rise of industrialized military powers.

• Modern Superpowers (1900s–Present):

  • United States & Soviet Union (1945–1991): Bipolar Cold War superpowers.

  • United States & China (1991–Present): Primary contemporary

Are we witnessing the fall of one power and the rise of another new world power?

Probably not.

Ask someone what they "think" and you will usually get what they fear or what they hope.

Plenty of hope around on AN concerning the current offensive in the Gulf region.

10 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

Thanks i have been told that there is also a bus from pattaya to Aranyapratet that stops at kabin buri and Sakaeo on way to Aranyapratet but i cant confirm that,,,, going via bangkok they websites quote 14 -17 hours by the bus companies when direct to Sakaeo can be done in 3 -4 hours by car

Lots of buses that serve Central/Eastern/NE Isaan from Pattaya pass through Sakaeo.

That includes the "Yellow Bus" that I used to use from Pattaya to Roi Et.

Your friend really needs to go to North Pattaya bus station and ask.

On 3/14/2026 at 5:44 PM, MIke B Bad said:

It has always amazed me that people do this.....national teams, then city teams, then village teams.... as an example....WHO DO YOU SUPPORT!!......at its heart is evolution, a desire to belong for sure......and it is this element of evolution that leads to racism and religions.....the two worst manifestations of evolution.

Evolution is not over.

The "religion" phase of the evolution began to give way in the 17th century.

Now, after 400 years, the developed world has got to the stage where it is possible to say "there is no God" without being burned at the stake.

The great transition, the great struggle taking place, is that between the age of religion and the age of science.........that is the struggle for our infant species.

There is a long, long way to go.

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

That´s lenient. Try a double up the fine a bit. Maybe 600 000 baht, and it might work better as a deterrent.

Nothing will deter if the information was accessed and "misused" by a government agency.

Some may be tempted to believe that is what was going on in this instance.

2 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

2 hours ago, Roadsternut said:

Consider why the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is being sent from Japan, and not any of the other MEUs currently in the US. Its the only permanently forward deployed MEU. This is because Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea are places where a crisis could literally erupt in days. The time to deploy a unit from the US takes weeks.

But now this unit is going to take a few weeks to redeploy to the Persian Gulf region (to use the official name, not the unofficial name enforced by Saudi Arabia). A crisis could still erupt in Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea, and arguably the chances of that have risen over the last week.

If this was part of careful planning (Hegseth insists that the entire operation is meticulously and perfectly planned), one of the US based MEUs could have started the deployment weeks ago, and relocated their Tiltrotor Squadrons to Saudi Arabia. The MEU being sent consists onsists of a company-sized command element, a battalion landing team, a medium tiltrotor squadron and a combat logistics battalion. Its being reportedly redeployed for contingency reasons (evacuation). But it sounds like a reactionary deployment (unplanned) due to changing facts on the ground, because of the risk it exposes troops in the Pacific theatre to.

If there was an invasion of Kharg Island planned, then you could look at Operation Urgent Fury (the invasion of Grenada); a combined air-sea invasion, about 7-9000 marines against a force of maybe 7-800 paramilitaries from Cuba. The technology has changed a little (the Ospreys weren't around then),, but the approach would be similar; sieze the airfield on the Eastern side of the island, to secure against inevitable attempts by the Iranians to reinforce. The planning would also have to include counter-demolitions thinking, in case the Iranians use scorched earth tactics as Iraq tried in 1991 (setting the island ablaze, causing environmental devastation). The range of the Ospreys means they are right at the edge of their range if the unit deployed to the Gulf of Oman or the Red Sea. The battalion landing team have amphibious equipment, with range of a few kms. So, if the MEU is intended to support operations against Kharg, it will have to pass through Hormuz. And the War Department, while boasting it will keep close to its chest details of planning, have announced to the world, the deployment of this very distinctive mini armada. There is no element of surprise. The USS Tripoli will be target Numero Uno, and the Iranians know when its going to arrive, and be prepared.

Here's a Trumpian reasoning why Kharg Island. Its nothing to do with securing the objective of regime change. In fact it would be regime protection. In normal times, Kharg would support 90% of Iranian oil exports. Right its doing jack. Iranian oil isn't getting out of the Gulf, and it had few customers (one very large important one). A purpose would be to seize Kharg for the purposes of supervised export. Essentially America would run the island for Iran; maintain, repair the facilities (which are probably mostly American made anyhow). Revenue is escrowed or partially released under agreed conditions.

Why would Iran agree to such a thing, rather than launch unlimited and highly motivated waves of suicide bombers at it? Iran knows the US cannot maintain the tempo of air operations against Iran that it has been doing. A read of the headlines shows it will bankrupt the country, deplete military stocks. When Trump refers to unlimited bombs, its unlimited in the same way Russian munitions are unlimited; falling back on 1970s, 1960s, even 1950s stocks stashed in some American desert facility.

Under Trump, relationships with the outside world has become transactional. The US is no longer allied with other nations because of shared values, friendship. The US is no longer a friend of Europe or the UK. Maybe it never was. It maintains an alliance because it suits American interests. And similarly, it has no genuine friendship with Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States or indeed Israel (a country that spends less on defence, as a percentage of GDP, than the target set for NATO members.....). Iranian foreign policy is driven by a fear of the Imperialist; it has a recent history of meddling by the Great Powers. It is a neighbour to Arab nations, Arab nations who view their co-religionists with contempt because the Shia hold the heretical view that the Prophet designated his Son-in-law as his successor on earth (its a much deeper schism than Catholics versus Protestants). Throw into the mix a bit of Iranian nationalism, and Persian Empire stuff. This is why the Shah and then the Mullahs wanted the bomb ultimately. It was a big stick to support willy waving.

The deal the Americans could offer is to become allies of the Islamic Republic, and become a guarantor for Iranian independance. Ultimately, Trump's America doesn't care what goes on inside Iran. It never cared what went on inside Saudi Arabia. It doesn't really care what goes on inside Israel; all those Kibbutz's are basically communist colonies. Iran could be so much better for American business than the Arabs. Take away their oil, and the Gulf Arabs are nothing more than uneducated Bedu, as Lawrence found. Iran though is actually a proper country, with a proper economy. Yes, it earns a lot from oil, but there is so much going on there. There is a lot more that is in America's interest. In Venezuela, the Americans have effectively installed a vociferously Anti-American Vice-President as President. The Bolivar revolution continues, probably to the disappointment of the opposition (they ain't seeing power anytime soon).

When Trump talks about having a candidate in mind as leader of Iran, he's thinking about one of the Mullahs, not that joker Pretender, the Shah, who would last about 10 minutes after arrival before swinging from a handy JCB. And he wouldn't trust an Iranian electorate to vote for anyone; look what happened in Iraq, when you let foreign people have a say. It becomes unpredictable, and you end up with a government who isn't exactly grateful. US does play to type, with a foreign policy that happily supports dictatorships.

Precedence: Vietnam. Its still a communist country, with banners everywhere. The same mob who beat the Americans and threw their allies into re-education camps. Across America, you still see POW-MIA flags flying everywhere, because there are still Americans who think 80 year old downed pilots are still being held in some Vietnamese hellhole, and Chuck Norris/Rambo will rescue them. Saigon is still called Ho Chi Minh City, and there are museums showing captured American war trophies, and lurid illustrations of American capitalist war crimes. But US and Communist Vietnam have become best buds, with Vietnam enjoying preferential trading terms. There are people on this forum who probably served during the Vietnam war who are regularly making border runs to Vietnam.

On the other hand, Trumpm doesn't know his arse from his elbow, let alone what day of the week it is. The 31st MEU might might deploying to support the primary mission its trained for most recently, humanitarian relief, as the US anticipates things going turbo tits up, as the desalination plants are bombed, and cholera breaks out in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and the US needs to get its people the <deleted> out of Dodge quick.

10/10

2 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Maybe not. A MEU-Marine Expeditionary Unit deploys from a ship or helicopters to board ships or conduct amphibious assaults. . 2500 Marines are not going to spend the entire deployment on the ship. It will take 2 weeks to get the MEU from Japan to the ME. Le't see what they will do? Theres is a limited series on Netflix called "Marines". This program shows the traiinng cycle of the 31st MEU based out of Japan. One of the missions they are evauatled on his conducting a beach assault of an island. Conincidence?

Evaluation for conducting assaults on South China Sea islands.

2 hours ago, FlorC said:

I used the word : ethnicity for a reason . From wiki :

An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of humans who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Attributes that ethnicities believe to share include language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, religion, history, or social treatment. Ethnicities are maintained through long-term endogamy and may have a narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry

I did not ask for black/white/asian

"I did not ask for black/white/asian"

All the forms I have ever filled out asking for ethnicity have offered me the choice of White, Black, Asian, etc or "prefer not to say".

What were you hoping for....... Romanian Gypsy Zorastrian? Mongolian Nomad Animist? Andaman Islander Ancestor Worshipper?

What Wikipedia has to say about ethnicity means **** all in the context of real world definitions of ethnicity when compiling and presenting social study statistics concerning matricide in the UK.

8 minutes ago, 1tooth said:

This is a disaster. Hereditary peers have great education, are less corruptible and have life experience to gate keep commoners who won a popularity contest, that was skewed by the ******** press.

Oh absolutely dahling!

Jamie Blandford , John Hervey, Lord Lucan, Lord Charles Brocket.........great educations, straight as dies, marvellous life experiences.

Shining examples all!

😄😄😄