12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

That means - taking Qeshm - blitzing it, putting boots on the ground there. Neutralising all potential Iranian risk assets that 'could' impact shipping -

Taking Qeshm wouldn't reduce the threat to shipping. Iran's long coastline along Hormuz would still be in play. No, troop insertion anywhere would just be one more idiot move that doesn't have a viable end result. Just declare victory and come home; the sailors on the Ford would be so grateful.

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Tell me something I don't know. Move along now ...

That would be an impossible task to someone who spouts that they know everything.

2 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

It is Easter you know and Trump is a devout Christian backed by all of the American Evangelicals, so cannot do anything until Easter has passed.

Ahhh.

Like a resurrection?🙃🙃

28 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Not at all. I'm just saying all of us who live in Thailand -- citizens and expats -- will be subjected to long gasoline queues and price hikes -- if there's even gasoline to queue up for..... Plus other shortfall effects, like with LNG and fertilizer. While the only impact back in the US will be having to pay more for a gallon of gas -- but no shortfalls or queue lines.

Thank you Donald. You blithering idiot. He doesn't care how this war is effecting the whole world, as long as the US isn't feeling too much pain.

I think Thailand will be relatively unscathed in terms of supply, because Iran does not regard it as a hostile country. Cost of fuel is a different kettle of fish which affects everyone.

The US will feel the pain as much as anyone else. The hike in oil price is everywhere. As well, Trump wants $1.5 trillion extra for defence, to be paid for by cuts to health and education.

Trump is actually rat cunning when it comes to manipulating the poor and ignorant. However, he is also economically, scientifically and militarily illiterate.

Historians consider the reign of the emperor Commodus as the beginning of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. They cite three factors - political instability, economic strain due to excessive spending, and over-reliance on the military. Sound familiar?

2 hours ago, GreasyFingers said:

It is Easter you know and Trump is a devout Christian backed by all of the American Evangelicals, so cannot do anything until Easter has passed.

Indeed. Here he is, describing in such eloquent details how he worships!🤣

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Don is utterly desperate, Tiny Pete is floundering in the fog of war, without any idea what to do at this point, or how to end this thing. It is an amazing thing to watch. The most costly military in the world flailing as it gets punished by Iran. Hubris always comes at a high cost.

It would appear that they've simply forgotten about the history of the past 25 years in that region, and they've also forgotten about the fact that the US has not won a war in 81 years. Massive levels of American ignorance on full display.

I disagree with: "Massive levels of American ignorance on full display."

It's Trump who decided to be ignorant. The US army was certainly knowledgeable about all the different scenarii and their consequences.

34 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Taking Qeshm wouldn't reduce the threat to shipping. Iran's long coastline along Hormuz would still be in play. No, troop insertion anywhere would just be one more idiot move that doesn't have a viable end result. Just declare victory and come home; the sailors on the Ford would be so grateful.

I’m not convinced Qeshm is as irrelevant as you’re suggesting. It’s not just “another bit of coastline” - it sits right on the choke point of the Strait, which makes it a forward position for ISR, drones, anti-ship systems and swarm boat ops. That alone makes it strategically significant.

On top of that, the island’s geology is important - Qeshm is known for extensive salt formations and cave systems - exactly the sort of terrain that lends itself to hardened underground storage. I’m not saying we can prove what’s in there, but it’s entirely plausible that it’s used for concealed munitions, drones, or launch infrastructure - that needs on the ground investigation which means taking the island.

More broadly, this isn’t about “take one island and win”. The question is whether enough launchers, storage, sensors and command nodes can be taken to downgrade the risk Qeshm and nearby islands presents, also the mainland - when the overall threat drops below the level needed to shut down shipping. You don’t need zero threat - you just need manageable threat.

The commercial angle also matters just as much as the military one. Ships aren’t avoiding Hormuz purely because of what Iran might do. They’re avoiding it because the insurance market effectively shuts the route down.

So, while I agree that taking Qeshm wouldn’t magically fix Hormuz. But dismissing it as irrelevant feels just as off. If it’s a forward node for surveillance and strike capability - which its location and terrain strongly suggest - then neutralising it could materially reduce the threat. And that reduction, not total elimination, is what would get shipping moving again (IMO of course) - and I suspect thats where this conflict may be heading.

5 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Just enjoy selling overpriced oil to your useless allies 😂

It also means selling gas at over 5$/gallon (heading to 6-7$) to your typical numbskull MAGA support in their 20 year old pickup trucks back in the US. They ain't gonna like that.

5 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Also one of the largest exporters of oil & gas, as AI agrees with that ...

I'm sure most Americans will love paying a lot more money for gasoline if that helps the fossil fuels industry. Not to mention farmers thrilled about high fertilizer prices and shippers about the skyrocketing cost of diesel.

3 hours ago, Palatus said:

That would be an impossible task to someone who spouts that they know everything.

I can't understand him either Palatus he uses code like M.E. CA & MX CO maybe10% ME. What the hell does that mean ?

1 hour ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

It also means selling gas at over 5$/gallon (heading to 6-7$) to your typical numbskull MAGA support in their 20 year old pickup trucks back in the US. They ain't gonna like that.

MAGA ... you mean, lefties don't buy petrol

You think big oil cares how you vote. Their vote means nothing, as big oil already bought & controls Congress.... IMHO

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

MAGA ... you mean, lefties don't buy petrol

You think big oil cares how you vote. Their vote means nothing, as big oil already bought & controls Congress.... IMHO

No, he means that MAGA are the people who support Trump despite the economic damage he is inflicting on them. (Though I suspect as the price of gasoline continues to rise, some of that support will peel off.) Since when did "lefties" support Trump?

12 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Also one of the largest exporters of oil & gas, as AI agrees with that ...

In 2024, Canada's largest exports to the United States included crude oil, cars, gold, refined petroleum oils, and automotive parts, collectively representing a significant portion of Canada's export economy.

12 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

It did actually manage to win a war on its own against Panama in 1989/90! 😃

And Grenada. Clint Eastwood lead the troops. Successfully took the beach. Then the pool and the buffet.

12 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

It did actually manage to win a war on its own against Panama in 1989/90! 😃

And don't forget when they kicked over a fruit stand in Grenada before that.

8 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I’m not convinced Qeshm is as irrelevant as you’re suggesting. It’s not just “another bit of coastline” - it sits right on the choke point of the Strait, which makes it a forward position for ISR, drones, anti-ship systems and swarm boat ops. That alone makes it strategically significant.

On top of that, the island’s geology is important - Qeshm is known for extensive salt formations and cave systems - exactly the sort of terrain that lends itself to hardened underground storage. I’m not saying we can prove what’s in there, but it’s entirely plausible that it’s used for concealed munitions, drones, or launch infrastructure - that needs on the ground investigation which means taking the island.

More broadly, this isn’t about “take one island and win”. The question is whether enough launchers, storage, sensors and command nodes can be taken to downgrade the risk Qeshm and nearby islands presents, also the mainland - when the overall threat drops below the level needed to shut down shipping. You don’t need zero threat - you just need manageable threat.

The commercial angle also matters just as much as the military one. Ships aren’t avoiding Hormuz purely because of what Iran might do. They’re avoiding it because the insurance market effectively shuts the route down.

So, while I agree that taking Qeshm wouldn’t magically fix Hormuz. But dismissing it as irrelevant feels just as off. If it’s a forward node for surveillance and strike capability - which its location and terrain strongly suggest - then neutralising it could materially reduce the threat. And that reduction, not total elimination, is what would get shipping moving again (IMO of course) - and I suspect thats where this conflict may be heading.

Its Abu Musa that's key. Its the eyes and ears of Qeshm, telling them whats coming coming their way. This is why suddenly the UAE decides it wants a piece of the action UAE claims Abu Musa as theirs. Its a curious set up. Iran runs the place, its armed to the teeth, but a lot of Emiratis live there, running hotels.

Take out Qeshms radar, and its blind, doesn't matter how many missiles they have. Abu Musa and the associated Greater and Lesser Tunbs, even without radar, can act as coastal observers.

Its such a critical island, that in the 60s, the Royal Navy tasked several ships to prevent the Shah of Iran from grabbing it. Which he did in 1971. Now why would the Shah risk a conflict with the Brits over a tiny island?

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/strait-of-hormuz-islands/

6 hours ago, Alan Zweibel said:

I'm sure most Americans will love paying a lot more money for gasoline if that helps the fossil fuels industry. Not to mention farmers thrilled about high fertilizer prices and shippers about the skyrocketing cost of diesel.

You forget the helium. Qatar suppies a third of the world's helium. And not just for party balloons. Helium is needed to manufacture those AI chips (Project Stargate) that is going to reindustrialise the US heartland. Helium is also used to cool the magnetic coils in MRI machines. In new $8m machines, they have enough helium in the instrument to last the lifetime of the machine. Older machines basically leak helium, and so hospitals need to buy the helium to keep the things running. MRI scanners are much the same as elsewhere in the west; hospital scanners are on average just over 15 years old. A third are over 15 years old, 20 year old machines are not unusual. Less than 10% are the newer sort.

Without the helium, hospitals won't offer MRIs anymore. Important for cancer diagnosis, cardiavascular disease diagnosis, spunals conditions and ither orthopedics, like torn ligaments. So more deaths, more cripples, more people living in pain. Of course the price of drugs will rise, because it turns out most of the raw materials needed are coming from India, and shipping costs have increased.

10 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

What results will you feel ? and why ? - if you are implying those from the USA will be some how impacted any more or worse than other people in Thailand, both non-Thai or Thai.

The Israelis in Thailand are feeling the impact for something they've been doing over in the middle east.

9 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The commercial angle also matters just as much as the military one. Ships aren’t avoiding Hormuz purely because of what Iran might do. They’re avoiding it because the insurance market effectively shuts the route down.

The commercial angle? They're avoiding it because innocent seafarers may be injured or killed .

smh

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

MAGA ... you mean, lefties don't buy petrol

You think big oil cares how you vote. Their vote means nothing, as big oil already bought & controls Congress.... IMHO

They have? I thought it was the Jews.

smh

17 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

It did actually manage to win a war on its own against Panama in 1989/90! 😃

And Grenada! They were both very formidable powers. I guess what I meant to say is that the US has not won a war of significance since the end of World War II. Why? Many reasons. A SEC DEF who could not run a Boy Scout Troop is certainly a liability. And there are so many other reasons why the US has the most expensive military in the world but certainly not the most effective.

Unlike most militaries around the world, the US military cannot repair most of its own equipment, often leaving it broken for months, while they schedule a defense contractor to fly out and change millions to make the repair. Another sign of a highly corrupt industry, and though the US has the most expensive notary in the world, it is anything but efficient.

Defense industry associations argue that “right to repair” threatens their intellectual property, which discourages investment in the research and development necessary to keep the U.S. military on the technological cutting-edge.

But a Pentagon study released in 2023 casts doubt on that argument. The Pentagon directly funds billions of dollars of research every year. And when defense contractors spend their own money on research that benefits the government, the contractor can claim it as a reimbursable cost. In fact, due to the nature of government contracts, defense companies often make more money when they spend more money on research, the study said. More corruption.

The government’s reimbursement of defense-related research and development is far more generous than it is in the commercial world, the study said, which is an effective way to encourage contractors to pursue research that benefits the military.

Last year, “Right to repair” provisions enjoyed bipartisan support from both chambers of Congress, the highest ranks of the military and from officials within President Donald Trump’s administration at the Pentagon and the White House. But none of the provisions made it into the final defense authorization bill.

Why the US military can’t fix a lot of its own gear, even deployed

https://share.google/JXmvYj6UTbzKfVTRC

16 hours ago, blaze master said:

Better to take Canada's oil refine it and sell it back to us. If only we had more refineries in Canada.

The problem is Trump has burned his bridges with Canada and Carney has outsmarted him to death. So Canada has found multiple buyers for its high quality oil, and the US has less access to it than before. The same applies to the aluminum, steel, and the highest quality lumber on the planet.

The Goon alienated Canada to the point where they found alternative markets for all of that. And they stopped buying American products, and they stopped visiting America putting quite a dent in US tourism.

Just more Disaster Don destruction and sabotage. Impeach him already or lock him up. Or maybe the Deep State could kindly ask him to resign. I do think once the Dems take over he there's a good chance that he will resign next year.

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

And don't forget when they kicked over a fruit stand in Grenada before that.

I think that was the butt kicking that Little Petie was referring to.

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116346816254869135

Until Trump says to God: YOU'RE FIRED!

25 minutes ago, JerryM said:

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116346816254869135

Until Trump says to God: YOU'RE FIRED!

It's telling that they removed the General who was the Head of the army chaplains. They are trying to frame it as a holy war and it's likely he didn't agree with that. Sending boys off to die for sheer greed on the part of Trump and his backers.

The USA offered a truce and in so doing met a legal requirement to show it was open to a peaceful resolution.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

And Grenada! They were both very formidable powers. I guess what I meant to say is that the US has not won a war of significance since the end of World War II. Why? Many reasons. A SEC DEF who could not run a Boy Scout Troop is certainly a liability. And there are so many other reasons why the US has the most expensive military in the world but certainly not the most effective.

Unlike most militaries around the world, the US military cannot repair most of its own equipment, often leaving it broken for months, while they schedule a defense contractor to fly out and change millions to make the repair. Another sign of a highly corrupt industry, and though the US has the most expensive notary in the world, it is anything but efficient.

Defense industry associations argue that “right to repair” threatens their intellectual property, which discourages investment in the research and development necessary to keep the U.S. military on the technological cutting-edge.

But a Pentagon study released in 2023 casts doubt on that argument. The Pentagon directly funds billions of dollars of research every year. And when defense contractors spend their own money on research that benefits the government, the contractor can claim it as a reimbursable cost. In fact, due to the nature of government contracts, defense companies often make more money when they spend more money on research, the study said. More corruption.

The government’s reimbursement of defense-related research and development is far more generous than it is in the commercial world, the study said, which is an effective way to encourage contractors to pursue research that benefits the military.

Last year, “Right to repair” provisions enjoyed bipartisan support from both chambers of Congress, the highest ranks of the military and from officials within President Donald Trump’s administration at the Pentagon and the White House. But none of the provisions made it into the final defense authorization bill.

Why the US military can’t fix a lot of its own gear, even deployed

https://share.google/JXmvYj6UTbzKfVTRC

You want to keep on bashing Trump, your choice but as an x- military person I find your anti military bashing totally disturbing. Tell us about your military experience, damn you must have been head of intelligence.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

So Canada has found multiple buyers for its high quality oil, and the US has less access to it than before

The numbers have dropped yes but the majority of oil exports from Canada still go to the 🇺🇸. Its still between 90 to 95 percent of all Canadian oil exports.

20 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

It did actually manage to win a war on its own against Panama in 1989/90! 😃

My mother could have won that war on her own.

1 hour ago, flexomike said:

You want to keep on bashing Trump, your choice but as an x- military person I find your anti military bashing totally disturbing. Tell us about your military experience, damn you must have been head of intelligence.

I would think that as an ex-military person that you would find the current Pentagon leadership and the current battle going on in Iran both embarrassing and offensive.