22 hours ago, cdulaney said:

I believe ALL the comments above mine here are Reckless.

7 Thumbs Down from EU people I understand 100%. US get out of NATO Now.

Reckless? Maybe.

Poorly planned? Absolutely.

Reports are now coming/leaking out about the extent of the damage done to US bases in the Gulf region. Iran apparently had very precise targeting. Key facilities like radar were destroyed. A THAAD system in Qatar ($1.3 billion) was destroyed. Runways were damaged and are unusable at US bases in Kuwait and Saudi. US military personnel were evacuated....some outside of the Gulf region to NATO bases in Germany and Italy, while others were moved to 5-star hotels in the Gulf region (that is a violation of military rules for serving personnel, though good business for Gulf countries suffering from a massive decline in tourism).

When Trump initiated his "Operation Freedom", and did not inform supposed Gulf allies, immediately Saudi Arabia and Kuwait prohibited the US from any overflight of their territory (knowing allowing overflight would make them targets of Iran retribution). With the base runways in the Gulf region unusable, that leaves sea-based systems as about all the US has remaining to attack Iran. Without overflight, no B2 bombers can make the run, and even fighter jets require refueling via a KC130 or similar airborne gas station, to reach key targets deep inside Iran.

As for using cruise missiles, the US burned through much of its existing inventory before the ceasefire, and is hesitant to burn through what it has remaining (some of which would need to be diverted from places like South Korea and Japan, as well as the US).

Though the US military under Hegseth and Trump himself are not stating these issues, and both would surely go apoplectic over "leaks", one can be sure Iran knows all of this without any leaks, either from their own intel sources or from intel provided to them by Russia.

Despite his boastful claims to the contrary, Trump does not hold all the cards. Perhaps that is why Iran has remained silent while Trump keeps claiming (lying) Iran is begging for a deal. No matter what self-image the fanatics in Iran have, I suspect they look at Trump and Hegseth and think, "And they say WE'RE idiots!" In comparison, the Iranians are beginning to look like John von Neumann relative to the two vegetables running the White House and Pentagon.

So Trump goes to preside over a LIV golf tournament or discuss plans for his ballroom, while serving US men and women remain in harm's way. (And here comes Epstein again....)

The US leadership has to burn through "stupid" and "ill-prepared" before even beginning to approach "reckless".

37 minutes ago, cdulaney said:

7 Thumbs Down from EU people I understand 100%. US get out of NATO Now.

Putin agrees with you 100%.

Here's an updated list of "friends" the US still has....

Russia, El Salvador, Argentina, Turkey (though Erdogan isn't happy the US ran guns to the Kurds last month), Netanyahu (though maybe not the rest of Israel)....not sure about North Korea.

All that would be fine and dandy, if the US did not need trading partners, liaison in matters of intelligence, a few $trillion per year to fund the ever-exploding deficit......

On 5/9/2026 at 5:05 AM, webfact said:

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said Washington repeatedly resorts to force whenever diplomatic options emerge. Writing on the social media platform X, he said Iranians would “never bow to pressure”.

Araghchi’s remarks came a day after the United States and Iran blamed each other for new clashes in the Strait of Hormuz. The exchange followed further U.S. military action against Iranian vessels and continued friction despite the ceasefire announced earlier in the conflict.

“Is it a crude pressure tactic?” Araghchi wrote. “Or the result of a spoiler once again duping POTUS into another quagmire?”

Future US President Marco President found it necessary to explain to Araghchi how the world works:

"If you are a missile launching guy - whatever they call that job - and you're sitting there and you fire a missile at the United States and we saw you fire it, we're going to hit you."

Department of State on X: "SECRETARY RUBIO: Only stupid countries don’t shoot back when you’re shot at. And we’re not a stupid county. The redline is clear – if Iranian boats threaten Americans, they’re going to get blown up. 🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/hTl1TRLmJL" / X

3 hours ago, Wingate said:

Here's an updated list of "friends" the US still has....

Russia, El Salvador, Argentina, Turkey (though Erdogan isn't happy the US ran guns to the Kurds last month), Netanyahu (though maybe not the rest of Israel)....not sure about North Korea.

The EU has firmly backed President Trump and says that Iran can NEVER have a nuke. Germany, after some manhandling via the withdrawal of 5,000 American troops, is also now onboard.

The thing with Kurds was a mistake, and President Trump has acknowledged this. They were supposed to give the guns to the Iranian people, but they kept them for themselves.

3 hours ago, Wingate said:

Putin agrees with you 100%.

Here's an updated list of "friends" the US still has....

Russia, El Salvador, Argentina, Turkey (though Erdogan isn't happy the US ran guns to the Kurds last month), Netanyahu (though maybe not the rest of Israel)....not sure about North Korea.

All that would be fine and dandy, if the US did not need trading partners, liaison in matters of intelligence, a few $trillion per year to fund the ever-exploding deficit......

Wingate, where did you get your list? I see your list does not include any NATO members so that underlines my statement the US needs to get out of NATO. I'll have whatever you are drinking, Wingate.

16 minutes ago, davb said:

The EU has firmly backed President Trump and says that Iran can NEVER have a nuke. Germany, after some manhandling via the withdrawal of 5,000 American troops, is also now onboard.

The thing with Kurds was a mistake, and President Trump has acknowledged this. They were supposed to give the guns to the Iranian people, but they kept them for themselves.

Perhaps you haven't been paying attention to the speech patterns of Trump.

EVERYTHING is a superlative or at minimum an extreme. If he did it, it's "great" or "greatest" or "nobody has ever seen anything like it". If it's an attack against a critic, it's "worst" or "loser" or "no talent" or "bad ratings" or---if a Black woman---"low IQ".

His opinion is it was a great conversation. You can take his word for that, just as MAGAs believe he's "the fittest President ever", and that he's a "really stable genius", because in a group of lion, bear, alligator and squirrel, he can tell which one is the squirrel.

Incidentally, I believe Trump was sitting with Ursula van der Leyen when he boasted about having stopped the 1994 Rwandan Genocide ("machetes...machetes everywhere...7 million dead...I stopped that"). Having watched him say that, she would know Trump is somewhere between batsh!t crazy and severely demented, if not both.

19 hours ago, davb said:

The EU has firmly backed President Trump and says that Iran can NEVER have a nuke. Germany, after some manhandling via the withdrawal of 5,000 American troops, is also now onboard.

The thing with Kurds was a mistake, and President Trump has acknowledged this. They were supposed to give the guns to the Iranian people, but they kept them for themselves.

Really, the moderators should remove this post, pursuant to the forum rule, when citing sources, to “provide [only] accurate, helpful, and truthful information.” Anything written by Trump is not that. I can do no better than quote Canada’s greatest contemporary songwriter:

 

I never knew a man could tell so many lies.

He had a different story for every set of eyes.

How can he remember who he’s talking to?

’Cause I know it ain’t me, and I hope it isn’t you.