US Strikes on Iran (Operation Epic Fury)

[Angrboda]

The Iranian military still has thousands of missiles and drones in its arsenal despite weeks of heavy US and Israeli airstrikes, according to a new intelligence assessment.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Adams, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers that Iran "retains thousands" of missiles and one-way attack drones, which pose a threat to US and partner forces in the Middle East.

During testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Adams said that Iran had managed to preserve the munitions "despite degradations to its capabilities from both attrition and expenditure."

https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-sti...ays-2026-4

[Deesse23]

Iran not only refuses further negotiations, it doesn't even bother to show up, is keeping the Strait of Hormuz blocked — and Donald Trump, after all the bravado, threats of extermination, and chest-thumping, just extends the truce, does nothing, and waits for the regime to “submit their proposal”.

If that’s not a humiliating fiasco and a display of complete weakness, I don’t know what is.

Someone is hanging out someone else to dry.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Iran not only refuses further negotiations, it doesn't even bother to show up, is keeping the Strait of Hormuz blocked — and Donald Trump, after all the bravado, threats of extermination, and chest-thumping, just extends the truce, does nothing, and waits for the regime to “submit their proposal”.

If that’s not a humiliating fiasco and a display of complete weakness, I don’t know what is.

Someone is hanging out someone else to dry.

Kind of adorable how the Master Negotiator is handing off the negotiations to people who have said they’re not willing to negotiate.  😂

Boru

[Leonardo17]

I don’t know if this is very related. But the former US secretary of State Madeleine Albright (whose family sought refuge in the US because fo the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930’s) has a very interesting book called “Fascism: A warning”. The book is also available in audio format on Storytel.
 
   I just listened the part on the rise of Benito Mussolini in Italy and I am now listening to the part on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. To me it’s a nice refreshment of my memories of my high school history classes in the late 1990’s. But it is also allowing me to look at all that is happening in the world today in a new angle (The rise of Populism in Europe, The rise of Vladimir Putin, the basic realities we all need to admit about D. Trump, you name it).
 

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   And this book should also allow us to look at Middle-Eastern authoritarian regime in a more lucid way. Iran is currently selling itself as “The more rational, stability bringing element” in its conflict with the US and Israel. Also all of the claims of this brutally oppressive regime are lies. Political Islam is a lie. I’ve repeated it many times in this forum. Religion is a person’s individual relationship to the spiritual realm. Nothing more nothing less. And these guys are doing what fascists do routinely and without any hesitation (because they see humans as masses wanting and needing to be manipulated by some “smarter” entities). So now they have a new disguise and this disguise is not “The revival of Italian power" or “The liberation of the Aryan race from Semitic Tyranny”. In 2026 their new disguise and way of captivating the masses is… You guessed it: God and the defense of traditional Oriental family values (whatever this is supposed to mean).
 

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Leaning about fascism can be a key tool for all of us to not repeat the mistakes of the past. 

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Leaning about fascism can be a key tool for all of us to not repeat the mistakes of the past.  

That won’t work on people who prefer to live under a fascist regime.

Boru

[Angrboda]

The Islamic Republic of Iran maintains more military capabilities than the White House or Pentagon has publicly admitted, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of intelligence on the matter.

About half of Iran's stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems were still intact as of the start of the ceasefire in early April, three of the officials told CBS News.

Roughly 60% of the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is still in existence, the officials said, including fast-attack speed boats. On Wednesday, Iranian gunboats attacked several commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, shortly after President Trump announced he was unilaterally extending a ceasefire to allow more time for peace talks.

Iranian air power has been significantly degraded but not erased, said the officials, who requested anonymity from CBS News because they were not authorized to discuss the matters publicly.

About two-thirds of Iran's air force is still believed to be operational, the officials said, after an intensive U.S. and Israeli campaign that struck thousands of targets, including storage and production facilities.

Previously, the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have described the U.S. effort, called Operation Epic Fury, as essentially destroying Iran's military capacity.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-more-c...owledging/

Manipulated body counts. Exaggerated damage estimates. The White House and Pentagon are putting out propaganda.

[Leonardo17]

Leaning about fascism can be a key tool for all of us to not repeat the mistakes of the past.  

That won’t work on people who prefer to live under a fascist regime.

Boru

In the book I am referring to Madeleine Albright is also talking about similarities and difference between Hitler and Mussolini, these two and other European dictators like Franco and Salazar, other fascist movements in Europe like Oswald Mosley in the UK and/or things like the “German American Bund” in and even similarities and difference between Communism and fascism.
 
Today I can easily understand how Russia plunged back into Putin after the Yeltsin Era. That’s because, despite huge differences on ideological level, on the level of practice and on the level of consciousness, the two are almost complementary to one another. Methods used by the gestapo and methods used by the Stazi were basically the same. One believed in “Aryan” superhuman the other believed in the “proletariat” superhuman. (I’m not going to summarize the whole book).
 
So how about the “pious” superhuman? If the Aryans and the proletariat have all failed, maybe the pious Mohammedan superhuman could succeed in remodeling this world that is in absolute need of some form of remodeling right?
 
In summary: Not everything in “ordinary” societies are perfect, but strong ideas that are applied excessively will usually only add to the problem instead of resolving it.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

That won’t work on people who prefer to live under a fascist regime.

Boru

In the book I am referring to Madeleine Albright is also talking about similarities and difference between Hitler and Mussolini, these two and other European dictators like Franco and Salazar, other fascist movements in Europe like Oswald Mosley in the UK and/or things like the “German American Bund” in and even similarities and difference between Communism and fascism.
 
Today I can easily understand how Russia plunged back into Putin after the Yeltsin Era. That’s because, despite huge differences on ideological level, on the level of practice and on the level of consciousness, the two are almost complementary to one another. Methods used by the gestapo and methods used by the Stazi were basically the same. One believed in “Aryan” superhuman the other believed in the “proletariat” superhuman. (I’m not going to summarize the whole book).
 
So how about the “pious” superhuman? If the Aryans and the proletariat have all failed, maybe the pious Mohammedan superhuman could succeed in remodeling this world that is in absolute need of some form of remodeling right?
 
In summary: Not everything in “ordinary” societies are perfect, but strong ideas that are applied excessively will usually only add to the problem instead of resolving it.

You have a great gift for replying to posts without actually addressing points raised in those posts.

Again, learning about fascism won’t prevent fascists from repeating the mistakes of the past. All it will do is teach them how to be more effective fascists. For these people, ‘Mein Kampf’ isn’t a cautionary tale but an instruction manual.

Boru

[awty]

I have realized that I can get more from a Magic 8 Ball than from slogging through a Leo post.

[The Grand Nudger]

I don’t know if this is very related. But the former US secretary of State Madeleine Albright (whose family sought refuge in the US because fo the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930’s) has a very interesting book called “Fascism: A warning”. The book is also available in audio format on Storytel.

Good book.  I finally ended up reading it last winter.