Iran

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the BIG picture


This IMHO is the most important post of the month. Read it, reread it, then take notes.

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Why was @secwar able to hermetically seal the southern border, eliminate crime in DC, arrest Maduro, and sink the entire Iranian Navy with a fraction of the casualties that “experts” claimed it would cost?

Because he did not include allies and academics.

Why is this critically important?

Because in previous wars they all handcuffed our warfighters with ROEs. Bookcases in the Pentagon and CENTCOM overflowing with them.

Going in with the element of surprise and shackling our forces to just one ROE, American rule of law, gave our side an overwhelming advantage.

But…

We just experienced the biggest war I’ve seen since I joined this app in 2007 and I’m not talking about Iran. It wasn’t a kinetic war. It was a war over academia and European control of ROEs.

@CynicalPublius and @DataRepublican got absolutely hammered but held their ground.

@RadioFreeTom and the other talking heads had enormous power over how the minds of admirals and generals are formed.

They had enormous influence via think tanks and meetings with allies over what’s acceptable in war and what isn’t.

And they were able to throttle opinion via displays of outrage on TV and articles in the Atlantic.

To use a maritime analogy, those ocean racing speedboats have two captain’s chairs. One is the helm and the other is the throttles.

The helmsman can only steer port or starboard, but the throttleman has forward and reverse on both the port and starboard propellers.

Guess which job is most important?

Pull too far ahead of the enemy and they pull back speed. Fall behind and they push full ahead.

Too often they push full ahead just as the boat is descending into the trough of a wave.

In our military the commander in chief decides the race time and location. The combatant commander steers the course. The media, allies, and the think tank “experts” are the throttle.

And they are absolutely losing their minds because Trump has removed them from the throttles.

This not only sucks away their power but their lucrative speaking engagements and book deals.

Nobody is going to pay big bucks to hear a washed-up Naval War College professor speak. They will pay the throttleman.

So Tom and friends are losing their minds and going on MSNBC and CNN to tell you all about how terrible this war is going.

What they are really saying is: this is a disaster because I was not consulted. Put me back on the throttles.

Except it isn’t a disaster. Go read those think tank and war college reports. How many deaths did they predict in a war against Iran?

Not one predicted this few casualties in week three, or this many military targets destroyed.

Tom and friends are telling you this war is a disaster, but by their own metrics it’s a stunning success.

Ask yourself why that is.
 

RE: The Way of War of Our Enemies

In every hot war the United States has become involved in since the Korean War, we have enjoyed absolute tactical and operational dominance over our enemies. We win every tactical engagement, overwhelmingly. Operationally we can and do dominate any theater of our choosing. No one—and I mean NO ONE—can stand toe to toe with the US military.

This has been true for decades.

We’ve talked before about the elements of national power—the “DIME” (Diplomacy, Informational, Military, Economic).

Our military power is unsurpassed. We are masters of diplomacy. We have the world’s strongest economy.

So how do we lose? The INFORMATIONAL component.

Our military opponents, from Ho Chi Minh to Osama bin Ladin, knew that the only way to defeat the USA is to demoralize the American populace such that it demands withdrawal and throws the then current Commander-in-Chief out of office. The ONLY way to defeat America militarily is to convince the American people that a war is unwinnable.

The slow dribble of IED deaths in OIF was not actually targeting soldiers and Marines—it was targeting YOU, the American people. And CNN eagerly complied with death counts running across the bottom of the screen.

The Tet Offensive? It was a decisive US victory that could have ended the Vietnam War in our favor. But Walter Cronkite instead declared the war lost, protests erupted nationwide, and the war was lost.

The Highway of Death in Kuwait? We could have taken out Saddam Hussein in 1991 and never needed to go back in 2003, but international media made the attack on retreating Iraqis look “too cruel,” so we halted just short of the finish line.

The strategic imperative of every one of America’s military enemies is to break the will of the American people with skewed information, propaganda, and extreme emphasis on America’s minor losses amidst overwhelming military victory.

But the Ho Chi Minhs and Osama bin Ladins can’t do that by themselves. They need willing partners in the American media and government.

And for Operation Epic Fury, boy oh boy do the Iranian mullahs have an over abundance of American morale killers to draw from in order to defeat America through the informational instrument of national power.

Tucker Carlson.

Senator Mark Kelly and the rest of the Seditious Six.

CNN.

ABC.

NBC.

CBS.

NYT, WaPo.

Pakistani bot armies on social media.

X “influencers” like Cerno, Candace, MartyrMade and Ian Carroll.

Every idiot claiming we are fighting “Israel’s war."

There is an entire Army of American politicians and media figures who are willingly fighting Iran’s informational war on its behalf (and in some cases, at its behest).

America is DECISIVELY WINNING the war on Iran in every measurable respect.

Yet there are so many influential Americans who are desperately determined to make you believe otherwise.

In days of old in non-US countries, such people would have been strung up for treason.

Thankfully it’s 2026 and we have a First Amendment, so no one fear being treated in such a medieval manner. But we can still ostracize and ridicule such people and sources for the irreparable harm they are wreaking upon the USA as they do the bidding (intentionally or unintentionally) of Theo-fascist mullahs who are determined to set off a nuclear bomb so that the Twelfth Imam will arise from a well in Qom and precipitate the global apocalypse.

We all need to choose sides. Are you with America, or are you with theologic-inspired, deliberate Armageddon?

And anyone who chooses the latter needs to be the target of mockery, derision and clearly-stated facts disproving their lies.

And if YOU are an American Patriot, you can fight that informational war on America’s behalf, right now, right here on social media, right there in your own living room. Your voice matters, and your voice is actually a part of the war.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.
 
Fewer and fewer people are believing his BS. Not only was there 0 evidence that they were working on a nuclear weapon, according to our intelligence agencies they didn't even want to make one because they knew exactly what would happen if they did and it's happening right now.
Look at their missile tech, if they wanted to make a nuke they would have by now. Russia and China are their friends, not a leap to think they could have had everything they needed for a nuke by now.

Then Trump said last year we bombed the shit out of them and took away all their nuke capabilities for years. Now less than a year later Tulsi says they haven't even started to rebuild that facility but trump says they were weeks away from making a nuke.

Just another war provided to us by Israel. No idea what they had on Trump but it must have been a good one. I didn't think he was involved with the Epstein Files but now it's coming out that Epstein settled with one girl who they both raped and he paid her off for both of them.

So many lies to get its into this war but people just refuse to look and listen. Instead the propaganda machine rules the airwaves.
 

Everyone sees the drones… but not the tiny trick that keeps them coming.

Iran builds these kamikaze drones using regular Western tech, processors, GPS chips, stuff made in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

But sanctions block direct access, so they move through shell companies and quiet middlemen.

Now here’s the catch.

Every chip has a serial number. If a drone crashes and that number is intact, investigators can trace it straight back to the supplier… and the whole network starts collapsing.

So Iran solves it in the simplest way possible.

Before assembly, they literally scrape or laser off every marking on the chip. No brand, no serial, nothing to trace.

Suddenly, a downed drone becomes a dead end. Intel agencies are left guessing, spending months trying to reverse engineer basic parts.

Cheap trick, big impact.

A bit of sandpaper… and the entire supply chain stays invisible.

Source: Loaded Lore YT
 
We do the same thing I'll bet with the drones we don't want followed home...
 
There will be ground troops probably the IDF, Kurds and Turks. Maybe some Arabs will send a few peacekeepers too? The US will take the islands that have the oil.
 
Well, the Iranians knocked down a few jets before, look for B-52 losses soon...if this is real.
The IDF are cowards and always have been.
 
The irony of this guy owning a social media place called Truth Social. Should be called LIES R US
 

The opening hours of Operation Epic Fury were a masterclass in choreographed destruction

Tomahawks carved the corridors.

Hundreds of decoy drones flooded Iranian radar with phantom fighter squadrons.

While operators chased ghosts, real F-35s and B-2s glided through undetected.

F-15s hunted mobile launchers in valleys.

Carriers launched jets every 30 seconds.

Everything from submarines, destroyers, and stealth bombers was mathematically timed to impact five cities at the same second.

Iran spent 40 years preparing for this... it lasted all of one sunrise.

Source: AiTelly on YT
 

Iran built dozens of underground "missile cities" and they’re deep inside mountains across the country, designed as fortified bunkers to protect its arsenal from massive bombardment.

Satellite imagery of 27 bases with 107 tunnels shows the U.S. and Israel have bombed at least 77% of those tunnel entrances, blocking access points and trapping munitions underground.

Iran is already rushing to rebuild access to its underground bases, often digging out new tunnel entrances within 48 hours after strikes, as documented in previous attacks.

Source: CNN
 
By the way, there are also fake tunnels, basically Wiley Coyote/ Road Runner shit...we bomb them too...
 
nickndfl said:
There will be ground troops probably the IDF, Kurds and Turks. Maybe some Arabs will send a few peacekeepers too? The US will take the islands that have the oil.
Click to expand...
I live in Türkiye, and I think it's very unlikely the Turkish government would be stupid enough to get involved, especially on the ground. If they were, there would probably be massive unrest. Turks see this war as proof Israel owns the US. Many suspect the few missiles launched at Türkiye were probably Israeli false flags. I don't think the Arabs are any more interested in fighting for Israel than the Turks are. Certainly none of the Arabs I know support the US/Israel in this war. I don't know about the Kurds, but given that the US has betrayed them nine times already, I doubt they're eager either.
 
I was thinking some foreign ground forces would line up so they could have new lands when Iran gets carved up?
 

Could Iran war trigger the next global food shock? | Counting the Cost​

Mar 20, 2026 #aljazeeraenglish #business #iran
First came the energy shock. Now, the Iran war is hitting something even more basic: Food.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, vessels are being rerouted and supply chains are under strain.
The disruption is pushing up the costs of almost everything from factories to supermarket shelves thousands of miles away.
The longer the Iran conflict continues, the greater the pressure on businesses and consumers worldwide.
The United Nations warns that rising food, oil and shipping costs could push an additional 45 million people into acute hunger – taking the global total above its record of 319 million.

28:20
 
Actually, two weeks later, it's still going on and Israel is taking an ass whipping...we are losing aircraft and lying...
 
Could be worse than the Covid price shocks. Expect shortages. When a guy like Armstrong says to have two years of food pay attention. Anything to avoid the fallout from the Epstein files. Burn this shit down already.
 
And they miss the point that Iran is the world's sponsor of terror attacks all over the globe.

And what most miss about that is that The City of London (aka deep state) controls Iran.

London's MO is to create opposing factions in colonies so they fight each other, meanwhile London maintains control!

Ever wonder why the £ is worth more than the $?

I have and have for years!

What does Britain produce compared to the US? Lloyds of London controlled shipping around the world. Think about that. Now consider what a plumb Trump picked when they decided to NOT insure shipping!

Forget Israel. You have to look at the whole chessboard, not just this skirmish in Iran.

Remember Trump visiting the Forbidden City in China? The Sword Dance in Saudi Arabia? Peace with Kim?

Obama following after Trump for what? Attempting to keep the world order in place??

I see Iran as being the money and terror generating apparatus of the deep state used to fund terror and mayhem to maintain control over the world and everyone else sees it as some old war and Trump is a bad man for attempting to rid the world of evil.

We are not the same!
 
Goldhedge said:
Game on!

Click to expand...
Actually, that means we( israel and usa) ran low on surface missiles...we are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Wait till the Iranians really start shooting back. I heard they tried to hit Diego Garcia, that would have been wild, maybe next time.
 
Listen or read...

The Story No Longer Matches the Facts

For months, years actually, Western leaders have relied on one thing above all else: control of the narrative.
foreignagentintel.substack.com

For months, years actually, Western leaders have relied on one thing above all else: control of the narrative.

That control is now slipping in a manner that wasn’t noticed as obviously when it happened at the start of Russia’s Special Military Operation.

What we’re seeing across Ukraine and the Middle East isn’t just escalation—it’s exposure. The gap between what is being said and what is actually happening has become too large to ignore.

Take Ukraine.

Kiev is now reportedly negotiating for Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Qatar, effectively valuing foreign personnel against aging aircraft. Strip away the headlines and it reveals something far more serious than diplomacy—it shows a system under strain, forced into increasingly transactional decisions just to sustain itself.

At the same time, criticism is no longer coming from outsiders alone. Ukrainian sources themselves are now questioning both NATO doctrine and their own battlefield practices. The focus is on air defense—specifically the unsustainable reality of using multiple high-cost Patriot missiles to intercept low-cost drones.

That imbalance isn’t just inefficient. It’s existential. A strategy like that doesn’t fail overnight—it bleeds out slowly, financially and operationally.

And Europe is noticing.

After years of being led by Washington, EU states are increasingly left holding the burden—financially, politically, and militarily. The unity that once defined the Western response is being replaced by quiet frustration.

Even politically, the situation is becoming harder to defend. Zelensky is now resisting calls for elections while simultaneously signaling concern that global attention is fading. That contradiction reflects a deeper issue: the longer this continues, the harder it becomes to maintain the image that was so carefully constructed at the start.

But Ukraine is only part of the picture.

The more significant shift—and the one gaining the most traction globally—is unfolding in the Middle East.

Washington has declared success against Iran. Yet at the same time, key infrastructure has been damaged, military positions have been exposed, and critical global trade routes remain under pressure.

You cannot claim total control while asking for help to manage the consequences.

You cannot declare victory while the situation continues to deteriorate.

This contradiction is exactly what is eroding credibility.

And credibility, once lost, is difficult to recover.

There’s also a deeper transformation taking place beneath the surface. The special military operation accelerated the widespread use of drones. Now, the next phase is emerging: the integration of artificial intelligence into warfare—particularly in targeting and operational decision-making.

Once again, the pattern is familiar. The technology itself is not new. What’s new is how quickly it’s being adapted and deployed.

And once again, Western systems appear to be reacting rather than leading.

Attempts to apply pressure in the Middle East are following a similar trajectory. Instead of stabilizing the situation, they are hardening positions. Leadership shifts in Iran have produced more aggressive responses, not concessions.

Sanctions—once considered a cornerstone of Western strategy—are increasingly ineffective. Even discussions around easing them mid-conflict point to a system that is adjusting on the fly rather than executing a clear plan.

That’s not calculated strategy. That’s course correction under pressure.

And the rest of the world is paying attention.

States that once aligned closely with Western power structures are now reassessing—not because of ideology, but because of risk. The unpredictability of current policy, combined with visible contradictions, is forcing a shift in how global partnerships are evaluated.

In contrast, Russia is positioning itself differently, indeed, so is China. Not through rhetoric, but through consistency—military, political, and strategic.

In a period of growing instability, that consistency becomes a form of leverage.

Because in the end, this isn’t just about territory or influence. It’s about perception.

For years, the West has relied on its ability to shape how events are understood. But that only works as long as the narrative holds together.

Right now, it isn’t.

And once that breaks, it doesn’t come back the same way again.
 
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