Misc This Means WAR

[Arcc]

Iran is a larger, more populous nation with a well developed and hardened defense industrial base. That might not turn out how you think it would. Yes they've been damaged quite a bit but they're still very capable.

Maybe, but firing missiles and drones at US ships and not scoring a single hit doesn't speak well for them against SA's US supplied military.

 

[ChrisAMB]

The only way to get the enriched stuff is to put troops on the ground. They should have never been allowed enrich anything in years past. Blame is squarely on past Presidents.

Funny thing about international relations is we don't get to say which nations are "allowed" to do anything, especially when that nation is 1/3 the size of the USA and made up of nearly 100 million people. Pressure can be applied via sanctions, but in the end diplomacy is the only path to convince them they don't need to go further than a civilian only nuclear program.

In the aftermath of the Cold War a lot of our expectations for American power and influence were distorted. Knocking over weak regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq didn't help our hubris either. The ONLY way to ever get a reliable deal in place is to work with other nations and ensure that Iran got a piece of the pie. We sort of had that with the Obama JCPOA but the sunset provisions were problematic. Now they have no reason to ever trust us again because we can easily elect another Trump and be an unreliable partner. I'm by no means standing up for the Iranians. Their government is awful. But at the end of the day they're a big enough strategic player that we have to respect them and that means not getting everything we want.

 

[ChrisAMB]

Maybe, but firing missiles and drones at US ships and not scoring a single hit doesn't speak well for them against SA's US supplied military.

The people are what makes the US Military so effective. No one has a military trained like we do. The sailors on those ships have nerves of steel.

From a strategic standpoint the Iranians shooting at the Arleigh Burkes is more harassment than any real attempt to sink them. They have the ability to do that should they choose to, but they know what would happen if they crossed that bridge. They have thousands of missiles produced on the designs of old French Exocets and Chinese Silkworms. They're accurate and deadly and absolutely can get through defenses in a massed attack. We used to joke the Exocets would give a dolphin a haircut if one happened to breach in the missile path. They're still detectable skimming over the sea surface but less detectable than something above the horizon.

 

[YetAnotherRDUGuy]

I have a lot to say on this...opinion. But before I do, can you tell me if you believe the rationale behind this? And if you do, how strongly do you believe it?