Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
Israel made a hard sell for the war to Trump. Trump bought it, even though many of his advisers were skeptical of Israel’s arguments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIfeHpqjTlA
Military schools will teach from this Iran war as examples of great operational successes, and a strategic failure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ab2rDm0Q54
The Strait is still blocked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Lanu_I9AY
For Iran to win, all they have to do is survive and maintain an ability to commit terror attacks. Thus far, the US has failed to end Iran’s ability to hit Israel, hit gulf states, hit US bases, and stop shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QoNbWhZClM
After a war, the Secretary of Defense goes to the public, and repeatedly lies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNKRg9l7Avo
So far, the US has failed to achieve any objectives obviously worth the costs of the war. Iran is still unfriendly. Iran hasn’t agreed to any long-term commitments. They still have the ability to strike death and terror in the region and to damage the global economy.
If regime change or a long-term commitment is not going to be reached, then continuing to mow the lawn is likely not worth the costs, so it’s better to quit now than to take further costs. But, quitting now does mean the US failed in anything but destroying a bunch of stuff. Iran will quickly rebuild their drones and missiles and remain a terrorist state.
Let’s see what negotiations result in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jHFTjTRAA
The A-10 can do one thing really well–blowing up stuff on the ground. But, it can’t do much else, and is only brought in after the most threatening air-to-air threats are destroyed or suppressed. The military would prefer to have more general and advanced craft than one with such a narrow use. Congress has kept it alive because it is popular and gives their constituents jobs. A major advantage of the A-10 is its cheaper to fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDWAeAxAYE
How Special Forces Actually Rescued the Pilot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4K8381dCBc
“About six months before the first U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, the Trump administration gutted the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR), an 80-person team within the State Department tasked with leading international energy diplomacy. The cuts were part of the then Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative to reduce the federal workforce, with the goal of slashing the federal budget.
More than a month into the conflict—with President Donald Trump indicating he will redouble attacks on Iran in the coming weeks—former ENR officials are warning DOGE eliminated key roles that would have helped the administration navigate and mitigate the energy chaos of the conflict and its impact on global oil markets, as well as foresee potential consequences of ongoing actions.
Fortune spoke with two former ENR officials—who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution from the department—who are sounding the alarm on the insights and knowledge the federal government has lost as a result of the cuts, especially during a period of widespread oil and energy disruptions.
“It’s shocking how poorly prepared the administration is,” one former employee told Fortune. “You took away the people with the expertise and contacts who would be insanely useful in this context.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/shocking-poorly-prepared-administration-doge-082100372.html
“In internal deliberations before the war’s launch, Hegseth had pointed to Iran’s muted reaction to Trump’s past attacks as evidence that calibrated force could impose costs on Tehran without triggering a broader war. Hegseth “was caught off guard. There’s no question,” says a person familiar with his thinking.”
If this is true, it is the height of incompetency. The US and Israeli attacks were not limited, they assassinated the leader of the country! The most likely response from Iran would be huge. Yet, the Trump administration seemed to have not expected this.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/inside-trumps-search-way-iran-162338760.html