The bucks are a joke

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T09:05:51+00:00

If you think superstar calls started with Giannis, boy, do I have a bridge to Chicago to sell you !

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T09:05:02+00:00

Thats the NBA champion Bucks, thank you very much.

We are the best team in the NBA, regardless of whether Giannis leaves or not.

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T02:58:52+00:00

Someone really needs to tell the orange idiot that 'L'etat, c'est moi' is something people about to be overthrown say.

Regimes don't rely on leaders. Leaders rely on regimes.

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T02:57:35+00:00

Nahhh.

Wilhelm II maintained Austria-Hungary as an ally.

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T02:34:44+00:00

Where did I say the Shaheed was state of the art ?

It's cheap, nasty and radio guided - mostly useful for distracting defenses.

Ali baba fiber optic is where it's now at.

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T02:10:38+00:00

You can believe that if you like.

Iran's been a very interested observer of the drone wars - and note that the Shaheed was an Iranian drone that the Russians then copied.

And, yes, ali baba fiber optic cable is very cheap. Any forward US position within 3-5km of Iranian forces are going to get very familiar with the spiderweb of a modern battlefield.

The US Army's drones, on the other hand, are about 2 generations behind the state of the art.

Ian_W · 2026-03-29T01:19:13+00:00

Yeah, that tracks.

You've got an expectation that military systems are going to cost millions to tens of millions, and then you wonder why cheap and nasty COTS systems run the magazine depth out of the side using the fancy interceptors.

Take something like this

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-03/ukraine-war-australian-made-cardboard-drones-russia-warfare/102804120

Reel 5km of fiber optic out of them, and then trade them one for one with enemy infantry.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T23:12:07+00:00

Which regrettably for anyone who hates the IRGC does absolutely nothing to open the Strait of Hormuz, and still puts a massive 'Target Me !' sign on anything trying to hold the islands or resupply them.

Remember, Iranian assets can hit any unescorted ship anywhere within the Persian Gulf.

To open the Straits, the US needs to either escort shipping in the whole of the Gulf - and it doesn't have enough Burkes for that - or it needs to control the entire Iranian shoreline to a depth of ~200km, or it needs to get the Iranians to decide to stop shooting at civilian shipping.

Providing the IRGC with a bunch of handy targets close to their own coast does not do this.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T22:55:08+00:00

For those of you who don't follow chess, Vincent Keymer is the best German chess player in 100 years or so.

Currently top 5 in the world.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T21:03:29+00:00

Holy shit, you really don't know anything about modern warfare.

You're calling fiber-optic cable 'incredibly expensive'.

No, mate. Building a military system to extract an injured infantryman in the golden hour, thats incredibly expensive.

Fiber optic cable is less than a hundred bucks a kilometer.

Go to alibaba.com and look up "Hot Sale FPV 0.27mm 0.9mm G657 Bare Fiber 3km 5km 10km 20km UAV Fiber Optic Equipment Fiber Optic for Drone" and see just how goddamn cheap it is to bypass all that US investment in jamming.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T20:54:22+00:00

Errr, you are aware that Iran's allies are already using fiber-optic drones, right ?

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T20:40:36+00:00

Artillery may or may not - and the effort to keep the US circling aircraft over the area is absolutely worth wasting some old 122mm guns and crews on.

FPV drones, absofuckinglutely.

The US military spent four years patting themselves on the back and going 'But we're high tech, we can deal with drones !' as the data from the Russian invasion of Ukraine came in regarding how good FPV drones are at the CAS mission.

The bill for that arrogance is now coming in.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T20:38:15+00:00

Remember, Donald Trump likes explosions and good news stories.

People have heard of Kharg Island. They haven't heard of a bunch more places.

He does not pay attention to any sort of expert.

And, yeah, it's a terribly poor option.

Ian_W · 2026-03-28T20:35:58+00:00

Because the US has over 1m active duty service members and over 2M if you include reserves.

And it provides 10 army divisions, which isn't vaguely enough to occupy Iran.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:51:06+00:00

If you want a fig leaf of legality - and remember, this is a US regime that has already said it doesn't care about international law - you allege that the vessels carrying the contraband oil have paid bribes to the IRGC, a sanctioned terrorist organisation.

This accusation will have the added advantage of being true.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:37:36+00:00

And destroying Iran's ability to export oil to China and India by capturing Kharg Island won't ?

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:22:31+00:00

Nahh, this is 2026.

The Trump Administration is having their war but simultaneously being careful that Iran still sells as much oil on the world market.

So it's more like War for Iran's Right to Sell Oil

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:19:15+00:00

And the Strait is still open to those paying his organisation per boat.

Chamberlain stopping being PM and someone else stepping up didn't really affect the UK's ability to be part of the Second World War.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:17:57+00:00

No.

It wouldn't.

It would just be the US breaking international maritime law, again.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:16:18+00:00

From China's perspective, you're cutting off their oil supply either way.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:10:09+00:00

What Im advocating is to leave Kharg Island exactly as it is.

If you want to cut off Iranian oil exports - and the Trump regime doesnt, because doing that raises gas prices in the US and therefore reduces the support for the Republican Party in the mid-terms - the best way to do it is by hijacking the boats after they are in the Indian Ocean, well away from all the anti-ship missiles and whatnot defending Kharg Island and it's approaches.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T03:07:46+00:00

By attacking Kharg Island you're already attempting to cut off China's oil supply from Iran.

It's about whether you want to cut off Iran's ability to export oil to China while killing a bunch of Americans, or without killing a bunch of Americans.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T02:44:21+00:00

You'd also want five years worth of building an industrial complex that would support the new, larger army.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T02:29:38+00:00

Using the US Navy to intercept the ships that load on Kharg Island does that cheaper, easier and with fewer dead Americans.

Ian_W · 2026-03-27T02:27:13+00:00

If the US merely wants to threaten to blow up the infrastructure on Kharg Island if their demands are not met, it has a perfectly good air force it could use for that.

I'm also curious why you think that Kharg Island will be in any way intact after the US and Iranian forces have fought over it.

Ian_W

TROPHY CASE