Yet another war, this time with Iran

[Derec]

It already pulled back to ~$85/bbl.

Bruh, what was it for the past 12 months?

Less. Between $60-70/bbl. So sure, it's higher now, but now enough to damage world economy.

 

[pood]

But the toddler in the White House and the drunken dirtbag heading the defense department think this war will end … how?

By quitting and calling it a victory! That is if Iran lets the ships flow again. Big if.

That is the interesting thing. I believe it was Senator William Fulbright who advised President Johnson, early in the Vietnam war, to declare victory and get out.

President Kennedy, in a televised interview with Walter Cronkite a month before his assassination, expressed deep skepticism about our involvement in Vietnam.

There is a recorded phone call between President Johnson and his confidante Senator Richard Russel in 1964 in which LBJ also expresses deep skepticism about wading into Vietnam and telling Russell that Vietnam was “the biggest damn mess I ever saw.”

But Johnson waded into the war anyway. This probably was because back then, presidents were required to prove their credentials against the commies. JFK had failed to do so in the Bay of Pigs and the Berlin Wall crisis, but he established his cred in the Cuban missile crisis.

LBJ, however, as the new president, needed to establish his cred against the commies. So into Vietnam we go.

Both JFK and LBJ were very intelligent and accomplished men.

Trump, otoh, in addition to being evil, is a total moron.

The non-existent god help us.

 

[scombrid]

Thanks Donny for fucking up the world!

The real thanks goes to the vast legions of American hicks and hillbillies for voting this evil buffoon into office.

You forgot about the wealthy, greedy ones like my brother in law who has a doctorate degree. Don't fool yourself, plenty of people voted for the felon who had college degrees, but not an ounce of common sense. I'm more pissed at the ones who never bothered to vote, especially in swing states. But, I think we've all vented about this before. I know several MAGA females who are very nice, caring women, including a nurse I worked with briefly and kept in touch with for years, But a few months ago, she texted me and I discovered that she still supports Trump. I can't deal with that!. She also thinks that Muslims are taking over the country. Sound familiar? Ok. Enough ranting.

GOP is saving us from Islam and Trannies. That’s about the whole of it. That’s the Trump support here. Trannies, Muslims, and Mexicans are taking over according to the Trump faithful here.

Oh yeah, they got the chemtrails and anti-vaccine vote too. 80 calls a day reporting chemtrails to the Florida DEP chemtrails hotline.

Funny thing too GOOP (Gweneth scumbag scammer Paltrow) and Alex Jones sell the same fucking snake oil just with different labels. Well not exactly the same since Infowars isn’t selling the vagina rocks that Gweneth claims cure uterine prolapse and infertility. But the dietary supplements are about the same.

Eat your Brawndo and vote for the GOP savior folks.

 

[DrZoidberg]

 

[bilby]

In the case that naval and aerial actions do not work, occupying the coastal strip would be something US might try. It would not be as difficult as trying going into the mountains, but it would still mean that the proverbial "boots on the ground" must be deployed.

And then the IRGC would fire down on the occupiers from the high ground, and launch raids through the mountain passes.

At which point the "boots on the ground" either have to slink off with their tails between their legs, or go into the mountains...

Thus does a four day Special Military Operation become a years or decades long slog, with no path to victory in sight, even if you can find a clear victory condition towards which you might strive.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It already pulled back to ~$85/bbl.

Bruh, what was it for the past 12 months?

Less. Between $60-70/bbl. So sure, it's higher now, but now enough to damage world economy.

Oil shortages will be the issue not merely the price. But there is time before shortagea.

 

[barbos]

You are winning!

 

[SLD]

107 for WTI just now. Up $15 today alone.

It already pulled back to ~$85/bbl.

I’d bet on it not stopping until at least $150 range. If we’re lucky. Imagine what that will do to interest rates!

I doubt it. Oil production is more spread out, and world economy is less dependent on oil than it used to be even just two decades ago.

Trump is upset over Powell’s higher rates and wants to accelerate the economy. But everything is about to get bigly expensive all of a sudden. Every grocery delivery just effectively almost doubled. Kiss affordability out your ass. Watch the markets fucking implode Monday morning. Actually the Dow futures are already down 800 points and the markets haven’t technically opened. They’re down almost 10% of their high.

This is insane. If people think this is temporary, they’re nuts.

I'd get a refund on that crystal ball of yours.

Oil production is more spread out? From when? 1970? OK. That would be correct. But not from 2025. Indeed US oil production is only now back up to levels of pre 2020. In the meantime WTI, which basically supplies 60% of our oil, is at $86/barrel - from ~$62 during the state of the union speech. That's down from the $107 it soared to over the weekend. Why? Because trump said that the war would end soon yesterday. He said that while markets were still open. What happened? The markets reversed course and soared. Why did trump say it? Because he was scared. he knows he fucked up.

Then when the markets closed, he started making caveats. Now the markets are flat, waiting for the next move. What's the next move? Hegseth just promised the biggest bombing of the war. These morons don't know what the fuck they're doing. They're just pulling this out of their ass and playing it as it goes along. This is what uncertainty looks like. And uncertainty will cause volatility but ultimately expect people to hedge their bets. Gas prices are up by about 50 cents per gallon - which may not seem like a whole lot, but across the board that will have huge impacts on prices down the line. IF they don't go up further, and that's a mighty big IF considering the latest statements from both Kegsbreath and Khamanei, then maybe the damage will be contained. Maybe. But the prices are not going to come down quickly. Trump isn't in control. The enemy gets a vote. And they just indicated that the straits will remained closed to non-chinese vessels.

I'd point out as well, that other countries do not have the luxury of the United States. Australia imports 90% of its crude oil. It's economy is far more vulnerable to price shocks than we are. So too with numerous developing economies throughout the world. Vietnam is asking people to work from home, and not to use automobiles. The U.S. is not immune to downturns in the rest of the world economy.

Add this to a jobs loss of 92,000, (when the expected value was a gain of 58,000), and the Fed will have a serious problem when it raises rates to stem inflation at the next meeting on March 17 - 18. You think gas prices will be back to $62/barrel by then? I don't fucking think so.

But hey, some people are making a killing:

Spiking gas prices will make me filthy rich. Thanks, Trump! | Opinion

Gas prices are skyrocketing, but Rex Huppke's Bargain Backyard Kiddie-Pool Gas Emporium is about to boom.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Colonel Sanders]

It took some six years of war, with enormous amounts of “boots on the ground” and horrific numbers of casualties, to defeat Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, and the latter only succumbed after the use of nuclear weapons.

But the toddler in the White House and the drunken dirtbag heading the defense department think this war will end … how?

It's not really a war. It's more of a destructive tantrum.

There's no plan in place to put boots on the ground. If there was, there would've been massive mobilization like we did with Iraq (both times).

I predict that this will end shortly, Hormuz will be constantly patrolled by U.S. naval forces, which Iran will be able to do nothing about, and when Trump declares mission accomplished, his base will agree and love him all the more. Fox News will declare Victory in Iran Day. If the Iranian government attempts to fire at U.S. naval vessels, the U.S. will hit them back tenfold, which means it's quite possible that a new norm will establish in dealing with Iran.

In five or six months, this will be a relatively distant memory because the willful hourly output of bullshit by Trumpco will continue to overwhelm any ability to counteract it.

 

[SLD]

So the U.S. Navy has successfully escorted a tanker through the straits. News of that sent prices down another $3/barrel, but still about $20 more than before this stupid attack.

There's one problem that the Navy can't help that much with - mines. Iran retains something like 5,000 mines capable of significantly increasing the risk to any tanker. Some are fairly modern sophisticated too, but they have issues laying those. Older mines can be laid by small boats.

The problem is not that tankers will get hit going through the straits. The U.S. Navy can reduce, but not eliminate the total threat. The problem is insurance. Tankers cannot get insurance to make it through the straits. It's too risky.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It took some six years of war, with enormous amounts of “boots on the ground” and horrific numbers of casualties, to defeat Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, and the latter only succumbed after the use of nuclear weapons.

But the toddler in the White House and the drunken dirtbag heading the defense department think this war will end … how?

It's not really a war. It's more of a destructive tantrum.

I've been struggling with the term war as well. It is a military assault.

It is like the Trump Admin think they found a war cheat code and they can win wars without actually fighting them. Like a bunch of guys high on weed coming up with "brand new" better ways of doing things. Or being like Peter Griffin

There's no plan in place to put boots on the ground. If there was, there would've been massive mobilization like we did with Iraq (both times).

And gotta think, Iran noticed that. "I'm thinking of putting boots on the ground". I'm thinking, it took several months to mobilize troops for the Iraq invasion. Currently the Trump Admin has spent 0 months mobilizing ground troops.

In five or six months, this will be a relatively distant memory because the willful hourly output of bullshit by Trumpco will continue to overwhelm any ability to counteract it.

I can't predict into next week, so I'm not even going to try several months from now. I don't even know if they are seating the 2026 mid-term victors.

 

[Politesse]

They are at least planning for the possibility of a ground assault, there's a constant buzz of helicopters here, and the rail lines are busy with military traffic.

 

[Gospel]

He gives off the vibe of someone who skimmed The Art of War by Sun Tzu, picked up about ten quotes, and then decided the whole strategy was just to keep being themselves.

 

[Politesse]

"As a personal gift to you, neighbor, I will light your fields aflame and then, out of the kindness of my heart, half-heartedly and ineffectively attempt to put those flames out by turning your chcken coop into a firebreak. Happy Ramadan and please don't forget to send us presents too."

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/iran-ground-troops-special-forces-nuclear

U.S. weighs sending special forces to seize Iran's nuclear stockpile

The U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium at a later stage of the war, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.

 

[crazyfingers]

Reports are that Iran is now mining the Strait.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/politics/iran-begins-laying-mines-in-strait-of-hormuz

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

He gives off the vibe of someone who skimmed The Art of War by Sun Tzu, picked up about ten quotes, and then decided the whole strategy was just to keep being themselves.

I'd go with, Hegseth skimmed through it and Donald is working on the blatherings of Hegseth about it.

Trump loves threatening people. It gets him... TWENTY TIMES HARDER apparently.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Reports are that Iran is now mining the Strait.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/10/politics/iran-begins-laying-mines-in-strait-of-hormuz

Amid an oddly errie silence, an apparent typo in military orders has led to Iran laying mimes in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

[ideologyhunter]

He gives off the vibe of someone who skimmed The Art of War by Sun Tzu, picked up about ten quotes, and then decided the whole strategy was just to keep being themselves.

View attachment 53780

Holy fuck -- that's not how a royal speaks. That's how deities speak. Again, thanks, Trump voters, and SCOTUS, and RNC. Your lack of character assessment skills has inflicted this ugly lout on the world.

 

[crazyfingers]

Regarding the girls school that the US blew up:

Hegseth gutted offices that would have probed Iran school strike​

The number of Pentagon employees who focus on mitigating civilian casualties has dropped from 200 people to less than 40.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has gutted the Pentagon oversight offices that would have investigated the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school — a move that has degraded America’s ability to protect civilians amid its largest air campaign in decades.

The Pentagon chief last year slashed offices that didn’t contribute to his goal of “lethality,” including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. Around 200 employees who worked on the issue, including at that office, have been reduced by about 90 percent, according to two current and former officials and a person familiar with the effort. The team that handles civilian casualties at Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has dropped from 10 to one.

What a scumbag. It's not important to understand and minimize civilian deaths by the US.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/pentagon-iran-school-strike-civilian-casualties-00820780