War with Iran

[Shaka Shart]

Pete will conduct these fitness tests himself. He likes to be hands-on.

Take this to the pickleball thread plz

[tower912]

$5 gas is back.  Winning!

[MU82]

$5 gas is back.  Winning!

$6 here.

[Uncle Rico]

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia went to the Chinese to reach out to Iran to help reign in the Houthi's.

Good to see China extend its influence into the Middle East while America abandons its allies there.

[Uncle Rico]

According to the AP, the Saudi's have reached out to France, England, Pakistan, and Egypt for air-defense assistance against the Houthi's as America has abandoned its ally in the region.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

All this winning is amazing!  I never imagined we'd win this much.  It's incredible!

[The Sultan]

On the one hand, it shows how Iran really has won this war strategically considering just a couple of years ago, Israel and Saudi Arabia were THIS CLOSE to signing a mutual recognition pact. Now I can't see that ever happening...

On the other hand, it probably is a good idea for the United States to care a little less about the mideast.

[Uncle Rico]

On the one hand, it shows how Iran really has won this war strategically considering just a couple of years ago, Israel and Saudi Arabia were THIS CLOSE to signing a mutual recognition pact. Now I can't see that ever happening...

On the other hand, it probably is a good idea for the United States to care a little less about the mideast.

Good in theory, but that Israeli money for pols is hard to ignore

[The Sultan]

Good in theory, but that Israeli money for pols is hard to ignore

I think Israel has a long road to get back to where it was in America's eyes after the last couple of years.

[Hards Alumni]

I think Israel has a long road to get back to where it was in America's eyes after the last couple of years.

HA, YA THINK?

[Uncle Rico]

I think Israel has a long road to get back to where it was in America's eyes after the last couple of years.

I'll believe it when I see it. 

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I think Israel has a long road to get back to where it was in America's eyes after the last couple of years.

I don't think it will ever happen. Bebe has damaged Israel's brand nearly as much as the crapgibbon has America's.

The people that remember the old Israel are slowly dying off, and the young people only know the war criming/mass murdering/ethnic cleansing version.

[Hards Alumni]

I don't think it will ever happen. Bebe has damaged Israel's brand nearly as much as the crapgibbon has America's.

The people that remember the old Israel are slowly dying off, and the young people only know the war criming/mass murdering/ethnic cleansing version.

Or once Bibi dies they'll just scapegoat him and his admin.  My money is on this.  Too much money to be made, politically.

[Jockey]

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia went to the Chinese to reach out to Iran to help reign in the Houthi's.

Good to see China extend its influence into the Middle East while America abandons its allies there.

We gifted our African allies to China. Now it's the Middle East. Next will be Europe once we get our troops outa there and in South America where they belong.

[jesmu84]

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia went to the Chinese to reach out to Iran to help reign in the Houthi's.

Good to see China extend its influence into the Middle East while America abandons its allies there.

Is it bad to lose an "ally" who is responsible for 9/11?

[Uncle Rico]

Is it bad to lose an "ally" who is responsible for 9/11?

Suppose not.  Kushner got a lot out of them already

[forgetful]

We gifted our African allies to China. Now it's the Middle East. Next will be Europe once we get our troops outa there and in South America where they belong.

This is all part of the bigger goal of creating spheres of influence.

We get North/South America.

China get's the Asia/Pacific (and Middle East?)

Europe, China, Russia can fight over Africa.

[Uncle Rico]

This is all part of the bigger goal of creating spheres of influence.

We get North/South America.

China get's the Asia/Pacific (and Middle East?)

Europe, China, Russia can fight over Africa.

Love the 19th century thinking

[Jockey]

This is all part of the bigger goal of creating spheres of influence.

We get North/South America.

China get's the Asia/Pacific (and Middle East?)

Europe, China, Russia can fight over Africa.

It's all about rich people divvying up the have nots.

[Mutaman]

According to the AP, the Saudi's have reached out to France, England, Pakistan, and Egypt for air-defense assistance against the Houthi's as America has abandoned its ally in the region.

Not a very good return on their trillion dollar investment with Kushner.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Trump is so incredible!
My 2013 car only held $50 of gas in February, now it holds almost $100!

[MU82]

Not a very good return on their trillion dollar investment with Kushner.

At least they got LIV for a few minutes.

[Uncle Rico]

Diesel up 72% on a route from LA to Dallas.

Attacking Iran has consequences.

[Uncle Rico]

Saudi Arabia informs European refineries:  No crude for a month.

Trump's folly continues to hurt our allies.

[MU82]

Building 'Trump Class' Battleships Will Be a Big, Expensive Mistake

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/opinion/trump-class-battleships-navy-military.html?

President Trump has proposed building a new fleet, with battleships at its core. He is right that the United States needs a larger and more lethal Navy, along with a rejuvenated shipbuilding industry. But his plan would have been outdated a century ago. Unless senior Navy officials steer him off his course, the nation will spend billions to make the Navy more vulnerable and less deadly.

The president said that the classic 1950s documentary series "Victory at Sea" inspired him to invest in battleships — which are essentially big, floating artillery platforms. Pity he did not watch it more closely. Naval conflict in World War II, the subject of the documentary, proved aircraft carriers and nimble destroyers to be far more important to succeeding in an era of planes and submarines. Today, new technologies such as precision missiles and sea drones demand even more innovation away from battleships.

Mr. Trump nevertheless last year ordered new battleships, "the largest we've ever built," the first of what the Pentagon said would be the "Trump class." (Naming the class after the president rather than the first ship of the class, in this case the Defiant, is a departure from longstanding Navy tradition.) Mr. Trump said that his secretary of the Navy at the time, John Phelan, was excited about the new ships. Four months later, apparently after explaining to Mr. Trump that the Defiant could not be delivered by 2028 as the president wanted, Mr. Phelan was fired. But work on the new ships continued.

Now, the Congressional Budget Office has issued a report projecting that the first ship would cost just over $23 billion, $8 billion more than the Navy initially announced — and that is before inevitable cost overruns. Some of the weapons systems that the Defiant is supposed to carry don't even exist yet. Each of the 14 additional ships planned is expected to cost at least $18 billion, up from an initially projected $10 billion per hull, for a total cost of $275 billion. The most expensive ship ever built for the U.S. Navy was the nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, which, with significant overruns, cost about $13 billion in 2017.

Spending any money on battleships — let alone such huge amounts — conflicts directly with the Navy's desire to modernize itself. A single missile or bomb can easily disable any ship, so the nation's offensive firepower should be distributed among many smaller ships rather than a few big ones. The idea is that losing one or two ships would not disable the country's capability to project force in a region. Battleships just make big targets.

For the same price as one of the new ships, Harlan Ullman, a senior adviser at the Atlantic Council in Washington, explained to me, the Navy could buy five or six advanced guided missile destroyers. Taken together, they would have more firepower than a single new battleship would, along with antisubmarine weapons the Defiant would lack. Some of the money planned for the Trump class could also pay for more submarines, amphibious ships and hundreds of small, autonomous sea drones.

Yet as far as we know, no active duty and few retired admirals have ventured to tell Mr. Trump that his battleship plan is a bad strategic choice, and an expensive one.