I would merely point out, since the operation started, global terrorism has fallen quite dramatically. Freedom isn’t free; never has been.
They don't want to waste their evil plan of assassination, just to be send to the 17th page of the newspapers.
U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
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Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#112I would merely point out, since the operation started, global terrorism has fallen quite dramatically. Freedom isn’t free; never has been.
Yes, it's great that civilian homes and infrastructure are sacrosanct now. Saracasm aside, that's a matter of perspective, no?
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#113I remember before the election I read a few people on HN say Trump is the most anti-war president they have ever seen and that all the talk about him letting Israel flatten Palestine was fearmongering. Wonder how they feel now.
I muse on this as well but recently I'm struck that the entire conversation is something of a distraction. Everyone is focused on the current administration, what they're doing right or wrong, contrasting it with Biden, etc.
My question is - how did we even reach this point? I understand people didn't like Hillary Clinton and the way they dealt with Biden's age was abysmal when he was in office.
But I have literally never seen anyone express that they wish Clinton had won over Trump back in 2016. I find that really strange.
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I felt more or less like this, though I don't know if I posted it on HN. Lots of things I didn't like about Trump, but I did favour the less interventionist foreign policy he promised and initially delivered. Now I feel I was wrong and Trump is just averagely warmongering, as US presidents go.
Honest question; why did you believe that about Trump? He was, and is, a serial lier and famously inconsistent. In his first term he moved on the same conflicts he has started now, but was held back circumstances and a cabinet that wasn't 100% yes men. I never understood how anyone could see Trump as the anti-war candidate during the election.
I believed it because he didn't start the same conflicts he started now. More fool me, perhaps, but one person's "held back by circumstances" is another person's "it was all bluster anyway".
It was also consistent with a broader policy of isolationism shown during his first term. Reducing support for NATO, backing out of trade deals - all consistent with America First and not being the world's policeman, which has been the US's justification for every war in the last 80 years.
I'm not American, so probably have a different perspective on this from Americans. But also that's a reason for me to judge a US president disproportionately more on his foreign policy than on say, healthcare or which bathroom people should use.
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Note that it doesn't count the cost of second- or third- order effects (like the cost from the price of oil going up by 50%). Since February 28, crude oil prices increases cost $42 billion in the United States alone.
Oil money flows back into the U.S. economy as a net exporter.
Good thing the US economy is Chevron stock value and nothing else.
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I felt more or less like this, though I don't know if I posted it on HN. Lots of things I didn't like about Trump, but I did favour the less interventionist foreign policy he promised and initially delivered. Now I feel I was wrong and Trump is just averagely warmongering, as US presidents go.
Trump kidnaps a sitting president of a foreign nation after months of conducting strikes in the Caribbean. This is not a war but calling him "averagely warmongering" is just wrong.
Which American president did not cause the removal of a sitting leader of a foreign nation from power? Doing it bloodlessly rather than through direct military force or by arming local terrorists absolutely does make you less warmongering than average.
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#117This is almost certainly a massive underestimate. See the recent Search Engine podcast episode "The Cost of War" with guest Professor Linda Blimes:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1wwjLv4fTtLfHLkk2ejOoF?si=7...
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
The consequences to everyone that isn't as well fed as yourself are also good for you morally?
Nothing keeps the people well feed like the inability to grow crops.
Funny that you say that, because LNG exports from Persian gulf being blocked will result in fertilizer shortages and potentially a famine.
Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
North Korea routinely attacks South Korean and US assets in its area like the sinking of Cheonan. North Korea is strongly allied with its other neighbors China and Russia. Iran is not organized around an expansionist death cult. They have not expanded or attempted to expand at all. They are involved in lots of neighboring conflicts because they are in a region with lots of conflicts. We are also involved in lots of c…
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Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official
#120Perspective: - $9b per month increase in US oil export revenue as a result offsets probably 40% of the cost. - Several trillion (with a 'T") of realized and yet to be realized FDI commitments from gulf states more than offsets cost by about 3x. - A nuclear Iran carries economic costs I won't detail here to prevent a wall of text. In sum, forces other countries to go nuclear and take other actions to manage risk, and…
A problem with your "voice of reason" is the assumption that it will prevent nukes in Iran or the region. The US people have just offered an object lesson in why deterrent weapons are useful. How capricious they are in diplomacy. And how willing Americans are to withdraw boots on the ground in allied countries. Of course most of that won't be surprising to Iranians.