U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#161

Post by erentz » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:35 PM UTC

dmurray wrote: post #114

tokai wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 be…

This is where the media (or your media bubble) failed you. Trump was always this way. In his first term he significantly increased the amount of bombs dropped and number of countries bombed over previous presidents.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#162

Post by mc32 » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

erentz wrote: post #160

delecti wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does improving things for future generations need to be held up until we can undo mistakes already done? The ladder got pulled up and some of us needed to scramble, but can't we lower the ladder back down for them anyway? We can do both. We can help people already saddled with debt, and also do things to prevent future generations from being saddled with debt in the first place. People who managed to climb out of…

Democrats shouldn’t have wasted effort on trying to reduce student loans simply because the constituency (students) didn’t even give them recognition for it. They simply blamed Biden when SCOTUS blocked it. But more generally we shouldn’t do one off things like this when we still haven’t fixed the cause of the problem. A better policy would be to start by making community college or first two years of college free or…

I am onboard with free community college. Unsure kids can figure out their majors before they fork out beaucoup bucks for pricier institutions. They should also be able to default on loans they can’t repay.

Biden is guilty of pretense. He very well knew or should have know this had very small chance of this manoeuvre being upheld. It’s akin to Dems or Reps in the Congress opposing or in favor of something knowing the opposite of their stance is the forgone outcome just to look good to their constituents.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#163

Post by krapp » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #162

erentz wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Democrats shouldn’t have wasted effort on trying to reduce student loans simply because the constituency (students) didn’t even give them recognition for it. They simply blamed Biden when SCOTUS blocked it. But more generally we shouldn’t do one off things like this when we still haven’t fixed the cause of the problem. A better policy would be to start by making community college or first two years of college free or…

I am onboard with free community college. Unsure kids can figure out their majors before they fork out beaucoup bucks for pricier institutions. They should also be able to default on loans they can’t repay. Biden is guilty of pretense. He very well knew or should have know this had very small chance of this manoeuvre being upheld. It’s akin to Dems or Reps in the Congress opposing or in favor of something knowing the…

Biden is guilty of being a Democrat in the middle of a Republican putsch. If Trump had tried forgiving student loans it would have gone off without a hitch. Congress would have fallen in line and SCOTUS would have favored him. Everyone complaining that Biden was practicing communism would be praising Trump instead.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#164

Post by Hikikomori » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 11:00 PM UTC

drnick1 wrote: post #148

insane_dreamer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had an agreement that was working which Trump tore up and then went to war on Israel’s behalf. So it was largely a solved problem until Trump created the problem.

Clearly, it wasn't working if they needed to hide their activities in underground bunkers. The plan for the Iranians has always been to buy time and obtain sanctions relief while secretly using the money to fund nuclear technology and build missiles. The only durable solution here is the collapse of the terrorist regime and disarmament of the county.

It was working, as US intelligence agencies testified to in congress as Trump ripped up the deal. Then trump put heavy sanctions on them and they restarted their enrichment program.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#165

Post by bigyabai » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #159

bigyabai wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Case in point. Clearly neither of those are nuclear-level threats, the IRGC and Mossad have both fomented public violence for decades at this point. Their Tom & Jerry reenactment is not casus belli for the US or Europe. You'll note that no Article 4 has been invoked over Iran because it's not a legitimate security concern for any of NATO's members.

They are a demonstarted threat that Iran is willing/happy to call for terrorism around the world, and that their threat is real and will be carried out. That the Islamic Republic of Iran's words such as 'conduct terror attacks in the UK right now' and 'death to America' have the actual threat of death behind them and aren't just 'rhetoric' as HN claims. One that HN won't care about, but that Iran targets and kills je…

> as HN claims.

> One that HN won't care about

It's not HN. Most of the world doesn't care about it. You can't cry foul over threats to civilian populations amid the annexation of Lebanon. America doesn't get to operate from a position of moral authority after it's overthrown a democracy it didn't like and threatened to wipe a civilization off the map. NATO service members aren't excited to fight on behalf of the nation that invented the Hannibal Directive. HN is just a sample of this overwhelming majority, many of whom are American taxpayers with an opinion they'd like to voice.

I'm sorry that you struggle to find empathy for your minority political opinions. Don't blame it on HN.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#166

Post by rchaud » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

throwaway132448 wrote: post #29

migueldeicaza wrote: post #6

Destroying the world is cheap compared to the cost to humanity. Now they need to share the cost that we have burdened the world and ourselves with.

Privatize the gains, socialize the losses. I miss actual capitalism with actual competition and anti-trust enforcement, not the oligopolies, regulatory capture and government-picked survivors we have now.

Actual capitalism is the free and unfettered ability to handpick cabinet members, bribe government to deregulate an industry in your favour, hand out no-bid contracts, offer tax credits and subsidies, and shelter you from foreign competition.

What you've described is a heavily regulated market economy.

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#167

Post by dmurray » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 11:45 PM UTC

nozzlegear wrote: post #146

dmurray wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Which American president did not cause the removal of a sitting leader of a foreign nation from power? Joe Biden. Unless you'd contend that withdrawing from Afghanistan was an elaborate, self-owning plot to overthrow the US-friendly government in favor of the Taliban, which I think goes against the spirit of your question.

More on the "funding local terrorists with plausible deniability" end of things than the Trump playbook, but here's the Biden cabinet taking credit for ousting Assad:

https://fpif.org/u-s-officials-take-credit-for-regime-change...

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#168

Post by _DeadFred_ » Wed, Apr 29, 2026, 11:47 PM UTC

bigyabai wrote: post #165

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are a demonstarted threat that Iran is willing/happy to call for terrorism around the world, and that their threat is real and will be carried out. That the Islamic Republic of Iran's words such as 'conduct terror attacks in the UK right now' and 'death to America' have the actual threat of death behind them and aren't just 'rhetoric' as HN claims. One that HN won't care about, but that Iran targets and kills je…

> as HN claims. > One that HN won't care about It's not HN. Most of the world doesn't care about it. You can't cry foul over threats to civilian populations amid the annexation of Lebanon. America doesn't get to operate from a position of moral authority after it's overthrown a democracy it didn't like and threatened to wipe a civilization off the map. NATO service members aren't excited to fight on behalf of the nat…

40+ years of 'death to America' from supreme religious leaders met with silence. The double standards/hypocrisy just keep piling up. I guess you have lower standards for shia holy leaders than you do from Trump. You must REALLY hold Shia mullahs in low regard.

How much blatant terrorism started via Iranian Ambassadors in the UK becomes a level the UK should respond to? You obviously don't think knifing a few jews is worth consideration.

The pro-Iranian side don't actually care about terror attacks by one country carried out in another. The pro-Iranians don't actually care about targeting specific ethnicities for murder simply because of their ethnicity.

Wait the hannible directive is about Iranian embassy staff instigating ethnic killings in the UK? Seems like your just injecting a random unrelated propaganda point. The fact is the Isalmic Republic of Iran's actual policy is to carry out attacks to kill random jews around the world (like the attack they attempted today in the UK).

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#169

Post by DANmode » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 12:37 AM UTC

throwaway132448 wrote: post #29

migueldeicaza wrote: post #6

Destroying the world is cheap compared to the cost to humanity. Now they need to share the cost that we have burdened the world and ourselves with.

Privatize the gains, socialize the losses. I miss actual capitalism with actual competition and anti-trust enforcement, not the oligopolies, regulatory capture and government-picked survivors we have now.

What year was that, out of curiosity?

Re: U.S. war in Iran has cost $25B so far, says Pentagon official

#170

Post by bigyabai » Thu, Apr 30, 2026, 1:13 AM UTC

_DeadFred_ wrote: post #168

bigyabai wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as HN claims. > One that HN won't care about It's not HN. Most of the world doesn't care about it. You can't cry foul over threats to civilian populations amid the annexation of Lebanon. America doesn't get to operate from a position of moral authority after it's overthrown a democracy it didn't like and threatened to wipe a civilization off the map. NATO service members aren't excited to fight on behalf of the nat…

40+ years of 'death to America' from supreme religious leaders met with silence. The double standards/hypocrisy just keep piling up. I guess you have lower standards for shia holy leaders than you do from Trump. You must REALLY hold Shia mullahs in low regard. How much blatant terrorism started via Iranian Ambassadors in the UK becomes a level the UK should respond to? You obviously don't think knifing a few jews is…

The UK and America destroyed Iranian democracy and installed a police state in it's place. There is no "death to Europe" or "death to jews" anywhere in their slogans, because they specifically want to destroy their neocolonial occupiers. As an American myself, I empathize with individuals that fight for the freedom of their people. The founding fathers of America extolled the values of self-determination, and I agree with their reasoning more than I see the logic in Trump's expensive, taxpayer-funded war.

Look at your argument from the European or Indopacific perspective - why does a nation like China or India need to participate in a joint blockade? What is the value in attacking Iran for a nation like Pakistan or Egypt? The American goal of "stop them from making a nuke" is clearly not possible from an air campaign, and nobody but Israel is in Iran's crosshairs. The Gulf states all have fragile economies that won't survive the type of asymmetrical conflict that America is equipped to wage. Even rebel groups like the Kurds don't see any promise in attacking Iran, and have told American diplomats that they're on their own. They all know that the promises are empty, and a broken or Balkanized Iran would be the end of their regional stability.

Interventionism is not a helpful policy for Iran's people. Arabs know it, Europeans know it and most of the Americans and Israelis know it too. The status-quo is only confusing if you assume that the Arab and European states are run by morons that want to destroy the Middle East.