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U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

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71–80 of 84 posts

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#71
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think OP is talking about a specific war, but the overall cost to maintain such a capability and project force all over the world. At least that is what I perceive when people lament about lack of healthcare. The United States military budget is now 1.5 trillion dollars per year.

Sure, we could just not have a military and hold hands with Russia and China and everyone else. We wouldn't need healthcare. We'd just be dead.

What if they didnt try to kill us tho? What if the world is so interconnected now, that we actually could hold hands - especially if we already had those asteroids already at the Lagrange points - if we were "post-scarcity" as a species, what would be worth fighting over?

We absolutely can, and will, go get those asteroids.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#72
post #35

This is reminding us something that we should never have forgotten - modern war has an insatiable demand for munitions. To take just one example out of dozens, the US fired somewhere from 100 to 150 THAAD interceptors - about ¼ of the stockpile - during the 12 days war in 2025. We produce just under 100 per year. There are plans to raise that number to 400 per year. The Ukrainians were expending somewhere around 10,0…

You’re saying the enemy doesn’t care about the Dow?

It’s been over 100 years since the exchange was closed for war. They might open it for manual trading if algorithmic (80% of volume) is attacked. I bet we would never get attribution and that the US admin benefits by saying any damage must be Iran.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#75
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just funny that people can't stomach that their own ruling class is leading them down the primrose path so they have to go casting about for a foreign bogeyman who's making it happen, despite the fact that every major Western power has bent the knee to this action against Iran.

I'm not American, at least it's not "my" ruling class

If you're in Europe or one of the 20 Eyes countries it's the same thing.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#76
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If China was to attack Taiwan, now would be the time. The current world order is at least in part based around the notion of the US (and allies) having the military capacity to fight any plausible combination of foes at all times. That this military capacity was used in accordance to a set of rules with input from allies and partners made the system tolerable. If the US lacks the munitions to fight all of these confl…

Fortunately, China just decided to fire most of their military leadership and replaced them with inexperienced, but loyal grunts.

Does this make them more or less likely to attack Taiwan, then?

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#77
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That has nothing to do with the Department of Defense / War, or its budget.

It does with the root comment though, it's all just piss poor politics :-)

The root comment implies that if not for warmongering, you could have had healthcare.

That's not the case. If the USA had a more functioning political system (ranked choice voting etc) and didn't hate 'communism' so much then they would have healthcare.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#78
post #69
post #37

Lets say I'm on team regime change... aren't I also hoping someone we like somehow rises up and takes over that whole country too? That seems unlikely.

One possibility is the Shah's son takes over as a provisional leader. Here he is on 60 minutes today https://youtu.be/x2mIUZ3WCEg?t=110 It's tricky because the opposition don't have arms so it needs some of the guys who do to turn. The US/Israel are being quite brutal though - killing all the regime leaders (as in youtube https://youtu.be/2TZF8_wwAUs?t=572 )

The Shah son doesn't have the local support his father had. Part of the diaspora like him enough, but the clans that brought him to power are way less aligned with the British ans US than they use to be.

On the other hand, exchanging an anti-US dictator for a US-aligned dictator is probably a lot better for the average citizen because your country won't be embargoed anymore, you just have to accept US oil companies on your territory.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a cop out. The second biggest loser of Iran being invaded is China. The US already took out Venezuela and now Iran. I know China has made excellent strides in renewables but they still depend on oil to fuel their over capacitized factories. Now they have lost their number 1 and number 2 supplier. Combined with 25% youth unemployment things are looking more grim for China. If any of this tech had any…

VZ and IR constitutes like 15% of PRC oil, heavily discounted. 15% seems like a lot but keep in mind PRC imports more than they use for filling SPR - about 1B in storage, or 2-3 years of IR/VZ oil imports. Meanwhile PRC imports oil primarily for transport that can be electrified. They produce 5mbd domestically, which covers industrial use (petchem), which can also be derived from coal, discount RU/VZ/IR oil simply ch…

Mostly agree, I will push back on the '25% youth unemployment is western cope stat - broad PRC unemployment is like 6%, i.e. youth find jobs, PRC youth simply gets to fuckarounditis at home until they decide enter workforce later'

Rural Chinese kids are getting shafted in every way possible. Most adults are there two days a month at best (basically almost all present adults are 50 or more), they are undereducated, and rural jobs pay a fifth to an eighth of what an unqualified factory job pays, and there isn't enough of them. It's probably a blip for Chinese employment numbers, but man, rural China seems harsher than rural Vietnam, at least for the new generations.

Re: U.S. Races to Accomplish Iran Mission Before Munitions Run Out

#80
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VZ and IR constitutes like 15% of PRC oil, heavily discounted. 15% seems like a lot but keep in mind PRC imports more than they use for filling SPR - about 1B in storage, or 2-3 years of IR/VZ oil imports. Meanwhile PRC imports oil primarily for transport that can be electrified. They produce 5mbd domestically, which covers industrial use (petchem), which can also be derived from coal, discount RU/VZ/IR oil simply ch…

Mostly agree, I will push back on the '25% youth unemployment is western cope stat - broad PRC unemployment is like 6%, i.e. youth find jobs, PRC youth simply gets to fuckarounditis at home until they decide enter workforce later' Rural Chinese kids are getting shafted in every way possible. Most adults are there two days a month at best (basically almost all present adults are 50 or more), they are undereducated, an…

Rural situation is interesting, little opportunities, many in informal economy.

Yes historically very UNDERemployed, but at this point it's, and this will sound callous, matter of bootstraps, i.e. rural youth, despite having shittier education are more educated than their rural parents. AKA they are minimal competent to do migrant blue collar work - lots of well paying factory jobs if willing to relocate. But that also hard life style so many choose to not, because modern shit rural life is frequently not as laborious as shit migrant dormitory life.

It terms of stats, rural marginalization = contradictions.

Technically/theoretically rural employment is always 0%. Rural hukou = own small plot of farmland = by definition rural residence are bucketed as farmers. But in terms of useful stats, whatever their unemployment hardly matters because they make so little money, like the bottom 1-2 quantiles in PRC (predominantly rural) aggregates to like 5% of PRC GDP. It's a blip for PRC economic health, but urban/rural divide is irreconcilably unjust. Though also practically unjust especially for PRC demographic trends, TLDR rural is where most of the undereducated old are, it's going to be nice low cost dumping ground for retired people who wants to chill in their gardens.

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