Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran … War

[papa smurf]

Ladies and Gentlemen it's TACO day

Trump announces 'Project Freedom' in Strait of Hormuz to be paused


Donald Trump says the US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz is paused while America aims to finalise a deal with Iran. It comes after a cargo ship was reported to have been hit in the key waterway.

https://news.sky.com/story/iran-war-...banon-13509565


https://news.sky.com/video/trump-pau...ormuz-13540571

So, Operation Epic Fury is concluded, Operation Freedom is on pause, does that leave us with Operation No One Can Find Their Aerse With A Map, Mirror, And Detailed Directions?

And why is this happening?

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/h...ng-of-iran-war

In divisions of the State Department that typically would handle the Iran response, numerous veteran diplomats with decades of collective experience were fired, retired or were reassigned — replaced by more junior officials or political appointees. The administration cut more than 80 staffers in Near Eastern Affairs, according to numbers compiled by a State Department employee who was terminated last year based on surveys of colleagues.

For instance, the administration appears to have been caught off guard by what would happen once the U.S. struck Iran — something Trump himself acknowledged this week when he expressed surprise that Tehran retaliated with strikes on American allies in the region. "Nobody expected that. We were shocked. They fought back," Trump told reporters this week.

Pigott said staffing reductions "are not having any negative impact on our ability to respond to this operation, our ability to plan, and our ability to execute in service to Americans." He added that the department "rejects the premise that key decisions were made without meaningful input from experienced professionals."

But Iranian retaliation on U.S. allies was predictable, according to former officials, as well as previous wargames and conflict models run by both the U.S. military and private organizations. The National Security Council, which Trump has pared, typically would have presented the president with analysis from experts within the bureaucracy.

Instead, decisions are made by a small group of officials close to the president without the planning or coordination of the larger machinery of government, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as the president's national security adviser.

How to be "smartest person in the room"? Fire the really smart, experienced people who know what they’re talking about…

https://wapo.st/4wl2BI3

Something, something, "holding all the cards", something, something. "so much winning"…

President Donald Trump on Sunday called Iran’s response to the latest U.S. proposal to end the war “totally unacceptable.”

Trump’s comments came hours after Tehran said, according to state media, that it sent a response to the peace plan through Pakistani mediators — after an exchange of hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz in recent days highlighted the fragility of a ceasefire the two sides reached more than a month ago.

“I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called ‘Representatives.’ I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without providing details.

Also from that article

Asked about the Strait of Hormuz’s continued closure, Mike Waltz said: “That’s why we’re pushing now another U.N. resolution that says Iran cannot do this. No country can do what Iran is doing in international waterways.”

Meanwhile, in international waterways in the Caribbean and the Pacific…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...astern-pacific

The US military on Friday said it struck a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people and leaving one survivor in the latest attack on boats suspected of transporting narcotics. This brings the death toll from strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific to more than 190 people since September...

… The military has attacked multiple alleged drug-running boats in the eastern Pacific in recent weeks, including a strike on Tuesday that killed three people. According to a tally by the Intercept, there have now been 58 such boat strikes since September amounting to a death toll of 193 people with four survivors.

The legality of these boat strikes is under scrutiny, with legal experts saying the attacks amount to unlawful extrajudicial killings by the Pentagon with a complete lack of accountability. Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have condemned the strikes.

The Pentagon has framed its operations in the region as a campaign against “narco-terrorism”, but has provided scant evidence of coordinated drug-smuggling rings.

[papa smurf]

once again it's TACO time


President Trump says he's called off a 'very big' attack on Iran
Donald Trump says he's postponed 'very big' attack on Iran as mediators believe a deal to end the conflict is close.

blah blah bigly attack blah bigliest ever seen blah blah......

https://news.sky.com/video/president...-iran-13545720

But, but, but…

If, as Trump (frequently) states, the US military have completely destroyed the Iranian’s military capabilities, and annihilated their nuclear reprocessing facilities, what is there to bomb?

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Hugh

But, but, but…

If, as Trump (frequently) states, the US military have completely destroyed the Iranian’s military capabilities, and annihilated their nuclear reprocessing facilities, what is there to bomb?

children,that seems to be popular

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

children,that seems to be popular

Sadly true, when it comes to US bombings, it does seem to be women and children first.

Right at the start of America's war with Iran, something went very, very wrong.

We can say that with even more clarity as the first news team from outside Iran to reach where it happened....

It was by any measure an abomination and almost certainly the work of the US military.

The missiles fired at the school on the first day of the war were US Tomahawks. Only America had been targeting numerous sites in the area that day.

Disgracefully, President Trump's first reaction to the atrocity at Minab was an obvious falsehood. It was Iran's fault, he said. They also use Tomahawks. But they don't.

A preliminary US investigation is reported to have concluded this was an American mistake. But that has not been confirmed publicly. Officially, all the Trump administration has said for almost three months now is that it's "under investigation".

Past incidents of mass civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan produced a public admission of responsibility from the Americans within days, at most, a few weeks.

Whatever else the US military was targeting in the area that day, this was a primary school that had been, for more than 10 years, marked clearly on maps.

If it was deliberately targeted, that would be a war crime. If it was misidentified, that potentially is also a breach of the rules of war.

America's reputation is at stake, but so are the lives of more innocent civilians in future. So far, the Pentagon appears to be foot-dragging...

https://news.sky.com/story/utter-hor...wrong-13545757

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Sadly true, when it comes to US bombings, it does seem to be women and children first.

And not surprising when you consider they shut the Civilian Protection centre because that drunk hegseth wants to prioritise lethality over protecting the innocent and avoid accountability