Iran War 2026

[GrantDawg]

Figured I'd start a new thread and take the discussion out of the Trump politics thread.

Defense officials are saying the US has lost three Reper drones so far in the war. These are about $30 million each, but the US has about 300. Two were shot down over Iran and one was taken down by Qatar.

[flere-imsaho]

Could feed a lot of kids with $30M.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Could feed a lot of kids with $30M.

Terrible idea. We feed those kids, they pay attention in school, and they learn critical thinking and then where are we?!?

[NobodyHere]

I thought this was interesting

[RainMaker]

War costing $1b a day.

[JPhillips]

We spend a trillion on defense and there's no money to bomb Iran?

[RainMaker]

People don't realize how insanely expensive those interceptors are.

[Danny]

I'm glad all those DOGE cuts were able to pay for a couple hours of war in Iran

[GrantDawg]

What's good for the goose....
Russia gave Iran information that could help strikes on US military | AP News

[RainMaker]

Obviously it is tough to get information out of the war but it sure seems like Iran destroyed the Bahrain base which is kind of insane. The radars in Qatar are gone which the air defense systems rely on.

None of these threaten the United States but are insanely expensive to fix. Those radars cost billions and take nearly a decade to build. They require tons of gallium which I don't think anyone really makes but China. That base in Bahrain I can't even imagine the costs to fix up. The satellite images make it look like a total loss.

This is why military experts said how stupid a war would be. Even Bush understood that. Sure you can blow up elementary schools and cause chaos in Iran, but they can make it incredibly expensive for the country and set the military back a decade in the region. Not to mention how pissed off the Arab states must be that the U.S. didn't follow through on their deal to protect them.

[GrantDawg]

The info real is hard to decipher. There is so much poor bs out there from both sides that it makes wading through the muck to find anything solid difficult. There is such a huge number of bots and ai creations out there and they just keep posting the same fake reports over and over. Annoying AF.
I just don't see how a "victory" is going to occur here. Iran using financial targeting was a risk because it hurts China as bad if not more than the US, but it seems to be paying off. China seems to be willing to hunker down for the damage as long it costs the US military stores and reputation.
I still think the next phase will be "boots on the ground" but something well short of invasion. Special forces actions aimed at hurting the regime and degrading the nuclear and weapon making facilities. Any invasion will be by someone other than the US or Israel, and even then it will be biters into the country not a full on occupying invasion.
The most likely outcome is still for Trump to find someway to paint some small acquiescence into a "victory."

[RainMaker]

I don't see how this is anything but a win for China. The U.S burns another trillion on the Middle East for Israel's religious wars while they continue to invest internally. Been the story of the past few decades and the results are showing.

[GrantDawg]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...ran-rcna262176

[RainMaker]

Has anyone provided him with a map of Iran?

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Has anyone provided him with a map of Iran?

Zero chance he could pic out Iran on a map and if you told him it would be exponentially worse than Vietnam his hubris would never allow him to accept it.

We all knew he would be an epic disaster but this has the potential to exceed anything we thought.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Has anyone provided him with a map of Iran?

Read the article. He is discussing exactly what I was guessing. Small special forces actions, not a full scale invasion.

[miami_fan]

IMO "Victory" has already been achieved. The administration wants the world to know that it will not hesitate to use the military to at the drop of a hat. To what end? It does not matter. I think they believe that just putting it out there that at any point for any reason large or small, military action can be taken can have long term benefits for the U.S.

[RainMaker]

Reports are 4 of the THADD systems have been destroyed by Iran. We only have 8. Will be interesting if they move one from somewhere else.

[flere-imsaho]

It's one thing to funnel trillions into the MIC. It's another thing, entirely, to funnel trillions into the MIC and find out the high-priced stuff doesn't even work.

[JPhillips]

The seal has been broken on destroying desalination plants. That could have huge impacts throughout the Middle East.

[Lathum]

Does anyone actually believe we’ve only lost 6 service members?

[flere-imsaho]

NOPE

[GrantDawg]

More than 6? Probably. There could be a few deaths being covered up in areas that aren't close to civilians and well covered by press. Huge numbers? No. If there were huge numbers of deaths from attacks over Iran, or large number of soldiers captured, there would pictures and videos everywhere. As it is of they shoot down a drone there are bunches of pictures. You don't think they would be parading capturef soldiers in front of cameras or showing dead soldiers if they could?

[RainMaker]

Another slip of the tongue.

Hegseth: "To our steadfast partner, Israel. Your mission is being executed with unmatched skill and iron determination." pic.twitter.com/KMG2uWz6KI

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) March 7, 2026

[RainMaker]

It would be really hard to cover up a lot of troop deaths. With that said, it isn't like the media is putting in much work to cover the war

[miami_fan]

1. I support Israel's right to exist and to defend itself against those who wish to make it extinct.

2. I also think Israel has been an oppressive present in the Middle East since its creation and quite likely have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and other atrocities against its adversaries similar to those that we know were committed against Jewish people during the Holocaust. .

3. I have never felt as conflicted between holding those two opinions nor have i ever felt as uncomfortable with the bedfellows that share those opinions with me as I do at this point in time. I also have zero desire to prioritize one opinion over the other.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Does anyone actually believe we’ve only lost 6 service members?

Get ready for an uptick in "medical episodes" and "training accidents".

The NYPD mourns the loss of Police Officer Sorffly Davius, who passed away yesterday as a result of a medical episode while deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Epic Fury.

Officer Davius served in the 42nd Infantry Division in the U.S. Army National Guard and rose to the… pic.twitter.com/AmPTClTHtG

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 8, 2026

[Lathum]

Killed in action sounds way worse, considering we aren't at war...

[JPhillips]

Leavitt refusing to say that Trump won't institute a draft is a gigantic misstep. There won't be a draft as it won't pass Congress, but now the damage from there might be a draft adds to the weight of the anchors around Trump's neck

[miami_fan]

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/08/crud...-iran-war.html

[flere-imsaho]

Let's watch Democratic politicians fail to capitalize on the huge "draft" favor Trump just gave them.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Let's watch Democratic politicians fail to capitalize on the huge "draft" favor Trump just gave them.

If he thinks it will help Israel, Schumer will support it.

[JPhillips]

Eric has to be pretty excited by the idea that if the old man dies the second son gets to take over.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Let's watch Democratic politicians fail to capitalize on the huge "draft" favor Trump just gave them.

They fully support this war.

[JPhillips]

Oil futures up to 114.

[Ghost Econ]

That's good, right?

[JPhillips]

If it's not, don't worry. Dow futures are down a 1000 so they balance out.

[JPhillips]

dola

Trump now talking about price caps on gas.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

They fully support this war.

All Democrats? Show your work.

[albionmoonlight]

I'm not a fan of this administration. But I give them credit for not taking the draft off the table.

Too often, politicians promise that they will enact their plans and we will magically feel no pain whatsoever.

Invading a country of 90 million people is not painless. And credit to them for being straight about that.

[Atocep]

So far we know MAGA wasn't really against war, that they actually support pedophilia, and that they didn't care about grocery or gas prices. Almost like it's a cult that simply goes with whatever the cult leader says.

[Lathum]

If you are the son of the supreme leader, and you just saw how easily Israel took out your pops and his whole cabinet, would you really want the job considering Israel stated they would kill you if you took it.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I'm not a fan of this administration. But I give them credit for not taking the draft off the table.

Too often, politicians promise that they will enact their plans and we will magically feel no pain whatsoever.

Invading a country of 90 million people is not painless. And credit to them for being straight about that.

I really don't think they were putting it on the table. It sounds like just an incredibly dumb answer by Leavitt because she is incredibly dumb. Congress deals with the draft, not the President. That's all she had to say but her pea-brain doesn't know high school civics.

Originally Posted by Lathum

If you are the son of the supreme leader, and you just saw how easily Israel took out your pops and his whole cabinet, would you really want the job considering Israel stated they would kill you if you took it.

It was easy because he didn't try to hide. One of the most important tenets of being a Shia is sacrifice. If he cared about his life, he'd have been hiding in one of their mountain fortresses.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Could feed a lot of kids with $30M.

You seem to think they care about kids once they are born...

edit...
and not trans.

[flere-imsaho]

Kids aren't born trans, Dan, they're indoctrinated into it by the woke left.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I really don't think they were putting it on the table. It sounds like just an incredibly dumb answer by Leavitt because she is incredibly dumb. Congress deals with the draft, not the President. That's all she had to say but her pea-brain doesn't know high school civics.

The people in this administration are absolutely terrified to say anything Trump may disagree with. This was a softball question and she panicked. All you had to say is "the president has no plans to reinstitute the draft. This is the fake news media creating hysteria and division in our country blah, blah, blah.". That's a safe answer for MAGA. Instead, she wasn't sure what Trump was considering so she just wouldn't answer.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Figured I'd start a new thread and take the discussion out of the Trump politics thread.

Defense officials are saying the US has lost three Reper drones so far in the war. These are about $30 million each, but the US has about 300. Two were shot down over Iran and one was taken down by Qatar.

Up to 11 Reapers now. You want to know how I know they haven't shot down anything manned? There are pictures of everyone of these Reapers, and a couple of cruise missiles as well. You don't think they'd have pictures of planes pieces everywhere if they could?


The theory on why these Reapers keep getting hit beyond the number of sorties they have them flying: They think they are flying them low to sniff out enriched uranium. They have sensors that can detect it, but they have to fly much lower if the material is shielded.

[JPhillips]

Trump says the war is "very much complete" and he might take over the Strait of Hormuz.

Sure. Why the fuck not?

[flere-imsaho]

$20 says he renames it the "Strait of Israel".

Where's the "Board of Peace" in all this, btw? Asking for a friend.

[RainMaker]

Bomb a school, install a worse leader, leave. Mission accomplished.