You beat me to it because I was going to hold So Africa up as the cautionary tale of where that thinking leads - nowhere fast. It didn't take them long to dismantle what took decades to build. It's all shit now. Plus they are turning to the Chinese instead of the West to solve their problems. Like that is going to end better simply being a vassal state of China used for wealth extraction of natural resources. Look around. How is that working out for other African countries that have tried it?
The problem the administration has at the moment is that the conventional weapons in our current arsenal cannot do the job. That is the main reason Pickaxe has remained untouched at this point. The strongest conventional ordinance we have is the GBU-57 bunker buster used in series. There is another one in the pipeline, the GBU-76/B that will go deeper but it will not even be ready for testing until next year. It is also being designed to fire at distance instead of over target. Also, the weight has been reduced from 30k to 22k lbs. The rest of the specifics like penetration depth are classified. Development was accelerated after Midnight Hammer.
There are good indications, taken from satellite imagery, that the IRGC moved some of their nuclear capabilities from Fordow about 2 days prior to the airstrikes last June. What exactly they moved we can only speculate. Pickaxe currently is not yet functional. But the IR has increased activity there almost 24/7. Perhaps they moved part of their stockpile and centrifuges to Pickaxe for storage until it is online - at least that is what some of the intel is saying.
The only way that the facility can be taken down right now is with a nuclear ordinance with smart fusing that will only detonate upon reaching open space inside of that mountain. The blast and the mountain will do the rest. As far as I am aware of, we also do not have the intel on the layout of Pickaxe like we did for Fordow. That does complicate the picture. But, that facility is only as strong as its weakest links - the air shafts.
The Iranians are not stupid. Twisted yes. But stupid, no. They design their mountain fortresses knowing what the capabilities of the American arsenal are at the time. With Fordow, it was designed against the munitions we currently had. They did not factor in the GBU-57 because they didn't know it was in the works. Even though we were able to do significant damage to Fordow, the complete damage assessment is still debatable. Pickaxe was designed to be beyond the reach of the GBU-57.
As long as the IR nuclear card is still on the table, and their constant threat to shipping, they retain that leverage. The leadership of the IRGC is currently underground in their bunkers and will wait out US strikes regardless of what happens above ground. Their only objective at this point is survival of the regime. Hitting Pickaxe and taking it off the table takes some of their leverage away. But, the bottom line is that without the removal of the Islamic nutbags running the country, none of this threat will go away. If they survive, they will simply continue to be a problem.
Every place Islam has been allowed to take root, or worse yet control, are all shitholes even though they may seem somewhat functional on the surface - think places like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They do not allow political freedom at all. Some more advanced Islamic states may allow some social and economic freedoms, but that is it. Women may be allowed a little more educational, economic, and social freedom, but those freedoms can be yanked back with simply the stroke of a pen. It is not hard wired into the governance structure.
Probably the sadist cautionary tale of this is in Afghanistan. With US presence, women were given a lot more freedom to participate in society - and they were taking full advantage of the opportunity to have a life. When the US pulled out, all that evaporated almost in an instant. Women are now not to be seen. When there are natural disasters in the country, like earthquakes and now the most recent floods and landslides, if you watch the videos closely there are virtually no women to be seen. Why? Because they are left behind. In their version of Islam, men are not allowed to touch a women they are either not married to or closely related to by blood. That means women or teenage girls buried in the rubble cannot be touched by rescue workers. If a women does manage to get free from the initial ruble, if they are injured, they are left behind. Even if they got to a medical facility, once again, their injuries cannot be addressed because women are not allowed to work in those professions any longer under the Taliban. No one talks about these crimes against humanity that effect half of their population. Where are all the feminists now? Don't hear a peep from any of them.
Unfortunately, many of these so called trans kids ultimately discover when they are older that they were never really trans. They were actually gay. Autism often is also part of the equation. But this discovery of not being trans comes after they have transitioned and permanently screwed up their bodies, as well as putting some distance between themselves and the people that pushed them into such a life altering decision - often their own parents.
It is fashionable for some in this parents age group to have a trans or gay kid. It is like a badge of misplaced honor for them and bragging rights. I have seen it and it is twisted. You said it. This kid never had a chance. His mind was knotted up from the start.
Correct on all counts. But now add Russia to the mix. They have had a presence in Cuba since the Soviet days. That never stopped. Islamists and Communists are strange bed fellows and always worked together against a common enemy - the US and the West.
They have always been a communist proxy base against the US. Before, it was the Soviets that supported them. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Venezuela became the pipeline where Russian, Iranian, and CCP finances were funneled through. You can throw some radical leftists in as well. Russia, Iran, and the CCP, still have presence in Venezuela that will take time to dismantle. Until then, Cuba must be taken off the board as an operative and spy base.
Islam is a theocratic political ideology masquerading as a religion. They do not, and cannot, assimilate and they cannot coexist under governance models other than their own. They are mandated by Islam to conquer and replace the laws where they reside to Islamic law. If the German government continues to refuse to take a hard stance on incidents like this, and understand it for what it is, they are doomed. Their women and children are the first casualties sacrificed in the name of political correctness. When is enough, enough.
You are right. Even a small man can really hurt a woman if he hits her hard enough. Facial bones can easily be broken from a hit like that. This kind of assault is not taken seriously - especially in Europe. Women and girls are living in danger all over Western Europe. Eastern Europe not so much. Why? Because they refused to take in Muslims from 3rd world shitholes.
In many Islamic cultures women are nothing more than chattel and sex objects. Some Shia sects claim that women are not even human - they are some other kind of animal and must be controlled - sent to deceive man. Twisted.
This occurred in Germany. Europeans are too polite and are basically trained to stand down - don't get involved. That is why they are being run over by these Islamic thugs. Try some shit like that here in the States and see what happens.
There will be a whole new underground banking industry that will spring up that circumvents this. A shadow financial system operated by the same underground financial networks that move money for the cartels already - all for a fee of course.
Right. This has been going on for years with crops grown in Mexico. It has also been a problem in agriculture grown here as well. Then there is food preparation in restaurants. Foreigners just don't have the same hygiene standards, especially when they come from rural areas where people crap pretty much anywhere - and it is not just Mexico. India is pretty high up on the sh*t list. I haven't eaten in a restaurant for years. You are right. Grow your own or get produce from someone you can trust.
Still waiting to hear about the Iranian retaliation strikes on US military installations in Jordan and Kuwait. CentCom is only referring to Jordanian reports that say everything was intercepted. Iranians are reporting damage. Due to OPSEC CentCom is not saying anything. I can only pray that none of our troops there were hurt.
Update: Injuries have been reported by US sources - I believe CBS broke the story. DoW has neither confirmed nor denied. CBS News reports that several US service members were injured in Iranian attacks on at least two military bases in Jordan this week. Multiple US officials, speaking anonymously, confirmed the injuries to the network but did not specify the number of troops affected or the severity of their wounds. No fatalities.
Several U.S. service members injured in Iranian attacks on Jordanian bases this week, sources say
Yes, sell out your country for a few bucks. Support the people that wouldn't blink an eye killing your countrymen and you given half the chance. The only reason they are able go to some place like the Islamic Republic as an American and be promoted like that is that the IR finds them useful. As soon as they are no longer useful, good luck (NOT!) They will end up disappeared or put in an IR prison and be held as political leverage by the regime. What an idiot.
These pampered low IQ tools hate America thanks to the socialist America bad educational indoctrination they received growing up. Most of them do. So go the hell and live somewhere else if you think it is that bad here. They enjoy the benefits of what living in the US gives them and then turn around and bash the place that gave them the right to be so stupid. Talk about biting the hand that feeds. People like that should shut the f**k up and go join Rosie already or stay the hell in Iran if you think it's so great. Then there is always Communist China. They would love one more white monkey for their propaganda machine. Please! Just don't come back here.
Thanks for the link fren. Don't do X. Much appreciated.