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#1

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by Tonitrus - Today at 06:53:53 PM

Here's a map of the location of Kharg island.

The video below shows a way of doing a Marine invasion without having to transit the SoH.  Not sure the aerial method shown would be much better, though. (an extreme cynic like myself might also worry on whether Osprey accidents take out more Marines than the Iranians)

As a USAF puke, I don't know nuthin' about nuthin' about Marine invasion operations...but taking Kharg island gives me bad Gallipoli vibes.

#2

Off the Record / Re: [Canada] Canadian Politics...

Last post by crazy canuck - Today at 06:52:43 PM

Yes, and I was committed on the headline which said there was a reduction in funding for research. 

#3

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by Valmy - Today at 06:48:08 PM

I mean we protested before the war was going to happen and when there was a vote on whether Congress would support going to war.

Now the war happened without any discussion and there is no vote in Congress.

There is going to be a protest in about a week. I am sure the war will feature.

#4

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by Legbiter - Today at 06:47:30 PM

Here's a map of the location of Kharg island.



The naval task force would have to go through Hormuz, dodging anti-ship missiles, naval drones, regular ole' drones and direct shore fire from tube artillery. Once through the strait, your task force has to steam ahead about...300 miles before you reach the island. Once there you execute a contested amphibious landing in a drone-infested airspace, secure the objectives and then have to sit there while getting pounded from the mainland.

No element of speed or surprise, the Iranians would know you were coming before you even reached Hormuz, russian and Chinese intelligence would make sure of that.

#5

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by viper37 - Today at 06:13:15 PM

On the lack of demonstrations, as someone who demonstrated against the invasions of Iraq and Ukraine here are some of the reasons why I'm not demonstrating about Iran:

- The regime in Iran is loathsome. Iraq's regime was pretty awful also, but...

- My government is largely taking the action I want it to, not getting involved. With Iraq, I wanted my government to stay out and with Ukraine, I wanted my government to take strong action.

- There wasn't a big leading up period to build a strong sentiment and conviction about the attack.

- The local Persian populations seems supportive of the attack, and it's unclear to me what Iranians in Iran think.

- At the time of Iraq, there was a sense of "we the West" invading even if the US did most of it, and as a citizen of the West I wanted to make my voice heard. Trump's attack on Iran was made on behalf of his clique, in the name of the US only. There's no "we the West" involved, so less of an incentive to take to the streets to reject it.

At the time of Iraq, most countries in the West sayed out of it despite the US trying to drum up support.

US, UK, Australia and Poland sent troops, although the US submitted a list of 49 countries, reduced to 48 after Costa Rica objected to its unwilling inclusion.

Edit #2:
Just wanted to add that with all the Euro-Wheenie discussions on P*dox forums, it seemed pretty clear that most European countries were against the war and laughed the US out of the UN.



Extract from Wikipedia:

The list of coalition members provided by the White House included several nations that did not intend to participate in actual military operations. Some of them, such as Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Solomon Islands, did not have standing armies. However, through the Compact of Free Association, citizens of the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia are allowed to serve in the US military. The members of these island nations have deployed in a combined Pacific force consisting of Guamanian, Hawaiian and Samoan reserve units. They have been deployed twice to Iraq. The government of one country, the Solomon Islands, listed by the White House as a member of the coalition, was apparently unaware of any such membership and promptly denied it.^[4] According to a 2010 study, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau (and Tonga and the Solomon Islands to a lesser extent) were all economically dependent on economic aid from the United States, and thus had an economic incentive to join the Coalition of the Willing.^[5]

In December 2008, University of Illinois Professor Scott Althaus reported that he had learned that the White House was editing and back-dating revisions to the list of countries in the coalition.^[6][7] Althaus found that some versions of the list had been entirely removed from the record, and that others contradicted one another, as opposed to the procedure of archiving original documents and supplementing them with later revisions and updates.^[2]

By August 2009, all non-U.S./UK coalition members had withdrawn from Iraq.^[8] As a result, the Multinational Force – Iraq was renamed and reorganized to United States Forces – Iraq as of 1 January 2010. Thus the Coalition of the Willing came to an official end.

I remember being as equally for the war in 2003 as in 1990 as I believed the US to be there for nation building and Keynes convinced me the numbers didn't add up for the WMD part.

edit:

Also, in 1990, there were huge protests everywhere, including in Quebec and Canada against the war.  People were having anti war banners an chanting Let's give peace a chance in the streets of Montreal and Ottawa while our CF-18 were bombing Iraqi forces in Kuweit.

The protests were as equally short as was the war. But there were protests all over the world at the time.
https://libcom.org/article/1990-1991-resistance-gulf-war

#6

Off the Record / Re: US - Greenland Crisis Thre...

Last post by Duque de Bragança - Today at 06:06:38 PM

Jacob posted a similar article in Danish so it's credible, at least.

#7

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by Duque de Bragança - Today at 06:02:50 PM

Maybe the Crusaders helped the Reconquista along in Spain. But...even there I don't think the Muslims were in any position to sweep over the Pyrenees in 1095.

Second Crusade in 1147 was critical in securing Lisbon for Portugal, while a failure in Palestine.
No Portugal, no Age of Discovery.

Almoravids or Almohads even stopping at the Douro would have been a disaster but very unlikely.

As for the IVth crusade, blame Venice for that disaster.

More lasting results were achieved by crusading in the Baltic than on the Med, as a matter of fact.

Lastly, getting rid of the hot heads in Europe and shipping them to the Levant was beneficial for peace inside Europe.

#8

Off the Record / Re: Dead Pool 2026

Last post by Duque de Bragança - Today at 05:52:28 PM

The Octagon

Also known as how Chuck Norris launched the '80s ninja craze. 

#9

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by Jacob - Today at 05:51:36 PM

On the lack of demonstrations, as someone who demonstrated against the invasions of Iraq and Ukraine here are some of the reasons why I'm not demonstrating about Iran:

- The regime in Iran is loathsome. Iraq's regime was pretty awful also, but...

- My government is largely taking the action I want it to, not getting involved. With Iraq, I wanted my government to stay out and with Ukraine, I wanted my government to take strong action.

- There wasn't a big leading up period to build a strong sentiment and conviction about the attack.

- The local Persian populations seems supportive of the attack, and it's unclear to me what Iranians in Iran think.

- At the time of Iraq, there was a sense of "we the West" invading even if the US did most of it, and as a citizen of the West I wanted to make my voice heard. Trump's attack on Iran was made on behalf of his clique, in the name of the US only. There's no "we the West" involved, so less of an incentive to take to the streets to reject it.

#10

Off the Record / Re: Iran War?

Last post by viper37 - Today at 05:31:31 PM

Something that has really surprised me about this whole conflict is that there have been no large-scale protests in the West about the whole thing. Certainly, no mention of it in the MSM, but even on my social media feeds, very little has been mentioned re the whole situation.

Many people who disagree with this war might think demonstrating against it could be seen as a sign of support for the murderous Iranian clerics/rulers?

Though I do take your point, I'm surprised there isn't 'Stop the War Coalition' organised ones, especially as the UK is actively involved in this war, whatever the government says.

That didn't stop protests against both Iraq wars.

I suspect something else: No foreign interference.

There's no one paying agitators to incite a crow to protest against military actions because they want it to happen.  They want the US to commit troops to the Middle East and risk getting bogged down in another forever war and likely terrorist attack for years to come.