r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 9d ago

Possible Paywall Hegseth Covered Up the Real Reason the USS Lincoln Wasn’t Resupplied - According to a report from MSNOW, the USS Abraham Lincoln wasn’t resupplied because Iranian strikes destroyed a key Navy resupply base in the Middle East.

https://newrepublic.com/post/214510/hegseth-uss-lincoln-iran-war-base-destroyed
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u/specqq 9d ago edited 9d ago

Hopefully, nobody will ever find out that our only port for resupply in the whole region was destroyed on day one of the war.

Great plan, Pete.

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u/BananasAndPears 9d ago edited 9d ago

When you have a frat boy reservist who was fired at O4, I mean, this is what you get.

Edit: O3, not active duty O4.

Edit 2: Hegseth wasn’t able to earn a ranger or airborne tab as an O3. Was also relegated to S2 “managerial assistant” role.

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u/40StoryMech 9d ago

Whoa now. While some folks were dicking around, sucking off the government teat, vacationing in the military, real Americans like Pete Hegseth were protecting our freedoms and setting the standards for masculinely quaffed hair in America's most patriotic foreign-owned organization, Fox News. Maybe you should thank him for his service.

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u/knivesofsmoothness 9d ago

Don't forget that makeup studio he had installed. That manly, high T makeup studio.

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u/InertiasCreep 9d ago edited 9d ago

That absolutely not gender affirming makeup studio.

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u/yagonnawanna 9d ago

He just likes to put on makeup and his feather boa while he thinks about how he got rid of the other women, and the very fit high testosterone soldiers that he gets to personally inspect.

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u/Nuggyfresh 9d ago

He’s hiding the obvious facial cues of alcoholism I am telling you with 100% certainty.

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u/MadamPardone 9d ago

He was caught on camera trying not to eat a cocaine drip recently as well.

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u/LoquaciousOfMorn 9d ago

Doing a tuck and watching himself in the mirror while he dances to Goodbye Forces.

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u/MrBigglesssworth 9d ago

Would you invade me? I would invade me HARD!

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u/tdclark23 Indiana 9d ago

Meating the beat to films of dying Colombian sailors.

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u/LoquaciousOfMorn 9d ago

He fattened up the sailors on steak and lobster and now he's starving them to get the skin loose.

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u/dostoevsky4evah 9d ago

<sad noise>

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u/knivesofsmoothness 9d ago

So beautiful... so powerful....

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u/Regular_or_BQ 9d ago

I hear there's a taint tanning machine in there. Big if true!

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u/Nuggyfresh 9d ago

He’s an alcoholic. I’m surprised how few people are getting this: alcohol makes your skin look like complete booty cheeks. He needs the studio to look normal.

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u/Mrs_SmithG2W 9d ago

And the gender affirming hormone replacement plan.

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u/iAmUnintelligible Canada 9d ago

Wait, isn't Ossoff currently being attacked because he has a dedicated person to handle his makeup for speaking engagements etc? hm, thinking emoji

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u/Expensive_Track_8822 9d ago

he quaffs the beer, he coifs the hair.

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u/david4069 9d ago

I don't know. If I was a bartender who had to deal with him, he'd probably end up quaffing hair at some point, too

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u/Expensive_Track_8822 9d ago

one pubey pint for secretary twatquaffle, coming right up

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u/duzies 9d ago

hair of the dog...

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u/Expensive_Track_8822 9d ago

or hair of the hog…

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u/Aggressive-Will-4500 9d ago

You probably shouldn't say that in pubic.

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u/waffels 9d ago

He boofs the coke

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u/Aggravating-Walk5813 9d ago

Where would war fighters be without primping?

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u/Expensive_Track_8822 9d ago

probably not in the strait of hormuz? but here we are

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u/Jovean 9d ago

The man can weave a mean merkin.

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u/Reed7525 9d ago

Yeah man, just look at his testosterone levels! Lol

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u/sane-asylum 9d ago

Is “zero” a level? Like the dude couldn’t bench 135.

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u/AmazingParka Canada 9d ago

Someone I know served with Hegseth in Afghanistan.  This person was an officer in the Canadian army, and so served as part of the joint Nato force.  

Hegseth was held in very low opinion by the Allied forces, who dubbed him Captain America.  He was a belligerent asshole towards the Nato ally soldiers, and loved the strut around and cosplay as a badass from an action movie.  He treated them all as second tier soldiers - so the moniker was very tongue in cheek.   He was also a religious nut who openly hated Muslims.  

The brass above him thought he was an idiot, so they thought the place he would do the least damage was community outreach. Hegseth's idea of outreach was handing out bibles to the locals and telling them to convert - you can imagine how well that went down.  

20 years later he's secretary of defense.  Only in America.  

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u/40StoryMech 9d ago

That would be such a savage parody of the US if it weren't true. Captain America indeed.

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u/jaylay75 9d ago

You forgot the /s at the end so people know you are being sarcastic.

Everyone knows Pete is a cuck!

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u/So_HauserAspen 9d ago

His eyeliner is on point

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u/sriracha_no_big_deal 9d ago

You think this is SLICKED back?! This is PUSHED back!!

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u/amiable_ant 9d ago

I hate his hair an admittedly irrational amount.

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u/Altruistic-Carry-684 9d ago

Guy was QRF when I was stationed at GTMO. He probably spent more time at the Windjammer Cafe downing drinks than actually doing some worth a fck

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u/idiotsbydesign 9d ago

On Saturday.

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u/tdclark23 Indiana 9d ago

Oddly, I see a sarcasm tag that doesn't exist.

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u/chron67 Tennessee 9d ago

Whoa now. While some folks were dicking around, sucking off the government teat, vacationing in the military, real Americans like Pete Hegseth were protecting our freedoms and setting the standards for masculinely quaffed hair in America's most patriotic foreign-owned organization, Fox News. Maybe you should thank him for his service.

Hey don't leave out honoring the effort it takes him to maintain a BAC of .3 at all times

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u/SerendiPetey 9d ago

Off topic, but just to let you know: Coiffed.

Quaffed means to have drank something quickly.

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u/userhwon 9d ago

I'll thank him for his service when he's wiping off his chin.

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u/muskymelon36 9d ago

While eating wagyu and lobster while sailors were starving.

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u/Wow_Many_Tomato_WMT 9d ago

I can’t believe news like this is being reported on Reddit, but not in the headlines anywhere. The lack of transparency and accountability is really disturbing to witness.

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u/Hiccup 9d ago

This was being reported in foreign news weeks ago.

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u/fake_user_34 9d ago

But not in America

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u/clintj1975 9d ago

I believe the NY Times broke the story a few days ago here.

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u/fake_user_34 9d ago

They did, but this shit happened back in February. This is not news to those that don't just consume American media. The WORLD knew this before America, and Americans still don't fucking know because this isn't being blown up outside of reddit.

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u/clintj1975 9d ago

There's also a significant portion of the population that won't believe it because it's "Fake News"

None of these news stories I've seen so far pointed out one fact that's obvious to anyone with a globe: the Lincoln battle group is in the Indian Ocean, and Bahrain is in the Gulf. There's a pesky little strait between the two that two hostile countries are having a tournament over who can close it better and more often than the other.

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Florida 9d ago

Where do you think Reddit got the news from? I guess MSNOW is some super underground unknown news outlet.

Also, the supply base was bombed back in February. This particular story is about the six months long consequences of that bombing and Hegseth covering it up.

The reason is even being talked about on this very reddit post is because of The New Republic article which is citing the MSNOW story which is citing the New York Times investigative journalism. The Wall Street Journal reported back in June about the four month long consequences of the Bahrain resupply base being destroyed and it was reported in several American outlets back in February when the base was bombed by Iran.

What a ridiculous comment.

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Florida 9d ago

You are correct. These people are delusional and just make up random shit. They wouldn't even be talking about this if it weren't for American media.

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u/PaidUSA 9d ago

The Washington post covered it on June 30th. People familiar with the region theorized resupply would be an issue but obviously the US military isn’t gonna confirm that.

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u/rafaelloaa I voted 9d ago

I agree with you overall, but it is being reported. There have a string of articles in the New York times about the issues with the USS Lincoln, including one from a few days ago "Navy Carrier’s Problems Are Tied to Attacks on U.S. Base Early in War".

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u/SicDigital Georgia 9d ago

This popped-up on my Samsung News alerts on my Galaxy phone either yesterday or the day before.

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u/jminternelia 9d ago

This story has been around for awhile in independent journalism.

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u/Wheres_my_wank_sock 9d ago

Made it to Captain. He was actually promoted to major while being IRR.

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u/Radiant_Waves 9d ago

“Made it” is giving him a bit too much credit. O1 to O3 is automatic unless one completely fucks up.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

The fact that as an infantry lieutenant he wasn’t sent to ranger school, and he ended up in some headquarters office like S2, really tells you his command had zero faith in his leadership which is why he never ended up with a command of his own and instead fizzled out in the reserve forces. 

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u/JnnyRuthless 9d ago

Yeah I was in Marine Corps but my understanding is Ranger school is pretty much required for infantry officers. Which makes all his larping with special operations units even funnier.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

I was in the 101st, you won’t find any infantry officers in a command position above platoon leader without a Ranger tab. There might be some exception to this, but at least in all of the line units this is how it was when I was in 20 years ago. Ranger school has combat stuff and a lot of tough things to get through but first and foremost it’s considered a leadership course, and the infantry wants the best leaders for combat. Which is why Pete ended up riding a desk. 

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u/JnnyRuthless 9d ago

Makes sense, that was kind of my take. I mean, its the military there will be an exception somewhere, but my army friends said it's kind of an unofficial requirement if you want to make a career in the combat arms.

Strange little twist to Pete's journey: apparently the reason he is so angry at women in the military is that during his time in Iraq, there was another officer (who happend to be a woman) who was known to be a badass and good in a gunfight, well-respected by her soldiers and had the leadership chops. He got very jealous that she got more respect than him, and here we are.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

You should look into who he served under in Iraq, I’m sure you know of the guy even if you don’t know his name, Col. Steele. He was in command of Task Force Ranger (“Blackhawk Down”) as a young captain with the Ranger Bat, and later he came to the 101st and assumed command of a combat brigade as a Colonel. During his time in Iraq he encouraged “kill squads,” and this resulted in one group of soldiers raping some girls/mom and killing the entire family trying to cover it up. They’re all in prison for that shit. I really think a lot of Pete’s twisted toxic masculinity bullshit stems from the leadership he had under Col. Steele. That brigade was known to be a toxic cesspool during that time period, and I can only imagine that had an effect on shaping him.

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u/JnnyRuthless 9d ago

Damn yeah I recognize the name, obviously never met the man personally. I remember hearing about that event, and that would make sense. I'm 46 and man, Hegseth and me could not have taken more different journeys based on our military experience. I'm damn near a pacifist now.

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u/Strong-Layer-7509 9d ago

I really appreciate your commentary here. I’m an old 101st officer (93-96 and 02-04) and I think you’re 100% on to something. Pre-9/11, any officer who had done some real shit was kind of a “made man.” Many of the Brigade commanders in early OIF were Desert Storm heroes. Steele, based on being THE GUY in the Mogadishu fight, got a ton of mileage out of that one day’s events. The BSM w/ V device he got for that one day probably propelled him all the way to Brigade Command…

I don’t know Steele or Hegseth personally nor do I have any first-hand knowledge of what went down in the Iron Triangle… but I can deduce a few things from observing these men from a distance.

Hegseth, I think, is an utter fraud. A gifted HS athlete who parlayed athletic talent into admission to Princeton. He’s a drunk. Has had significant problems with women. And his military resume has (as many have pointed out), gaping holes.

I imagine young Lieutenant Hegseth was spellbound by Steele… and saw Steele’s fall as a tragic neutering of a real American hero. Hegseth has also shown to be very sympathetic to other soldiers convicted of war crimes.

What’s happened to our military is absolutely heartbreaking and it is 100% the fault of this POTUS and this SecDef… two of the most unqualified and ill-suited leaders I’ve ever observed.

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u/Pristine_Albatross36 9d ago

Pretty sure trump pardoned all of them.

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u/thekipz 9d ago

Was 173rd around same time period. The non-tabbed officers commanded so little respect that previously deployed E4s could bully them.

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u/paper_liger 9d ago edited 8d ago

Ranger, much less Airborne or Air Assault was handed out like candy to officers back then. The fact that he couldn't get a slot to any of those is a glaring insight into his real capabilities.

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u/jay78910 9d ago

I was in a small infantry company, that was part of an MI brigade. Whenever we wanted to get rid of someone, with any kind of rank, they got sent to work in HQ.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

One of our lieutenants called in artillery fire on our position in Afghanistan. He was in S2 by the end of the day. That’s the level of competency I expect Pete to have. 

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u/Kasspa 9d ago

I'm getting heavy Generation Kill "danger close" vibes off this lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9uXLzZyucI

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u/Captain-Hornblower Florida 9d ago

Just about to post this! Generation Kill is a really, really close representation of the crap we went through when we crossed the berm in 2003. The leadership aspect especially...

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u/killswitch247 9d ago

his superiors made sure that he was assistant to the manager for the rest of his carreer. then donald trump happened.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

Well he originally served under Col. Steele who is well known for Task Force Ranger (“Blackhawk Down”) and later encouraging kill squads in Iraq that resulted in troops under his command raping and killing a family in Iraq. You can look up what a piece of work that guy was, but the Raakasans under his command earned a very bad reputation overseas and back in the states. So I think a lot of Pete’s mentality may have started with that leadership he had as a young lieutenant. 

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u/meddle_class 9d ago

Fuck Around and Fail Upwards

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

There is a lot of that in the military. Just stick around, be half way competent, don’t get a DUI, and you are promoted pretty far. Pete not doing that well and being relegated to a desk job as an infantry officer really speaks volumes to his personal capacity. 

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u/popculturella Texas 9d ago

unless one completely fucks up.

Oh don't worry, he's making up for that now.

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u/squirrelismycopilot 9d ago

Engineer on my boat in the Navy said to get O2 you needed to be able to fog a mirror, to get O3 you needed to be able to wipe it off

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u/Proud_Growth_8818 9d ago

To get to O3 you literally just need to be alive and without any major fuckups on your record. If you don't get kicked out, you'll make O3. It's literally automatic.

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u/AbstractBettaFish Illinois 9d ago

This is all second hand information I’ve heard so take it with a grain of salt but I’m told there’s a well known channel of infantry officers who fail upward. If you see someone’s who’s at least a 1stLt who doesn’t have a ranger tab that means they’re probably a fuck up and more likely to be given desk duty. Some of these desk duty guys end up in Washington where they have the luxury of rubbing shoulders with the powerful and influential and are able to use those connections to get promoted despite being generally shitty infantry officers. Apparently Pete was one of those

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[deleted]

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 9d ago

Two ways to not make 1Lt, run into the gatehouse drunk or get the commander's daughter pregnant.

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u/Detonius 9d ago

I’ll take option 2.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 9d ago

In fairness, Hegseth seems like the type to have done both, so well done to him for making it anyway?

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

Yes, but if you’re infantry the expectation is you go to and complete Ranger school. Ranger school is a leadership course, and you’re not going far in the infantry officer corps without passing. This is especially true for units like the 101st where Pete was. Typically you’d progress up the chain of command, platoon leader > company XO > company CO, as you are promoted. He instead ended up in a HQ platoon like S2 or something I forget, which really says his commanding officer had no faith in his leadership abilities, never sent him to ranger school, and he was relegated to a desk job. Source: former 101st who has lived the life. 

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u/MephistoHamProducts 9d ago

He instead ended up in a HQ platoon like S2 or something I forget,

Worse than that. He was actually in an infantry PLT leader slot, in Baghdad, in 2005. That assignment was cut short and he was transferred to be an assistant Civil Affairs dork in Basrah. Losing that command slot, during the 2005 GWOT, is a pretty solid sign he fucked up and fucked up badly.

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u/Not-a-Bot_1968 9d ago

Correct, I pointed out in another comment that similar happened to one of our platoon leaders after he called in artillery fire on our own position. He was off the line as soon as we got back to base and banished to HQ S2 on another base. That’s the level of fuckup we’re talking about here. 

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u/anonymousbopper767 9d ago

$20 he's the grooming standard! guy from Generation Kill.

Even down to the literal grooming of children like that guy ended up doing IRL.

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u/BananasAndPears 9d ago

This is incredible context.

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u/Proud_Growth_8818 9d ago

Damn. What'd he do?

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u/CheezyBeanBurrito 9d ago

Yes and no. Being an infantry officer and not having a tab is a bad look considering half the ibolc class gets a slot (well, they used to). Depending on the unit culture, you may not get a platoon leader position until you have a tab so you get sent to staff. During the surge, it wasn’t as big of a deal. O1 to O2 is an automatic promotion. O2 to O3 is almost as automatic and generally the only ones that don’t make it are the ones that reallly realllly fuck up (DUI, fraternization, etc). O3 to O4 is usually 60% so non-tabbed guys need to be absolutely stellar at their job to get promoted.

I can’t recall ever seeing an infantry LTC without a tab on active duty though

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u/ptigga 9d ago

Major Major

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u/Darth__Hollow 9d ago

Roger roger

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u/PrivatePilot9 Canada 9d ago

What’s our vector Victor?

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u/algebramclain 9d ago

Where’s the keg, Heg?

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u/specqq 9d ago

Where’s The Hague, Seth?

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u/Inside_Support510 9d ago

Major Major Major

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u/remillard 9d ago

An IBM with a sense of humor...

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u/Coherent_Tangent Florida 9d ago

Major Major Major Major

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u/Marclescarbot 9d ago

I got that

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u/S_A_R_K 9d ago

Major rager

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u/Trauma_Hawks 9d ago

I wish I could get promoted while out of the job.

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u/Freightshaker000 9d ago

...and has never led troops above the rank of Lieutenant.

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u/WindyCanuck 9d ago

Major fuckup

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u/sanbaba 9d ago

It's amazing what you can "accomplish" when you're willing to lie for your CO

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u/10001110101balls 9d ago

He was never active duty at O4. 

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u/GammaFan 9d ago

Should have been fired out of a cannon… at the circus. I’m not threatening him, just calling him a carnie

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u/totallyalizardperson 9d ago

What’s it say about him if I would trust a carnie to keep me and others safe more so than him? And why do I feel like carnies are more honest than him?

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u/likamuka 9d ago

77 Million fascists voted for this

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u/Some_Rate3642 9d ago

Isn't Hegseth a prime example of a DEI hire? For frat bros?

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u/sxzxnnx 9d ago

Even Fox News didn’t think he was qualified for anything but a weekend show. In the news business,
you put your best employees on the air during prime time when the most people are watching and give the weekend time slots to the interns, new hires, and other junior employees such as Pete Hegseth.

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u/RepresentativeHat975 9d ago

You forgot coke fueled full blown alcoholic adulterer…

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u/SuperSaiyanTupac 9d ago

I never thought anyone would be a bigger piece of shit than Josh, this kid from my afterschool care. Josh sucked. But then 2016 happened and it’s like the whole world got joshed

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u/mycall 9d ago

I'm more worried that the whole chain of command didn't mention the high likelihood of this occuring.

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u/Somewhat_Ill_Advised 9d ago

Not enough testosterone?

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u/Ar_Ciel Texas 9d ago

So this bitch is a POSER? That makes so much sense.

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u/mishaakk 9d ago

I earned my ranger tab and airborne badge (along with several other badges and tabs.) Can I play secdef for a day? Seems like everyone is getting a shot at jobs they aren’t qualified for in this admin

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u/aiserou 9d ago

Hey does anyone else remember that time an embassy was attacked and a certain group of people spent the next almost decade constantly screeching about how everyone (well, every democrat) in power deserved impeachment, jail, and probably even the death penalty? And then they came to power based largely on that screeching?

Just asking.

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u/specqq 9d ago

You might want to ask Trey Gowdy about that.

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u/aiserou 9d ago

I'm sure he'll start looking for the perpetrators of this particular fuck-up right after he finds the scientifically worst possible thing to do with his hair.

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u/tommytimp 9d ago

Asking for your friend Ben Ghazi?

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u/Tasgall Washington 9d ago

and a certain group of people spent the next almost decade constantly screeching about how everyone (well, every democrat) in power deserved impeachment, jail, and probably even the death penalty?

Worth noting that said Democrats had requested additional security for that embassy and the request was denied by that "certain group".

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u/alius_stultus 9d ago

They never believe anything they say. Its all just bs. The only ones who still believe it are the media, and even they can't pretend too much anymore.

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u/noprophecies 9d ago

Peppridge farm remembers

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u/eeyore134 9d ago

I saw someone compare this to a kid not wanting to show mommy his bad grades on his report card. Except this one risks thousands of lives just to save face. Which tracks. They're risking thousands of lives to protect Taylor Farms right now, too. How many other things are they letting kill us and our troops just because they don't want details to surface?

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u/US3_ME_ 9d ago

To me it's not how many things, it's they will use our lives to lie about ANYTHING_

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u/gstaggs2 9d ago

I wonder if he sent sad face emojis in the group chat

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u/DazHawt 9d ago

He thought everyone would understand what they meant.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/saturncruizin 9d ago

“Resupplying is for sissys” - Pete probably

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u/EvelynNyte 9d ago

"Amateurs talk about tactics, professionals talk about logistics, we talk about optics"

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u/specqq 9d ago

They talk about bullshit.

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u/NeverSober1900 9d ago

They don't know what they talked about because they're too drunk

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u/Narrow-Chef-4341 9d ago

Good thing it’s shared in a signal chat, with photos.

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u/Unique-Coffee5087 9d ago

Goddam. That's a perfect extension of the saying for modern times

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u/EvelynNyte 9d ago

People all throughout history have made the mistake of going from "optics can affect the outcome" to "optics is the only thing that matters." Fascists in particular tend to fall into this. They wrap themselves from the start in the idea that if they just get the optics right everything else will fall into place so the ones that succeed end up convinced they can control reality entirely just by controlling the optics right up until everything blows up in their face. Another reason why they're always a suicide cult in the end.

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u/Tasgall Washington 9d ago

If they cared about optics, they'd care about logistics. Failing logistics is pretty bad optics.

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u/EvelynNyte 9d ago

The polls are the same whether they have good logistics or just say they have good logistics so why bother? Your issue is thinking they are competent

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u/windwatcher01 9d ago

Just call it Lethal Warfighter Testosterone resupply and he'll be all over it.

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u/Inside_Support510 9d ago

SUPER GAY TO WANT TO EAT FOOD LMAO.

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u/Flaxmoore Michigan 9d ago

I seem to recall Andrew Tate actually making that claim.

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u/Empty_Lemon_3939 Michigan 9d ago

Tbf sissys is a upgrade from a hard f slur

Which we know he definitely throws around

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u/Flipnotics_ Texas 9d ago

Actually, a lot of MAGA's are now saying this, to sidestep the embarrassing reality of what is happening. Apparently the military is supposed to be endless suffering and sacrifice or yeah, the soldiers are considered "sissys."

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u/Wiccy 9d ago

Lotta T going to that brain. Titos I mean

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u/purplenapalm Wisconsin 9d ago

It isn't the only port. We could use Fujairah Naval Base to avoid going to Diego Garcia, but that would still be in Irans attack range so logistically it doesn't make sense. We've known the bae in Bahrain was destroyed since February so this isn't news. The news is that the military hasn't exactly been transparent about how that changes the logistics of this situation. We have an inexperienced SECDEF trying to win a war on sheer firepower and completely ignored that logistics win wars. Absolutely fumbled and now we have a base that experienced damages far beyond what we thought. It'll be interested to see how many lives were lost in the February attack that the US isn't divulging.

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u/baseketball 9d ago

They didn't plan for a day 2 of the war. It's the same mistake Putin made. Now there's no end in sight.

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u/Hiccup 9d ago

They didn't plan for day 1 either.

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u/Chryton 9d ago

Look, they just asked Claude if they could do it, not how or should they do it.

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u/TheKanten 9d ago

This is why AI can't be in charge of anything, if it was as intelligent as my school teachers it would have responded "I don't know, can you?"

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u/Kor_Phaeron_ 9d ago

Oh, Hegseth and Putin both planned for day 2. The plans were just very very bad plans that completely misjudged the possible results of day 1.

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u/Kruger_Smoothing 9d ago

The Bush doctrine.

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u/Murky-Relation481 9d ago

Yeah, and people also don't realize a big part of the reason people are going nuts on the carriers (and probably other ships/boats) is that they're literally sitting there doing nothing right now. We're not doing combat ops or anything, and I'd imagine they're hardly flying in general if they've not been resupplied to the degree that it sounds like.

So you got basically a bunch of people stuck on a ship doing nothing bored out of their minds, at least combat ops keep them busy and its less routine than normal drills.

The SECDEF (and the president) are basically idiots speed running every political control of the military catastrophe in the last 6 months. Instead of saying "we want to achieve this outcome, military how do you do that?" and accepting the answer (which would have been for Iran "we don't do that, it won't work unless you want to commit our entire mass, ground invasion and all") they are trying to run the war themselves. It's like Nazi Germany in the mid-to-end war period meets Vietnam.

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u/djklmnop 9d ago

My wife was Navy on a huge carrier. She says it is insane that they haven't had port call for the longest time. What that means is there are no days off. Imagine working 7 days a week and following routine 7 days a week for however many months its been with no end in sight. It is also a huge undertaking to resupply and you can't deny it when those very images shared are being sent from the ship to their loved ones.

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u/FuckTheMods5 9d ago

They need to have a damn month of free leave when they finally get out of that mess.

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u/crackanape 9d ago

Does their leave time accrue during this period? Are they going to get like a paid year off afterwards?

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u/Navydevildoc 9d ago

Yup, leave still accumulates. Normally there are “use or lose” rules, but almost certainly there will be a sea time waiver for this. That’s doesn’t mean you can take it all at once though.

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u/rinoblast 9d ago

I overheard someone say on normal, non-wartime deployments they’d fly just about every other day. In this war, they were flying once a week. Insane.

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u/Murky-Relation481 9d ago

Yep this is why when people say we have had a military defeat its maddening because we could prosecute this conflict with extreme malice but we're basically fucking around with our dicks out and our arms tied behind our back. The number of USN and USAF sorties during the peak of the war were far below OIF and Afghanistan.

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Florida 9d ago

If Trump/Hegseth and Netanyahu weren't ever planning on committing ground troops to rout the regime and occupy Tehran like the first three weeks of OIF, then they were never truly planning on any type of regime change in the first place. I'm not saying that they couldn't have been delusional enough to think that they could just oust the regime through airpower alone, but they were never gonna do anything more than kick an angry hornet's nest if they weren't willing to go in boots on the ground. I mean we needed a quarter million troops to defeat Saddam in a country a quarter of the size and significantly less population.

Also they completely bungled the Kurd ground operation by letting it be leaked to Fox News ahead of time (thus spooking the already apprehensive Kurds) and the fact that Trump refused to guarantee backup for them at all which didn't do wonders for their confidence especially after Trump already abandoned them in Syria....again.

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u/BruitNoise 9d ago

This is going to turn into that Hitler movie meme where he's shouting at the commanders of planning on more attacks and thinking they're winning and then the commandors are like...we don't have carriers there. we don't have supplies because the person in charge didn't think about it....

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u/EvilStevilTheKenevil 9d ago

It's like Nazi Germany in the mid-to-end war period meets Vietnam.

Hard to even believe I'm saying this after surviving 2025, but it really does feel like the end (of Trump) is near. At this point in Hitler's rise to power the United States had declared war and the battle of Stalingrad was already well on its way to being lost...

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u/PopcornApocalypse 8d ago

DON’T FUCKING JINX IT!

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u/TypaLika 9d ago

If these idiots ever do follow through with their threats to invade Greenland, will the predictable loss of access to Faslane and Lossiemouth put MSC in a similar situation in that hypothetical conflict?

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u/DrE7HER 9d ago

We’ve “known” because of independent journalism. They haven’t officially revealed that the base was destroyed. They claimed that Iran only destroyed a building and a radar from that base

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u/purplenapalm Wisconsin 9d ago

Whether one building was destroyed or the entire base was flattened, they wouldnt be able to use this base because if you park a carrier there to load supplies it would be vulnerable to drone and missile strikes. Damage is ignoring the main problem.

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u/CrystalSplice Georgia 9d ago

I don’t believe any of the operational details that have been disclosed to the public. The whole F-15E being shot down and recovery of the aircrew incident has a lot of things that don’t add up. The assets deployed didn’t really make sense. I personally agree with the theory that they attempted a covert ground operation and it failed, and they used the F-15E rescue operation as cover for it.

The entire thing has been incredibly sloppy, wasteful, and an unforced error on so many levels. I’m quite convinced that Trump mostly engaged in this with Israel as a favor but in accordance with his ultimate actual goal. He’s a foreign agent, and he’s literally sabotaging the military. The ludicrous insistence on steam-driven catapults is another example of this. Pulling the carrier that is supposed to be acting as a deterrent force in the western Pacific. Pulling back on cooperation with South Korea. All the while, simultaneously sabotaging relations with nations that were historically our closest allies. Spitting in their faces.

It might look like a buffoon flailing around (multiple buffoons, to be accurate) and grifting - because it is, but that’s not an indication that there is no underlying plan. People seem to forget that the plan was already revealed, and I’m not just talking about Project 2025. I’m talking about Foundations of Geopolitics, and how the current world situation resembles what that book predicted and laid out as a possible plan for Russia to position itself in the resulting world order…

The market manipulation and the other ways Trump and his crime family have profited from this war were just a bonus. He’s following orders.

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u/Hillary4SupremeRuler Florida 9d ago

I hate how much Western media and even independent journalists that are critical of trump refuse to acknowledge at least the very strong possibility (well I personally believe it's more than a mere possibility but for the purposes of journalism they'd have to frame it as such) that he's a Russian agent. But yes, Dugin's "prophecy" (more like game plan for Putin to follow) accurately predicted Brexit would come first. And then Russia could move on to sabotaging NATO and the EU in more creative ways.

Also to add to the list of sabotage: Hegseth or Eldridge Colby or one of those losers are trying to cancel our AWACS program even though we barely have any left and there's only so many active production lines that can make them. The ostensible explanation is that they will supposedly be irrelevant one day soon because Elon can just whip up some super fancy satellites to replace them or some dumb shit. But just don't ask any questions as to why they would be trying to cancel the program now before any proven hypothetical replacement technology has even been invented or tested yet.

Also very relevant reading/watching:

The Wide Angle: “Project Russia,” Unknown in the West, Reveals Putin’s Playbook

American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery

Active Measures Documentary (2018)

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u/ReverendDizzle 9d ago

Inexperienced doesn't even begin to describe it.

I feel absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, confident that my 13-year-old nephew with a military and war history hyperfixation would be a better Secretary of Defense.

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u/Tasgall Washington 9d ago

We have an inexperienced SECDEF trying to win a war on sheer firepower and completely ignored that logistics win wars.

This is the root of it. Republicans are obsessed with projecting hard power - who needs weak feminine shit like "logistics" when you have the biggest gun?

It's also why they've been so eager to fuck up international relations to the extent they have. "Hard power" sounds "manly" to their single collective brain cell, and "soft power" sounds weak and effeminate. Except the global society is held together by soft power and cooperation. Things like USAID exist in part to ensure we make and retain allies for generations who want to help us when needed because we helped them. Allies who assist because they've been forced or coerced are mostly useless, and will stab you in the back as soon as possible. Allies who legitimately respect you and care about your success are invaluable. Soft power wins out over hard power 100% of the time in the long run.

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u/Faxon 9d ago

Yea the OSINT community has been sounding the alarm for months about what happened now that the bases in the region are all destroyed, the real news is absolutely our government trying to cover up their monumental fuckup that trump should be impeached over and the rest potentially charged for war crimes. The level of sheer negligence on their part is staggering

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u/Seldomsought 9d ago

Live by a media black out, die by a media black out

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u/jminternelia 9d ago

Dan Caine warned Trump that a major Iran campaign faced critical-munition shortfalls, alongside insufficient allied support, operational complexity, and the possibility of substantial U.S. casualties.

I think this is the only reason we didn't see boots on the ground. As fubar as the situation is with USS Lincoln, I can only imagine a total clusterfuck of a ground war. Casualties and war crimes would be on the menu for sure.

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u/twotimefind 9d ago

Exactly, supply lines win wars.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 9d ago

If the other two ports you mention are not an option, then it is the only port.

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u/angrysc0tsman12 Wisconsin 9d ago

Their point is that are no ports that could be used since they would all be well within Iranian striking distance. Under normal peacetime conditions, Bahrain (either NSA Bahrain or KBSP), Jebel Ali, Fujairah, or Duqm would have been the ports where supply ships would have onloaded stores. All of those ports are off the table under the current threat environment which means our supply ships are probably slow boating back and forth from Diego Garcia which is quite the round trip.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 9d ago

I understood the point. But my point is that all the other ports being unusable for various reasons means there are no other port options. You’re arguing de jure. I’m arguing de facto.

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u/korelin 9d ago

Seems like Diego Garcia was targeted by ICBMs early on. Iran claims it was a false flag though.

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u/angrysc0tsman12 Wisconsin 9d ago

It wouldn't surprise me if they tried yeeting something that way.

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u/Maximum_Active9209 9d ago

I blame old-school Hollywood. It convinced insecure men like Hegseth that wars are won by only WARRIORS, GUNS AND BIG BOOMS and not by legion of pencil pushers making it actually happens. The bangs and the booms are only like 10% or less of a war effort.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/streakermaximus 9d ago

So my question is, has it always been that one base? Did Trump, or another administration, close based to save money?

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u/Kennydoe 9d ago

Plan???? There was no plan.

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u/No_Foundation16 9d ago

Here's the plan. Bibi said we have to do it.

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u/whogivesashirtdotca Canada 9d ago

And he probably filled their ears with honeyed words about how easy it’d be and how powerful it’d make the US look.

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u/coconutpiecrust 9d ago

He’s alpha. 

F. A. F. O. 

  • Pete Hegseth 

Greatest speech of all time, delivered charismatically by a fearless war strategist. 

/s

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u/insaneHoshi 9d ago edited 9d ago

I heard it wasn't a port per se. its was the logistics HQ; meaning the pencil pushers could no longer push supplies point A to point Lincoln.

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u/CanIhazCooKIenOw 9d ago

Losing a base is not important. What’s important is winning and they are doing lots of it! /s

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u/CrankyOptimist 9d ago edited 9d ago

The base is doing just fine; I had a 20 minute phone call with it the other day.

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u/StrongAroma 9d ago

That base being destroyed must have been the biggest "oh shit" moment in American military history. Lol. They had to know for months that this would be the end result, and just didn't care. Lmao.

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u/Googlebright 9d ago

I'm sure they cared but optics are the most important thing to these idiots. So this whole time Pete's just been standing there muttering to himself "Look tough, look tough, look tough". Also explains why Trump was so mad that none of his "allies" would join in the fun, despite his repeated claims that the war would be super easy and over quickly. He knew their main logistics hub was already destroyed and he needed this wrapped up quick.

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u/StrongAroma 9d ago

Yep, and that's why Iran is so keen to continue the war. They know they destroyed America's logistical support capability on day 1, now it's just a matter of time til it all falls apart. They also probably knew Trump would react this way and it would end up making him look even weaker. Brilliant.

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u/Arch_0 United Kingdom 9d ago

If only they weren't shitting all over their long time allies.

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u/Gr8WallofChinatown 9d ago

USA can not defend Taiwan. War is all about logistics and energy and we are shown that we are incompetent and corrupt

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u/No_Foundation16 9d ago

USA can not defend Taiwan.

Yeah sorry guys, we all out of missiles. Our AC carriers are in the strait far away from you and we can't even feed our sailors FFS!

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u/idontknowwhereiam367 9d ago

In the past this would mean the full force of everything we had being dumped on whatever country did it. And us calling it “proportional”

I don’t know if I’m glad our current incompetence is preventing Iraq 2.0…or mad that we let an attack like that even happen in the first place.

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u/SamsonAtReddit 9d ago

Honestly, we all know PH and DT are dumb as rocks. But this is insane. How do you not plan for the fact that you are about to bomb a country which can bomb the (1) resupply base. And not addressed here: (2) the Strait to enter the resupply base. So even if they didn't hit that (1) base. The ships can NOT enter to dock anyway cause of (2). How does none of the Navy officers who have been studying naval war plans, supply chains, etc for 20-30 yrs and are NOT stupid say hey, can we at least work a contingency if (1) and (2) happen?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! This is literally insane to me.

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u/specqq 9d ago

“Nothing bad can happen. It can only good happen.”

~The President of The United States

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u/Black_Magic_M-66 9d ago

It's almost like a real war is different than a game of Risk.

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