FWIW I can find no reputable news source reporting this supposed strike. I would refrain from drawing conclusions until we have some facts.

Fair enough. It's either happened, or it's going to happen if the aircraft are not better located.

Spellchecker strikes again.

ROFL... :)

So, given the "DOG & PONY" show that passed for the last cabinet meeting in the building adjacent to the wreckage of the East Wing, a treat may just be in order there LW. Perhaps the problem is getting those that want to be the "significant human" to the pack in Iran, need to go and talk to someone like Cesar Millan, who knows a thing or two about a thing or two, about dealing with an unruly pack. "Lying down" appears to be off the current pavlovian response to whacking the top dogs of a sovereign nation like something on a B-grade mobster movie.

As hard as it is to say, Iran has shown restraint in the past, when it came to pulling down the tent pole (the straits) and knee capping the global economy. With gallons of drones at their disposal and what passes as pretty hefty treats with soft centers to aim at, the choices that are presented curtesy of Bibi & AO's choices of late are stark.

• Not conducting ground action gives Iran hegemony of the whole of the gulf. Probably not a great concept, and as Iran has a friendship with Vlad who is still enjoying the gift that continues to give of his own 3-day excursion, that should be of some concern to the amount of lubricant that the world has in all meanings of the word. That includes the US of A, as the fuel costs in the US remain set from global market prices, not just the domestic supply.
• Conducting ground action will give historians lots to write about. At least ICE can be repurposed to go and do what they do best somewhere else other than the war zones of Los Angeles, Many Apples etc. A ground invasion would necessitate there being a plan, which the pentagram may have, but seems lacking at the level of the secretary and above. Much easier to be a TV talking head I would imagine.
• Iran is not likely to act in the best interests of the US of A, that ship probably got scuppered when it got personal.
• Regime change, the history of 3rd party intervention resulting in regime change has not been great, since the times of the Bay of Pigs, or whacking the leaders of South Vietnam. It is unpredictable, and the experience of the Kurds, and the Shia back in 1991 didn't build much confidence, being a prelude to the "arise and we shall help" suggestion that just led to lots of fresh fertiliser in Iran.
• Popcorn, probably worth investing in, if the info on the next "truth" that gets sent over the airwaves is not known in advance.

Would like to see an Iran that doesn't shoot its own citizens in the back of the head, but that may only occur in one of the other universes. Israel remembering what it is like to be on the receiving end of genocide might give them some sympathy for those that are affected by their largesse in the region, or not; hard to say.

Iran retains adequate short and medium range drones to control the gulf and to mess with the rice bowls of all concerned. Not much sort of a super size flash-bang that would do much to that, and doing that is probably not going to look good on the resume. The problem with such actions is, it is only one inelegant step followed by the certain consequences.

At least popcorn is not bad for you.... at least compared to all the other options on the table.

Vlad is likely ROFL on this, as Bibi and The Don have taken the heat off Vlad's decisions starring in the history books. Right now, Xi is the one with the biggest problem, it is coming along with the consequences of famine, which is one of those things that used to be called Tuesday in China of old, but with the advent of a middle class that is urbanised, that ain't the case no more. Xi might want to put his finger into this pie too to retain his exalted status as Emperor Winnie the Poo.

WSJ being quoted as the source, maybe confusion with last week's attack on Prince Sultan AB ?

The last WSJ report of an attack on that airbase was published on 14 March!

Deja vu
 

Did they not learn from the last time?
Haven’t they heard of the concept of dispersal or of revetments?
Surely there are sufficient 40 foot sea cans around to erect basic revetments.
Even sand berms are a possibility.
Even parking them on different areas of the ramp every day would make accurate targeting more difficult due to delays in the rocketeers getting the latest Russian Sat photos

Perhaps NATO can send them some old tyres to cover the aircraft in.

The attack on march 13th looked a lot different. https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/five-...l-19868232.htm
You wonder why they did not shoot down that rocket.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/ira...pdates?mod=mhp "An Iranian missile struck the Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia on Friday, wounding several U.S. Service members and damaging several U.S. refueling aircraft, according to U.S. and Saudi officials familiar with the strike. The attack also involved unmanned aerial vehicles, the officials said."

……………

Video

This is massive news, not picked up yet by BBC and DTel online.

I would expect some other big players to follow suit ............. Asia is facing famine from all sorts of imported essentials being held up otherwise.

IDF:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....468ba4faa.jpeg

Quote:

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​​​​​​​Israel just struck the Arak Nuclear Complex.

The heavy water facilities provide heavy water for an IR-40 reactor which could produce between 10-12 kg plutonium a year from its spent nuclear fuel, offering Iran a 2nd pathway to nuclear weapons on top of enriched uranium.

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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....31728fcee.jpeg
​​​​​​​

Re the Warthog attack,,,,, One would think maybe there were better things to do than film with your phone.... I'm wondering if that is a real video.

Thats a nuclear armed nation making a pretty clear position. Will China do the same? India is nominally self sufficient for food, and does not have as heavy a reliance on fertiliser as China has. China's official figures on self sufficiency do not add up, and given the Emperors irritation with bad news, that is hardly surprising. China is twice as dependent on fertiliser as India... per hectare of arable land, and that doesn't sound like a good place to be if the supply of fertiliser gets spiked.

Interesting state of play; one islamic nation being unfriendly with their neighbours, and with India (3rd largest muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan), China, Japan getting messed up, Vlad's oil tanks turned into BBQ pits, Europe/UK needing to think again about exploration, Venezuela oil being.... whatever that is now, and the US while nominally self sufficient already taking a sip from the SPR. Interesting times.

If Bibi and The Don get out of this monumental mess with a sudden breakout of peace... then perhaps it would be worthy of a FIFA Pizza Pie or whatever it is they gave.

The shipping channels in the Strait, are, in fact, almost entirely in Omani territorial waters - which has rarely been mentioned, if at all. One wonders how much back channel discussions are going on between the Omanis and Iranians, given their historical diplomatic relationship. Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi is a canny operator, and likely to have direct links with Iran.

Vlad may have a problem loading tankers, which may incentivise him to ship oil by rail. Xi may be happy lending out tanker cars to increase deliveries along with providing electronics for missiles and drones. Both will be pleased to see Trump running short on interceptors and other expensive ordnance.

Plenty of potash in Belarus to substitute for Gulf fertilizer.

Clapped out ?

I'll get my coat........