USS Lincoln wasn't resupplied because Hegseth 'hid' that Iran destroyed main U.S. base:

[u/ChickenTitilater]

https://www.ms.now/money-power-politics/watch/uss-lincoln-wasn-t-resupplied-because-hegseth-hid-that-iran-destroyed-main-u-s-base-rohde-2511362627825

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[u/No_Diver6131]

NYTimes the daily talked about that today. Apparently the aircraft carrier we are bringing from Japan is known as the “in case of emergency break glass” defense because it protects the pacific. Which it is now going to be in the Middle East. So not just incompetence. Unbelievable stupid decisions. 

[u/Straight-Ad6926 → u/No_Diver6131]

China watching us pull our Pacific carrier to fix a self inflicted logistics nightmare must be the easiest geopolitical win they’ve had all year.

[u/Broken-Digital-Clock → u/Straight-Ad6926]

They wanted maga, to weaken the US, but they probably didn't know it would work out this well

[u/ScubaAlek → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

It’s why they call Trump the “Nation Builder”.

[u/ConsolationUsername → u/ScubaAlek]

I mean look at all the nations that are building because of Trump.

The EU, Canada, Australia, the UK, China are all expanding their trade with each other now that the US is no longer a reliable trading partner. And they're all growing their own militaries now that the US has proven its can't be trusted to defend its allies.

And did even one of them say thank you?

[u/OnColdConcrete → u/ConsolationUsername]

Why aren't you wearing a suit?

[u/AltoidStrong → u/OnColdConcrete]

only own TAN ones... did you see what the GOP did to that guy?

[u/phiche3 → u/AltoidStrong]

Tan ones hide grey poupon stains more effectively 🤷

[u/got-trunks → u/OnColdConcrete]

I still can’t believe they “well what were you wearing did you not want to get invaded?” Zelenskyy lol

[u/themoslucius → u/ScubaAlek]

Atlantic City is a great reference for his Builder accomplishments

[u/shmaygleduck → u/themoslucius]

Could call those casinos Atlantis since they were under water.

[u/shortstop803 → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

It truly is amazing to me how much your average right wing Republican voter doesn’t understand the extent to which they’ve hurt the nation due to the last 3 elections. They quite literally have no concepts of geopolitics and international affairs or strategic consequences as it pertains to national interests for the country, with the current regime almost unanimously being the reason for those negative outcomes. I’m not saying the democratic left is perfect, or even great, there is a ton I disagree with them on, but at a fundamental level I can at least understand their decision making and ideological philosophies as compared to the entirely self serving at the cost of others enigma that is the current Republican Party and its leadership.

[u/Jerthy → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

They are probably watching this a little stunned. They were likely hoping he will weaken US power over the years so they have a good chance to contest Taiwan eventually, but the US fell apart so fast that they are not ready to go yet.

[u/cocoagiant → u/Jerthy]

but the US fell apart so fast that they are not ready to go yet.

What I've heard on the news is they are totally ready to go, they just have no need to.

Sure, they could go heavy and make a spectacle of it and win Taiwan militarily.

There are nationalistic merits for that approach too.

Or...they can just wait.

They are so incorporated into various economies and they've grown so much that in 5 years, its not even going to be a question of anyone fighting them over it.

Countries will just murmur something diplomatic and then shrug.

[u/WaitNoNotMyBeans → u/cocoagiant]

ahh the good ol’ “never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake” strat

[u/Username_McUserface → u/WaitNoNotMyBeans]

Sure, but beyond that, diplomacy and economic might are much cheaper and less risky than warfare. If China can broaden its influence and eventually take Taiwan without violence, I’m sure that would be their preference.

[u/Canadian_Kartoffel → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

They knew that the best way to defeat America is to give it what it voted for.

[u/No_Diver6131 → u/Straight-Ad6926]

Probably one of the easiest geopolitical wins they’ve ever had. This entire administration has just been one self inflicted own goal after another. 

[u/AQ207 → u/Straight-Ad6926]

"Do nothing, Win" Xi Jinping

[u/themoslucius → u/Straight-Ad6926]

Taiwan must be having an anxiety attack

[u/BoringEntropist → u/themoslucius]

South Korea too.

[u/Cpt_Soban → u/BoringEntropist]

Explains South Korea pushing for an official end with the war with the North

[u/allgonetoshit → u/No_Diver6131]

Wait until they start reporting that the laundry fire wasn’t a laundry fire…

[u/No_Diver6131 → u/allgonetoshit]

NYTimes guy talked about it after two weeks you lose fresh vegetables and fruits. I can’t imagine being out at sea for 290 days. The guy also said all our other carriers are being serviced. 

[u/WaitAZechond → u/No_Diver6131]

The longest I ever spent out at sea consecutively was 87 days on a ballistic missile sub. It sucked because we had only planned on 65 days and got extended. We also had a fairly new supply officer at the time, so our food situation was a little rough, too. I can’t even begin to imagine 290 days; even with all the amenities of a carrier, that will mess you up.

[u/DarkwingDuckHunt → u/WaitAZechond]

it's the Carrier Group, not just the Carrier

that's the part people keep missing, there's a whole fleet of warships really fucked right now

[u/Bagellord → u/DarkwingDuckHunt]

Do the escorts not get to break off for port/replenishment?

[u/HiDHSiknowyouwatchme → u/Bagellord]

Generally the battle group stays together. Unless there's a replacement for the little boys, they stay together. Some exceptions apply, but generally you don't strip away the carrier's defense.

[u/holyoctopus → u/WaitAZechond]

This is so interesting. Can you expand on the food situation and what you were eating? I'm always curious about the food situation on naval vessels on long deployments.

[u/SlayinSalmon → u/holyoctopus]

I did a deployment on an amphibious ship (an LPD) in 2010-2011. That deployment also got extended, twice if my memory serves me correctly. We did some long periods without a port, but we did underway replenishment and vertical replenishment of food. During the longest stretch without a replenishment, we were eating powdered eggs and rice for a few days. It wasn’t great.

The Lincoln has gone an absolutely insane amount of time without a port call. I also suspect they aren’t doing very regular replenishment in the Straight of Hormuz due to the danger. Also, all the resupply ships in the gulf came out of Manama, Bahrain and that place got absolutely hammered by Iran early. We knew this is how a war with Iran would shake out in 2011 and it’s insane they weren’t prepared to deal with this.

This war is being prosecuted by the dumbest people to ever do it. They’ve committed so many unforced errors and it’ll be all for nothing.

[u/Oopthealley → u/SlayinSalmon]

It seems like it's being prosecuted by people who want to use cartoonish force as their main mechanism, throwing out decades of lessons in counterinsurgency, modern warfare, and political science... And their only chance of success is with the one thing they don't have the political will to do: boots on the ground.

[u/imodey → u/holyoctopus]

Watch this video from Smarter Every Day that describes exactly how they manage provisions on a submarine:

https://youtu.be/bPJUVKizh90?si=dx3IyL8c6jGPVHSP

[u/popculturella → u/No_Diver6131]

The hell are they eating?

[u/No_Diver6131 → u/popculturella]

That’s a fantastic question. It’s part of why moral is low. The logistics for food wouldn’t be an issue but Iran blew up our naval base in Bahrain. There’s reports the food is rationed, and rotten. 

[u/popculturella → u/No_Diver6131]

sUPpOrT oUr TrOoPs indeed.

[u/SeonghwaStoleMyBias → u/popculturella]

Didn't something like 60-70% of active duty and veterans vote for Trump?

Wonder how they're blaming Biden for it.

[u/Miss_Maple_Dream → u/popculturella]

There’s loads of photos being shared by the service member’s families on TikTok. 

[u/chowderbags → u/No_Diver6131]

Usually the surface ships get resupplied. But resupply implies that they're getting that supply from somewhere else. So a resupply from somewhere like Rota, Spain will mean plenty of fresh food because it's able to be supplied from European markets. Even a resupply from Bahrain is at least going to be something hooked into the world shipping economy (present situation notwithstanding). I can't imagine that they're getting much fresh stuff out of a Deigo Garcia resupply though. The supply for Diego Garcia is coming out of Singapore, so fresh fruits and vegetables aren't going to survive. Meat's all going to arrive frozen. Frozen veggies too. I'm guessing there's no fresh eggs. Maybe they're getting milk if they've got some kind of ultrapasteurized supplier. Of course, Diego Garcia isn't really meant to be taking this kind of load either, so it's probably a rough supply line anyway.

[u/Adventurous-Try8749 → u/No_Diver6131]

Arrrr! Scurvy be back on the menu boys!

[u/blackcain → u/No_Diver6131]

how are your soldiers then in a capacity to fight after all that time? I mean this is a big issue here. If Iran waits long enough and then attacks any of these ships there is obviously going to be a challenge for a crew that is likely exhausted.

[u/pink_faerie_kitten → u/blackcain]

It was a very smart strategy for them to attack the supply lines. And since it's a military base, it's a perfectly legit target and within the guidelines of the international law of warfare.

[u/LetmeSeeyourSquanch → u/No_Diver6131]

It's almost as if Trump is purposely weakening the US on multiple fronts. Like he's some sort of agent for another country working against our interests.

[u/No_Diver6131 → u/LetmeSeeyourSquanch]

We’re speed running our countries destruction and being set back decades on every possible category you can think of. There’s no way he’s not a useful idiot for a certain country. Remember “Russia, if you’re listening?”

[u/jeffplaysmoog → u/No_Diver6131]

It’s wild - I am anti-war to be sure… but I guess I expected that, in the case of WW3, we would be at least somewhat ready?  We are in a conflict with a single nation for 6 months and we are tapped out?!

[u/No_Diver6131 → u/jeffplaysmoog]

Well we fired every non yes man. Netanyahu has been wanting this for decades. No other president besides the pedo president who was a failed real estate developer went into this. The person in charge of the military is an asshole alcoholic tv personality. FFS grok was responsible for bombing the school. We have the most incompetent people in history running our country. If another global war pops off our allies wont help us out after the amount we have shit on them. 

[u/Upbeat-Collection-74 → u/jeffplaysmoog]

There strongly appears to be case to be made that Trump decided to go to war only weeks before pulling the trigger. This is after he and Hegseth purged anyone who raised a hand and said 'this isn't a good idea.' He listened to Netanyahu and his inner circle which is mostly ex-FOX TV hosts.

We have weapons, but despite what Trump thinks (or doesn't) they don't teleport. Remember that Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom had build ups that involved months of munitions and equipment transfers. Plans were put in place and operations were planned out for those wars.

Trump clearly thought he was going to bomb Iran for a week, the regime would fall, and that he'd be hailed as the great liberator that had solved the Iran problem where no other US president could. Our prior war games indicated this wouldn't happen but nobody in charge looked at those.

Then they pulled the trigger and bombed everything without a real plan for what they wanted to achieve (see the girl's school). They were shooting down Iranian drones with Patriots. Now a smart person would have looked at what's happened in Ukraine the last four years and realized that you can't use a three million dollar high performance SAM to destroy a $25,000 Shaheed for any appreciable length of time. Several things then happened in short succession. The constant use of US munitions including blowing up fishing boats in the Caribbean had us already depleted. Then we quickly ran through what was stored in the Middle East. The logistics bases that would be needed to efficiently resupply took a lot more damage than the administration is willing to admit because nobody did any pre-work to harden them despite everything knowing they'd be subject to saturation ballistic missile attacks. Lastly the administration on one side of its mouth is saying the war is over while on the other side of its mouth is telling industrial partners that they need to spool up production.

If you're Lockheed do you put everyone on double shifts when nobody knows what's going on? Also a lof the increased spending is going to companies that just got stood up in the last few months, where Don Jr. happens to be on the board or an investor.

There's some issues with the US manufacturing base not being what it once was, but a lot of that is a bottleneck is semi-conductor chips and Lockheed still has to compete with Elon Musk to buy chips from TSMC. TSMC who by the way was extorted to hand over half the company earlier in the administration.

In short, 14 yr old boy trying to show boat with his dad's sport's car. Don't be surprised when he strips out the transmission, runs it off the road, and puts in the cheap gas when the cap says premium only.

[u/takesthebiscuit → u/No_Diver6131]

USA only has effectively 5 carriers at anytime

The fire on GF and the utter deviation of this protracted deployment on AL could reduce that to 4 possibly 3 available for deployment

[u/ScurvyTurtle → u/takesthebiscuit]

Don't worry, we're also jeopardizing procurement of new replacement carriers too by requiring them to switch back to steam as well!

[u/Bagellord → u/ScurvyTurtle]

Oh not just that, apparently they need to move the island too. Fuck I hate this president

[u/Kyzzz]

Hegseth just treated a destroyed military base like a bad report card he didn’t want his parents to see

[u/another_day_in → u/Kyzzz]

Like an empty bottle of whiskey hid in toilet tank

[u/altogethernow → u/another_day_in]

This is the appropriate metaphor. A guy who says at an interview, "I will definitely quit drinking if I get the job."

Sure.

[u/RUOFFURTROLLEH → u/altogethernow]

Lying is only a problem if your supporters can be convinced to sit at home at the next election.

MAGA and the GOP never have to worry about losing support.

The media is complicit in keeping them there and keeping the Democrats well away from ever being able to make meaningful change.

[u/Harak_June → u/Kyzzz]

To these assholes, that is how they view everything and everyone. "How do I take credit for the good work of others, and hide or transfer the blame of my screw-ups."

The service members (all of us really) are nothing but meat puppets to this administration.

[u/InvalidUserNemo → u/Harak_June]

A good leader assumes blame themselves, when the team fails. A good leader gives praise to everyone but themselves , when the team wins.

Hegseth was a weekend propagandist of right-wing fear mongering. He wasn’t hired for his “leadership skills”.

[u/Main-Water4503 → u/Kyzzz]

Is he really the best the US has to offer? They couldn’t find a more qualified pedophile in Trump’s Rolodex?

[u/bryan49 → u/Main-Water4503]

Of course not, he's the worst. But as usual Trump values loyalty over competence

[u/Coracoda → u/bryan49]

Pete Hegseth has the same energy as the military guy in American Beauty who tries to kiss Kevin Spacey.

I’m not saying he’s gay, just that he has some issues he’s trying to hide.

[u/tunafister → u/Coracoda]

We can only guess, but based on how homophobic he is, one could easily believe that he is not only closeted, but terrified of what were to happen if the truth came out

Its almost like when you have a comically fragile ego, it make you act and behave like a juvenile, or a bigot

[u/RandyMuscle]

We lost this war as soon as the strait closed. Anyone saying otherwise is delusional.

[u/HumdrumHoeDown → u/RandyMuscle]

And that’s why no administration in 40+ years has started this war.

[u/FluidAthlete6839 → u/HumdrumHoeDown]

Also because what are we really starting it for. I never bought the nukes thing

[u/AppleAtrocity → u/FluidAthlete6839]

Netanyahu has been trying for decades to get the USA to attack Iran. Trump and his minions are the only ones stupid enough to actually do it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/XJ0SbOduxQw

[u/AppleAtrocity → u/[deleted]]

Did I fix it?

[u/jmchao → u/FluidAthlete6839]

It’s been a foreign policy goal for Israel for decades.

[u/SpartanVash → u/FluidAthlete6839]

They've only been weeks away from developing nukes for 30+ years.

[u/Eycetea → u/FluidAthlete6839]

Its always WMD in a desert.... same shit, same party, just different players and we the tax payers end up suffering portions of the burden, and the innocent people in Iran, this shit sucks.

[u/sarcasmsosubtle → u/FluidAthlete6839]

You don't buy that Trump "completely destroyed" Iran's nuclear capabilities last July in a super successful operation, but then when coverage of the DOJ's refusal to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act was filling the news and Israel started pushing for the US to attack Iran, they suddenly were able to restart all of their operations and get to a point where they were so close to having nuclear weapons that Trump had no choice but to attack? Are you some kind of traitor that wants to see Iran with 160 fully operational atomic elementary school girls?

[u/Dinker54 → u/RandyMuscle]

We lost it in the 1st term when Donnie Two Weeks unilaterally disavowed and violated the working treaty with Iran that had taken years to negotiate and secure a final agreement.  Art of the steal.

[u/meTspysball → u/RandyMuscle]

We lost it as soon as assassinating the ayatollah didn’t cause the IRGC to fall to their knees and surrender. This is the dumbest fucking war planned and executed by the dumbest fucking people. Had they listened to a single person with the most basic knowledge about the region we wouldn’t be in this mess.

[u/mysterious_jeffrey → u/meTspysball]

Yeah but nobody is talking about the Epstein files so, this is going pretty well for Team Pedo. 

[u/Horror_Log362 → u/mysterious_jeffrey]

Katie Phang is basically single-handedly forcing Todd Blanche to release the Epstein files. I recommend everyone go check out her YouTube channel to see the work she’s doing. She demolishes the DOJ at every turn; guess that’s what happens when you get rid of all the competent apolitical employees.

[u/skatefan420 → u/Horror_Log362]

I hope youre right, but i wont believe it till i see it at this point. The DOJ is brazenly lawless

[u/djanes376 → u/Horror_Log362]

Katie Phang rules. Her and Aaron Parnas are knocking it out of the park with their Epstein coverage. It's only a matter of time until the dam breaks. Independent media is where it's at and it's getting bigger every day.

[u/Stunning-Isopod8514 → u/mysterious_jeffrey]

“We’re not talking about the Epstein files…” is kind of like ‘don’t think of an elephant’.

[u/ludixst → u/mysterious_jeffrey]

I am.

[u/mysterious_jeffrey → u/ludixst]

Me too!

We should all be demanding to see the financial records. The wire transfers and the communications of banking executives that helped hide it all. 

We should also be demanding an investigation into Zoro Ranch. 

And why the fuck isn’t Steve Bannon in prison? Why was he texting with Epstein up until the day Epstein got arrested again? 

[u/Malcorin → u/ludixst]

More importantly, so is a very specific judge. Also, shout out to Katie Phang for being an absolute boss.

[u/KovyJackson → u/meTspysball]

It’s abundantly clear Bibi told the Trump administration that all they would have to do was assassinate the anti-US leadership and the people would revolt/the government would crumble. When that didn’t happen, they thought that they could go back to the way things were except that haven’t been able to eliminate Iran’s ability to target the strait.

[u/Digitalion_ → u/KovyJackson]

Iran had been waiting and planning for decades for a direct attack from the US and/or Israel. It's blatantly obvious to anyone paying attention that they had already carefully picked all of their targets and had contingency plans in place.

I mean if you had been threatened with annihilation for decades against weapons you very clearly would never obtain yourself then it only reasons that you would figure out other ways to win that inevitable war.

[u/KovyJackson → u/Digitalion_]

Considering Israel has been saying Iran is 2 weeks™ from a nuclear weapon for almost 30 years.

[u/cancerBronzeV → u/KovyJackson]

for almost 30 years

More than 30 years, actually. Netanyahu gave a speech about how Iran was about to have nukes way back in 1992.

[u/Goldensunshine7 → u/KovyJackson]

I remember we were told the exact same thing about Saddam Hussein, that the people would rise up against him If we attacked. It didn’t happen, It was crickets. I remember the administration then having the same shock as now …”but they were suppose to rise up”…We are experiencing the exact same result...A new, long, drawn out, never ending Middle Eastern war we can quagmire in.

[u/xvx_k1r1t0_xvxkillme → u/Goldensunshine7]

That's the same thing we were told in 1812.

the acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching

-Thomas Jefferson

The more things change...

[u/altogethernow → u/Goldensunshine7]

How many times did Rumsfeld say, "The children will greet our children in the streets with flowers and candy!"

He said that line several times, I remember it all these years later.

[u/Dinker54 → u/meTspysball]

That’s  the “what do experts know” administration for ya.  It turns out that actually studying, testing, and thinking about issues actually does lead to more informed opinions, who woulda thunk it (e.g., “who knew healthcare would be so hard”)?

[u/CloudTransit → u/RandyMuscle]

The war was won in 2016. The JCPOA was Iran giving up, so they could reintegrate into world affairs.

[u/Kincherk → u/CloudTransit]

Absolutely. Even many who disliked the deal at the time have grudgingly admitted it was working. But trump is basing his actions purely on his personal grudges and prejudices. Trump hated the JCPOA simply because it was negotiated under Obama, and therefore he had to burn it down.

[u/Terrible_turtle_ → u/CloudTransit]

Exactly. This is such a vital point.

[u/specqq → u/RandyMuscle]

This is where the war was lost.

Step One: setting goals.

[u/Broken-Digital-Clock → u/specqq]

Continuing to manage basic infrastructure and logistics.

[u/ZephkielAU → u/RandyMuscle]

Nobody knew war in the middle east could be so complicated!

Is uh, is anyone going to do anything about this administration yet? Or are we still just doing the "Trump and his administration can do whatever they want without impunity" thing?

[u/tripping_on_phonics → u/RandyMuscle]

We lost more than this war. This is the death knell for American empire.

What is a carrier strike group or a forward base against thousands of Shahed-style drones? Why would any country want a US base on its soil?

[u/Obvious_Toe_3006 → u/tripping_on_phonics]

I sure bet Oman is questioning it's alliance with the US.

[u/Economy-Pin2836 → u/Obvious_Toe_3006]

Especially when the criminal rapist psychopath is threatening to bomb it for no good reason (as always).

[u/tripping_on_phonics → u/Obvious_Toe_3006]

Oh, for sure. A US base is a huge liability: it gets you roped into whatever unilateral war or adventure we want, without your input.

Hell, one of our first acts in the Iran War was to move missile defenses from our GCC bases to Israel. We’ve also depleted missile inventories in Europe and Asia. We now don’t have a single aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific because the USS George Washington is needed to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. We also moved a USMC expeditionary unit out of Okinawa.

Korea went to bat for us, suffering heavy economic and political retaliation from China in exchange for a THAAD battery on its territory. Guess where that THAAD is now?

So to summarize, the US is: (1) not loyal, (2) does not prioritize defending countries that host its bases, (3) can’t defend its bases or ships against cheap, expendable munitions, (4) demands that you show infinite gratitude for and bear the financial burden of bases that only benefit us, and (5) does not have the manufacturing capacity to replace its expended munitions.

Our empire is finished and will continue to unravel in coming months and years, and honestly, I view this as a good thing. We are simply not rational or stable enough to be a world hegemon, to say nothing of the murder, oppression, and exploitation that had characterized our empire even before Trump.

[u/LUNATIC_LEMMING → u/tripping_on_phonics]

the crazy thing is NATO has effective hard counters to those shahed style drones, they're almost not considered a threat any-more as even in bulk they are so easy to shoot down.

But the US learned nothing form the Ukraine and thought patriot could do it all. lo and behold they didn't have enough. you could probably hear the Ukrainians facepalming in Washington

[u/akestral → u/RandyMuscle]

We lost this war on Feb 27th.

[u/VikingMonkey123 → u/akestral]

We lost Jan 6th 2021 when everyone involved wasn't tried, convicted, and hung, er... hanged.

[u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

WTF

[u/Dinker54 → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

Very early on in the war an old friend of mine that regularly travels to and has business interests and family in Bahrain told me the navy base there had been destroyed while in the U.S. we were only getting news that there’d been some missile strikes.

[u/enRutus → u/Dinker54]

Coworker’s brother works in Dubai and is fearful of ramifications if he shared the truth of the situation there.

[u/Nonions → u/enRutus]

I can't blame him, Dubai throws civilians in jail for posting pictures of the war they don't like.

[u/Dinker54 → u/enRutus]

I used to head over to the naval base in Bahrain for very cheap cigs and beer, sometimes a swim in the early 80’s … went to kindergarten and 1st grade on that base until they moved the DOD school up the road/off the base too.  

Plenty of memories, but the one that stands out was spending a night getting shitfaced with a handful of sailers off the USS Stark while they were docked for repairs after the missile strike on their ship in gulf.  They were good, young guys who really didn’t want anything to do with the shitstorm going on in the gulf between Iran and Iraq, I can only imagine how much harder the current situation is for the enlisted folks.

[u/fer_sure → u/Dinker54]

went to kindergarten and 1st grade on that base until they moved the DOD

The way you phrased this made me think you were buying cigarettes and and getting hammered at a surprisingly young age.

[u/pettar4814 → u/fer_sure]

If it was the 70s and 80s, he probably was buying cigs and getting hammered at a young age. 😂

[u/Dinker54 → u/fer_sure]

I absolutely was as a young teenager, couldn’t have been over 15 at the time getting drunk with the Stark sailors.  Things were very lax and loose for expats in that era, but the base concession workers would cut you off as a kid once you were sloppy, many of the hotel bars didn’t.

[u/PurpleFisty → u/Dinker54]

This whole administration needs to go to prison.

[u/giorgio_tsoukalos_ → u/Dinker54]

Breaking points and dropsite have been reporting on this since the start of the war. Its crazy watching the msm catch up months later.

[u/PerformanceCute3437 → u/giorgio_tsoukalos_]

Are those some kind of decentralised reporting/press websites?

[u/Harlequin80 → u/PerformanceCute3437]

They are just independent reporters.

But they are also far from the only place reporting on this and the lack of main stream reporting is a particularly US issue. I've seen satellite images showing destroyed American naval bases on TV here in Australia.

The problem the US has in terms of resupply though is Iran can now range all the regional bases, so sea lift is required and the US no longer has the heavy marine lift capabilities required because it always relied on regional bases.

The closest base is Diego Garcia and it's not a suitable staging location for bulk supplies, and so you can see the US supply ships passing through the Straight of Malacca ferrying supplies from Japan / Korea etc.

[u/snuff3r → u/Harlequin80]

One of the US greatest strengths was it's logistics network. It was a force multiplier in every region.

Pissing off all your allies and withdrawing long term presence.. I'll never believe that was an informed decision that served a purpose other than it being a temper tantrum everyone's now paying for.

[u/goodsnpr → u/snuff3r]

I swear most of MAGA wants to leave NATO because they don't understand how anything in foreign politics works, especially military alliances. They cheered when USAID went tits up, and now scratch their heads at screwflies and endemic outbreaks that threaten to turn into pandemics if not contained. Softpower is a concept so foreign to them it might as well be in a different language.

[u/willienelsonmandela → u/PerformanceCute3437]

Independent media. Drop Site is essentially a successor to The Intercept. It was co-founded by Intercept’s co-founder and their former DC bureau chief. Breaking Points has some of the same people involved but does more video content. Drop Site is more investigative and print content.

[u/jakc121 → u/PerformanceCute3437]

Independent journalists. Highly recommend their work

[u/avonn_ → u/giorgio_tsoukalos_]

Where can I keep up with these? Twitter? Telegram?

[u/Mmhopkin → u/Dinker54]

So are families not hearing about casualties?

[u/iplaygaem → u/Mmhopkin]

On the Navy subreddit during the strikes, people claiming to be stationed there said all Americans were evacuated before Trump started the war. They said locals working the skeleton crew on base recieved no heads up and were basically left to die.

[u/tahlyn → u/iplaygaem]

But Bengazi was the end of the world for republicans who won't give a single fuck about this.

[u/Dinker54 → u/iplaygaem]

They always treated the Indian laborers and concessions workers like shit, like most every other employer in the country.  Arab locals were not common on base as far as I recall, but that could have changed in the decades since I was last there.

[u/LostAbstract → u/iplaygaem]

Thats heinous as fuck. I would rather lose the ground and say we lost it than sacrifice innocent people to make it look like we're still there.

[u/Trick_Quiet3484 → u/Dinker54]

It’s why I try to listen to news outside the US when possible. It’s not only interesting but I get more of a global perspective.

[u/AmericanDoughboy → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

This is what happens when a drunken TV talking head with very limited military experience becomes Secretary of Defense.

[u/drDOOM_is_in → u/AmericanDoughboy]

Secretary of war, thank you very much.

[u/National-Charity-435 → u/drDOOM_is_in]

Secretary of War (against sobriety)

[u/Own_Error_007 → u/National-Charity-435]

And for adultery.

[u/weluckyfew → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

Reminds me of Putin's Russia - I read that one reason Russia was losing was because Putin's yes-men had been lying to him for years about the state of the military. In this case it was because so many of the generals had been embezzling the money that was supposed to be spent on men and materials.

Similarly here - everyone is afraid to give Trump any bad news

[u/lactose_cow → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

You're shocked? How?

I'm not trying to be a dick, I just don't get how this is surprising. Of course they'd torture our service members to hide their personal failures.

There is no end to the depravity, cruelty, and selfishness of this administration. They'll do something worse next month. Probably next week.

[u/Wasabi_Joe → u/lactose_cow]

There's still time today!

[u/MauschelMusic → u/lactose_cow]

Depravity, cruelty, and selfishness just go with the job, historically. It's the childish incompetence and belligerence they can still surprise. You can't just hide away your incapability to resupply a ship and assume the problem will just go away. An adult, no matter how depraved, cruel, and selfish, should understand that.

[u/NotThatHandsomePete → u/Jealous_Lawfulness_2]

10th fleet headquarters if I'm not mistaken.

[u/Kastastrophe_34 → u/NotThatHandsomePete]

5th fleet

[u/takesthebiscuit → u/Kastastrophe_34]

5th fleet was destroyed 2x over

[u/digger70chall → u/NotThatHandsomePete]

5th

[u/absat41 → u/NotThatHandsomePete]

deleted

[u/Kastastrophe_34 → u/absat41]

And on top of this CTF 53 was evacuated to Singapore as hostilitys kicked off and they are the ones responsible for coordinating resupply efforts for ships in the region. So now I guess they're just relaxing and drinking Singapore slings while all this shit escalates.

[u/Potato271 → u/NotThatHandsomePete]

5th fleet. 10th fleet is cyber command, not a real fleet.

[u/smith129606]

This is an excellent time to remind everyone that Trump replaced a retired 4 star General with over 40 years of service with a Fox News weekend host because of “DEI”.

[u/So_HauserAspen → u/smith129606]

They also retired other generals too and got rid of women and all the flair

Testosterone shot no make smart to

[u/Morgolol → u/smith129606]

The fox News host who during covid told everyone he doesn't wash his hands and doesn't think germs are real?

[u/rkicklig]

So we're clear, it's not just incompetence, it is incompetence just not only incompetence.

[u/raouldukeesq → u/rkicklig]

Perfectly competent if your goal is to isolate and destroy the United States of America. 

[u/fellowuscitizen → u/raouldukeesq]

Basically Project 2025's start-jump plan.

[u/Suitable-Option833 → u/raouldukeesq]

Yes. Project 2025’s goal (besides to give money to trickle upward to the 0.1%) is isolationism. It’s in explicit detail. This is by design.

[u/JetKeel → u/rkicklig]

Sounds like Dereliction of Duty.

[u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421]

Iran showed the before and after pics of the base 2 weeks ago. The time for Americans to get their news from somewhere else was yesterday.

[u/DrunkAndHornyGuy → u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421]

Our press doesn't investigate or report anything other than just sanewashing what the administration says. They are all complicit.

[u/TLKv3 → u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421]

The saddest part is even THIS news still won't reach those stupid traitorous fucks voting for all of this. Their echo chambers will remove/delete this story for hours/days until they've determined how to properly "spin" it into a positive.

[u/Electronic-Ground-88 → u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421]

You have a link to this?

[u/Harlequin80 → u/Electronic-Ground-88]

This is from 6 weeks ago - https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/how-iran-attacks-on-lone-american-naval-base-in-west-asia-nsa-bahrain-made-us-rethink-footprint-in-middle-east-101782726280885.html

Or WSJ a month ago - https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-us-naval-base-bahrain-e87bbca3

Or you can go back to april and put 2 and 2 together - https://www.npr.org/2026/04/03/nx-s1-5770491/evacuation-bahrain-norfolk-troops

[u/timesuck47 → u/Harlequin80]

Thanks for the links.

[u/likeabosstroll → u/Electronic-Ground-88]

There’s also footage on Reddit of it getting hammered with missiles

[u/RCP90sKid-]

Of course we don't tell the public everything going on in a war. Only things like how much munitions we have available, every stray thought the president has on the topic, and plans to attack (but only to journalists).

[u/No-Cranberry6148 → u/RCP90sKid-]

Trump is playing this like it's pro wrestling. Again, he's a game show host; I don't know how anybody ever thought he was qualified to be president.

Sometimes, you'll see annoying fighters dial up the trash talk during the weigh-in. But once the punches start flying, the time for talk is over; you're just going to waste time and energy, leave yourself open and generally look like a fool. That's Trump; the guy that seems to think this is pro wrestling in the middle of a boxing match.

[u/persona-non-corpus]

They have been hiding deaths and other unflattering information since the beginning, but this is insane.

Edit spelling and also to add foreign news is reporting some of this information like the BBC.

[u/Economy-Pin2836 → u/persona-non-corpus]

I do wonder what the actual American death toll is so far. Certainly higher than the Fox alcoholic is admitting.

[u/kstargate-425 → u/Economy-Pin2836]

Its confirmed over 600 casualties and at least 18 deaths but I wouldn't doubt if its way more as at one point shortly after the rescue of the F-15E pilot, that there was a squad or section of soldiers that went missing around that rescue OP that had lost two MC-130 Hercules aircraft, two MH-6 Little Bird helos, a few damaged UH-60 Blackhawks, the F-15E and an A-10 Warthog that also got shotdown during the rescue mission. So who knows how many if the Pentagon is admitting to 600-ish casualties

[u/Llamapocalypse_Now]

Prison, Prison for all of them. No pardons. No mulligans. Just straight to jail, do not pass go, fork over all your billions, businesses, and properties.

[u/Bad_Karma19 → u/Llamapocalypse_Now]

That's too nice.

[u/Alucitary]

What are the chances he’s hiding KIAs?…

[u/No-Falcon-4996 → u/Alucitary]

About 6000 %

[u/Sagikos → u/Alucitary]

I mean they already rolled back the counter for people killed during the MOU “ceasefire” and said they don’t count since we weren’t officially fighting then.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-casualty-count-pentagon-us-troops-4c578fc74746052627b1c87845fdc0d5

[u/TinyConfection7049]

Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the cowardice of a draft dodger, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and the greed of a hedge-fund ghoul - all spray-painted orange and paraded like a prize hog at a county fair. Not a president. Not even a man. Just the diseased distillation of everything this country swears it isn't but always has been - arrogance dressed up as exceptionalism, stupidity passed off as common sense, cruelty sold as toughness, greed exalted as ambition, and corruption worshipped like gospel. It is America's shadow made flesh, a rotting pumpkin idol proving that when a nation kneels before money, power, and spite, it doesn't just lose its soul - it shits out this bloated obscenity and calls it a leader -  Oliver Kornetzke

[u/OceanRacoon → u/TinyConfection7049]

It's so funny how he is genuinely orange, like that's a part of history now, a stupid orange man is the ruin of America and a global catastrophe. 

If it was in a movie it'd be too dumb to believe, why would the evil fascist rapist scumbag also be orange? 😅

[u/fennecdore]

Looks like Iran understood that war is about logistics better than the Fox news DUI hire

[u/Farther_Dm53]

I remember speaking about this with a neighbor supplying the navy there would be a nightmare.

"What about american bases there?"

Well first off most of those are either at risk, depleted, or evacuated. Or some cases destroyed. THe Whole Military survives on being able to be the most well supplied military on the planet its why we won wars, and why we lost vietnam. And by extension now the war in iran. We cannot maintain a war without supplies and any good general can tell you that, not only is our resources in a stranglehold but the whole supply chain was risked because hegseth fired a ton of people who maintain that supply line.

Its willful ignorance at this point and a leader who wants to be a fascist leader. But doesn't know you actually need a well supplied military.

[u/Joebranflakes]

Sorry folks, Benghazi was obviously a thousand million times worse than this fiasco and you aren’t watching enough Fox News if you think otherwise.

[u/Nt_A_Reality_Rebel]

They’ve hid A Lot from us. Key reason they don’t allow family contact and care packages. Us families weren’t supposed to find out.

[u/veracity8_]

THIS is why people object to Trump’s corruption. THIS is why it’s bad to appoint incompetent and corrupt weirdos. This is why those senate hearings matter. The people that republicans choose to put charge are so corrupt and inept that they put real people’s lives in danger 

[u/The_Werodile]

How is this not a crime

[u/Huge_Campaign2205 → u/The_Werodile]

Because trump admin IS the crime family

[u/drDOOM_is_in → u/The_Werodile]

The whole war is illegal, congress did not vote on it.

[u/InAnOffhandWay → u/[deleted]]

They are renovating it to add a gold painted ballroom with a super secure underground base.

[u/Iyellkhan]

if the democrats take both houses of congress, impeaching secdrunk should be priority 1

[u/JustAhobbyish]

Hegseth is quickly learning just how important logistics is and failures to understand that. Combined with weakness that been a decade or more in the making.

Destruction of the base is interesting because the British have one next door to it.

[u/SF-cycling-account → u/[deleted]]

I wish they were mercenaries at this point, at least they/we/someone would be getting paid 

Actually we are paying israel while we fight their war 

Only Trump is getting paid by robbing the taxpayers 

Our current sociopoliticoeconomic situation will be studied for centuries

[u/ddr1ver]

Who would have thought that having a wildly unqualified Secretary of Defense could have downsides?

[u/CMGCookie]

Warship toilets don't work. Resupply bases blown up. Ships being taken from sensitive locales around the world.

Imagine if Hegseth had been D-Day commander in WW2.

We'd all be Nazis by now.

[u/mysterious_jeffrey]

All things considered, it’s kinda nice knowing Trump is burning up any good will our troops have toward him and his admin. 

[u/Broken-Digital-Clock → u/mysterious_jeffrey]

I'll be happy when they actually start voting against him and the GOP.

[u/AcronymEjr → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

Well, I know Trump called me a sucker and a loser and said I wasn't deployed nearly long enough and the whole admin has treated me like human trash after they got us into a pointless war, but what other choice do I have? Vote for a democrat??

[u/RodinKnox → u/AcronymEjr]

This is basically word-for-word exactly what they'll say.

[u/mysterious_jeffrey → u/Broken-Digital-Clock]

Now you’re talking crazy. 

[u/War1today]

The Trump administration is incompetent, dishonest, vindictive, criminal, racist and corrupt. It is nothing more and nothing less.

[u/mvw2]

I had a coworker who worked overnights and hid a damaged part. He was fired. He didn't her fired because he damaged anything, didn't even crass care about that. He was fired because he was immature, hiding failure, and not taking responsibility.

Good leadership is not immature. Good leadership does not hide things. Good leadership addresses challenges head, owns the responsibility, and solves the problem. They are mature, professional, humble, and selfless.

Hegseth is none of these things. Neither is Trump or anyone else he's appointed. They are all immature, all unprofessional, not a single actual leader in the whole lot. And everyone else suffers from them.

[u/waxboy1997]

By '44 British intelligence concluded Hitler's incompetence & micromanagement was doing more damage to his military than they were & cancelled intelligence operations to "remove" him (e.g. Operation Foxley) I feel our enemies have come to this same conclusion 😉

[u/chiller_vibez]

Vet here

Worked at PACOM

I want to make sure everyone in here understands the huge geopolitical fuck up that is sending this carrier to 5th fleet

This is a huge mistake

[u/Zulmoka531]

Trump’s favorite pretty boy and he wants to run for president.

And this is what he does, role plays call of duty while sweeping our military under the rug like toy soldiers.

[u/SmokePeterThiel → u/Zulmoka531]

And military idiots vote for Trump because they watch Fox news

[u/ZomiZaGomez]

The incompetence of this administration is fucking staggering

[u/Quantus22]

Most transparent administration ever