By Noah Robertson, Dan Lamothe, Warren P. Strobel and Ellen Nakashima
The Pentagon is rapidly burning through its stocks of precision weapons less than a week into the massive campaign of airstrikes against Iran, while also expending sophisticated air defense missiles at a rate that puts the U.S. military potentially “days away” from having to prioritize which targets to intercept, according to three people familiar with the matter....
In other words, Trump is entering into dangerous territory for the USA's national defense. The military is changing it's strategy to prioritize what targets they are going to intercept. INTERCEPT. Which means missiles are going to get through where they didn't before.
It is my opinion Israel is already making difficult decisions and/or Iran has a better map of where the Iron Dome is weak or weakened. Bet Shemesh having been hit was a surprise. This was earlier in the attacks and Iran landed one. The reason I was surprised because I believe the Iranians are figuring out where their missiles can hit because they understand the Iron Dome that protects Israelis.
What is even more interesting is the ability of Iran to continue to fire missiles not only at Israel, but, the surrounding countries. I think that is a very interesting fact that makes me believe Iran is able to protect it's sovereignty. The missiles may not have as long a reach as that of the USA Navy, but, what difference does it make if Iran can maintain it's stance to the point where the invading countries have to begin to measure their ability to continue this war effectively.
Hammering away with missiles not a sustainable strategy. That is why the invasion into Iraq was initially to degrade the number of Scud missiles and then enter with a ground force. This is different. Iran is not about Scud missiles, it is about ballistic missiles with short distance. We have seen Iranian missiles when the Houthis set them up in their territory.
This was last year. The Houthis are not capable of building their own as far as I know. They have relied on Iran for their munitions.
I have zero confidence in Hegseth and even less in Trump. I believe absolutely nothing of what is stated except what I can assess from what is said. I think Trump is capable of heinous propaganda that can easily lead to overreach by the USA military exposing the USA even more to danger than already exists.
Israel launched an interceptor (click here) towards a second missile fired from Yemen on Friday, its military said, as the US intensifies its strikes in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthi group.
The militant group claimed responsibility for firing two missiles thousands of kilometres north targeting Israel's Ramat David air base and the Tel Aviv area.
Alarms were activated in several areas, the military added after the launch of both missiles, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.
The military said earlier on Friday it had intercepted the first missile launched from Yemen. It said the results of the interception of the second were under review....
The wayward venture of Israel and the USA is all of four days old and ALREADY is seeing depletion of their warehouse stocks.
...Iran, he said, is targeting the United States’ Gulf allies with low-cost drones to terrorize and exhaust limited air defenses, while focusing its ballistic missile attacks on Israel....The Iranians are not stupid.
One of the problems in Trump's strategy is to appear to be the one ferocious guy that means what he says and acts accordingly. The rightest of MAGAs state that as well. The point is what happens when the weapons stores are being depleted faster than they can produce them. Iran can mass produce drones from anywhere and very quickly. But, if Trump's ego gets in the way of reality the USA could be in trouble. Trump would NEVER admit there is actually a chink in the armor as an attempt to continue to scare and intimidate. Iran is not scared or intimidated, but, tough guy talk is a political method for Trump. He invests more in talk than any other president in history. He will try to talk Iran down thinking he can have control even with a dwindling stock of munitions.
Trump cannot sustain this war and the cost both fiscal and with the wear and tear on sophisticated systems will become a very real problem and probably not too far into the future.
The military tried to tell Hegseth and Trump that Iran was a formidable enemy. THEY NEVER LISTENED TO THE MILITARY LEADERS THAT KNOW THEIR CAPACITY.
NEVER LISTENED AND THEN IMMEDIATELY DENIED THERE WAS EVEN A MENTION OF CONCERNED.
That denial was about reality. Why would any president or secretary of defense even want to deny reality? The military theater is not a sound stage or screening room where reality can be manipulated. This is the real thing and to deny the danger is EXPOSURE. So, with Hegseth and Trump denying reality from the very beginning, the USA already has exposure.
