Trump Regime Hiding Extent Of Damage To U.S. Military Sites By Iran

From the Washington Post (!):

Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East since the war began, hitting hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defense equipment, according to a Washington Post analysis of satellite imagery. The amount of destruction is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government or previously reported.

The threat of air attacks rendered some of the U.S. bases in the region too dangerous to staff at normal levels, and commanders moved most of the personnel from these sites out of the range of Iranian fire at the start of the war, officials have said.

Since the start of the war on Feb. 28, seven service members have died in strikes on U.S. facilities in the region — six in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia — and more than 400 troops have suffered injuries as of late April, the U.S. military said. While most of the wounded returned to duty within days, at least 12 suffered injuries that military officials classified as serious, according to U.S. officials who, among others, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.  [snip]

Experts who reviewed The Post’s analysis said the damage at the sites suggested that the U.S. military had underestimated Iran’s targeting abilities, not adapted sufficiently to modern drone warfare and left some bases under-protected.

“The Iranian attacks were precise. There are no random craters indicating misses,” said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine Corps colonel, who reviewed the Iranian images at The Post’s request. The Post previously revealed how Russia provided Iran with intelligence to target U.S. forces.  [snip]

In the first weeks of the war, several news outlets published reviews of damage, including the New York Times, which found strikes at 14 U.S. military sites or air defense installations. In late April, NBC News reported that an Iranian jet bombed a U.S. base in Kuwait, the first time in years that an enemy fighter plane has hit a U.S. base, and cited research it said showed 100 targets had been struck by Iran across 11 bases. CNN reported last week that 16 U.S. installations had been damaged.

But the review by The Post — based on images dating from the war’s start through April 14 — reveals that scores of additional targets were struck at the sites, which are predominantly used by the U.S. military but shared with the host nations’ military forces and allies.

The images show that airstrikes damaged or destroyed what appear to be numerous barracks, hangars or warehouses at more than half of the U.S. bases that The Post reviewed...  (our emphasis)

The Post's reporting goes into some detail, with satellite images of the damaged facilities and equipment included.  With the Malignant Fascist and "Whiskey Pete" -- two world-class liars -- in charge of Operation Epic Epstein Fury, it's no great surprise that they've been downplaying lying about the extent of the damage to facilities (and, we wouldn't be surprised, personnel casualties).  That will be a fruitful area for a Democratic Congress to explore when it has control.

(Image:  satellite images of various U.S. military targets hit by Iran/ WaPo via Iran state-affiliated media)

Trump's Slurred, Deranged Address Deepens Worries

 

If anyone was expecting FDR or Churchill from the sundowning Malignant Fascist last night, please get back on the turnip truck. 

As any sentient person would have predicted, there was not only nothing new in his "plans" for the Iran war Operation Epic Epstein Fury, but that whatever came out of his slurring mouth would make things worse than they already are for the U.S. and world economies, and for American honor and credibility:

Oil prices climbed sharply and stock futures sunk early Thursday after President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday night to strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks and offered no clear path to end a war now in its second month.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose as much as 10% to $110.21 a barrel. Brent crude futures climbed 8% to above $109 a barrel. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 718 points, or 1.5%, while S&P 500 futures dropped 1.7% and Nasdaq $NDAQ +0.31% 100 futures fell 2.1%.  (our emphasis)

Here's a summary of how it went last night:

A weary President Donald Trump slurred his way through a disjointed national TV address Wednesday night in which he repeated the same justifications for his war with Iran that he’s been posting on social media throughout the month-long conflict.

The primetime speech, which pre-empted scheduled television programming on all broadcast networks at the request of the White House, had been billed as a major address in which Trump would finally lay out the justifications for the military action he started against Iran.

Trump was expected to finally provide details on how and when the conflict would end to an American populace that has grown tired of it.

Instead, the president spent nearly 20 minutes speaking from a lectern in the White House’s main foyer, in prepared remarks that often repeated, word for word, his Truth Social posts.

He offered contradictory statements about the war, Iran and the now bogged down Strait of Hormuz, while repeatedly having trouble pronouncing words like “enemies,” “Venezuela” and “battlefield.”

Addressing both the cameras and an audience of cabinet members who’d been summoned to offer support — including Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — Trump began by claiming the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign had “delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.

He said that “victories like few people have ever seen before” before repeating many of the same claims he has made about damage to Iran’s military capabilities for the last month in appearance after appearance.  [snip]

The president’s rambling address took place just hours after a new CNN poll revealed that Americans have largely soured on the war, with just 34 percent of respondents voicing approval of it. The poll also found a super-majority of 66 percent of Americans disapproving of the war, with 43 percent of those reporting that they strongly disapprove.

Trump proceeded to change subjects once more by launching into another series of grievances as justification for launching the war, including blatantly false claims about Iran’s alleged culpability for the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, for which al-Qaeda terrorists are preparing to go on trial before military commissions at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He later returned to discussing present events by repeating his oft-used lines about America’s purported objectives of “crippling” Iran’s military capabilities and said he was “pleased” to say the “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”

Without offering any evidence, he claimed that the families of the 13 American service members who’ve been killed since the start of the conflict had each asked him to “finish the job” while suggesting that failing to “complete the mission” would dishonor the fallen soldiers and airmen.

And inexplicably, he boasted that U.S. “has never been better prepared economically” to deal with the skyrocketing gasoline prices his war has caused while blaming the sky-high energy costs solely on Iran “launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers in neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”...  (our emphasis)

The summary goes on to document the series of jaw-dropping non sequiturs, juvenile boasts, and verbatim "Truth social" rants that peppered the address.  The MF then closed on a note that sent chills up spines and oil prices through the roof today:

His remarks were no different from anything he’s offered over myriad public appearances since the start of the war, despite hopes that he would provide a timeline for winding down the unpopular military operation.

Instead, he claimed the war would continue for “the next two or three weeks” while U.S. forces “bring [Iran] back to the Stone Age where they belong” and threatened indiscriminate attacks on Tehran’s electrical generation capacity — something that would be a war crime under U.S. law.

“We are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously, we have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it and it would be gone. And there's not a thing they could do about it,” he said.  (our emphasis)

Brother Hackwhacker adds this:

The Associated Press listened to the mentally ill and raging Malignant Fascist last night so we didn't have to. Here are some of their take aways:

"President Donald Trump sought Wednesday to explain his rationale for the war against Iran at a pivotal moment at home and abroad, but he offered few new details as he amasses extraordinary executive authority to prosecute the military operation.

Notably missing from Trump’s primetime address was his oft-repeated assertion that negotiations with Iran were underway. He softened his insults against NATO allies and did not indicate he was preparing to send in ground troops, particularly to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium. But he gave no definitive end date for the conflict.  [snip]

He aimed to show that one goal of Wednesday’s speech was to take on the confusion that has persisted as the administration shifted its reasons for launching the war.

But over the course of nearly 20 minutes, Trump did not offer any new explanations. [snip]

While he said Iran’s ballistic missile capacity was greatly reduced, he didn’t explain how the operation had headed off Iran’s nuclear ambitions. He and his administration had previously insisted that the U.S. and Israel “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program in strikes last summer.  [snip]

Thousands of additional U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East. Gulf allies are urging Trump to finish the fight, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough.

And yet Trump days ago predicted the U.S. will be done “within maybe two weeks.” On Wednesday, he said the U.S. would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.” Then oil prices rose." (our emphasis)

Yes, oil prices surged 10% after the MF's rambling and contradictory remarks. Oh, and stock market futures are dropping, too, with the Dow shedding 718 points after listening to the moron's speech. Winning!

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We're sure we all feel more confident and secure in the knowledge that the United States of America will continue to be held in the highest esteem by the other nations of the world because of the actions of this narcissistic, war-criming half-wit whom voters have made responsible for the world's biggest economy and most powerful military.