The Pentagon is seething over a Washington Post report that top military leaders recently warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against extending large-scale Iran war operations.

People familiar with a classified assessment prepared for Hegseth told the Post that several combatant commanders have advised the Defense chief that prolonging operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening the U.S.’s ability to address threats elsewhere, including on U.S. soil.

The warnings appear in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), detailed by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, the Post reported Sunday.

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[–] 57 points 7 hours ago (4 children)

I have to say, this whole Iran war thing has really opened my eyes to what is going on. Because we spend nearly $1T a year on our military, my assumption was that there was no military objective we couldn't meet. Pretty much take on the rest of the world if necessary, since we spend nearly as much as the rest of the world combined.

Then they light off a bunch of stuff in Iran and everyone is like, "welp, we're out." Really? That fast? Guess all of that money was getting stolen as well. I should have known.

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  • [–] 24 points 7 hours ago (1 child)

    A big difference with this bullshit is that it's not really being fought as a war. These chucklefucks thought they could just go in, drop some bombs, fire some missiles, and that Iran would capitulate for some reason.

    So it's not even the full might of the US military, it's just firing and depleting expensive ranged weapons and wondering why you aren't getting the outcomes you wanted.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 hours ago

    I, an absolutely under-informed commenter, tend to agree. My impression is that the U.S. military is a pretty fearsome beast whose specific civilian leaders at the moment are witless, corrupt fools. If competent leadership were interested in the results this administration said they would get, it could presumably be done. Or at least something roughly approximating it.

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