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Why Can't the World's Most Powerful Military Open the Strait and Keep it Opened? (Original Post) Sneederbunk 8 hrs ago OP
Why couldn't the world's most powerful military win in Vietnam? Same answer JHB 8 hrs ago #1
A shovel can only Boo1 8 hrs ago #2
Trump has ZERO stomach for a bloody invasion of Iran Ars Longa 47 min ago #8
Geography. The strait is narrow and bent and the shoreline is mountainous... Wounded Bear 8 hrs ago #3
This message was self-deleted by its author Wounded Bear 7 hrs ago #4
Several reasons, all of which suggest attacking Iran was incredibly and obviously quite stupid 0rganism 7 hrs ago #5
Qui bono? ananda 5 hrs ago #6
Quo bono Whip-poor-will 1 hr ago #7

JHB

(38,326 posts)
1. Why couldn't the world's most powerful military win in Vietnam? Same answer
Sat May 16, 2026, 12:25 AM
8 hrs ago

Because it was tasked with a mission that did not allow its strengths to be brought to bear, and escalation to allow that would have made everything worse.

With Vietnam, it was groupthink that caused the blindness. Here, it's That Fucking Howler Monkey's chaotic stupidity and ease of manipulation, in this case by Netanyahu.

Boo1

(449 posts)
2. A shovel can only
Sat May 16, 2026, 12:29 AM
8 hrs ago

dig as deep as the guy using it.

Trump is the perfect combination of stupid and gutless. He's dumb enough to start a war with Iran, but too cowardly to press through the tough part and win it.

Want to control the strait? You have to control the ground on the Iranian side. To do that you have to put boots on the ground to take and hold the territory

Ars Longa

(569 posts)
8. Trump has ZERO stomach for a bloody invasion of Iran
Sat May 16, 2026, 07:42 AM
47 min ago

to dislodge the Mullahs, and any further casualties would be
pinned on HIM--BIG TIME!!! The Mullahs know this!
Also, It DISGUSTS him, having to go to Dover AFB and show
respect for fallen soldiers-- the optics of that were horrible for him!!

Wounded Bear

(64,615 posts)
3. Geography. The strait is narrow and bent and the shoreline is mountainous...
Sat May 16, 2026, 12:30 AM
8 hrs ago

giving the Iranians a lot of caves and valleys to hide rockets in and shoot from.

We'd need to send in a couple of divisions to clear the shoreline deep enough to protect shipping, and it would take months of hard fighting against near perfect defensive positions.

That's the quick answer.

Response to Sneederbunk (Original post)

0rganism

(25,709 posts)
5. Several reasons, all of which suggest attacking Iran was incredibly and obviously quite stupid
Sat May 16, 2026, 12:46 AM
7 hrs ago

But you knew that already, right? That alone makes you more competent than Sec. Hegseth, congratulations. Now find the giraffe.

In summary: right now, the World's Stupidest Autocrat mis-deployed the World's Most Powerful Military on a strategically unsound mission doing more harm than good on behalf of careless bloodthirsty leaders and top staff who consistently underestimate the power of asymmetric warfare.

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