You sound mad bro. Never seen so many people root against the United States of America just so they can say they were right. Huge success with minimal loss (I think the casualty count still hasn't exceeded what we suffered in a single day during one of the worst blundered military operations in history, the Afghan withdrawal). Why that angers people like you will be something that will be studied for decades to come. What a strange time we live in.

Not mad at all “bro”. Not sure how you got that from my post but by all means, continue to paint with whatever broad brush helps you sleep at night. I think it’s a reasonable question to ask what exactly we have accomplished with this foray. Apparently you don’t really have any answers and have therefore chosen to fall back on your tried and true straw man arguments. Noted.

special military operation

FIFY

Accomplished what? Indeed. Cavalier question given the conflict scale and complexity. Far too soon for any projections or finalized assessment. Knock on effects are sure to follow. Severity unknown.

The stock market rebound is great. The fact that you think the oil futures pricing is what anyone is paying right now or for at least the next few months is hilarious.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/mar...war-rcna332321

Sure. But due to the very deep (and very deliberate) integration of IRGC into all aspects of government and economy, it's hard for moderates/liberals to gain any real traction.

I don't think that waiting for the moderates to take over was ever a viable strategy (we were actually kind of waiting and hoping back in the day when I was involved, but nothing has really changed over the years).

For the same reason I think that shooting for or talking about regime change in this conflict is a fool's errand.

It is very different and very salient. The entire DPRK system revolves around the boss, including the divinity aspect.

In IR, the system revolves around a doctrine that is somewhat open to interpretation, and the leaders are consider stewards of the cause. They are not prophets or divine, and thus need to keep the fanatics happy with their diligence and stewardship. The IRGC et al is a monster that the regime created and now needs to keep fed.

Not that I've ever see. If there are fringe sects (probably safe to assume), they are not running the military or government. Religion was never really present in my decades of military service (well maybe at the USAFA, heard that was a thing at one point).

Yes. They are not advocating for apocalypse or genocide. Of course I'd rather they not even go there but I suspect they're just playing to part of the base. Again I didn't vote for any of this.

Again, what do you think oil is trading for TODAY? When do you think it will actually be selling for $90/BBL? When do you think it will be back to what we were paying before this whole debacle started?

Cherrypicking data from *individual days* to make a point.... Shirley you can't be serious.

Huge success? You know what happens next? Iran and Pakistan become very good friends.

Thats all we have accomplished.

It doesn’t mean I’m unpatriotic…I just know how this ends.

You are attracted to strong personalities and hate liberals , I get that. What you need is someone strong to follow. Kind of like the song Opiate.