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Comment by Johnny555 | Hacker News Reader

While the war was unnecessary (and likely illegal), I think it should still be an eye opener for the US Military (or at least their civilian overseers) that war is changing (well, has already changed) and pitting $5M long lead time interceptors against $5,000 drones is not sustainable.

And, the lesson that the USA never seems to learn is that just having air superiority doesn't win a war.

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The main problem with the US military is that after George Bush, Sr. in 1991, there's been no one of either party in power who's been remotely competent at using military force as a tool of national strategy. By which I mean knowing its limitations, knowing how to use it, and most importantly when and how NOT to use it.

There seems to be this belief since Desert Storm that the US military is this invincible fighting force that's an easy button for any kind of geopolitical problem, when it's an institution with capabilities and limitations that need to be taken into account, and that has to be integrated with all the other levers of national power. We're seeing now how much the most powerful military can spin its wheels and sputter when you don't have a proper strategy or a proper logistical plan behind what you're asking of it.

There also seems to be a belief both in government and the general public that warfighting is "just bombing things." Which does not help.

As far as I can tell the military believes this and keeps telling presidents this time they can just go bomb things and win. It might need a leadership change there instead of in the white house really

Well they fired most of the leadership already, so it's a pretty blank slate.

No, the military doesn't tell presidents that. It gets given tasking and then gives recommendations to achieve what the civilian leadership demands of it.

You don't seem to have had any time in uniform, let alone seeing how things work on 4-star staffs. I have. The military does not tell the President what to do.

The conflict is not over yet. The only question today is one of political will. Beyond that, should the two adversaries decide (at the political level) that they will continue this conflict, it ludicrous to even pretend that IRI is coming out of this as a functioning regime.

US is doing a slow kill since the current regime in US wants to bring to a conclusion certain matters and it is running against a clock. The main goal is to get the Arabs to make peace with Israel and sign that "Abraham's Accord". Weakening EU and also putting the fear of 'Chaos' in the Chinese who are, assuredly, dependent on a functioning geopolitical order, even if 'unfair' or 'unjust', as long as it works, and it hums, since China needs that to survive.

So right now, Russia is getting all the benefits (which is why Putin gaslighted the Iranians the other day congratulating them for their stand against the USA) and US is busy busy establishing the American Hemisphere, so basically for US, if shit is breaking, that is a feature not a bug.

Yes, I know. Some "professor" and some "ex" something are saying IRI is winning. And "US has never won a war since WW2". Yet the chronic 'loser' US is somehow the superpower hegemon. Not bad for a country that hasn't won a single war for 6+ decades. Hmm.

It's likely that Iran will come out a loser, but also likely that the USA will lose too -- winning a war is more than making the other side lose which is what keeps getting the USA on the hook for multi-trillion dollar, decades long wars. Removing unwanted leadership is only effective if there's a viable plan to replace that leadership.

Yet the chronic 'loser' US is somehow the superpower hegemon

And the USA is even losing its hegemony with the Iran war that's causing global pain without global consensus that it was neccessary, but the real loser in the USA is the American taxpayer who gives up domestic social benefits to fund these wars.

It's not that puzzling: Bush the elder took over a year to position forces to get Iraq out of Kuwait. He knew enough to look at a map and figure that Iraq is on the other side of the planet, and that would stretch our logistics.

Trump was clueless that Iran is 3X to 5X the size of Iraq in whatever dimension you want to measure. Trump did as Trump does and blathered his way to defeat by being totally unprepared. He demonstrated that it is possible for the superpower hegemon to screw things up that badly.

The solution also is not complicated but it's difficult for someone like Trump to accept: unilaterally de-escalate. Then we would have all the money the missile factories would ever need to restock.

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