> “We’ll be hitting them hard.” <
What can be done that hasn’t been done before? Just throwing it out for discussion.
Hitting bridges, power plants, etc. would be an option, I guess. But I doubt if even that would get the mullahs’ attention. Crazy religious fanatics are like that.
“What can be done that hasn’t been done before”
I suppose there are newly discovered targets, and targets that we haven’t up to now wanted to destroy, or partially destroy.
Generally speaking, I think time is not on Iran’s side.
31 Iranian refineries + 31 Israeli missiles = Good times for Iranian shoe repairmen
Russian stuff can’t adequately protect Russian refineries and export facilities.
If Chinese stuff could, China would sell it and Russia would buy it.
FR defeatists say Iran is Texas-sized.
What can be done that hasn’t been done before? Just throwing it out for discussion.
Great Question!!
This is what I would do. I would destroy all ports in Iran and all port cities. People should be told it’s coming and evacuate to the interior of the nation. Then, I would destroy all bridges and roads that don’t lead to Pakistan or Afghanistan. Those that cross the desert would be left intact and open for traffic for now. Then I would destroy every dam, every power station, every water pumping station, and EVERY SINGLE OIL WELL AND REFINERY. They would all burn uncontrollably for now.
Then, and only after all that, I would tell the people to leave the cities and villages. I would subsequently carpet bomb every city and village to ruins, or just fire bomb it.
This is going to end ugly sooner or later, and it’s better that this conflict doesn’t take the entire world out with it. Time to channel some LeMay, Sherman, Pershing, Grant, and other people that truly understood what war is supposed to be. War is what you do when all diplomacy fails, and it should be very violent and very deadly.
Bridges, power plants and petroleum facilities would reduce their ability to make war to basically running around in their sandals with their AK’s. Very few weapons could be made with no transportation. Life would be pretty uncomfortable for them. I don’t know how committed they really are. The mullah’s don’t mind their people suffering and dying, but when it comes to THEM suffering, their attitude is a bit different...
I have been making many posts to this point. Strangle the mo-fo’s.
Take out Iran’s supply of refined products. That’s like taking away oxygen, for any country with any kind of modern, fossil fuels based transportation system. Iran is particularly vulnerable. Their sources are few (10-11 refineries that can crack crude oil - the rest are downstream operations) and Iran has under 1% “penetration” of EV’s. So, hit the crude oil distillation towers, any major storage, and a few import terminals. Cheap Ukie style drones will suffice for the towers and storage, and may even suffice for the import terminals depending on what sort of secondary explosions and fires can be set off. Otherwise, we have PLENTY of the mid-level munitions Trump mentioned yesterday, that will do the job on the terminals.
We are talking about under 100 very vulnerable targets — You don’t see too many distillation towers hundreds of feet underground, for example. No AD. The op should take a day, maybe 2 at worst.
FOCUS. We do not need to hit other crude oil infrastructure, bridges, power plants, etc. Nor do we need to kill 10’s of thousands of IRGC. It, like a hydra, just regenerates anyway. You’d think we’d have figured this out about terrorist organizations...
Of course, Iran will attempt to respond by hitting other Gulf countries oil infrastructure. So, we need to be pre-emptive. Those countries need to be told the best that can be done is for ALL of them to be ready to hit Iranian missile sites with everything possible, STAT - as soon as possible once launchers appear. The US needs to apply maximum surveillance: If we lose a few surveillance drones, so be it. Best would be if we as a group additionally had several million Ukie style drones in inventory. But, idiotically we do not, so we and they will have to do the best we all can, and tell those gulf allies we will do everything in our power to expedite repairs at their sites the Iranians succeed in hitting. As for ops responsibilities, these need to be carefully laid out so as to minimize, among other things, friendly fire.
You and I will likely need to bite the bullet on fuel prices and inflation, as much as I hate to say it, being in a bad way with living costs these days, anyway. (I blew too much money trying to help out my long lived parents in their final years.)
We also need to be ready to accept that a lot of Iranians who hate the mullahs and the IRGC are going to suffer, badly. When the time comes, a massive effort to get refined products, and likely food, back into the hands of the people, will be needed. For few weeks, at least, it will make any relief effort in the past look trivial