It seems the mess Trump has made of the middle east might swallow up not just him but his pal Bibi Netanyahu who egged him on to attack Iran. If you’ve been following this you know we’ve depleted a lot of Naval/Military resources and there’s no end in sight. Troops (especially on our Naval ships) are being ground down too. In addition to all the weapons used up deployments have been extended which will mean more (and more costly) downtime for maintenance. Not to mention the burden on our troops/sailors. Now Trump’s gotten a warning from his top commander in Europe we might not be able to protect Israel with deploying yet more ships from other missions! I’ll bet that like Trump ole Bibi is in OMFG what do I do now mode!
Yet that’s where things stand. If I’m not mistaken Trump, who was once quite popular in Israel has seen his support there drop like a rock. Netanyahu still has solid support but if the U.S. can’t interdict almost all the missiles that have been fired at Israel their people will start thinking of Bibi like WE do Trump. As in WTF have you gotten us into? And, more importantly how the HELL do you plan to get us out of it?
Those of us who pay attention to the actual logistics of war understand the issue that between the weapons being used on Iran and those protecting both our assets in/around the Persian Gulf and the ships off the coast of Israel forming their ‘Iron Dome’ we are at a critical point to have both enough to handle the open-ended mission yet also be able to respond to a new crisis. Yet, according to this article from The Daily Beast we are face with a “grim situation.”
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich has sent the Pentagon a private message warning them of the grim situation while also requesting more resources to the Middle East, sources have told The Washington Post.
Grynkewich reportedly warned the Pentagon that “without another Navy Destroyer he will be forced to choose defense of the united states ‘homeland’ over that of isreal”
The eerie admission showcases the pain Iran has managed to inflict on American defense resources after five months of war.
Now at this point it must be noted that Generals in various commands are known to request additional resources. For all the money we spend on our military (more than other top powers combined) there sometimes isn’t enough to go around. Priorities must continually be re-evaluated and sometimes difficult choices have to be made. Both to maintain deterrence in trouble spots or respond when something is actually happening somewhere. Something that takes more than firing a single (or two) hugely expensive missiles at suspected drug runner boats. Still, we are in a real war that started with ill-defined and ever shifting ‘reasons’ and ‘objectives’ from the start. It’s cost close to twenty American troop’s lives and many more hundreds of casualties and there’s no end in sight. And who knows how many tens of billions of dollars already – I rather doubt Team Trump is being forthcoming on what the actual cost to date truly is!
The thing is it’s not just the United States at war with Iran but our protecting Israel due to their own ‘war’ with Iran as well as neighboring countries lobbing missiles at them over both Gaza and their role in getting Trump to attack Iran! And don’t forget Israel launched their own attack on Iran back on Feb. 28 at the same time we did. It’s Netanyahu’s war as much as it is Trump’s. So far Israel hasn’t suffered the kind of damage one might have expected. However there’s a reason for that.
An assessment from earlier in the war concluded WE were shouldering most of the burden of defending Israel from ballistic missiles not just from Iran but also from Houthis in Yemen who have gotten much of their own armaments from Iran. But haven’t been attacked (with what at this point?) by us. What happens if we can’t both protect our ships and assets in the waters of and countries near Iran AND Israel? If missiles start landing there Israelis will once again remember how pissed they were at Netanyahu for not having the country prepared to prevent and repel the terrorist strike from Gaza into Israel. Just miles from a military base, the bulk of whose troops had been deployed to the West Bank. Wouldn’t it be nice to see both Bibi and Trumpty exiled to some small island to live out their miserable lives in a couple of cinder block houses with only basics needs?
Anyway here’s what’s going on so far:
There are five Navy destroyers in the Middle East as of Saturday, with a sixth reportedly on the way, but the ships need maintenance that cannot happen because they are needed for the war, the Post reports.
The White House, the Pentagon, and the Israeli Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Again, take note of that part about maintenance. It’s boring to those who don’t get into the weeds of military stuff and what it actually takes to defend our country and our allies. But I’ll say it again. The cost WILL be felt down the road and the bill in not just money but lives will be significant. If we are no longer to keep the peace (more or less) in the world the way we did after WWII until Trump came along we really are done as the world’s “Indispensable Nation.”
