Comment by oa335

> Manpads and a few drones from tunnels aren’t a military. Planes, ships, and most missile launchers are… ?

This is a myopic view of engagement options. "Understanding Irregular Warfare":

* https://www.army.mil/article/286976/understanding_irregular_...

"Defense Primer: What Is Irregular Warfare?":

* https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IF/PDF/IF1256...

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregular_military

The Afghan Mujahideen / Taliban didn't need planes, ships, and missile launchers to force the Soviets/Americans out.

Have you been living under a rock for the last quarter century?

It doesn’t take planes, ships, or missile launchers to defeat the US military. The average American gun owner is better equipped than the insurgents that have defeated our armed forces.

That's why the US won in Vietnam. Guerrilla warfare was no match for the planes and ships of the US military which swiftly defeated the Vietnamese and installed a friendly capitalist government.

That’s why it took over 100 aircraft to rescue that pilot?

That’s where you’re wrong, kiddo. They don’t need to win a set piece battle like it’s a chessboard. They’ve already woken everyone up from Pax Americana. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when the GCC realizes that pumping billions into the United States economy comes with no security guarantees or real benefit at all. We’re operating from a highly leveraged position. It’s going to take a while, but with a few more years of hindsight, the depth of what a monumental strategic blunder this is will seem hard to believe. We’re not sending our best to Washington.

Those “few drones” have completely kept the US military, ships and all, far away since they can damage and sink large expensive vessels with tiny cheap drones.

How did the planes and ships and missles fare in Iraq or Afghanistan? Oh yeah, decades and trillions spent and nothing changed. Iran is much larger and well armed everywhere, with support by China and Russia and others….

Good luck

Sure, but they can still hit critical infrastructure. Iran still has missiles that can hit Israel, they just launched some more tonight.

War is about achieving political gains, even if it means material losses.

Compare the proposal that the US rejected in February to the 10 point plan that Trump now says is a "a very significant step" which he now " believes it is a workable basis on which to negotiate."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/article/trump-agrees-to-two...

The proposal in February mentions limiting nuclear enrichment.

"The Iranian proposal does not meet core US demands. US officials told the Wall Street Journal that Iran’s proposal would force Iran to reduce enrichment to as low as 1.5 percent, pause enrichment for a number of years, and process its enriched uranium through an Iran-based regional consortium.[11] Four unspecified Iranian officials told the New York Times on February 26 that Iran would also offer to dilute its 400 kg of 60 percent-enriched uranium in phases and allow IAEA inspectors to oversee all steps.”

https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-updat...

The new 10 point agreement (see top comment on this story) explicitly mentions "Acceptance of Iran's nuclear enrichment rights" and "Payment of damages to Iran for loss in the war" as conditions (along with lifting sanctions).

https://english.news.cn/20260408/dd8df6148df94252aaa1d3fbb59...

The new plan is CLEARLY a step backwards from the perspective of the USA and the fact that the US is entertaining it while Iran literally is still launching missiles to Israel means that this is clearly a step backwards for the US.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/no-immediate-re...