How's it going America,
Check out our latest episode of The Pod Millennial with Tim Pool, where we talk about AI art and humanity. I also talk with Old Sovereign Publishing head George Carter about their new playwriting competition in the spirit of the classics. You don't want to miss it! Subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and rate (5 stars, of course)!
Let's get into it:
It's been four days since the start of Operation Epic Fury and speaking from a Pentagon podium on Wednesday morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said: "America is winning." He revealed that Iran had, in fact, targeted President Trump for assassination and that those who undertook that mission have been killed. The US has essentially decimated the entire Iranian air force and navy.
Ships have been sunk with torpedoes, planes have been downed, and while Iran is running out of munitions, drones, and leaders, the US and Israel are still going strong. "We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to. And as I said yesterday, we set the terms," Hegseth said.
Everyone wants to know how long this whole thing will last. We've gotten used to precision strikes during the Trump administration, fights that are more knockout blows than actual drag-out conflicts. I wonder if Americans, who sit at the top of the food chain, live peacefully within the borders of the world's only superpower, and have earned the expectation of stability and calm, have much of a stomach for war. And yeah, this is a war.
Americans want to know why this fight, why now, and why it couldn't have been prevented. The administration tells us it had to be this fight based on 47 years of Iranian aggression, going back to the Iranian Revolution that deposed the shah and brought in an Islamic extremist theocracy. It is those theocratic and military leaders who have been killed over the past four days.
The administration tells us it had to be now because Iran would not negotiate and kept backing out of deals to limit their nuclear capability. One thing is for sure, we all knew something was up when they changed the name of the Dept of Defense to the Dept of War, and we all know that once the munitions are made, they must be used. We wouldn't make them if we didn't want to use them.
As you likely know, I'm of two minds about this thing. On the one hand, I'd much rather not have war. On the other hand, we must look at the world as it is and not as we wish it to be, we cannot compare the world as it is unfavorably to perfection, for perfection can and will never exist on this earth. And if I had just one more hand, I would also weigh the idea that should we enter conflict, especially starting it, as we have done here, we'd damned well better win it. I hope the Sec War is correct when he says "America is winning," and I hope it stays that way.
Libby