Can someone point me to an article with actual details about this so called armada? The linked article supplies nothing and 99.9% a wordy history lesson about military aircraft

NFA: cman: Does anyone in their right mind foolishly think that Obama of all people could convince the US to have a preemptive strike on Iran?

A friend of mine just came back from Abu Dhabi and he said unless something big happens to change the plan, we're going to do it.

Well, in THAT case...

freetomato: God willing, my husband and I can kick off our combat boots for good within a year. He is active duty AF and I am Air Guard. We've spent more than half of our 7 year marriage apart. We are done. 48 years combined service. Someone else's turn to sacrifice. Armchair warriors, care to volunteer? Your kids, perhaps? Thanks!

An awfully smug attitude from someone that literally never had their boots on the ground. Plan to have any of your kids or nephews and nieces make up for it by serving in the Army or Marines?

Nah, this is just the screenplay for Top Gun II.

/"When Bacon Attacks"

He's negotiating a secret deal with the Iranian regime. We're going to bunker-bust a fake site and the resulting apparent tension and near-war will then be successfully deescalated accompanied of course by the strident, outraged and stinging criticism from FOX and the mass of newly dovish Republicans clamoring for peace and negotiation. This will also temporarily mollify the Israeli-Hawk lobby, buying us a bit more time. Ta da.

freetomato: I can only speak for a 1500 member strong unit of the USAF/ANG but we are burnt out. We are tired. The ops tempo over the last 10 years, combined with ancillary training and regular inspections....nobody has had time to stop and take a breath. And we are the AF -shorter deployments,not always on the front lines, but taxing nonetheless, and away from families just the same. Shorter tours, but more of them - I can't imagine how stressed the Army and Marine units are (not to mention the Navy). It is farkin' insane to get us into another engagement right now. We can't afford it and our troops are stretched thin as it is, not to mention the many thousands of damaged young men and women that the VA has to take care of. Armchair warriors/strategists - you just piss me right off. You have no clue what kind of affect the "shock and awe" you long for has on the pawns. You all better just STFU when an influx of Iraq/Afghanistan vets are flooding the $y$tem . You wanted war - to kick A-Rab ass? You didn't sacrifice a damn thing when it was happening - you better put up and shut up when they need our help.

And BTW. My husband was on the very first crew to fly over Libya in a surveillance plane, doing what they do. Clean, swift, no US casualties. As it should be. Well done, leadership.


That sounds horrible, I hope I don't get drafted and forced to do it for 10 years like you did.

shower_in_my_socks: WE AREN'T GOING TO START IT.

Israel will.

The US Military is just making sure we aren't caught with our pants down should we get dragged into the conflict, which we almost certainly will since a majority of our politicians want our foreign policy to be perfect lock-step with Israel's.

And more Americans will die in another war we have absolutely nothing to gain from fighting. *

* Unless you're a fat cat in the military industrial complex

I hope Israel starts it. The USA doesn't have the balls to do what's needed.

Carter started it and let it happen. Reagan ignored it and continued to let it happen. But somebody is going to have to deal with it at some point.

The current government in Iran is tyrannical and the people are at it's mercy. Much like Obama would like to see the USA.

Obama will not be a factor in any case... the man has no spine.

bonobo73: Social security.

You realize Medicare and Social Security have taxes collected to pay for them, right?

shower_in_my_socks: Israel will.

This isn't Israel's war. It never is. America only fights wars for its daddy Saudi Arabia. Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, these are countries that threaten the power of the Saudi kingdom.

FTFA: "The F-15Cs and F-22s sat out last year's Libya war."

Cracks me up whenever the media use this little tidbit in some attempt to portray these fighters as overpriced failures. What is always left out is this:

Left out of last year's Libya war: F-15's, F-22's and F-16's, A-10's, Apaches, Cobra's, F-18's, B-1's, B-2's, B-52's. It was a European campaign, nothing in the U.S. arsenal was necessary to use.

A Dark Evil Omen: Fine. Fark you all. Do it. Bring this house of cards down for good. This is what you want, this is what you get. Break that motherfarking camel's back; Occupations around the country should be ready to start rebuilding what you're raring to destroy right around then. Maybe we'll all get it right this time.

I believe I can speak for everyone in asking WTF your actual aims might be, and what you yourself personally intend to create and offer in order to advance those aims.

We'll wait. Seriously, take your time, think it through, do it right.

themindiswatching: bonobo73: A war in Iran could cost $1 billion/day and still be a far smaller part of the budget than entitlements.

Entitlements like VA benefits for the soldiers who end up crippled because of the Iran war, amirite?

/disgusting

The previous poster was essentially lying by providing the cost of funding without context of how much the costs are compared to the rest of the Federal budget. $130 billion/year average is a big number but its far less than the 3 trillion that the Federal govt will spend this year.

I provided that context. But apparently providing the facts is disgusting to you.

Forgot_my_password_again: Weaver95: I think it more likely that Israel will start the war, then quickly get in over their heads and scream bloody murder for the USA to come bail 'em out.

yeah, cause Israel has had a lot of trouble fighting wars in the past.

/eye roll

Iran isn't a country I think anyone would want to take on single handedly. No way Isreal goes in on it's own. I don't think Isreal has enough political capital to spend to attack Isreal by itself. It needs Nato to lead the charge first.The war drums are beating louder for us to attack Iran. I just can't see any sane reason to do so, I just can't see Obama doing it no mater how hawkish the man is. But then I have been surprised before and there are a lot of powerful people who have been trying to get the US to directly attack Iran for decades now.\
I would think what the French and Germans want us to do will be the deciding factor in Iran. Right now that is stay the hell out of Iran.

Anything that finds its way onto Fark isn't being done "quietly" enough.

freetomato: intelligent comment below: That sounds horrible, I hope I don't get drafted and forced to do it for 10 years like you did.

Zing!

In our unit, the primary mission is to watch out for the kids on the ground - to make sure the road ahead is clear and safe. My husband calls "all clear" from above; I make sure that their shiat is all in one sock before they leave. If you think those are unimportant, then you have never served, and
you are welcome to scoff all you want. And by all means, root for kicking A-Rab Ass from your armchair. That helps.

Does it help if I drink shiatty beer while I root? I like shiatty beer. Oh, and if I disparage anyone that supports limited military intervention and exit strategies? Those people are pussies.

/Loves the armchair warriors, too

Massively Multiplayer Addict: Anything that finds its way onto Fark isn't being done "quietly" enough.

This. If WE'VE heard about it, Iran has heard about it, thus kinda negating the point of stealth. If anything, it's probably just more dick-waving.

If we were really preparing for an attack on Iran with *stealth* aircraft, do you really think Wired would have heard about it?

A Dark Evil Omen: BuckTurgidson: A Dark Evil Omen: Fine. Fark you all. Do it. Bring this house of cards down for good. This is what you want, this is what you get. Break that motherfarking camel's back; Occupations around the country should be ready to start rebuilding what you're raring to destroy right around then. Maybe we'll all get it right this time.

I believe I can speak for everyone in asking WTF your actual aims might be, and what you yourself personally intend to create and offer in order to advance those aims.

We'll wait. Seriously, take your time, think it through, do it right.

Well, I know in Seattle we are assembling farming co-ops, housing co-ops, independent street medic teams, communications systems independent of corporate backbones and fixed infrastructure, mass logistics... I don't know of anyone working on power systems, so that's a gap... If you're really interested in what's happening in your local area you should find where your local GA is meeting.

My local GA quietly dissolved (when the Denver PD militarized their entire pudgy incompetent crew to belligerently evict the actual protesters from the tiny patch of the Denver Civic Center Park which they had lawfully occupied, leaving behind only the long-term homeless already incorporated into the DPD's policies of impatient neglect) and now presumably engages in getting laid and rating the local MMJ.

No interest shown in buckling into the hard, tedious, frustrating, boring, necessary work of involving themselves at every level from neighborhood through school board up through state legistature like the right-wing fanatics are happy to do year in and year out.

Massively Multiplayer Addict: Anything that finds its way onto Fark isn't being done "quietly" enough.\

"Bing!"....This.

Unless by "quiet" they mean....disclosed in relative detail on the internet.

Weaver95: also - I really don't want another war. it would be noisy. And I swear to f*cking god, if we have another war in the middle east I'm going to force the ENTIRE underclass of harvard and yale universities to enlist in the gotdamn infantry.

Hear, Farking, hear!

foo monkey: Monaro:
Does... does that graph indicate that US military expenditure is almost at WW2 levels or am I reading it wrong?

1: That graph doesn't seem to account for inflation. 2: A LOT of our military spending is retirement benefits. Pensions and healthcare. I'm too tired to find the breakdown.

It says the graph's in 2012 dollars, but I've absolutely no idea what's been accounted for there.

EnviroDude: should be an interesting war. We just gave them our drone technology and now we are going to bomb them from 30,000 feet until they nuke Israel.

get the popcorn ready young men, you are going to go to the Middle East (what better way to put unemployed graduates to work than to draft them for WWIV.

I go back Wednesday.

cman: Nadie_AZ: cman: Does anyone in their right mind foolishly think that Obama of all people could convince the US to have a preemptive strike on Iran?

The only reason Bush got away with Iraq was because of 9/11. No way anyone would have said 'do it' otherwise.

People are tired of offensive wars. Let Iran and Israel square off. Without our money or weapons or man power.

9/11 wasnt the sole reason. The US had been pushing Saddam as the boogie man for years. Worked so well they even had pro-war marches.

Saddam was an evil bastard who needed killin'. However, I don't think we should have bothered, at least not while we were still busy with Afghanistan. Getting Saddam (so W could one up daddy) was a distraction.

It would certainly be nice if Iran wasn't under the steel boot of those old religious fanatic assholes, but the U.S. getting involved will do more harm than good. Unfortunately, Washington has got it into their heads that all our problems can be solved (well, distracted from) by starting a new war.

freetomato: bonobo73: freetomato: God willing, my husband and I can kick off our combat boots for good within a year. He is active duty AF and I am Air Guard. We've spent more than half of our 7 year marriage apart. We are done. 48 years combined service. Someone else's turn to sacrifice. Armchair warriors, care to volunteer? Your kids, perhaps? Thanks!

An awfully smug attitude from someone that literally never had their boots on the ground. Plan to have any of your kids or nephews and nieces make up for it by serving in the Army or Marines?

*Sigh* I'll bite.

Ask any soldier or marine how glad they are to see aircraft/airpower support from above when in a tight spot.

You have no clue what the USAF does, do you?

And yes, asshole, my son is an Army ROTC cadet - a commission upon graduation in 2 years. Our family has walked the walk, and continues to. And you and yours have done......?

Forget it - whatever. I won't get into a patriotic urinary Olympiad with you or your ilk. Nothing to prove.

As soon as you called the rest of us armchair warriors you got exactly what you deserved.

I also provide support from a distance. It's called taxes, which pay for the your equipment, fuel training and your salary and your benefits.

You and your husband served for 48 combined years. Voluntarily. Which meant you and hubby decided the gig was good enough to make a career out of it.

Your son is ROTC, which means he's never seen active duty either. And theres a good chance that he won't see any due to troop drawdowns.

Please explain to me how all this allows you to request that anyone else or their kids go eat IEDs.

OMG this headline makes me want to vote Republican so bad.

A Dark Evil Omen: Well, I don't have any contacts in Denver (mostly just on the west coast) but from what I'm seeing they've made some sizeable turnouts

Will they turn out to f*cking vote on election day, and not vote for some Green Party nobody thus handing a key city council or state legislature or state Secretary of State seat to a Republican zealot like they did last time?

Because f*ck you lazy self-satisfied pothead f*ckhead morans if you do it to us again this year.

Nice job, Wired!

I'd love to see a candidate, preferably a Republican, did this speech:

"I love this country. I consider myself a proud American, and I feel proud of everything our principles stand for. We are still a beacon of freedom in the world, despite these trying times. I am a proud family man, and a deeply religious person. I work hard every day to insure every day that the America that warms my heart, shines as brightly as the sun shines at Dawn. However, my religious views are somewhat, different, from the average American. Many of us consider ourselves Christian, and say we follow the rules of God, some are Jewish, some are Hindu, the greatest thing of America, is the variety of our people here. Me, for example, my ancestors, as well as many of here today, come from European descent, and so, I follow their roots: I worship not Christ, but the ancient gods of the Norse. I live by their principles and laws, and I have come to believe that our love of war is more in tune with the Allfather Odin, than it is with Jesus. And so, I simply wish to ask my fellow Americans, if you want this war, if you are comfortable with taking the life of another man, you are going against the teachings of your Christ. So please, stop living a lie, and embrace the calling of our ancestors. Let us praise the gods of our forefathers, and support the troops".