Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

(Mar 5, 2026 04:54 AM)Syne Wrote: [ -> ]And the Senate failed to pass the War Powers Act, that would have limited the president's power to finish the job.

The House also failed to pass a War Powers Act.

Manbaby is getting a god complex:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKS_TQM3NYo&t=1s

"BREAKING: Trump and Pete Hegseth sank a defenseless Iranian ship and then left the survivors to DROWN in violation of the Geneva Convention and basic human decency!

Kanwal Sibal, a very distinguished Indian statesman and former Foreign Secretary, called out Trump and Pete Hegseth for war crimes in the sinking of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that was in India for joint exercises.

“I am told that as per protocol for this exercise, ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless,” said Sibal. “The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind.”

“The US has ignored India’s sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”

The attack, which has been championed as a great victory by Trump and Hegseth, killed 87 sailors and left 32 survivors, who the Americans left to drown. Sri Lanka was forced to step in and rescue them.

This is a shocking display of the cruelty and depravity of Pete Hegseth’s military. Helping survivors is one of the most important unspoken rules of the sea; even the Nazis were known for helping rescue the survivors of their U-Boat attacks in World War 2.

Far from being a huge win for America, it was yet another display of the Trump administration’s cowardice: sinking a defenseless ship and then leaving brown people to die.

Human life means nothing to these monsters."

(Mar 6, 2026 04:52 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]"BREAKING: Trump and Pete Hegseth sank a defenseless Iranian ship and then left the survivors to DROWN in violation of the Geneva Convention and basic human decency!

Kanwal Sibal, a very distinguished Indian statesman and former Foreign Secretary, called out Trump and Pete Hegseth for war crimes in the sinking of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that was in India for joint exercises.

“I am told that as per protocol for this exercise, ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless,” said Sibal. “The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind.”

“The US has ignored India’s sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”

The attack, which has been championed as a great victory by Trump and Hegseth, killed 87 sailors and left 32 survivors, who the Americans left to drown. Sri Lanka was forced to step in and rescue them.

This is a shocking display of the cruelty and depravity of Pete Hegseth’s military. Helping survivors is one of the most important unspoken rules of the sea; even the Nazis were known for helping rescue the survivors of their U-Boat attacks in World War 2.

Far from being a huge win for America, it was yet another display of the Trump administration’s cowardice: sinking a defenseless ship and then leaving brown people to die.

Human life means nothing to these monsters."

^From Occupy Democrats on Facebook

In a Pentagon briefing on March 4, 2026, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a U.S. Navy submarine used a torpedo to sink the Iranian warship IRIS Dena (also referred to as the Shahid Soleimani) in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka. The incident occurred late Tuesday, March 3, 2024, during Operation Epic Fury, a military campaign launched by the Donald Trump administration against the Iranian regime.
Key details of the incident and the ensuing controversy include:

Casualties and Rescue: The strike killed at least 87 crew members. Sri Lankan authorities launched a search-and-rescue operation after receiving a distress call from the vessel at 5:08 a.m. local time on Wednesday, eventually rescuing 32 survivors.

"Defenseless" Claims: Critics, including former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, allege the ship was "defenseless" because it was returning from the "Milan" multilateral naval exercises in India, where protocol reportedly prohibited the carrying of ammunition.

Abandonment Allegations: Reports from various sources, including Common Dreams and social media commentary, claim the U.S. submarine left survivors to drown, leaving the rescue efforts entirely to the Sri Lankan Navy. Hegseth described the torpedo strike as a "quiet death" and emphasized the U.S. military's intent to be "lethal" and "kinetic".

Legal Controversy: Critics argue that failing to rescue survivors of a sunken vessel violates the Geneva Conventions, which mandate the protection and rescue of the shipwrecked during armed conflict.
- Google AI

How would anyone know a "warship" was unarmed? And why would we give them a chance to arm it?
Would the US forces be aware of a distress call?

While it is theoretically possible for U.S. forces to have received the distress call, current evidence suggests it was primarily intercepted and acted upon by
Sri Lankan and Indian authorities.

Reception by Local Forces: The Sri Lankan Navy confirmed they received a distress call from the IRIS Dena at 5:08 a.m. local time on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
U.S. Capability: U.S. Navy submarines generally operate in "stealth mode" while submerged, using passive sonar to listen for acoustic signatures rather than monitoring standard civilian or international radio distress frequencies. Submarines must typically surface or deploy a tethered antenna buoy to receive high-frequency (HF) or satellite radio transmissions.
Regional Monitoring: Operation Epic Fury involved a wide array of U.S. assets, including P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and MQ-9 Reaper drones, which are equipped to monitor a broad spectrum of communications and could have potentially intercepted the signal.
Lack of U.S. Response: Despite the potential for reception, there are no reports of U.S. forces attempting a rescue. Sri Lankan officials noted that the ship sank so rapidly—within minutes of the torpedo strike—that their own responding forces could not even see the vessel when they arrived at the scene.
- Google AI

IOW, there's no indication that US forces expected survivors nor picked up the distress call. Hence no Geneva violation.

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Iran's ballistic missile launches are dropping rapidly. The reason for the decline is probably a combination of them using up their missile supply, along with the severe attrition caused by extensive air attacks.

The Iranians have started using cluster warheads on their missiles, that release 24 submunitions. Unfortunately (for Iran) and fortunately (for Israel) the Iranian missiles seem to release them too high, up in space, and most of them burn up on entry and few make it to the ground and manage to explode.

An Israeli says that the situation in Israel is gradually returning to normal. He says:

https://x.com/Eyalo365/status/2029778411850273117

Quote:Where we are now ?
We had 7 missiles throughout the day yesterday. In the early hours of the night we had 2 more missiles. They had those warheads that split into 24 smaller bombs, each of them roughly 20 k"g.

Those look great when they burn in the atmosphere - great on X but no damages in Tel Aviv.

Life in Israel is slowly returning:
Few flights landed in the airport, outgoing flights will resume on Sunday.
Commercial activity partly resumed, some stores and cafes opened yesterday. Most supermarkets are open.
Highway Traffic, which was near zero on Saturday/Sunday and weak on Monday/Tuesday is now heavier (I live near the main Haifa-Tel Aviv highway and see it out of my Window)

Meanwhile, a fleet of some 30 USAF aerial refueling tankers are operating from Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel's main civilian airport outside Tel Aviv. The Israeli air force simply didn't have the aerial refueling capacity to operate lots of jets as far away as Iran, and the United States is giving them that.

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Interesting compilation by Ibrahim Jalal of data from the Gulf Cooperation Council showing interception success rate for various kinds of attacks, broken down by country. It's kind of an advertisement for American air defense equipment, which most of these countries use. In fact many of the defenders were probably American, we all remember the hundreds of transport flights carrying air defense missile batteries from the United States in the buildup to the war.

I'm struck by their success with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. Everyone called Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars' ballistic missile defense push crazy back in the 1980's. I still remember all the 'scientists' announcing that ballistic missile defense was impossible and nobody should waste time and money even trying. But today ballistic missile defense is very much a thing, and a very successful thing too. It's a situation that's fundamentally changed since the Cold War days and that would never have happened if we hadn't tried.

And I'm also struck by how the biggest challenge in this war seems to be cheap low tech drones. We've seen how drones have completely changed the Ukraine battlefield. They are definitely the next new thing and the US and NATO had better sit up and pay attention.

https://x.com/IbrahimJalalYE/status/2029799742603956568

Quote:GCC Integrated Defences: What Are Interception Rates by Weapon Type? And what data doesn’t tell us?

UAE: Ballistic 92% (181/196) — Cruise 100% (8/8) — Drone 93% (1,001/1,072)

Qatar: Ballistic 96% (99/103) — Cruise 100% (5/5) — Drone 55% (30/55)

KSA: Ballistic 100% (3/3) — Cruise 100% (6/6) — Drone 94% (32/34)

Bahrain: Ballistic 83% (65/78) — Drone 68% (88/129)

Oman: Drone 75% (6/8)

Kuwait: no granular data (394 drones & 212 missiles)

Key Takeaways:

Missile defence is the GCC’s strongest

Missile intercept rates run 83–100% across the board. The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait are handling 100+ ballistic engagements at 92–96%. That’s sustained system performance under heavy operational load.

Drones are where the picture fractures:

UAE: 93%
KSA: 94%
Bahrain: 68%
Qatar: 55%
Oman: 75% (limited sample - 8 drones)

The gap between best and worst performers is 39 percentage points. That’s a defence doctrine and capacity challenge.

Qatar’s drone number deserves a closer look. 96% on ballistics. 100% on cruise. But only 55% on drones; nearly 1-in-2 getting through. That’s a layered system with a specific, unresolved vulnerability at the low-end threat tier.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia show what a stronger defence posture looks like — high rates across all three threat categories.

Yet the UAE’s dataset is the most credible: 1,276 total engagements. Performance holding above 92% at that volume is the real signal.

KSA’s 100% rates are encouraging but rest on small samples (3/3, 6/6, 32/34), despite past record vis-a-vis the Houthi rebels. Directionally positive; statistically thin in this episode.

What the data doesn’t tell us:

Bahrain’s 13 ballistic & 41 drone non-intercepts include unspecified outcomes. Actual miss rate may differ.

Oman’s sample (8 engagements) is too small for structural conclusions

“Interception” and “miss” definitions are not standardised across reporting.

Post-war assessments may paint a different picture.

Source: latest official GCC reporting. Compiled OSINT.

(Mar 6, 2026 04:52 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]"BREAKING: Trump and Pete Hegseth sank a defenseless Iranian ship and then left the survivors to DROWN in violation of the Geneva Convention and basic human decency!

Kanwal Sibal, a very distinguished Indian statesman and former Foreign Secretary, called out Trump and Pete Hegseth for war crimes in the sinking of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that was in India for joint exercises.

“I am told that as per protocol for this exercise, ships cannot carry any ammunition. It was defenceless,” said Sibal. “The attack by the US submarine was premeditated as the US was aware of the Iranian ship’s presence in the exercise to which the US navy was invited but withdrew from participation at the last minute, presumably with this operation in mind.”

“The US has ignored India’s sensitivities as the ship was in these waters because of India’s invitation.”

The attack, which has been championed as a great victory by Trump and Hegseth, killed 87 sailors and left 32 survivors, who the Americans left to drown. Sri Lanka was forced to step in and rescue them.

This is a shocking display of the cruelty and depravity of Pete Hegseth’s military. Helping survivors is one of the most important unspoken rules of the sea; even the Nazis were known for helping rescue the survivors of their U-Boat attacks in World War 2.

Far from being a huge win for America, it was yet another display of the Trump administration’s cowardice: sinking a defenseless ship and then leaving brown people to die.

Human life means nothing to these monsters."

It is unfortunate, but it's highly likely the ship wasn't the actual target. The vessel likely had someone of rank on board. Currently attacks have been aimed at removing hierarchy to remove the capacity for Iran to coordinate counter-attacks. I wouldn't be surprised if Irans ships had been shadowed for a while (probably since the previous military expo in South Africa in January)

Submarines aren't equiped for dealing with picking up people after an attack, that is really where support vessels are suppose to be used. However any support vessels in the area would of either become a target or given the game away.

It can be questioned as to if any attempt at communication with the vessel had been made before hand or not, however doing so again would of identified that they were being tracked and targetted.

(Mar 6, 2026 09:04 AM)stryder Wrote: [ -> ]It is unfortunate, but it's highly likely the ship wasn't the actual target. The vessel likely had someone of rank on board. Currently attacks have been aimed at removing hierarchy to remove the capacity for Iran to coordinate counter-attacks.

Destroying Iran's navy was one of the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury.

Very cautious of what’s being presented here. This whole thing sounds a bit satirical or of some literary genre mixing truth with fantasy. Next we’ll probably be told the ship was carrying weapons grade uranium or there were dirty bombs (or components of) on board destined for the US.

(Mar 6, 2026 09:58 AM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: [ -> ]Very cautious of what’s being presented here. This whole thing sounds a bit satirical or of some literary genre mixing truth with fantasy. Next we’ll probably be told the ship was carrying weapons grade uranium or there were dirty bombs (or components of) on board destined for the US.

All that matters are the facts. No one disputes that it was an Iranian warship, and one US goal was to completely destroy their navy.

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(Mar 6, 2026 05:16 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]

LOL! The sorry excuse for a "Joe Rogan of the left" spouting conspiracy theories about Jews.
If you believe this, you're a moron who might as well be watching Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly.