Will Iran regime fall, or just another umpteenth fail of protesters? (rerun hobbies)

[Yazata]

Unfortunate news today that one of the USAF KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft crashed over Iraq as a result of collision with another aircraft. The second aircraft made it back to Israel safely. The refueling tanker that went down had six crewmembers aboard who are presumed dead.

[Image: HDPi5CfbwAAJilV?format=jpg&name=small]

---

Today there were two rather lame terrorist attacks in the United States, one at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, the other at a large Jewish synagogue in suburban Detroit. The only people killed were the two terrorists, though several others were injured. Both were Muslim immigrants but both appear to have been lone-wolves with no apparent direct connection to Iran.

[Syne]

Today there were two rather lame terrorist attacks in the United States, one at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, the other at a large Jewish synagogue in suburban Detroit. The only people killed were the two terrorists, though several others were injured. Both were Muslim immigrants but both appear to have been lone-wolves with no apparent direct connection to Iran.

Victim killed in Old Dominion University shooting identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah

Luckily the security guard at the synagogue, who killed that attacker, was only injured.

[Yazata]

Today there were two rather lame terrorist attacks in the United States, one at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, the other at a large Jewish synagogue in suburban Detroit. The only people killed were the two terrorists, though several others were injured. Both were Muslim immigrants but both appear to have been lone-wolves with no apparent direct connection to Iran.

Victim killed in Old Dominion University shooting identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah

Luckily the security guard at the synagogue, who killed that attacker, was only injured.

I was unaware that there was a fatality at ODU. Reportedly the terrorist was subdued by the ROTC cadets.

[Syne]

Victim killed in Old Dominion University shooting identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah

Luckily the security guard at the synagogue, who killed that attacker, was only injured.

I was unaware that there was a fatality at ODU. Reportedly the terrorist was subdued by the ROTC cadets.

Apparently the shooter walked into a class and asked if it was ROTC, then shot the instructor several times before ROTC students killed him.

[Yazata]

Victim killed in Old Dominion University shooting identified as Lt. Col. Brandon Shah

Luckily the security guard at the synagogue, who killed that attacker, was only injured.

I was unaware that there was a fatality at ODU. Reportedly the terrorist was subdued by the ROTC cadets.

Apparently the shooter walked into a class and asked if it was ROTC, then shot the instructor several times before ROTC students killed him.

Don't mess with ROTC cadets! They should be awarded Global War on Terrorism service ribbons for their uniforms, even before they graduate and are commissioned.

[Syne]

Apparently the shooter walked into a class and asked if it was ROTC, then shot the instructor several times before ROTC students killed him.

Don't mess with ROTC cadets! They should be awarded Global War on Terrorism service ribbons for their uniforms, even before they graduate and are commissioned.

Absolutely. Good to know they're already prepared for war (Si vis pacem, para bellum).

[Yazata]

The United States is offering substantial rewards for information about the location of various Iranian regime figures.

(English version, I'm sure there's a Farsi version as well.)

[Image: HDTxgs8WcAEgBAZ?format=jpg&name=large]

---

The USS Tripoli amphibious ready group, consisting of the Tripoli, two landing ships and escorts has been ordered to head to the middle east. It carries approximately 20 F-35B stealth fighters and approximately 2,200 Marines.

It's interesting to speculate how they will be used.

The most obvious need for boots on the ground will be making sure the nuclear sites are well and truly destroyed. But those will be tough. They are deep inland and probably as well defended as they can be given all the air attacks. So I'd guess that would be a job for Delta Force or the Navy Seals. But the Special Operators might need larger accompanying forces to establish and defend a perimeter while they do their thing.

Or perhaps these Marines will be tasked with quick in-and-out raids against the air and sea drones the Iranians are using to try to close the Strait of Hormuz.

[Image: HDTjpvOXcAcmJM3?format=jpg&name=small]

[Zinjanthropos]

The United States is offering substantial rewards for information about the location of various Iranian regime figures.

(English version, I'm sure there's a Farsi version as well.)

[Image: HDTxgs8WcAEgBAZ?format=jpg&name=large]

---

Was wondering about the .onion domain on that wanted poster. Onion seems odd and according to AI:

.onion is a special-use top-level domain name designating an anonymous, hidden service reachable only through the Tor network. These sites, which mask user and server IP addresses, require the Tor browser for access, providing enhanced privacy and anonymity.

Definition: It represents a, "hidden service" hosted on the dark web.
Access: Only accessible via the Tor browser.
Purpose: Ensures anonymity for both the user and the website operator by routing traffic through multiple nodes, hiding the location.
Structure: Unlike standard URLs, .onion addresses are often long, randomized alphanumeric strings.

[Yazata]

Reports today of very heavy bombing of Kharg island, an otherwise barren Iranian island in the Persian gulf, about 12-15 miles off the Iranian coast. Locals are saying that the ground shook for hours and that all military facilities on the island were obliterated.

Kharg is a huge oil terminal that accounts for about 90% of Iran's oil exports. Today's reports suggest that the oil terminals were not struck.

There's some speculation that the US might be considering seizing the island and thus choking off Iran's oil exports, its number one revenue source in better times. And that might conceivably be what those Marines end up doing.

So far President Trump has refrained from attacking Iran's oil industry, saying that Iran needs to have a viable economy after the war. (Israel has no such scruples and have attacked refineries.) I'm just speculating, but maybe Trump wants to do what he just did to Venezuela, telling Iran that now the US controls their oil exports, so if they want all the revenue to keep flowing in, then they need to cooperate. Venezuela has been surprisingly cooperative, and Trump has correspondingly backed off of regime change. We might (entirely speculatively) see something like that with Iran.

[Syne]

[Image: 650241414_18609369397048669_822634098987...e=69BA9E2F]