We explore real-life reformation here in this informed, online community.
Until a new one erupts, but so imperfectly.
War seems to demand some response--opinion, analysis, insight--lest it seem that we’re uncaring or detached from events so consequential. But if there is anything we can say with any certainty about war, it’s that nobody outside the inner circle knows anything, and the inner circle’s knowledge is partial, contingent, and prone to the interpretive distortions of group-think.
The other thing we can say with certainty is the primary task of those in charge of the war is perception management, to shape-shift the fog of war into narratives supported by images and statistics that lend an air of factual certainty to something that was as carefully curated as an advert campaign designed to persuade us to buy into whatever story of the war suits those in charge.
Since nobody has a truly comprehensive grasp of what’s going on--and what passes for comprehension has been filtered, either purposefully for perception management, or by the biases born of previous experience--any opinion, analysis, or insight is a claim for some measure of certainty that dismisses the inherent contingencies of fast-moving events that depend to some irreducible degree on where one is standing.
War fighting, perception management, analysis and policy-making are professions that are fraught with biases, group-think, blind spots and all the unknowns, from the known-unknowns to the unknown-unknowns, and everything in between. One of the few certainties is that no one involved is anxious to publicly admit they made a mistake.
Charles Hugh Smith
...And Iran still has plenty of missiles and concealed missile launchers. What will be the terms of a US surrender? And what will a defeat in the Iran war do to the Republican party in 2026 and 2028?
"When the U.S. military’s top general laid out the risks to President Trump of launching a major and extended attack on Iran, one of the issues he flagged was America’s stockpile of munitions.
"Now that is being put to the test, as the U.S. races to destroy Iran’s missile and drone force before it runs out of interceptors to fend off Tehran’s retaliation, current and former officials and analysts say."
-- Wall Street Journal
American bombs hitting Iran are destroying Chinese oil supplies. When America runs out of munitions, we will realize the US cannot restock weapons without Chinese components.
"Amateurs talk tactics; professionals study logistics.”
-USMC Gen. Robert Barrow
"mRNA injections have killed 470,000–840,000 Americans and functioned as sterilization agents among survivors.
"They destroy over 60% of women’s non-renewable egg supply.
"They reduce pregnancy success by 33%.
"This is NOT accidental — it is a serious national security threat."
Nicolas Hulscher
