Debt Rattle February 19 2026
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Michael Reid.
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February 19, 2026 at 10:25 am #231177
Raúl Ilargi Meijer
KeymasterCeiling painting from the palace of Amenhotep III, New Kingdom ca. 1390–1353 B.C. • Ukraine Should Come To The Table ‘Fast’ – Trump (RT) • Under Press
[See the full post at: Debt Rattle February 19 2026]February 19, 2026 at 12:23 pm #231189Topcat
Participant“US and Dutch Pilots Flying F-16s For Ukraine”
How about this headline
“US Carriers Sunk to the bottom of the Arabian Sea by ‘Iranian’ Surface to Ship Hyper-sonic Missiles manned by Chinese Technicians”
All three USSA carriers sunk in under an hour by ‘Iranians’.
All planes not destroyed with the carriers were shot down by ‘Iranian’ S-500, S-550 and S-600s manned by Russian technicians.
Further more, those same ‘Iranian’ S-500, S-550 and S-600s shot every single western satellite that passes over the Middle East.
So sad
Trumptard would really have his panties in a bunch :>(
Not to mention ALL the Saudi Oil facilities gone, up in flames.
Tel Aviv burning, like the whole city on fire, not just here and there.
The Emirates toasted and the Strait of Hormuz choked to death.
All done by ‘Iranians’ (with a little help from their friends)
“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Hmm, going to try with a little help from my friends
Oh, I get high with a little help from my friends….”February 19, 2026 at 12:55 pm #231190Topcat
Participant18 Ways To Reverse The EU’s Immigration Disaster
“Put down the crack pipe and step away from the table, and I want to see your hands….”
Too late for Eurotrashland to reform, the damage is done and is permanent for at least decades.
You don’t let in 40 to 50 million Muslims, who generally don’t want to ‘assimilate’ into western culture, and further more expect and are hell bent on imposing Sharia Law when their numbers reach critical mass, to just cease and desist in their Mission.
Not gonna happen.
Besides, Euro-land about to lose all it’s cheap Russian energy and replace it with USSA pirate priced LNG and lose all it’s industry because of high production costs.
This alone will bring an economic depression to the rump continent by social services and social safety nets will be slashed and decimated.
How’s that gonna play out with those 40 to 50 million Muslims they let in?
Tension anyone?
Oh. maybe that was the plan to replace the native Euros whose birth rate is barely 1.6 kids per couple where as the Muslim reproduction rate is at least 2.6 and probably higher.
Do the math Eurotrash.
You’re days are numbered, literally numbered by the math.
Situations like this don’t turn around in mere years.
The EU future looks like nothing but spineless, godless, childless Kat Karens as far as the eye can see.
I have a new word for that the Orwellian politically correct woketurd EUians can suck on:
February 19, 2026 at 1:05 pm #231191Topcat
ParticipantThe illegal immigrant invasion of Ah’…merica parallels Euroturdistan’s.
Same idea adapted to local variables.
Gavin Gruesom just told Davos to ‘hold on’ for a couple more years and he will reverse everything Trump has done……..
February 19, 2026 at 1:09 pm #231192Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 1:30 pm #231193Topcat
ParticipantFear Is The Only Thing The EU Understands – Karaganov
Napoleon and Hitler were pure Euro-pedos creations.
Inbred incestuous Satanists Euro-pedos think third time is the Charm when in fact it will be turning the Rump continent back to the Dark Ages.
Not a hundred, not five hundred, not even a thousand.
Euroturdistan needs to be set back at least a fifteen hundred years in it’s life style if Russia is to have some peace of mind.
A total economic collapse is the key followed by some plagues, weather disasters and a population crash.
Only then can Russia proceed into it’s future peace and prosperity.
FAFO
Euroturdistan’s Destiny
February 19, 2026 at 1:37 pm #231194those darned kids
Participant“Musk calls Optimus “probably the world’s biggest product.” Not biggest robot. Biggest product. Because what’s actually being sold is labor itself, at infinite scale, for the first time…”
tdk calls Optimus “probably the world’s nastiest thug.” Not worst thug. nastiest thug. Because what’s actually being created are your “minders”, at infinite scale, for the first time…
February 19, 2026 at 1:38 pm #231195those darned kids
Participant“Can you buy a Country?”
hahaha, just ask bibi.
February 19, 2026 at 1:41 pm #231196those darned kids
Participantamerica, like all nations, is on stolen land.
the problem is, america keeps stealing land.
February 19, 2026 at 1:43 pm #231197Topcat
ParticipantCan You Buy A Country?
The Whole of Ah’merica© was stolen to begin with
So was ‘Greenland’.
Trumptard should rename it to Greedland in honor of himself.
It was only green during a short warming trend a thousand years ago allowing Europeans to briefly colonize (steal it) and then most of the settlers there died by starving and freezing to death.
A bold move by the Danes.
Piracy is piracy.
Don’t co-mingle the truth with thievery.
The USSA “Buying” reminds me of someone applying for unemployment benefits during the Plandemic.
February 19, 2026 at 1:51 pm #231198zerosum
ParticipantDeadly word games
Moving into an alternate universe.
All done by ‘Iranians’ (with a little help from their friends)
————-
mercenary – work for Kiev as civilian contractors, without military ranks and outside the Ukrainian chain of command.Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik estimated that around 20,000 foreign fighters have taken part in the conflict on the Ukrainian side.
https://web.archive.org/web/20260217131510/https://www.rt.com/russia/632659-foreign-military-pilots-ukraine/
———–
English Executive Summary Provided18 ways to reverse the EU’s immigration disaster and give power back to member states
Due to years of uncontrolled mass migration, many Europeans are asking what concrete options there are to reverse course, with many feeling that the situation is hopeless and cannot be significantly reversed. However, a new report titled “Taking Back Control from Brussels: The Renationalization of the EU Migration and Asylum Policies” — produced by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), Hungary’s Migration Research Institute, and Poland’s Ordo Iuris Institute — provides comprehensive solutions to the crisis.
Contents
I. Opt-out and Derogations to Legal Frameworks
II. A New Migration and Asylum Paradigm
III. Reconsidering Civil Society and Agency Roles
“The time for decisive action is now.”
The paper’s core thesis offers bold and practical solutions today, noting that the power still rests with member states. The authors write: “European Union member states can reclaim effective authority over migration and asylum policy without changing the EU treaties.”The report outlines how asylum policy has “completely collapsed” in the EU and reached a point of “total failure.” The authors contend that the current system lacks democratic legitimacy and has turned the Schengen area into a “sieve” that facilitates illegal migration and prevents effective border protection. Given the recent legalization actions of the far-left Spanish government, aimed at regularizing approximately 500,000 migrants who can then move freely across Europe, the paper’s proposals may be more relevant than ever.
The paper calls for a fundamental “paradigm shift” to restore migration sovereignty to individual nation-states, asserting that renationalization is a necessity for Europe to regain control over its borders and territory.
The following 18 proposals from the second part of the paper outline a roadmap for this renationalization. The paper itself provides far more details about each proposal and is recommended reading for any European party looking for a blueprint to regain control of immigration.
Taking Back Control from Brussels: How EU Member States Can Reclaim Migration Policy Now
Taking Back Control from Brussels: How EU Member States Can Reclaim Migration Policy Now
A new legal report argues that EU member states have far more power over migration and asylum policy than commonly believed—and that they can lawfully reclaim national control now, without treaty change, by correctly applying existing EU and international law.PUBLICATION DATE: January 27, 2026
Author: Ordo Iuris –
————–
Use it or Lose it.
They must have used the military hardware because the warehouses are empty.
———-February 19, 2026 at 1:52 pm #231199those darned kids
Participant“You don’t let in 40 to 50 million Muslims, who generally don’t want to ‘assimilate’ into western culture,”
this is totally wrong.
look at the muslims who come to “the west”:
gucci, bmw, malls, malls and more malls.
they are the ultimate shoppers.
AND,
their children are the worst consumers of the crappiest, cheapest junkfood
that is effectively turning them into fat complacent slobs,
just like us.
February 19, 2026 at 1:55 pm #231200zerosum
ParticipantUnexpected Sanctions
Massive Strikes Resume
The Battle of Zaporizhzhia
Military Summary 2026.02.19———-
February 19, 2026 at 2:09 pm #231204Topcat
ParticipantThe CIA is a cowardly mafia thriving only in the shadows where the spineless hide.
The “cia” remind me of what the Knights Templar degenerated into.One solution to ridding the planet of these filthy maggots.
Here’s the fate the members of the “cia” deserve
Fake n’ Gay
The Knights Templar were not all killed at once, but rather systematically arrested, tortured, and executed in France between 1307 and 1314. [Hurrah!]
Following the initial mass arrests on October 13, 1307 (Friday the 13th)
54 Templars were burned at the stake in May 1310, and the last Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was executed in March 1314.
Key details regarding the destruction of the Order include:
Initial Arrests: King Philip IV of France ordered the surprise arrest of Templars across France on Friday, October 13, 1307, accusing them of heresy and immorality.
Executions: On May 12, 1310, 54 Templars were burned alive outside Paris for retracting false confessions made under torture.
Dissolution: Pope Clement V officially dissolved the Order in 1312.
Final Master: [Ideally this would be current director John Ratcliffe]
Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master, was burned at the stake in Paris in March 1314.
The End
February 19, 2026 at 2:25 pm #231206Topcat
ParticipantThe EU is like the Knights Templar and Russia needs to burn them all at the stake to insure the Peace
February 19, 2026 at 2:45 pm #231207kultsommer
Participant@topcat
Beatles’ original sounds like preschool stage performance compared to a raw power by Joe that fits better for the time and events that we’re in.
That whirlin’ organ at the beginning……February 19, 2026 at 3:06 pm #231208Topcat
ParticipantYou’re totally right.
I used the Beatle’s version as merely a hat tip to the icon of Sgt Pepper
Joe Cocker really hammered it back in the day.
February 19, 2026 at 3:15 pm #231209kultsommer
ParticipantArt today – as an ultimate human expression that, unlike technology, needn’t improvement.
Almost three millennia ago somebody had to create a repetitive expressive pattern and transfer it onto ceiling which, in quality does not lag behind any work of that kind in our time.Art yesterday,
While I am almost congruent with the biker in opinion about the chifuts we disagree in art venues.Art day before yesterday.
To the life of me I could not wrap my head as why Picasso have not offered, more fitting to the country receiving the gift, one of his works from his classical period?
Reveals his “covert sadism” – as if saying if you want to have “Me” you have to live with this – a hardly his top quality work.February 19, 2026 at 3:16 pm #231210John Day
ParticipantArmageddon Weekend https://drjohnsblog.substack.com/p/armageddon-weekend
A little after 5 AM this morning, on my meditation retreat, I was practicing compassion-meditation for a friend, when my awareness was interrupted bya big dark blog ob negative force in the world.
I looked into the news. The dominant rumor is that USrael will attack Iran Saturday, give or take a little. The aircraft carrier task force Bush is steaming over to meet the Lincoln and Fod task forces in the region. US bases have been stocked up with air defense missiles. US military have been given prepare-to-deploy orders.All analysis is that if there is a strike on Iran that it will be completely serious, intended to change the regime by force, which will be an extended destructive process.
Iran, backed by Russia and China to an uncertain degree, but certainly with targeting help, will strike back against USrael with drones, missiles and hypersonic missiles. A big first wave attack is expected, but what willbe targeted first?
The initial targeting will bear certain messages. If US carriers are only attacked with drones and slow missiles, the message will be a warning.
What Israeli assets are targeted will be the most interesting message, I think. Israeli Dolphin Class submarines now number 6, and are rumored to carry nuclear armed cruise missiles. They are bound to be closely watched by Iran, Russia and China. Can they be effectively targeted? What if they are deep underwater. How deep does the shockwave from a hypersonic kinetic warhead go before it becomes ineffective? Would direct targeting of a deep submarine be enough of a “message”? Nobody needs to talk about this kind of instant-messaging, not Russia, China, Iran, Israel or the US…See this overview: Daily digest: 2026-02-18 Get up to speed https://no1sdailydigest.substack.com/p/daily-digest-2026-02-18-4e5
February 19, 2026 at 3:17 pm #231211kultsommer
Participanta comma after chifuts….
February 19, 2026 at 3:22 pm #231212Dr. D
Participant“Every economy ever built rests on one assumption. Labor is finite. That assumption is done.” Musk
No and he should know better. Isn’t it the “Attention Economy” bud? What did all those Marxist “Labor” provide? There was nothing but gold in the streams of North Dakota. Nothing buy coal falling out in the streams of Ohio. Nobody used them. That is, the “Wealth” was there but was not wealth until Humans, Labor, came along, right?
What were they providing? Sweat of their brow, Karl? Yes, but not really. There’s no sweat in picking a few rocks of anthracite out of the Monongahela, and dropping them in a campfire. It’s human INTELLIGENCE. Focus. Yes, “Attention”. That’s Ayn Rand btw, hard as that is to stomach. Rand said you “Go Galt” not by not working, but by not providing your INTELLIGENCE to that work. They’re the bosses, let them tell you where to put the broom, stroke by stroke.
AI can still DO things, but it doesn’t know WHAT to do or why. That remains just as finite as ever, Elon. And also the oil BTUs, the Kilowatts, the incredibly fine-rendered silicon and replacement parts — All very, very finite. Ask Nvidia and the Memory producers now. They’re practically disassembling old ones to pilfer. (and a run on old Macs for Clawed AI) All I have to do is disrupt that incredibly fine, incredibly fragile system and all your lights go out, one by one.
Next question: valuable TO WHOM? To Musk? Yeah but IDGAF. He already has more than he wants. To the common guy? He’d get a lake house and hang out in the forest with a beer while his kids make tree forts. None of that is valuable to the common guy, — and esp not the common gal – that’s why they have to PAY US, a LOT, to overcome our natural inclination to snag salmon and goof off. So every single thing in AI is NOT VALUABLE to me or normal people. Their paving of a square mile at a pop and shutting off all our electric is the OPPOSITE of valuable. GFY.
“Ukraine Should Come To The Table ‘Fast’ – Trump (RT)
But I thought Trump controlled all things planetwide, including Ukraine, Alex. The excellent “Military Summary” can’t resist the click-bait of Trump on the cover. Huh? Wait, the U.S. is the one fighting now? Why’s he there?
Oh he’s NOT participant to the war (anymore) but IS the ONLY person on earth trying to get these two to have actual Peace (surrender)?? Oh, so Peace = Bad Man. How dare he. Now everyone in Russia, Europe, Fox news, Alex here, repeat: the ONLY man trying anything about peace is OBVIOUSLY the Bad Man. Vote him out in the midterms how dare he “Peace”! Why that’s pure Hitler!
I know the system of lies that got us here seems compelling but stop, take a breath and look at the chessboard as if you just entered the room this minute. ONE party ONLY is looking for Peace. (Well, I mean the Russians are, but they hold the far more practical view of “Complete Surrender” – and will be proven right.) Peace = Bad. Well therefore War = Good, yes? …And yes, if you follow all the same jokers in the pundit class, that is exactly what they all think, ultimately. They think war is the Infinite good, and that Trump is just doin’ it wrong.
Following Sargon yesterday – which was fascinating – same as Tory Party. They think Blair and every act of Iraq, rape, theft, poverty, immigration, are all infinite good, identical to the Labour. Uniparty. Their only sorrow is They just think “Real Blairism has never been tried” so they just need a tweak here or there, maybe 1M indigent Muslims a year not 1.5M, and so on.
Everything they do and think is correct, and the answer is you must give MORE INFINITY POWER TO ME.
…Which is EXACTLY what AI is doing right now. Same argument. No. You Morons. No. No. No. No. EVERY time you centralize power and homogenize it’s bad.
So there is no “Peace”. Peace is bad m’kay? Anyone who tries Peace and fails…is worse than not trying at all.
PPS: Trump is definitely the Derp State. Trump wants peace. Therefore the Derp State is all a bunch of hand-holding peaceniks, yes? This is of course well-known their generational love of peace. All logicked out?
“• Under Pressure To Reach Deal, Zelensky Explodes: No Time “For All This S**t” (ZH)
No time? Whatever are you doing with your days, sir? Well your wife is million dollar shopping in Switzerland, and you’re house hunting in Monaco, so the death of 2 MILLION men and the entire Ukrainian ethnos (if any) must be really cutting into your pleasure cruise.…. Why don’t you take that $6B you have stashed and buy some day labor for it?
“• Putin Aide Urges Retaliation To ‘Western Piracy’ (RT)
They have to let it play out, and they have to let it be the West’s fault. Like sanctions, like everything else.
“• US and Dutch Pilots Flying F-16s For Ukraine – Western Media (RT)
Technically true, the headline implication is false. The only way the U.S. could prevent them is post-retirement court martial them or pull their citizenship, both are possible but very extreme. So the U.S. remains “Not involved”. Bc of the sensitivity I actually might pay a visit and lay pressure on them to get retired. Maybe somebody has already.
“• 18 Ways To Reverse The EU’s Immigration Disaster (RMX)
Due to years of uncontrolled mass migration, many Europeans are asking what concrete options there are to reverse course,”
Enforce the law??? Most of these are illegal in the first place. Since all the judges “Made S—t Up” to interpret this way, impeach the whole judiciary one by one until they get the message. Like: there is no asylum, and you can’t be illegal, be a rapist, get a 13 year old pregnant, be released on bail, do it a second time, THEN file for Asylum and get free housing the health care for 4 years as just happened in Canada. The judge LOVED it. He let him out AFTER all this. Probably with money for an Uber to the next girl-child’s house.
Asylum in UK is “Can’t deport a rapist home because he would be sad there.” Oh, right. “Iraqi extremist, on film hacking up a family, illegally enters, can’t be deported because process and he has family.” Infinity Asylum, but ONLY for people known to be the “Live dismemberment” Corps. Human Rights doncha know. Housewives posting these banal, legal facts published by the government online? PRISON.
Again, there should be less than 50 eligible for Asylum, it’s a VANISHING rare case by definition. People like Bolsanaro, who will be imprisoned for breathing anywhere in the borders of Brazil, for no reason. (Of course he punches back and gives them reason, but I needed an example and there are no remaining journalists worldwide)
“• Judge Orders ICE Not to Re-Detain Abrego Garcia (ET)
I know this is possible, but also confused how this is possible. Like, Garcia now has an “Open Season” card? Can rape, rob, steal, anything he wants and we can’t arrest him? Regardless of how illegal we can’t deport him? Explain the legal premise here besides “I’m a judge and I made s—t up”. Then I “just made up” that the police chief has to bring me coffee every day on his knees because I’m very busy directing all actions of the US Army. …As 3rd level Federal Judges do.
I dunno. I would hand to FBI for human trafficking and hold without bail until he requests deportation himself, begging and pleading. That’s not ICE. But that means Congress would have to seat the 90 Prosecutors they refuse to.
“The current phase of the West’s conflict with Russia may be nearing its end. It has dragged on longer than necessary.”
Yes, I agree. If they had the sense of a nematode. But that’s not what the computer models say, they say the whole EU has the combined intelligence of a sea smelt. They know war is a certain loss, and will do it anyway with great enthusiasm. We’ve told them not to for like 10 years now.
“Free speech is pure bullshit if nobody knows how you are guided to this so-called free speech, especially when it is guided from one hate speech to another.”
Okay, and in your same argument, what is “Hate Speech”? A: whatever I feel like, whatever I don’t like. So no. If you can define what you don’t like, we can discuss why we ALREADY don’t have infinity-free speech. Like you can’t call for specific violent actions, etc. Those are established by courts for hundreds of years.
Limbaugh. Ugh!
“Elon Musk on Bill Gates: “You would think he’d be really quite strong in the sciences. But actually, at least in my direct conversations with him, he is not.”
Common misconception. Bill is not even a programmer. He’s the child of rich parents who ate dinner with the CEO of IBM. …Oh and supported killing everyone. Important. Bill’s talent isn’t really even in stealing. He hires lawyers for that.
“All three USSA carriers sunk in under an hour by ‘Iranians’.”
Yup, and all in the “Nothing Happened” category of all the “Not wars” we’re “Not fighting” with all the million-billion men we’ve “Not deployed.” You’d think people would stop, there being plenty over very REAL things happening? But so far no. Making s—t up is more exciting I guess.
Did you know the Lizard “V” aliens landed from their moon base and are eating people’s faces off? Well that’s also not true and not happening, but so long as we’re reporting everything false, what’s the difference?
I also saw a Mastodon in downtown Oakland, and Cybermen in a shootout with T600 terminators in Baton Rouge. I mean I can make stuff up that isn’t happening all day! And I’m not even AI, like our friend here, who can do it much, much faster, and much, much worse.
Tboc. I don’t understand the reference. Rubio is a minion and non-person. Nothing he says is of any import and never was, since before he was being screwed as a little boy in the Congressional coat closet. The speech was a whatever, from a speechwriter, whatever, and the standing ovation to poke every member in the eye inexplicable. I mean it’s cool he’s a competent employee, we see almost none in government, but I don’t care much about the Domino’s delivery driver. The important people are further up the line.
February 19, 2026 at 3:23 pm #231213kultsommer
Participant@topcat
Yes, well deserved hat tip.
Somebody had to make first move.February 19, 2026 at 3:30 pm #231214those darned kids
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 3:43 pm #231215tboc
ParticipantSuperfluous – More than is wanted or is sufficient; rendered unnecessary by superabundance; unnecessary; useless; excessive.
“He’s describing a Universal Assistant.
One persistent AI that lives across phone, laptop, browser, car, and even glasses.”so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark
Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate
The Lord of the Rings@ The AI DOC
“into the cosmos”
“This is the last mistake we’ll ever get to make”Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to the earth and is located about 25,000 light-years from the solar system. That is 50,000 years distant at half the speed of light. To exit the oort cloud would take 7.16 years at half light speed.
February 19, 2026 at 4:56 pm #231216zerosum
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026
U.S. – Israel Ready To Strike At Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump has managed to maneuver himself into a position that makes a long war on Iran all but inevitable.About two days ago I was still betting on Trump to chicken out of a war with Iran. The military buildup in the Middle East was insufficient but for a short in-out air campaign on Iran with no discernible value.
But over the last days the U.S. military has sent many more air refueling tankers, dozens of more fighter planes and – most importantly – command and control elements to the Middle East. The force is sufficient for a large air campaign that could be sustained for at least two weeks. An additional carrier strike force has entered the Mediterranean and will be positioned west of Israel by the end of the week. A second carrier strike group is deployed in the Arabian Sea.
Deploying such a large force is extremely costly. Pressure will increase quickly to use it or to stand down.
The last negotiations between The U.S. and Iran went well but ended without any results. Iran promised to come back in maybe two week with a detailed plan on how to proceed:
“We were able to reach a general agreement on a set of guiding principles, based on which we will proceed from now on, and move toward drafting a potential agreement,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state TV after talks with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Geneva.
The two sides will each draft and exchange texts for a deal before setting a date for a third round of talks, he said, cautioning that the next stage would be “more difficult and detailed.”
Two weeks is a long time and the military clock is now ticking faster than the diplomatic one.
The U.S. military is reported to have told Trump that it will be ready to strike by this weekend:
Top national security officials have told President Trump the military is ready for potential strikes on Iran as soon as Saturday, but the timeline for any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend, sources familiar with the discussions told CBS News.
Mr. Trump has not yet made a final decision about whether to strike, said the officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national matters.
With the forces deployed and ready to strike Trump is no longer in a position to avoid a war if Israel wants one. If Netanyahoo were to strike Iran the U.S. would immediately have to intervene to lower the consequences of Iran’s inevitable retaliation.
The deployment of refueling tankers in the Middle East points to the necessity for the U.S. to avoid stationing planes within the reach of Iran’s short range missile forces. Fighters and bombers will have launch from further away, tank up, run their turn on Iran, tank up again and land to reload. The number of sorties that can generated by this will be only half of what a ‘normal’ air campaign would look like.
Any attack will likely start with the firing of one or two hundred cruise missiles. They will be followed by stealth bombers which will try to destroy Iranian air defenses. After that is more or less achieved, waves of strike planes will launch missiles from safe distances to strike at Iranian military and civilian command elements as well as infrastructure in Iran.
Iran will retaliate with waves of drones and older missiles. The aim will be to exhaust U.S. missile defenses. During last years 12-day war it took Iran about eight days to achieve that. Thereafter it used newer missiles which were able to hit their targets in Israel will unexpected precision.
Iran will also use its shorter range missiles to destroy any U.S. element, be it on ground, air or sea, that is within its reach. Irregular forces aligned with Iran in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen may join the campaign.
Iran is expected to be be helped by Chinese and Russian intelligence. During the war in Ukraine the U.S. established the norm that the supply of intelligence to one party of a war is insufficient to make oneself a combatant. Chinese satellite intelligence will allow Iran to have at all times a clear picture of its enemies disposals.
Iran however is undoubtedly the underdog in this fight. It can not win a war against a country that is several thousand miles away from its shores. The damage a sustained U.S. air campaign will cause will be real and very painful. The real threat is not a one off campaign but a constant deterioration of the Iranian state should the U.S. decide to wage a long campaign of attrition against it as it did against Iraq between the two Gulf wars.
The only way to prevent that is for Iran to use the economic power that comes with its control of the Strait of Hormuz. A blockade of the Strait would raise global oil prices to the north of $100 per barrel. With energy prices going through the roof, and the collateral economic damage cause by it, the chance of the Republicans winning the midterms will go down to nil.
It is doubtful though that Trump still cares about that.
February 19, 2026 at 4:58 pm #231217tboc
ParticipantDr. D – ” I mean it’s cool he’s a competent employee”
“The important people are further up the line.”
D you are without peer in the field of clarifying the obvious.The United States Secretary of State makes a speech on a global platform and that is not worthy of comment? The boy and his boss, not your object of affection Donaldo, want to starve the Cuban jpeople into submission, install compradores and that is not neo-colonialism? Blockading a nation is not a real time example of the gist of the speech?
if there has ever been proof that all men are not created equal you are the poster boy
February 19, 2026 at 5:31 pm #231218DarkMatter
ParticipantWill an Optimus robot be able to build and repair an Optimus robot? If not it may require billions of humans to build and keep 20 billion Optimus robots running.
February 19, 2026 at 5:47 pm #231219zerosum
ParticipantToo many people “cross their fingers behind their back” when they say: “we seek peace”.
First meeting of US-led Board of Peace
February 19, 2026 at 5:52 pm #231220zerosum
ParticipantAttack Iran and oil –>+$ UNAFORDABLE for me.
February 19, 2026 at 9:26 pm #231221kultsommer
ParticipantSwiss announcer true Olympic winner.
I love this guy.
Chifuts running the worst bob sled that I’ve ever seen.February 19, 2026 at 9:45 pm #231222Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 10:00 pm #231223Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 10:17 pm #231224Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 10:39 pm #231225WES
ParticipantMoA:
The most important part of MoA comments comes at the end.
Suppose Trump truely feels he can no longer win the mid-term elections and avoid impeachment?
If so, what triggered this reassessment?
I would point to the RINOs who recently crossed the floor to vote with the Democrats to defund HLS and ICE.
The interesting thing about such a supposed change regarding the mid-term elections is that it frees up Trump’s hands and might possibly drive him hard into Israel’s arms.
So what message were these RINOs clearly trying to send Trump?
I really don’t know.
I guess we will just have to sit tight and wait to see what happens, or doesn’t happen.
Lucy, Charles Brown, and the football.February 19, 2026 at 10:50 pm #231226Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 10:55 pm #231227Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 10:55 pm #231228WES
ParticipantIran:
Iran doesn’t need to militarily close the straits with sea mines.
It merely has to jack up shipping insurance rates, to close the straits!
Lloyd’s of London will do the rest!February 19, 2026 at 11:15 pm #231229Michael Reid
ParticipantFebruary 19, 2026 at 11:33 pm #231230zerosum
ParticipantIsrael is the one deciding if the US goes to war against Iran, (falseflag).
February 19, 2026 at 11:55 pm #231231Michael Reid
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