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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 15, 2026

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Iran has hit far more U.S. military assets than reported, satellite images show

The Washington Post, May 7, 2026

*The End of the American Way of War?

“The Iran war has called into question the feasibility of the American way of war. For decades, the United States has premised its national strategy on the ability to fight using forces forward deployed close to enemy territory”

The Brookings Institute

Anon, this stuff is literally all just in the news, it’s just that no one is paying attending. Almost every major US base in the Persian Gulf has sustain serious damage (article 1) to the point that the military is concerned that they won’t be able to effectively forward deploy to the Middle East anymore (article 2). That’s just two articles I was able to find with five minutes on Google. There’s hundreds like this.

The Iran missile stockpile:

U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities

“Secret new assessments say Iran has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting that its military remains far stronger than President Trump has asserted.”

The New York Times, May 12, 2026

The IAF thing:

Ramat David Airbase hit by missile fragment during Sunday's Iran escalation, IDF confirms to 'Post'

The Jerusalem Post, June 10, 2026

The article is currently claiming “minor damage” from a “missile fragment” but it was enough to cancel Israel’s planned 200 plane strike. Remember, this “minor damage” stuff was the party line we were hearing about the USS Gerald Ford for months.

And in any case, you are misapplying the rule to speak plainly. I’m not required to soooooooooource you just because you don’t like what I’m saying.

Those claims are rather different from your OP.

If you genuinely believe what you are saying, no, the rules don't require you to cite sources for your belief that the moon is made of cheese, or lizard people are running the world (though it is reasonable for people to ask for sources). However, I remain skeptical that you were being sincere in your claims that US military bases have been glassed and the IAF has been destroyed on the runway.

However, I remain skeptical that you were being sincere in your claims that US military bases have been glassed and the IAF has been destroyed on the runway.

You might disagree on the degree. But look at the communications coming from Trump, Vance, Rubio, Netanyahu and Ben Givr. Does it sound like things are going really well to you? My version of events matches the chatter a lot better than the one where Iran is collapsing in two weeks.

You might disagree on the degree.

Yes.

The degree of difference between "The US and Israeli militaries have taken more damage than is being reported" and "The US and Israeli militaries have been all but wiped out" is.... significant.

Aircraft carriers totaled, the entire IAF destroyed on the runway, multiple US military bases "glassed" (was this meant to imply that Iran literally nuked them, or was it just hyperbole?)... that is rather different than "Some missiles did more damage than they are admitting."

You claimed the first, then fell back to the latter when pressed.

Rarely has a more textbook case of Motte-and-Bailey been displayed here on the Motte.

I don’t think it’s unfair to call a base that’s been hit by so many missiles that it’s basically rubble and can’t be used anymore “glassed”. You are latching on to an at most slightly hyperbolic term.

  • -10

You claimed the following:

Burgerland and Israel got their assess kicked

The “laundry fire” on the Gerald R. Ford was so bad that there are now serious concerns the ship will never sail again.

Basically every American base in the Middle East has been glassed.

The final kicker was when most of IAF got unexpectedly blown up on the runway a few days ago.

You are now claiming that a base "has been hit by so many missiles it's basically rubble."

Even assuming that last claim is true (notwithstanding your refusal to provide evidence beyond vibes for anything you have claimed), you are absolutely motte-and-baileying. One wrecked base (which probably does not exist) turning into "all American bases in the Middle East glassed, the IAF destroyed, the Gerald Ford totaled" is not "slightly hyperbolic."

It’s not one base. The lowest mainstream media numbers are 250 separate impacts (and these are one to two thousand kilogram warheads) over at least 16 different facilities in the Middle East. I don’t mean to be a jerk, but you’ve clearly read very little of even just the basic media coverage about this.

I don’t mean to be a jerk

Well, it's hard to think of a more polite way to describe what you're doing here. While your numbers and anecdotes keep changing, you still have not provided any credible evidence for all US bases in the Middle East being glassed (even if your definition of "glassed" turns out to be "took some damage"), an aircraft carrier being totaled, and the IAF being wiped out.

Yeah well flashing your cop lights at me just because you disagree isn’t that nice either.

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