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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2726 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Do you think that someone smart in the Pentagon (and Tel Aviv) has spent the last 6 months developing new doctrine about how to break an enemy only from the air and we will see it introduced when the fireworks start again? Do you think that there will be fireworks again too?

If they couldn't figure it out in the last 100 years why would I expect them to have figured it out in the last 6 months?

I’m not convinced that it’s possible to just win an arial war. There’s no real way to force a victory unless you have total control over the territory and that either requires Hiroshima or substantial boots on the ground. The Iranians can simply bury or hide anything or anyone they care about, and often deep enough that only a nuke can destroy them.

The problem is the will to do those things. The heavy casualties that come with an invasion are politically untenable— we had significant backlash against Iraq when our losses reached 1000 total. And nukes are effectively off the table because again the political backlash would be severe. So we just drop bombs on some targets and pretend we’re winning.

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