James
@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social
Uphold Thucydidian-Clausewitzian-Hegelian-Fukuyamist thought. https://othermeans.substack.com/
The Trump White House now must choose: 1) Bigger humiliation than last time, accepting Iran in control of Hormuz and charging tolls, the very thing the US attacked last month to prevent 2) Escalation of uncertain outcome with no strategy and despite depleted stockpiles
Iran and Oman have reportedly agreed that all ships transiting Hormuz have to go through an Iran-controlled corridor, and are finalizing tolls of 3, 5, or 7%. This would close off the path outside Iranian waters the US encouraged ships to use during the MOU, then started bombing again to keep open.
Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic, sources say
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters, in one of th...
reuters.com
A large missile attack on Kyiv has just taken place, with reports of up to nearly 3 dozen missiles being used, including a number of North Korean supplied KN-23s, also known as Hwasong-11a
It’s pretty clear that’s not what happened at all and this is like the 3rd different outlet I’ve seen saying as much
Rev. Poppy Haze 𓅋@poppyhaze.bsky.social · 24h agoSo the US military killed everyone on a medevac plane by testing a GPS weapon. futurism.com/science-ener...
>makes threat >doesn’t follow through >signals weakness >makes threat >doesn’t follow through >signals weakness >makes threat >doesn’t follow through >signals weakness
Aged like some bad swill
Aron Lund@aronlund.bsky.social · yesterdayIran has now gobbled up nearly all U.S. ATACMS and PrSM ballistic missiles, plus half of Tomahawk cruise missiles and a very considerable share of the THAAD and Patriot interceptors, sources tell @reuters.com’s Erin Banco, Jonathan Landay, and Michael Stone. www.reuters.com/world/us-has...
A Russian FPV drone deliberately targeted a civilian food vendor at a market in Kherson. The 52-year-old man suffered blast trauma, shrapnel wounds and concussion. This is part of what Ukrainians call Russia's "human safari" terror campaign targeting Kherson residents. #Ukraine
www.newyorker.com/news/the-pol... Why would the New Yorker do a soft focus "Platner holds uneasy mirror up to America's veteran problem" while ignoring his PMC time? Seems like an important piece of his puzzle not shared by the vast, vast majority of the combat veteran community.
The Complications of Graham Platner’s Veteran Identity
How much of Graham Platner’s behavior should be read through the lens of what combat did to him, and how much of it is simply who he is, independent of war?
newyorker.com
“There's an old saying in Clausewitz—I know it's in Jomini, probably in Clausewitz—that strategy is the use of battles for... for... battles get you the thing you want.”
James@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 2d agoIt's like what that German guy always used to say. Sustained kinetic strikes in lieu of a cessation in hostilities are negotiations by other means
I hashed out my thoughts on this elsewhere, but broadly half of these answers are right, and I agree with most of the criticisms, but some of it is silly. Also, so many of these fucking issues go back to the Reformers and their stupid crap about maneuver warfare. smallwarsjournal.com/2026/07/13/m...
Maneuvering to Obsolescence: The Death Ride of the Armor Branch
The U.S. Army Armor Branch faces institutional decline unless it embraces reform, innovation, and the realities of modern warfare.
smallwarsjournal.com
POV: You’re a JSOC operator in Tehran who just heard the NYSE opening bell
Secretary of Defense Rock@sodrock.bsky.social · 2d agoStill wild to me we’re literally fighting a war entirely outside of trading hours
“Fuck it, Ayatollah’s down there somewhere” —Charlie van Mouskewitz or whatever his name was, idk i ran out of tokens and couldn’t ask Claude for the summary
It's like what that German guy always used to say. Sustained kinetic strikes in lieu of a cessation in hostilities are negotiations by other means
What. They were begging for a ceasefire. How could this happen
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2d agoIran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out an attack on a US base in Kuwait using three drones, according to a source familiar with the matter.-i24 News
I think in one sense I agree, but I think it's probably worth noting that paramilitary sub-state violence has a tendency to tilt toward escalatory non-discriminatory violence as people seek to eliminate any potential security rivals. So I think it's fair enough to call for cooler heads to prevail.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 4d agoI think today's liberals in the US are used to a social environment where pogroms are rare and don't realize the role armed self defense plays in that state of affairs www.history.com/articles/red...
DOD is not letting trans service members attend their own separation hearings unless they conform with Whiskey Pete's notion of their gender. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...
Next up: CENTCOM to establish JWICS podcast, will "be really unconventional" and a "must listen" says J-3 staffer who organized it
Ian TB@iantb.bsky.social · 2d agoWell, crowdsourcing a war plan is certainly a first: www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/p...
Life as a J2 when you just completely give up and start crowdsourcing response options from random E4s
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2d agoA senior officer in US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) intelligence branch emailed a broad group of military analysts seeking “new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran.” A second source indicated a similar request went out the prior week.
This war is now a Teams meeting.
It’s prob not possible to conceive of how much Washington would hate Trump
Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d agoGood to know after a tough weekend on the golf course the president is back at work laser focused on improving the lives of Americans by resuming his deranged AI marathon.
Still can’t over the fact that the president of the United States just told an entire state to pound sand after getting cyberattacked by a foreign adversary because they didn’t vote for him and it was treated like a Tuesday lol
