Iran ; explosions across Tehran following Israeli and US strikes, 28 February 2026

[CrimeDawg123]

My son is currently there, so I don't have to imagine. There are plenty of sons and daughters "left" and they are giving it their all right now. Many heroes who are bravely defending American and ally bases and civilians in the middle east from Iran's missiles and one way attack drones. He's currently shooting down missiles that Iran is firing and he's very much in harm's way.

I understand exactly what the President said. He didn't sound gleeful to me. It sounds like he believes in this mission and when asked if he would put boots on the ground, if he said no and then at some point down the road that was needed, he would be shredded for lying. So, he responds that if that is what was needed it's not off the table. IMO

Are there women still in US combat roles? I thought that was DEI and eliminated.

 

[Jade]

T

This has nothing to do with how war is waged in theater, and how combat decisions are made and carried out.

War? I thought this was a military operation. Some strikes to get them in line and a regime change?

That sounds dangerous if the directives of the President and the Secretary of War are not followed.

Trump and Hegseth they are the ones giving the directives.

All Department of War components will adhere to the guidance and direction enclosed.

https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/23/2003864773/-1/-1/0/2026-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY.PDF

all imo

 

[justtrish]

Are there women still in US combat roles? I thought that was DEI and eliminated.

Yes.

 

[MassGuy]

War? I thought this was a military operation. Some strikes to get them in line and a regime change?

That sounds dangerous if the directives of the President and the Secretary of War are not followed.

Trump and Hegseth they are the ones giving the directives.

All Department of War components will adhere to the guidance and direction enclosed.

https://media.defense.gov/2026/Jan/23/2003864773/-1/-1/0/2026-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY.PDF

all imo

That is a guidance document that defines the administration's worldview, prioritizes threats, and sets broad goals for force posture. It is NOT an operational plan, that assigns missions, targets, or who is in charge of what.

It's overall policy, it does not change the decision tree or change anything in regard to operational control and decision making.

 

[NoSpoonFeeding]

Says from NBC news...

Based on NBC News reporting and related coverage, Trump is relying on a small, tight circle of advisors regarding Iran, focusing on direct military action while sidelining others.
View attachment 649615NBC News +3

Interesting to leave out the date. Let's at least tell all the opinions given in the story, instead of just your interpretation. Sounds like in June 2025, this course of intelligence and information gathering was productive and it is quite standard. If you don't have the background or education to understand how military decisions are made, perhaps it's not possible to see the how the process works. MOO

From the article:
"At the same time, another senior administration official said, Trump has been crowdsourcigwith an array of allies outside the White House and in his administration about whether they think he should greenlight strikes in Iran — a question that has divided his core supporters.

Despite routinely asking a broader group of people what they think he should do, Trump tends to make many decisions with just a handful of administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also the interim national security adviser, the senior administration official said. Trump also leans on his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, when he weighs decisions that fall under his portfolio, the official said.

As he decides whether to directly involve the United States in a war with Iran, Trump has expanded his circle in some ways while shrinking it in others.

 

[MassGuy]

Are there women still in US combat roles? I thought that was DEI and eliminated.

Yes. Including this absolute badass.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028577039293272315

 

[PrairieWind]

Are there women still in US combat roles? I thought that was DEI and eliminated.

There are plenty of women in combat positions in the US military.

 

[Magic8Ball]

We can see the success with our own eyes, and through media reports. It is not in dispute that dozens of leaders are dead, countless missile stockpiles have been destroyed, dozens of launchers have been taken out, and the Iranian Navy has been decimated.

As for aground invasion, it is not feasible. Analysts say it would require 1.6 million troops, which is 30-40 times what is currently there. It would take many months to assemble something like that, and there is zero political will for it.

Any ground troops would almost certainly be special forces, demolishing facilities that cannot be taken out by air.

This is 100% speculation and opinion only, but I think any boots on the ground will be Israeli, not US forces.

It just makes the most sense. They're clearly already well-embedded in Iran.

Mossad is in charge of the IR's counterintelligence unit to ferret out Mossad operations.

I mean. Really.

 

[Sundog]

Oil prices about to America First

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/03/01/war-in-iran-could-cause-the-biggest-oil-shock-in-years

Another reason to move forward with making the U.S. energy independent. In the meantime, this will likely be a short-term problem for a long-term gain which is a safer world and the freedom of the Iranian people.

 

[Seni]

MOO, this makes me so very sad. Where are these displaced people supposed to go? MOO

OT. I returned to Lebanon in 94 to do an evaluation (environment projects for EU). The drive from the airport to Beirut was eery, so many partially destroyed buildings, no walls, with families living on different floors. Then past several Armenian and Palestinian refugee camps. Stalls along the roadside selling items, beautiful handcrafts, especially those made by the Armenians.

Centre of Beirut very elegant, altho much damage. Still quite a lot of tourism, mix of languages and people.

Going north, the famous Cedar forest was a sorry sight, not as a result of conflict but because of the extent of grazing by mountain goats and total lack of maintenance.

Already at this time, Lebanon was under the control of the Syrian army. Many roadblocks, check points.

I did manage to visit Byblos and the temple in Baalbeek. Miraculously unaffected by bombing at that time and magical places.

Hopital St Joseph in Hasmieh where I was born took some hits but I think has been restored.

That was a long time ago. I often wonder how on earth the population is coping after so many years of more or less constant bombardment.

 

[otto]

Is the US-Israel war against Iran revenge, imminent threat, prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, regime change? No one seems to know the answer, not even the US government.

"The tone of Hegseth's press conference was harsh; at times he seemed very irritated by media questions. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer simple questions. This was especially true regarding ground troops, but he didn't rule it out.

The duration of the operation remained uncertain. It wouldn't last 20 years, nor would it be a never-ending war. But it wouldn't be over overnight either, was Hegseth's message.
...

The arguments for launching a war against Iran now have also been barely clarified. Hegseth calls it revenge, retaliation for decades of aggression and terrorism by the Iranian regime. According to Trump, there was an imminent threat, thus sufficient reason to take action now.

VS vaag over hoe ver het wil gaan in oorlog tegen Iran, maar 'dit is geen Irak'

President Trump heeft eerder wel gezegd dat de aanvallen van de VS en Israël gericht zijn op het verjagen van het regime. Volgens Hegseth is dat regime met de dood van Khamenei al veranderd, maar is 'regime change' niet het einddoel.

nos.nl

 

[Lebowski]

Is the US-Israel war against Iran revenge, imminent threat, prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, regime change? No one seems to know the answer, not even the US government.

"The tone of Hegseth's press conference was harsh; at times he seemed very irritated by media questions. He was unwilling, or unable, to answer simple questions. This was especially true regarding ground troops, but he didn't rule it out.

The duration of the operation remained uncertain. It wouldn't last 20 years, nor would it be a never-ending war. But it wouldn't be over overnight either, was Hegseth's message.
...

The arguments for launching a war against Iran now have also been barely clarified. Hegseth calls it revenge, retaliation for decades of aggression and terrorism by the Iranian regime. According to Trump, there was an imminent threat, thus sufficient reason to take action now.

VS vaag over hoe ver het wil gaan in oorlog tegen Iran, maar 'dit is geen Irak'

President Trump heeft eerder wel gezegd dat de aanvallen van de VS en Israël gericht zijn op het verjagen van het regime. Volgens Hegseth is dat regime met de dood van Khamenei al veranderd, maar is 'regime change' niet het einddoel.

nos.nl

bbm

"what is the purpose?" and "will we send ground troops?" are questions a secretary of defense should have no problem with. almost as if the O-4 reservist turned foxnews weekend guy was not prepared for this job.

 

[PrairieWind]

Yes
He cut 20% of 4 star generals
A purge of over a dozen top leaders including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the vice chief head of Global strike command and the Air Force Special ops command as an example
I highly doubt he has any respect an it’s well known he had no experience

The reality is that President Obama fired far more admirals and generals in his administration. Including those at SAC and 7th Fleet.

 

[Magic8Ball]

Are there women still in US combat roles? I thought that was DEI and eliminated.

Yes, women are in combat roles.
They've just made the fitness standards gender-neutral.
Women need to be able to hump the same pack as men.

Marines moving to gender-neutral Physical Fitness Test for combat jobs

Combat roles in the Marines have had gender-neutral requirements since 2015. A new policy extends that rule to fitness test scores.

taskandpurpose.com

Snipped from article:
“Since 2015, Marines seeking a combat arms MOS have conducted sex-neutral occupational fitness testing, which is assessed using MOS-specific physical standards (MSPS) evaluations,” Infante said. “The evaluated events and standards are based on physical tasks required by the job and ensure all combat arms Marines meet the same sex-neutral, occupation-specific, and operationally relevant physical standards.”

The Army announced earlier this year that it would require male and female soldiers in combat arms jobs to meet “sex-neutral” fitness standards.

In September, Hegseth told a large crowd of generals and admirals that all troops in combat arms jobs would be held to “the highest male standard only.”

“When it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender neutral,” Hegseth said. “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent. But it could be the result. So be it.”


So female American pilots like the one who got shot down in Kuwait are being held to the same standard as the male pilots.

JMO.