Is it conceivable that no reporter actually has an accurate handle on stockpiles? It is easy to say they sure are shooting off a bunch of arty but to make the leap of we are way short of shells is a different matter. So in a nutshell, I’m saying it’s quite possible that actual hard numbers, numbers expended, and numbers remaining is classified and ANY media is at best making a guess.

You were in the military. Do remember stacks of memos available open source that had inventories? I don’t.

The media wants this war over and any negative press that sticks to President Trump is a win. So yes, I didn’t believe them then and I don’t believe them now. Without credible sources.

I also find it much more likely that the shitshow that was the DOD under Biden and Lloyd Austin might have dug too deeply into reserves without concern. Those two bozos just might have been that stupid. I don’t think this administration is stupid. At all.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Based on the countless posts here bitching about the NYT, CNN, and many other sources of their ilk, I can only believe that a lot of people follow them for some reason.

Speaking for myself only, just because I bitch about them frequently does not translate to me “following” them. At all. You can still catch their garbage here and there all over the internet. To me, “follow” means you read them daily religiously, like “subscribe”, which is the last thing I would do.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
You can still catch their garbage here and there all over the internet.

And yet for some strange reason, I do not catch their BS anywhere except here when someone decides that the other members need to know something that they picked up for whatever justification they had for doing so. I do my best to avoid or at least ignore such posts, but some get through my filter, at least to the degree that I recognize that a complaint is being made about them.

quote:

I do not catch their BS anywhere except here

So you believe these media are objective and have no ax to grind against this administration?

Or, am I misunderstanding you? That you know their BS but only see them on here and nowhere else?

Whenever I’m on the road I read the news from my phone. Apple News I believe it’s called. All those sources you mentioned are prominently reposted there. I’m not sure where you read articles but it’s not hard to read those newspapers without ever coming close to trying to read those newspapers.

Honestly I don’t trust any news source. I read them and if it’s worthy of repeating or considering I try to find the same storyline from multiple sources and preferably the actual transcripts of what was said. You usually find a different narrative than the msm version.

If it doesn’t rise to that level then it’s just infotainment. Maybe true maybe not but either way not worthy of really exploring.

If you spend any time in airports, CNN is all you see. Same at news stands. Go to any news conglomeration/aggregator site, you will see all of them there. Even the most conservative of them (Citizen Free Press, the new Drudge Report type site).

If you go looking for news about anything, every search engine pulls those sites as well.

I heard that Iran's population is 93 million, and 10% of the population are hard liners who support the worst and most ruthless of the country's various clerics, militaries, and police forces. I'm no fool, and would guess that 100% of the people in those jobs are from that same 10% of the hard liner supporting population. Imagine the job interview: "Do you love the Ayatollah and would you slit the throat of every Israeli and Christian you could possibly get your hands ?" "Yes sir, absolutely I would, did you see my tattoo?". "No that won't be necessary, you're hired".

I would hazard to guess that's why it's hard for the better citizens of Iran to rise up and take over, you're dead before the first secret meeting. I'd guess it's the same situation in any of the most horrible places to live on the planet, like the UK, PRC, and the like. You get dead dead before you ever get started.

An oversimplification I'm sure, but I'd bet that's pretty close to the basic situation for lack of a better term.

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I'd guess it's the same situation in any of the most horrible places to live on the planet, like the UK, PRC, and the like.

The UK isn't quite Iran... yet.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
That you know their BS but only see them on here and nowhere else?

That. And if someone cannot avoid or ignore the things they claim to hate, my condolences. I can’t avoid eating desserts, but at least I do not claim to hate them.

Iran International and Radio Farda-- both outside-Iran "diaspora" outlets-- are reporting an almost total breakdown between the IRGC and Artesh (the "regular Army.")
- Medical staff in Tehran and Isfahan confirm that IRGC-controlled hospitals are strictly enforcing a "Revolutionary Only" policy. Conscripts from the Artesh are being turned away, leading to reports of Artesh commanders using their own security details to "requisition" blood supplies and medicine from IRGC convoys.
- Reports from the western borders suggest Artesh units are operating on "emergency rations" of ammunition—cited as fewer than 20 rounds per soldier—while IRGC missile and drone units continue to receive priority for technical parts and fuel.
- Following the confirmed destruction of the Supreme Leader’s aircraft at Mehrabad Airport, the IRGC reportedly blamed "Artesh security lapses" at the base, leading to the arrest of several high-ranking regular air force officers by IRGC Intelligence.

This is what an unarmed populace looks like. They lack to "tools" to take down the IRGC (which is receiving the brunt of coalition attention) and the Artesh (who the regime/IRGC have never actually trusted) who DO still have weaponry are having to do "creative quartermastering" to stay in the game. If there's a chance for the regime to actually be taken down, it'll be by Artesh and Kurdish fighters infiltrating from Iraq.

The citizenry isn't lacking in balls, as evidenced by the 20K or so executed by the regime since December for protesting. But it's snowballs against tanks until the Artesh flips wholesale.

IRGC isn't giving up. There's nothing for them "after the Revolution."

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IRGC isn't giving up. There's nothing for them "after the Revolution."

That is true. They have to be completely defeated.

Why not do as we did in WW2 and air drop thousands or more, Liberator type pistols loaded with 9mm ammo and extra rounds packed into the container the pistol came with?

It could give the people enough gun to ambush the Police or Army to gain better weapons to do battle with.

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There's nothing for them "after the Revolution."

They would become like some French, who had become German collaborators, after the War.

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air drop thousands or more, Liberator type pistols

How long would it take to make these "thousands, or more" pistols? All this will probably be over with before a contract could get signed.

I wonder if Mosad vacations in the great white north?

Last Update March 17, 2026, 7:17 AM EDT

Top Iranian leaders Ali Larijani, Gholamreza Soleimani killed in strikes, Israel says
Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, and the head of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij militia, Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, were both killed in overnight strikes in new blows to the country’s leadership, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday. Meanwhile, Tehran has launched more missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel.



Top Iranian official Ali Larijani, and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani were both killed overnight, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Larijani was targeted in an Israeli strike, a senior Israeli Official told Fox News.

And multiple Basij figures were targeted in an effort involving the U.S. and Israel, according to a senior Israeli official.

“Over a dozen Basij officials were targeted in Iran last night in different strikes, including the head of the Basij forces Gholamreza Soleimani. This was a joint U.S. and Israeli effort,” the official noted. "A strike in Tehran targeted the Basij commander and around a dozen others, including the most senior figures in the Basij forces—people with a lot of blood on their hands."

The killings come more than two weeks into the war effort against the Islamic Republic being waged by the U.S. and Israel.

These are headlines from pieces published in The Wall Street Journal just yesterday and today.

On Iran, Is Only Bad News Fit to Print? Media partisanship has been worse than ever in this war.

The Real Nuclear History of Iran. The regime never stopped seeking a weapon, and Obama’s deal didn’t end its pursuit.

Why Did Trump Order an Attack on Iran’s Kharg Island? The depot is the beating heart of the Iranian oil industry, storing and loading most of its crude exports.

Iran Will Define Trump’s Legacy. He has a strong case to make, but if he backs down, the costs will be profound.

The Battle for the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is giving Trump and Israel a reason to keep weakening the regime.

How to Keep Up the Economic Pressure Against Iran. If the shooting stops and the regime is still in power, the U.S. can still strike at its financial lifeline.

Those articles are hardly support for the notion that the news reporting businesses are all 100% against the Iran war. The WSJ has had plenty of things to criticize about President Trump’s actions, and isn’t subject to the cultish Trump Deification Syndrome, but neither is it in lockstep against everything he does, including trying to end Iran’s war against the US and the rest of the West.

quote:

Those articles are hardly support for the notion that the news reporting businesses are all 100% against the Iran war. The WSJ has had plenty of things to criticize about President Trump’s actions, and isn’t subject to the cultish Trump Deification Syndrome, but neither is it in lockstep against everything he does, including trying to end Iran’s war against the US and the rest of the West.

I'm not sure where you get that "notion". I might have missed it, but has anyone on here said so? Pretty sure everyone here already knows the WSJ has had articles both for and against Trump.

Kinda like the last part of the 220 yard dash, turn up the heat now.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
I'm not sure where you get that "notion". I might have missed it, but has anyone on here said so?

Although I doubt it is the only such opinion, I was responding to this, page 30:

quote:

From the start the media has been 100% against this war.

The reason for my post was to inform those who may not be aware of the fact that there are other news sources besides the NYT and CNN that seem to be so popular. Do I agree with everything the WSJ has to say? No. But to repeat a question I posed earlier, how informed can we possibly be if we assume that everything that is reported by the media is false and therefore not worthy of paying any attention to?