Drones, restrooms and flight decks

It seems that Trump is now trying to take the money and run. He’s now asking Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, and it seems he’s now flailing around trying to get something, anything, to get the US voter to feel that the war has been worth it. And if he can get Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel, he would have something to take home.

That would allow him to concede that Iran could do what it wanted, not allow Reza Cyrus Pehlavi back as Shahinshah. Its opposition of Israel could be overlooked, because now you would have a lot of Muslim countries deciding on recognition, not because Israel is so nice, but because Saudi Arabia carries a lot of weight.

Take Pakistan. The government is already champing at the bit to recognize Israel, because it would draw us closer to the USA. Also, it would follow suit with India, which recognized Israel in 1960, but established relations only in 1992. However, recognition would allow us to plead the Kashmir cause in Tel Aviv.

The war, meanwhile, grinds on. The problem is that neither the USA nor Iran can deliver a knockout blow. I’m sure Iran would like to send troops into Washington, as much as the USA would like to put troops in Tehran, but neither is happening. The USA has ordered a Marine Expeditionary Unit from Japan into the Middle East, while the 82nd Airborne Division has also been ordered in, but it’s not clear where they would go. If they went into any of the bases in the Gulf countries, there would be a lot of drones and missiles in their direction. And though the 82nd exists to execute paradrops, I’d hate to have them paradropping over Tehran. It would probably be as big a disaster as Arnhem in 1944. Worse perhaps.

The problem with paradrops is that paratroopers are at their most vulnerable in the air (defenders need not hit them; just their parachutes), but that is also when air cover is impossible without friendly-fire casualties. Just imagine a fighter having to engage with a machinegun on the ground, with a couple of hundred of parachutists in the way.

Anyway, the USS Gerald R. Ford went back to Crete for repairs and resupply. Iran claimed that it was because it had been hit by a drone. In fact, even if it hadn’t been hit, the claim showed how vulnerable carriers are. Even the possibility of one being hit was going to be a triumph for the other side.

The Ford went back for resupply of food, fuel and arms. There had been a fire in a laundry room, which supports the drone-hit theory, but irrespective of that meant that crew members would have risked going around in grubby whites, something which would be unthinkable in any navy, not just the US Navy.

There was also the report that the restrooms were clogged, leading to the forming of long lines outside them. Think of all of those pilots who were late bombing Isfahan because they were outside a restroom, shuffling restlessly from one foot to the other. I hope any bright spark using the sea as a convenient, if distant, john, went only number one. Anyone going number two would risk splattering the side of the carrier. Of course, anyone using the flight deck could be reasonably sure of hitting the ocean, but I don’t think that is what carrier flight decks are meant for.

Of course, one must give credit where credit is due, and one must admire the meaningless madness of the Israelis. They’re in a war with Iran, and they’re in a fight with Lebanon too (and that’s a war they’re pursuing alone). Yet they’ve not stopped pounding the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, whom they’re still bombing, even though there’s supposed to be a ceasefire in place.

I’ve noticed the Iranian affection for the letter ‘H’. After all, their allies are Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah. That might mean the Iranians are self-haters. After all, both Israel and Iran begin with an ‘I’. And they don’t like Israel. Maybe they should go back to calling themselves Persians. And that would align them with Pakistan.