"No More Wars" Trump Requesting a Record Defense Budget: $1.5 TRILLION in FY2026

mark46 · Tuesday at 7:40 PM

wing2000 said:
Obama was referring to the retrofitting of Coal fired power plants that would increase operating cost. Trump's war led to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz - an event that has been far more impactful on the global economy (not just higher energy prices for a limited group of U.S. consumers). Once more, Trump is now subsidizing a dying coal industry to the tune of 625 Million (our tax dollars.)..but I digress.

Energy Department Announces $625 Million Investment to Reinvigorate and Expand America’s Coal Industry

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced a $625 million investment to expand and reinvigorate America’s coal industry, aiming to boost energy production and support coal communities nationwide.

www.energy.gov

Back to my main question:

What counts as as success?
1) The Iranian Regime is still in place.
2) Iran's nuclear program remains in place.

Believe as you will. Iran's nuclear program is NOT in place, certainly not to the degree that it was when Trump took office.

Last June, Trump and Israel crippled the nuclear program for a decade. He did much to finish the job in the last three months. Wanting this to be part of legacy, he wants to make sure that future presidents couldn't undo what he is doing. Of course, this is ironic. It is Obama who didn't go to Congress and get his actions approved.

While Trump didn't eliminate their missiles and drones, he certainly greatly degraded the programs, destroying factories and killing scientists. Since Trump has been in office, the proxies (other than the Houti) have also been greatly weakened.

Trump is the worst president in the history of the US with regard to democracy, corruption and domestic issues. There really is no contest.

HOWEVER, the world is better off for many things he has done with regard to military actions, including helping some conflicts (e.g. India-Pakistan) and the Abraham Accords.

Nithavela · Tuesday at 7:58 PM

mark46 said:
Believe as you will. Iran's nuclear program is NOT in place, certainly not to the degree that it was when Trump took office.

Last June, Trump and Israel crippled the nuclear program for a decade. He did much to finish the job in the last three months. Wanting this to be part of legacy, he wants to make sure that future presidents couldn't undo what he is doing. Of course, this is ironic. It is Obama who didn't go to Congress and get his actions approved.

While Trump didn't eliminate their missiles and drones, he certainly greatly degraded the programs, destroying factories and killing scientists. Since Trump has been in office, the proxies (other than the Houti) have also been greatly weakened.

Trump is the worst president in the history of the US with regard to democracy, corruption and domestic issues. There really is no contest.

HOWEVER, the world is better off for many things he has done with regard to military actions, including helping some conflicts (e.g. India-Pakistan) and the Abraham Accords.

The thing is, Iran no longer needs a nuclear weapon. With their stranglehold on the straight of Hormus, they have a weapon that is far more potent and at the same time can be deployed without the entire world turning against them.

They defeated the USA in record time. Usually the USA needs at least a couple of years before they realise they've lost the war they started. This one didn't even last half a year, and the only reason it lasted that long is because the oil reserves were depleted. (by the way, have fun funding the refill, both directly and by continuing to pay high prices at the pump due to the increased demand)

mark46 · Tuesday at 9:39 PM

Nithavela said:
The thing is, Iran no longer needs a nuclear weapon. With their stranglehold on the straight of Hormus, they have a weapon that is far more potent and at the same time can be deployed without the entire world turning against them.

They defeated the USA in record time. Usually the USA needs at least a couple of years before they realise they've lost the war they started. This one didn't even last half a year, and the only reason it lasted that long is because the oil reserves were depleted. (by the way, have fun funding the refill, both directly and by continuing to pay high prices at the pump due to the increased demand)

There is much still to be done with regard to the nuclear threat from Iran, but make no mistake. We are better off than we were the day Obama left office.

Much has been accomplished in the June 2025 and in the current military actions.

The straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb have been choke points threats by Iran and their proxies for decades. The two are almost equal in the amount of commerce that can be disrupted. Analysts have understood this for decades. Making believe that this is something new is simply poor analysis.

Israel sees lots and lots of threats from Iran. That has been greatly reduced over the past couple of years but will continue. I expect that will attack again in a couple of years. We may join their next effort or not, depending on the status of long-ter missile development.

With regard to US, the threat of Iran is its nuclear capabilities, especially when added to the increasing threat of long-term missiles development. Much of the long-range missile infrastructure has been destroyed. Their progress in missile development is likely to be delayed for a few years.

mark46 · Tuesday at 9:57 PM

Nithavela said:
The thing is, Iran no longer needs a nuclear weapon. With their stranglehold on the straight of Hormus, they have a weapon that is far more potent and at the same time can be deployed without the entire world turning against them.

They defeated the USA in record time. Usually the USA needs at least a couple of years before they realise they've lost the war they started. This one didn't even last half a year, and the only reason it lasted that long is because the oil reserves were depleted. (by the way, have fun funding the refill, both directly and by continuing to pay high prices at the pump due to the increased demand)

I think that there is too much focus on oil and gas. For the US and China, oil supply is not a crucial driver their economies.

he US has chosen its path. We will develop more of the largest reserve fields in the world, increase the number of new projects, and even use coal more (after Trump, perhaps using more clean coal technology). Of course, it will likely import lots of electric vehicles from China.

China will use many more electric vehicles and continue to use coal. China will continue to import oil from Russia, keep the Russian economy afloat. China could, as needed, import from the US. Of course, it will continue to maintain huge reserves.
=============
This crisis should be another wake-up call for those who import huge amounts of energy, primarily Europe, Africa, and Asia (other than China and Russia).

For better or worse, South America will continue to be dependent on North America (and Venezuela), as it is for so many things. The Americas have huge surplus and reserves.

Bradskii · Tuesday at 9:59 PM

mark46 said:
There is much still to be done with regard to the nuclear threat from Iran, but make no mistake. We are better off than we were the day Obama left office.

Much has been accomplished in the June 2025 and in the current military actions.

Are you intentionally avoiding all the facts that have been presented?

When Obama left office there was an agreement, with which Iran was complying, that prevented them developing even the matrials for a nuke. Trump abandoned that agreement.

Why are you ignoring that? Trump essentially ripping it up allowed Iran to start processing uranium again in order to build a nuke. Which has prompted this unholy mess.

Trump has made a complete fool of himself and has caused thousands of deaths and cost the US and many other countries billions of dollars. And what has he got for it? A memorandum of understanding. Which he'll try to use to get back to a position which at best will be well short of where we were before this complete failure of a president was elected.

Vylo · Tuesday at 10:04 PM

mark46 said:
There is much still to be done with regard to the nuclear threat from Iran, but make no mistake. We are better off than we were the day Obama left office.

Much has been accomplished in the June 2025 and in the current military actions.

The straits of Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb have been choke points threats by Iran and their proxies for decades. The two are almost equal in the amount of commerce that can be disrupted. Analysts have understood this for decades. Making believe that this is something new is simply poor analysis.

Israel sees lots and lots of threats from Iran. That has been greatly reduced over the past couple of years but will continue. I expect that will attack again in a couple of years. We may join their next effort or not, depending on the status of long-ter missile development.

With regard to US, the threat of Iran is its nuclear capabilities, especially when added to the increasing threat of long-term missiles development. Much of the long-range missile infrastructure has been destroyed. Their progress in missile development is likely to be delayed for a few years.

what..... when obama left office had a nuclear deal. Now we went to war with Iran and lost. That is infinitely worse. The threats have not been reduced, if anything they have increased. they still have a stockpile of enriched uranium, and they have every reason to make weapons from it. They have seen what happened to Libya and Ukraine.

mark46 · Tuesday at 10:10 PM

Bradskii said:
Are you intentionally avoiding all the facts that have been presented?

When Obama left office there was an agreement, with which Iran was complying, that prevented them developing even the matrials for a nuke. Trump abandoned that agreement.

Why are you ignoring that? Trump essentially ripping it up allowed Iran to start processing uranium again in order to build a nuke. Which has prompted this unholy mess.

Trump has made a complete fool of himself and has caused thousands of deaths and cost the US and many other countries billions of dollars. And what has he got for it? A memorandum of understanding. Which he'll try to use to get back to a position which at best will be well short of where we were before this complete failure of a president was elected.

Under Obama, even if all terms were followed, allowed a 10-year window during which Iran could not enrich at weapon levels. Meanwhile they focused on using the money given by Obama to attack its neighbors. Scientific research wasn't stopped. The development of long-term missiles and missile factories didn't stop. The development of drones and drone factories didn't stop. Iran's developing into a world power did NOT stop because they could have the ability to have a workable bomb for 10 years.

For those who believe that Iran would no longer be a threat after 10 years are simply Americans with our usual very short term view, at most two terms. Iran was able to wait, if they were paid enough, and if they had enough resources to carry on their plans wothout nuclear weapns for 10 years.

And, of course, it is just possible that Iran could develop ways to move much of their development deep underground, preparing for the time when the treaty was over.

The BOTTOM LINE is that Iran is weaker now than when Obama left office and will be even weaker by January 2029.

mark46 · Tuesday at 10:15 PM

Bradskii said:
Are you intentionally avoiding all the facts that have been presented?

When Obama left office there was an agreement, with which Iran was complying, that prevented them developing even the matrials for a nuke. Trump abandoned that agreement.

Why are you ignoring that? Trump essentially ripping it up allowed Iran to start processing uranium again in order to build a nuke. Which has prompted this unholy mess.

Trump has made a complete fool of himself and has caused thousands of deaths and cost the US and many other countries billions of dollars. And what has he got for it? A memorandum of understanding. Which he'll try to use to get back to a position which at best will be well short of where we were before this complete failure of a president was elected.

I would not have withdrawn from Obama's agreement.

Trump should have started to increase sanctions and other pressure relating to the missiles and support of proxies, those items not included in Obama's arrangement. He would should supported Israel in their efforts to degrade the strength proxies.

Under these circumstances, I don't know whether Iran would have continued to meet the teams of the agreement.

Vylo · Tuesday at 10:16 PM

mark46 said:
Under Obama, even if all terms were followed, allowed a 10-year window during which Iran could not enrich at weapon levels. Meanwhile they focused on using the money given by Obama to attack its neighbors. Scientific research wasn't stopped. The development of long-term missiles and missile factories didn't stop. The development of drones and drone factories didn't stop. Iran's developing into a world power did NOT stop because they could have the ability to have a workable bomb for 10 years.

For those who believe that Iran would no longer be a threat after 10 years are simply Americans with our usual very short term view, at most two terms. Iran was able to wait, if they were paid enough, and if they had enough resources to carry on their plans wothout nuclear weapns for 10 years.

And, of course, it is just possible that Iran could develop ways to move much of their development deep underground, preparing for the time when the treaty was over.

The BOTTOM LINE is that Iran is weaker now than when Obama left office and will be even weaker by January 2029.

Iran just beat the US in a war, destroyed the growing dissent in their country. how do you think they are weaker?

mark46 · Tuesday at 10:30 PM

Vylo said:
Iran just beat the US in a war, destroyed the growing dissent in their country. how do you think they are weaker?

Iran can take the points it got for winning the war and use them to become military stronger in say 2036 than it would have been. Is that what you believe?

Iran, Hamas, Syria, the Iran-sponsored Iraqi militia, Hezbollah are all much, much weaker militarily. This effort has been so positive that the Arab states have looked the other weigh as Irael continued to fight against their Shia enemies. Some countries even signed treaties with Israel (the Abraham Accords). The countries of the Middle East (other than Iran and Syria) are much, much stronger and safer than before Trump.

I guess that you think that dissent was stronger just after the military murdered the 20K. Dissent is just as likely to succeed as before the military actions.

Bradskii · Tuesday at 10:48 PM

mark46 said:
Under Obama, even if all terms were followed, allowed a 10-year window during which Iran could not enrich at weapon levels.

And the agreement was torn up by Trump. So they could then start enriching their uranium!

Trump is now desperately trying to somewhere close to the one he abandoned. And he's going to fail.

In what alternative universe does someone live where they class this as a win? Where they can seemingly say that things have gotten better.

In what Bizarro reality has this tragic clown show been worth it?

Bradskii · Tuesday at 10:54 PM

mark46 said:
I would not have withdrawn from Obama's agreement.

Trump should have started to increase sanctions and other pressure relating to the missiles and support of proxies, those items not included in Obama's arrangement. He would should supported Israel in their efforts to degrade the strength proxies.

Under these circumstances, I don't know whether Iran would have continued to meet the teams of the agreement.

At last. A recognition that this is all Trump's fault. Yes, of course he could have tried to continue the agreement. Yes, of course he should have done so.

But he wanted to shoot his mouth off and throw his weight around. The word 'diplomacy' doesn't exist for him. He's a dangerous and morally corrupt man. Thousands have died as an immediate result of this idiocy and millions will suffer in the months to come.

He needs to be removed from office.

mark46 · Tuesday at 10:57 PM

Bradskii said:
And the agreement was torn up by Trump. So they could then start enriching their uranium!

Trump is now desperately trying to somewhere close to the one he abandoned. And he's going to fail.

In what alternative universe does someone live where they class this as a win? Where they can seemingly say that things have gotten better.

In what Bizarro reality has this tragic clown show been worth it?

And in what Bizzaro world is it better for the world for the US and Israel not to have destroyed the nuclear facilities in the June 2025 military.
actions?

This is not a contest. Who do you want to vote? It doesn't matter. Both sides will claim victory. That's fine for everyone. However, it is so, so unsatisfying for those who need to live in a world that divides into winners and losers every day depending on their chosen leader.
===============

Vylo · Tuesday at 11:00 PM

mark46 said:
Iran can take the points it got for winning the war and use them to become military stronger in say 2036 than it would have been. Is that what you believe?

Iran, Hamas, Syria, the Iran-sponsored Iraqi militia, Hezbollah are all much, much weaker militarily. This effort has been so positive that the Arab states have looked the other weigh as Irael continued to fight against their Shia enemies. Some countries even signed treaties with Israel (the Abraham Accords). The countries of the Middle East (other than Iran and Syria) are much, much stronger and safer than before Trump.

I guess that you think that dissent was stronger just after the military murdered the 20K. Dissent is just as likely to succeed as before the military actions.

Hezbollah, and Hamas, yes are much weaker, but Iran is not. Hamas got pounded by Israel into the ground. Hezbollah is not part of lebanon's government so any loss for them loosens their power. Iran's leadership gained further power after it nearly slipped away from them. A major part of this is because Trump abandoned Kurds previously, and thus could not convince them to try and overthrow Iran's regime.

I don't think you understand the Rally around the Flag effect coupled with the botched US attacks and Iran's crackdowns. They are much more in charge than they were before the strikes. Trump handed the Iranian regime a massive W, while devastating the US economy. It was an absolute disaster. There is a reason we didn't do this before, military experts knew a real victory would take boots on the ground and/or a massive internal movement that need to trust us. Trump ignored advice, fired the people who actually knew what they were doing and lost a war he started.

A2SG · Tuesday at 11:01 PM

friend of said:
If by "working" you mean "permitting a path for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons" then you'd be right, it was working.

I keep hearing that claim. You know what I don't hear?

Evidence.

But, by all means, be the first. Show us evidence that what you claim is happening is actually happening.

-- A2SG, or do you simply believe without question what a man convicted of 34 counts of criminal fraud tells you?

Vylo · Tuesday at 11:02 PM

mark46 said:
And in what Bizzaro world is it better for the world for the US and Israel not to have destroyed the nuclear facilities in the June 2025 military.
actions?

This is not a contest. Who do you want to vote? It doesn't matter. Both sides will claim victory. That's fine for everyone. However, it is so, so unsatisfying for those who need to live in a world that divides into winners and losers every day depending on their chosen leader.
===============

They didn't destroy them. That's the thing. They still have a large amount of the nuclear material, they will soon refine more material and in a few years make a nuclear weapon. Trump has done nothing to stop them. He has only made it more apparent to them to push ahead and complete their program.

mark46 · Tuesday at 11:05 PM

Bradskii said:
At last. A recognition that this is all Trump's fault. Yes, of course he could have tried to continue the agreement. Yes, of course he should have done so.

But he wanted to shoot his mouth off and throw his weight around. The word 'diplomacy' doesn't exist for him. He's a dangerous and morally corrupt man. Thousands have died as an immediate result of this idiocy and millions will suffer in the months to come.

He needs to be removed from office.

Trump did it and therefore is wrong. I truly get it.
=====================
I believe that Trump should have used sanctions and lots of other economic measures. But I have ZERO belief that trump or anyone else would have gotten an acceptable result. Of course, if Trump paid enough, he might have gotten a few more years.

And thank you so much for your ROFL statement on Trump's lack of diplomacy. Arabs and Israel have been working together since Trump's negotiated the Abraham Accords. Spend a little time considering Arab-Israeli relationships before and after Trump. The comparison is one of s huge change for the better.

Vylo · Tuesday at 11:10 PM

mark46 said:
Trump did it and therefore is wrong. I truly get it.
=====================
I believe that Trump should have used sanctions and lots of other economic measures. But I have ZERO belief that trump or anyone else would have gotten an acceptable result. Of course, if Trump paid enough, he might have gotten a few more years.

And thank you so much for your ROFL statement on Trump's lack of diplomacy. Arabs and Israel have been working together since Trump's negotiated the Abraham Accords. Spend a little time considering Arab-Israeli relationships before and after Trump. The comparison is one of s huge change for the better.

those countries had been normalizing relations with Israel way before Trump even sat in the oval office. If you don't know, they are all Sunni run. Iran and Hezbollah are Shia. They are trying to capitalize on Trump's idiocy to dismantle the last remaining Shia dominated government, but it backfired badly.

mark46 · Tuesday at 11:12 PM

Vylo said:
They didn't destroy them. That's the thing. They still have a large amount of the nuclear material, they will soon refine more material and in a few years make a nuclear weapon. Trump has done nothing to stop them. He has only made it more apparent to them to push ahead and complete their program.

Do you think that Obama stopped their development?

I agree that more work needs to be done. But I don't think that any Iranian regime was going to extend the Obama deal. The US just couldn'tgive them enough money this time. After all, they used the Obama money to massively increase their non-nuclear capabilities.

The open question is how much of a breather do we get. 60 days? less? a year? 2?

I doubt very much that the next US president will be able to secure a long-time peace agreement. Surely, Trump won't be able to do so. I expect at least a couple of more rounds of military action in 2026 and 2027, resulting in more degradation of Iran's missile and drone capabilities.

Vylo · Tuesday at 11:16 PM

mark46 said:
Do you think that Obama stopped their development?

I agree that more work needs to be done. But I don't think that any Iranian regime was going to extend the Obama deal. The US just couldn'tgive them enough money this time. After all, they used the Obama money to massively increase their non-nuclear capabilities.

The open question is how much of a breather do we get. 60 days? less? a year? 2?

I doubt very much that the next US president will be able to secure a long-time peace agreement. Surely, Trump won't be able to do so. I expect at least a couple of more rounds of military action in 2026 and 2027, resulting in more degradation of Iran's missile and drone capabilities.

He slowed them. If someone offers you a massive financial windfall to slow/stop nuclear development, that's a lot more effective than threats, because again, they have seen what happens to nations who give up on their nuclear ambitions.

There's basically no peace agreement happening, ever. Iran has learned negotiating with the US is worthless, and will play lip service as they develop their nukes and continue to harass Israel.

Why would they stop?

"No More Wars" Trump Requesting a Record Defense Budget: $1.5 TRILLION in FY2026

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you're in charge you can do it just get louis

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Under the Southern Cross I stand...

Stick with the King!

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Stick with the King!

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Under the Southern Cross I stand...

Under the Southern Cross I stand...

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Stick with the King!

Gumby

Stick with the King!

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Stick with the King!

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Stick with the King!

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