General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Iran is now using Mach 14 missiles. [View all]Jedi Guy
(3,463 posts)This is hardly the first time that Iran's been noted to have hypersonic missiles. I seem to recall the usual fearmongering news stories on the topic making the rounds a couple of years ago, right around the same time there were other news stories about China, Russia, and other bad actors testing or developing the technology.
It's possible Iran has some hypersonics tucked away somewhere. Given the novelty of the technology I doubt like hell they have any sizeable stockpile of the things, though. Two dozen or thereabouts would be my guess, maybe three or four dozen. Enough of them to slip them through the missile defenses of the other Middle Eastern states and wreak some havoc but by no means enough to turn the tide of the war.
The most infuriating thing about this entire ordeal is how stupid and unnecessary it is. The (flimsy) justifications for attacking Iran change by the hour. Trump has no clear vision of what the win condition here is. Regime change? Surrender and concessions? Everyone in Iran gets a pony? Who the hell knows. Trump sure doesn't seem to. Trump starts a war for the same reason people eat the last slice of a cake. Because it's there and because they can.
Trump always largely did whatever the hell he felt like doing with no consideration of the consequences but it's vastly worse now that there are no adults in the room to restrain his stupid impulses and he knows he's term-limited, his bluster about a third term notwithstanding. He knows it's not happening.