Showing posts with label Weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weapons. Show all posts

Monday, August 4, 2025

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 5. Oh oh, it didn't work. Now What? The Pearl Harbor Edition.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.


What do we mean by the defeat of the enemy?  Simply the destruction of his forces, whether by death, injury, or any other means—either completely  or enough to make him stop fighting. . . .  The complete or partial destruction of the enemy must be regarded as the sole object of all engagements. . . .  Direct annihilation of the enemy's forces must always be the dominant consideration.

Carl von Clausewitz.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

Isoroku Yamamoto.

It didn't work.

The United States did not destroy Iran's nuclear program, it merely set it back several months.

That was, quite frankly, a pretty predictable outcome.  Indeed, I predicted it.

The question is, now what?

Iran has learned that its security is, in fact, in building a nuclear weapon.  It's going to do it.

The only way to stop that would be a ground invasion of Iran, which we don't have the stomach to do, and which Israel can't do.

Israel gambled that they could take control of the air, and that this was the time to do it. That set up the scene for the US to come in with the GBU-57A/B MOP, which they gambled we would.  

We committed them.

It failed.

Military gambles are always judged in hindsight.  Japan didn't take out the U.S. Navy on December 7, 1941, as the carriers weren't at Pearl Harbor.  If they had been, the story would be different.  The Germans didn't defeat the Soviets in Operation Barbarossa, but they came close.  If it had worked, it would be regarded as one of the greatest military feats of all time, rather than a disastrous miscalculation.

We'll see what happens here, but my guess is that by this time next year, Iran has the bomb.

June 26, 2025

United States and Israel v. Iran


The Trump administration is getting increasingly spastic over the developing facts that Operation Midnight Hammer didn't really work, or rather than it achieved minor success but failed to achieve its objective.

As per usual, the administration simply accuses everyone who disagrees with them of lying or insulting servicemen.  That's complete and utter nonsense. The objective was a tough one and the odds were against it.

Hegseth held a press conference today that was essentially a rant due to these questions being brought up.  It was pathetic.

The big difference here, as compared to other Trump counterfactuals, is that the Trump smokescreen will evaporate with a mushroom cloud.

The question is how soon.

cont:

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  declared victory in the recent war and discounted the damage caused by American airstrikes.  His tone was absolutely defiant.

June 27, 2025

United States and Israel v. Iran

After criticizing ‘warmonger’ Liz Cheney, Hageman backs U.S. intervention in Iran

I"m quite certain that Donald Trump could declare war on the entire world and Wyoming's delegation would support it.

June 29, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

As its seemingly now become too routine to take notice of, we will note that the fighting is still going on in Gaza.   The humanitarian crisis carries on, and Israeli strikes this week killed 72 people.

June 30, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

The war in Ukraine, the one that Trump promised to end upon being nominated but then later stated that was "hard", is heating up.

Looks like Trump was full of crap about his magical negotiation powers.  Where's that "art" of the deal?

Anyhow, Russia launched its biggest aerial of the war so far, firiging a total of 537 aerial weapons at including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles. 249 were shot down and 226 were lost.

The Russians have amassed 50,000 troops near Sumy.

Israel v. Hamas

Israel has ordered evacuations from norther Gaza.

United States and Israel v. Iran

An interesting post:

The inmates are running the asylum! That is what it looks like to me. Their entire administration is not based on anything that resembles sanity. 

And on the same topic:

 Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @AdamKinzinge· 12h

So what seems clear from the intel, is that we probably should have reloaded the B2s, and gone for a second round.  Instead the impulsive toddler was desperate to have a strong ending to the movie and declare a cease fire.

This is a show to him, entertainment, and he’s the “star”

July 4, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Kyiv is getting pounded by a large scale drone attack.

The US has halted many weapons transfer programs to Ukraine on the basis that the US needs to rebuilt its own arms stockpile.

July 8, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Roman Starovoyt, age 53, who had been fired as Russian transportation minister just hours prior, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his car.  Russian authorities stated suicide might be a possibility.

He's also been the governor of Kursk relatively recently.

July 9, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week. Currently it seems Trump will resume them.

Trump reports he's upset with Putin, probably for busting the bubble that Trump has any persuasion over him.  Trump's efforts at bringing about peace have failed.\

July 14, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

It appears that the US will be increasing military aid to Ukraine, funneling the new arms through other NATO countries.

Trump has indicated that if Russia doesn't end the war in 50 days he will impose 100% secondary tariffs.

July 17, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

An Israeli artillery shell hit the compound of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip, killing three people and wounding 10 others, including the parish priest.

It would seem Trump's much vaunted ceasefire didn't hold.

I suspect as these were Catholic deaths, there won't be much press on it.

Syrian Civil War

Heavy fighting has been going on between Druze and Bedouin tribes in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda, as another ceasefire has collapsed a day after Syrian troops pulled out of the area.

The area has a Druze majority.

July 20, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

The war Trump did end upon being nominated or sworn into office has been seeing some massive Russian drone assaults, including a 300 drone raid yesterday.

Israel v. Hamas

Israeli troops fired yesterday toward crowds of Palestinians seeking food from distribution hubs run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group in southern Gaza, killing at least 32 people.  An air strike also occured.

Gee. . . it's almost like Trump didn't get peace in Gaza either.

Syrian Civil War

A ceasefire seems to be holding including Israel.

July 24, 2025

Thailand v. Cambodia

Thailand and Cambodia are fighting over a disputed border area.

July 25, 2025

Israel v. Hamas

France is recognizing the sovereignty of the territorial Palestinian Authority as a state.

July 27, 2025

Israel v. Hamas.

Israel is going to allow humanitarian air drops over Gaza.

July 29, 2025

Russo Ukrainian War

Trump has given Putin twelve days to end the war against Ukraine, which no doubt will be completely ignored.

Thailand v. Cambodia

The countries have entered into a ceasefire.

cont:

Israel v. Hamas

The UK has indicated it's set to shortly follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state if a peace isn't arrived upon soon.

It's almost like the US's opinion on this no longer matters. . . 

July 31, 2025

Israel v. Hamas.

And now Canada is moving toward recognizing Palestinian statehood, a move which caused the Trump to threaten trade negotiations with Canada.

It should be clear, the US has lost its first place in the free world status in terms of these matters.  Nobody is paying attention to the US on this issue and its now Eurocentric.  We were replaced.

August 4, 2025

Middle East

The Houthi's hit Israel with drones today.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2025. Part 4. The GBU-57A/B MOP Edition.

Saturday, August 4, 1945. Tibbets briefs his crew.

Paul Tibbets briefed his crew on the upcoming bombing mission to Hiroshima, telling the crew that the bombs would be immensely powerful and "something new in the history of warfare".  No specifics were provided.

Tibbets had entered the Army in 1937 in order to become a pilot after dropping out of medical school.  He died in 2007 at age 92.

The U.S. Army Air Force continued to drop leaflets over Japan warning of the destruction of cities.

British troops in Lower Sittang cleared the Japanese from the Pegu-Martaban railay at Abya.

Japanese troops executed seven captured American airmen in Singapore.

The Soviet Union gifted the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow with a bugged plaque.

On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe by Johnny Mercer was number one on the music charts.

Last edition:

Friday, August 3, 1945. The end for Japan in Burma.

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Tuesday, July 31, 1945. Little Boy assembled.

Little Boy was assembled on Tinian.


Pierre Laval was delivered to Linz Austria from Spain, where he was then turned over to the French.

Ethnic Germans were murdered in  Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia.

Field Marshal Alexander appointed Governor General of Canada.

The Takao is sunk by British frogmen with limpet mines at Singapore.

The US gives Japan a specific warning about eight cities being slated for destruction if Japan does not surrender.

Pro Nazi Lutheran minister and theologian Ludwig Müller committed suicide.

Gen. Artemio Ricarte y García, early pro independence Philippine general and collaborator with the Japanese, died of dysentery at age 78.

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 30, 1945. Eisenhower questions the bomb.

Roads to the Great War: Weapons of War: The Pedersen Device—A Game Changer?

Roads to the Great War: Weapons of War: The Pedersen Device—A Game Changer?: A Doughboy Aims an '03 Springfield Equipped with the Pedersen Device By James Patton The U.S. Army’s standard issue M-1903 Springfield r...

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Wednesday, July 30, 1945. Eisenhower questions the bomb.

The Battle of the Visayas in the Philippines, where in fact the war was still going on, ended in Allied victory.  Fighting had been reduced to mopping up by this time.

The Japanese government asked civilians to harvest acorns for food.  The entire Japanese population was living at the starvation level by this point in time.

The Japanese 18th Army made a last stand at the village of Numbogua, New Guinea. General Adachi, ordered his troops "to die in honorable defeat."

General Marshall ordered General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz to coordinate plans in readiness for an early surrender by Japan.

Secretary of War Stimson informed Gen. Eisenhower of the intent to use the atomic bomb. Eisenhower questioned the wisdom of the act.

Occasionally I'll see different dates listed for an event.  Here we have such an example:

Today in World War II History—July 30, 1940 & 1945: 80 Years Ago—July 30, 1945: Heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is sunk by Japanese sub I-58 off Leyte; only 316 of 1199 men will survive the shark-infested waters.

July 30, 1945: The Fate of the USS Indianapolis

Most sources do list today, not yesterday, for the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.  Not all, however.  I used a source that listed July 29, as the "last edition" item below shows.

Why the difference?

Well, I don't know off hand, but the nature of the sinking, which saw the ship traveling under radio silence and in secret may have something to do with it.  More likely, however, is the fact that sources using today's date put the time at 00:15.   

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 29, 1945. The sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The 509th Composite Group receives orders for Operation Silverplate. The last Medal of Honor of World War Two.

Friday, July 30, 1915. First Australia Day, First use of the flamethrower.

It was Australia Day for the first time.

The flamethrower was used in combat for the firs ttime by the Germans (of course), against the British, at Hooge, Belgium.


Hampartsoum Boyadjian, Armenian partisan, was hanged with 12 others at a prison in Kayseri, Turkey.

The British cargo ship Iberian was sunk by the U-28.

Headline in the Winnipeg Tribune:

It probably isn't, but you aren't going to live forever anyway.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 29, 1915. Bandits, Rebels, and would be Rebels.

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Tuesday, July 29, 1945. The sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The 509th Composite Group receives orders for Operation Silverplate. The last Medal of Honor of World War Two.

The USS Indianapolis was sunk by the submarine I-58. Secrecy due to its role in delivering the atomic bomb to Tinian would keep its sinking secrete for several days, leading to the greatest mass shark attack in history.

The 509th Composite Group of the United States Air Force received the order that would lead to the dropping of the first atomic bomb.

Melvin Mayfield performed the actions that resulted in his winning the Medal of Honor.

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while fighting in the Cordillera Mountains of Luzon, Philippine Islands. When 2 Filipino companies were pinned down under a torrent of enemy fire that converged on them from a circular ridge commanding their position, Cpl. Mayfield, in a gallant single-handed effort to aid them, rushed from shell hole to shell hole until he reached 4 enemy caves atop the barren fire-swept hill. With grenades and his carbine, he assaulted each of the caves while enemy fire pounded about him. However, before he annihilated the last hostile redoubt, a machinegun bullet destroyed his weapon and slashed his left hand. Disregarding his wound, he secured more grenades and dauntlessly charged again into the face of pointblank fire to help destroy a hostile observation post. By his gallant determination and heroic leadership, Cpl. Mayfield inspired the men to eliminate all remaining pockets of resistance in the area and to press the advance against the enemy.

You'll note that this occurred on Luzon, which the US had declared to be secured. 

He survived the war and died in 1990 at age 71.  

His action was the last action of the war to result in a Medal of Honor.

Henry Ford issued a statement declaring:

the nation and the world are on the threshold of a prosperity and standard of living that never before were considered possible.

I'm not a fan of Ford's, but he was correct, perhaps beyond his wildest imagination.

The British 8th Army, the Desert Rats, was disbanded.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 28, 1945. Taking no notice.

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Friday, July 27, 1945. Preparing the bomb.

Little Boy was delivered to Tinian and preparation to drop it on Japan commenced.

Commencing on the night of July 27, B-29s dropped leaflets on eleven Japanese cities warning them that they were targeted for bombing.

The Chinese took Guilin.

Ernest Bevin became the British Foreign Affairs Secretary.

The World War Two British chiefs of staff had their final meeting with Churchill.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 26, 1945. Churchill out, Attlee in.

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Tuesday, July 24, 1945. An unsurprised Stalin.

Truman told Stalin that the US had a new and very powerful weapon that was going to be deployed against Japan, but did not provide the specifics.

Stalin, thanks to deep penetration of the US government by Soviet intelligence, already knew about the Manhattan Project and what it was about, so this was not that much of a surprise.  Stalin had actually known about the Manhattan Project three years prior to Truman knowing about it.

The Navy began to bombard Kure, Japan.

Japanese freighter hit from carrier-based aircraft near Tsugaru-Kaikyo, east of Hokkaido, Japan.

North American P-51C-11-NT of the 311th FG, 14th AF, escorting C-47s over China on July 24, 1945.

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Monday, July 16, 1945. Trinity.


The first detonation of an atomic weapon.

The name is nearly blasphemous. The device itself was called the "Gadget".


Nuclear power, sadly, arrived in the form of a weapon.  It had not, however, yet been used that way.

British soldiers were taking advantage of the relaxation of the fraternization rules by chatting with German women.  We often hear of the calorie deprivation of the Second World War, but, while not seeking to be vulgar, the young woman on the far right clearly hadn't been too calorie deprived in the late stages of the war.


While photos can be deceiving, none of these women appear to be upset that the war was over and the British were there.

Related threads:

Saturday, July 14, 1945. Verboten und Nicht Verboten

Last edition:

Sunday, July 15, 1945. Lifting the blackout.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Wednesday, June 27, 1945. Giving Japan a warning.

Under Secretary of the Navy Ralph Bard suggested giving Japan a warning about the atomic bomb.

US forces completed the occupation of Luzon's Cagayan Valley.  The island is accordingly nearly fully under US control.

The I-165 was sunk east of Saipan by a US PV-2 Harpoon.

The USS Bunker Hill was struck by a kamikaze resulting in the death of 373 men.

Dr. Emil Hacha, age 73, the former president of the German sponsored "Bohemia-Moravia Protectorate," died in the Prague prison hospital while awaiting trial.

Edward Stettinius resigned as Secretary of State to take up the post of ambassador to the United Nations.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 26, 1945. The United Nations Charter signed, Manhattan Project scientists worry, Marilyn appears in Yank,

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Tuesday, June 26, 1945. The United Nations Charter signed, Manhattan Project scientists worry, Marilyn appears in Yank,

The United Nations Conference on International Organization concluded with the United Nations Charter being signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center by 50 of the 51 original member countries.

Poland was unable to send a delegation, and therefore did not sign.

While many people in the world were becoming optimistic about the post war world, the Manhattan Project scientists were getting worried.


And fighting in the Pacific was still going on, including mopping up operations on Okinawa, and new landings in the Ryukyus where Marines landed on Kume to establish a radar station.

The US dropped paratroopers near Aparri to link up with the 37th Infantry Division.

The Chinese army took Liuchow airfield.

The United States Army Air Force commenced B-29 raids at night against Japanese oil refineries.

Bombed Out Refinery, Nagoya Japan.

Bombed Out Refinery, Nagoya Japan. Early 1950s

A photograph taken by my father in Nagoya Japan, depicting refinery damage from World War Two.

Norma Jeane Dougherty, later known as Marilyn Monroe, appeared as the Yank centerfold.


The title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was introduced aand assigned next day assigned to I.V. Stalin, who declined to use it, favoring Marshall.

Last edition:

Monday, June 24, 1945. Brandenburg Ballerina.