1). “Amb. Chas Freeman: BREAKING: Saudi, Pakistan, Turkiye Just Signed a Joint Defense Pact”, Aug 7, 2026, Nima Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman, Dialogue Works, duration of video 52:33, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
2). “Larry Johnson: Massive Attack Coming… Wait, Never Mind’ – Iran’s Parliament Chief on Trump’s Theater”, Aug 6, 2026, Nima Alkhorshid interviews Larry Johnson, Dialogue Works, duration of video 51:47, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
3). “Trump grows angry over reports on depleted munitions — believing it weakens him in Iran negotiations”, n.d., but updated 18 hrs ago, Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Zachary Cohen, Alayna Treene, CNN, at < https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/
4). “Trump's Gulf War”, Mar / Apr 2026, Alexander Nevin, New Left Review, vol 158, pp 5 – 21, at < https://newleftreview.org/
~~ recommended by desmond ~~
Introduction by desmond: The U.S. Military lost its ability to use its many advanced radars, 19 of which were destroyed by earlier Iranian missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Trump is wildly moving back and forth in his series of lies, threats, and petulant pouting and temper tantrums.
The simple story is that the Israelis / Zionists, in the person of Benjamin Netanyahu and a large cast of supporting Zionist Agents and Lobbyists, convinced Trump that an attack on Iran would render a situation very similar to what happened after the U.S. commando raid on Venezuela and another spectacular and quick and easy victory. However the reality is that the U.S., that underwent some 50 years of deindusrialization no longer has the capability to produce the volume of munitions and weapons needed to enforce its Imperialist Policies that the rulers would like to supply the proxies, allies, mercenaries, and “professional” personnel from the actual U.S. military. The decay of U.S. society has been shocking, under the harsh regime of Finance Capital that has dominated the U.S. in those 5 decades.
In Item 1)., “Amb. Chas Freeman: ….”, discusses the growing actions of nations in the Middle East to set up local alliances and agreements in contrast to their previous loyalty as U.S. vassals. He also talked about the needed developments and compromises necessary to let Trump slip away, sail off and declare victory while moving the U.S. military out of the Middle East. In Item 2)., “Larry Johnson: Massive ….”, discusses the facts that show how shockingly the U.S. has declined during the last 50 years. He specifically noted that in 1947 China had a literacy rate of 25% and the U.S. had a literacy rate of 96%. By 2025 China had a literacy rate of 98% and the U.S. had an overall literacy rate of 79%. But 40% of U.S. adults, or half the literate 79%, actually only read at a 6th grade level. In Item 3)., “Trump grows angry ….”, the article reports that Trump is angry that “leakers” have revealed the poor situation in producing weaponry and ammunition. Not that this was a revelation to Trump. Finally in Item 4)., “Trump's Gulf War”, the author looked at various aspects of the Iran War. That New Left Review article included the following analysis:
“The bombing campaign has also imposed costs on the global hegemon, however. The first weeks of fighting revealed a series of vulnerabilities in the us defence posture. First, far from keeping them safe, the presence of us bases—many evacuated in advance—made Gulf states targets for Iranian retaliation: the destruction of advanced radars and missile batteries will take billions of dollars and many years to rebuild, leaving them exposed for the foreseeable future to counter-strikes on their oil fields, electricity grids and desalination plants (on which so many rely for potable water)—all put at risk by us–Israeli attacks on Iranian infrastructure. Second, dozens of advanced drones and manned aircraft—an F-35, an E-3 Sentry awacs radar plane, several F-15s and KC-135 refuelling tankers, an A-10 ‘Warthog’—have been hit or crashed. The us Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered uss Gerald Ford, plagued from the start by sewage-system malfunctions, has been put out of action indefinitely—possibly by its own crew, after a fire that broke out in the laundry room raged for thirty hours; though Trump, in his down-home fashion, appeared to tell a business forum in Miami that it had been hit by Iranian drones. (18)
“More importantly, the us is struggling to produce munitions fast enough or cheaply enough to resupply itself and its allies and is having to pilfer matériel from its stocks in East Asia. The us can of course spend more: as a percentage of gdp, its military expenditure today is lower than at any point in the Cold War. But its productive powers are in question. Industrial decline, the loss of mid-range engineering skills to automation and the shift of the work force into all levels of the service sector place limits on any easy resort to military-Keynesian stimulus. (19)” (Emphasis Added)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1). “Amb. Chas Freeman: BREAKING: Saudi, Pakistan, Turkiye Just Signed a Joint Defense Pact”, Aug 7, 2026, Nima Alkhorshid interviews Amb. Chas Freeman, Dialogue Works, duration of video 52:33, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
2). “Larry Johnson: Massive Attack Coming… Wait, Never Mind’ – Iran’s Parliament Chief on Trump’s Theater”, Aug 6, 2026, Nima Alkhorshid interviews Larry Johnson, Dialogue Works, duration of video 51:47, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Trump grows angry over reports on depleted munitions — believing it weakens him in Iran negotiations
President Donald Trump has privately complained in recent days that disclosures on the dwindling US munitions stockpile make the United States look weak at a critical juncture, senior US officials said, as he repeatedly threatens additional military action to try and motivate Iran to agree to a deal.
The topic was front and center during last week’s Cabinet meeting at Camp David, when a frustrated Trump raised media coverage of the low munitions stocks, according to six sources familiar with the meeting. Many of those people said Trump has been well aware of any potential problems regarding munitions for months and was not blindsided by the reports.
But he was angry that the information had been exposed at an inflection point in the conflict and that it continues to be an increasingly public issue at a time when he wants to project a position of strength, they said.
“The U.S. has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types,” Trump wrote on Truth Social just after midnight on Thursday. “Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history.”
Still, Trump appeared to acknowledge that at least some of the information circulating about the stockpiles was accurate. He said his administration would seek “long term jail sentences” for those found to have made the information public. And later, in the Oval Office, he admitted that certain munitions are in “tighter” supply, adding that there’s a “virtual unlimited supply” of less-advanced weapons.
So far, the president’s ire has not been directed specifically at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House officials insist. In another Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said he was “extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing.”
“He has never blamed Pete. This is all about the leakers,” one official said.
Trump has tasked the Justice Department with finding what he calls “treasonous” individuals within the administration who are disclosing the information, according to officials.
His anger came to a head over the last several weeks, after a number of news stories described the US military being low on munitions.
CNN reported this week the military has burned through nearly four-fifths of its THAAD missile inventory compared to pre-war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors since the start of the war, according to two sources familiar with the latest inventory report.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the United States had around 2,200 Patriots (of the platform’s two most-modernized variants) and 452 THAAD missiles in its stockpile before the Iran war started.
The numbers worry not only American officials, but also leaders in the Gulf, who have raised fresh concerns about how a shortage of air defense systems could impact their ability to ward off potential Iranian retaliation if Trump decides to escalate the ongoing conflict.
Several of those countries rely on US air defense systems. Gulf leaders have acknowledged the stockpile shortage could hinder their own ability to intercept incoming Iranian missile and drone attacks, multiple officials said.
Iran has conveyed to Gulf nations that renewed American attacks would result in retaliation on energy sites or desalination facilities across the region, according to a regional official familiar with the conversations. Trump has spoken to the leaders of Qatar and Saudi Arabia over the past week about the war.
As Trump grows angry at the narrative emerging on the stockpiles, officials in the White House have speculated the leaks come from anti-war officials within the administration who are determined to push Trump to extricate the United States from the conflict, the senior White House official said.
The stockpile issue was raised again prior to the president’s decision last weekend to cancel new strikes on Iran, CNN has previously reported. It marked at least the second time in recent weeks that Trump’s senior military advisers have specifically voiced concerns about the dwindling number of key US munitions during discussions about potentially escalating the conflict with Iran.
Questions about the munitions stockpiles date back to the early days of the conflict. In meetings then, Trump raised the issue with Hegseth after news outlets reported on the concerns. At that time, Hegseth assured the president that the Pentagon was working to address the issue.
And before the war began, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other military leaders warned Trump that a protracted military campaign could impact US weapons stockpiles — particularly those that support Israel and Ukraine, multiple sources familiar with the matter previously told CNN.
Since then, Trump has blamed the previous administration for allowing the stockpiles to be depleted, including through weapons shipments to Ukraine.
“We have a lot. I’d like to have more, to be honest, but so much was given to Ukraine by Biden,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on July 27.
The Pentagon has long had concerns about the defense industry’s ability to produce weapons quickly enough. Those concerns were only exacerbated by the US war with Iran, after conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine both saw the US contribute weapons to Israel and Kyiv.
In July, Trump met with the CEOs of top defense contractors at the White House as his administration presses the firms to ramp up production of critical weapons. The participants included Lockheed Martin, which produces both the THAAD and Patriot interceptors. A similar meeting took place in March, at the onset of the war.
Also last month, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to force defense companies to manufacture more weapons. In a document, he wrote that he finds “that conditions exist which may pose a direct threat to the national defense or its preparedness programs.”
But those steps could take years and are not likely to immediately boost production.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please click on the following link to view the 17 page PDF 4). “Trump's Gulf War”, Mar / Apr 2026, Alexander Nevin, New Left Review, vol 158, pp 5 – 21, at < https://newleftreview.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment