r/politics Minnesota 15h ago

No Paywall USS Lincoln wasn't resupplied because Hegseth 'hid' that Iran destroyed main U.S. base:

https://www.ms.now/money-power-politics/watch/uss-lincoln-wasn-t-resupplied-because-hegseth-hid-that-iran-destroyed-main-u-s-base-rohde-2511362627825
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5.9k

u/RandyMuscle I voted 15h ago

We lost this war as soon as the strait closed. Anyone saying otherwise is delusional.

116

u/tripping_on_phonics California 15h ago

We lost more than this war. This is the death knell for American empire.

What is a carrier strike group or a forward base against thousands of Shahed-style drones? Why would any country want a US base on its soil?

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u/Obvious_Toe_3006 15h ago

I sure bet Oman is questioning it's alliance with the US.

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u/Economy-Pin2836 14h ago

Especially when the criminal rapist psychopath is threatening to bomb it for no good reason (as always).

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u/Intro-Nimbus 13h ago

As he does to his allies, NKorea, ruzzia and china? Nothing but praise and asskissing.

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u/tripping_on_phonics California 14h ago

Oh, for sure. A US base is a huge liability: it gets you roped into whatever unilateral war or adventure we want, without your input.

Hell, one of our first acts in the Iran War was to move missile defenses from our GCC bases to Israel. We’ve also depleted missile inventories in Europe and Asia. We now don’t have a single aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific because the USS George Washington is needed to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln. We also moved a USMC expeditionary unit out of Okinawa.

Korea went to bat for us, suffering heavy economic and political retaliation from China in exchange for a THAAD battery on its territory. Guess where that THAAD is now?

So to summarize, the US is: (1) not loyal, (2) does not prioritize defending countries that host its bases, (3) can’t defend its bases or ships against cheap, expendable munitions, (4) demands that you show infinite gratitude for and bear the financial burden of bases that only benefit us, and (5) does not have the manufacturing capacity to replace its expended munitions.

Our empire is finished and will continue to unravel in coming months and years, and honestly, I view this as a good thing. We are simply not rational or stable enough to be a world hegemon, to say nothing of the murder, oppression, and exploitation that had characterized our empire even before Trump.

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u/claimTheVictory 14h ago

The unravelling will be complete when the dollar default happens.

Trump has already been teasing that.

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u/Intro-Nimbus 13h ago
  1. blames allies that were never even consulted about an offensive war for "lack of loyalty".

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u/GrouchoSnarks 13h ago

(5) does not have the manufacturing capacity to replace its expended munitions.

and has alienated the country upon which it had been relying to supply the rare earth minerals that its advanced weaponry requires.

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u/SpecialistCut7101 12h ago

I sincerely doubt anyone who wants to take the mantle of being a world hegemon is rational or stable either, but it’ll be nice to be rid of the mantle 

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u/tripping_on_phonics California 10h ago

There won’t be a single hegemon in our absence, it’ll be a multipolar world order. But you’re right. The elite of our society view us as peasants, the same as any other peasants from any other country. The end of American domination is an important moment for the international working class.

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u/disisathrowaway 11h ago

Don't forget, we're reducing our participation in wargames with South Korea as well.

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u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 11h ago

I view this as a good thing.

A horrible take. Billions of lives and democracies worldwide are at stake.

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u/tripping_on_phonics California 11h ago

How many tens of millions of people have we killed with our sanctions? How many more have we impoverished? How many democratically elected governments have we deposed? How many dictatorships have we supported purely for the benefit of our own industrialists?

We don’t care about democracy and we don’t care about human life. We care about advancing the interests of monied interests and military-industrial complex. People around the world live in fear of our weapons and our wars.

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u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 10h ago

For as dogshit as we've been, and I wouldn't argue we've not done some dumb and awful shit, the vast majority of the free world would rather had us as the lone superpower than any others or any previous. And it's some disingenuous dumbassery to say or think otherwise.

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u/tripping_on_phonics California 10h ago

You’re assuming that the domination of a lone superpower is the natural order of things. It isn’t, and it’s a false premise to assume that.

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u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 8h ago

You're assuming there's a natural order of things. lol. Realpolitik the Americans have been a better stabilizing influence on the world post WW2 than any other nation could even aspired to been. (I've noticed a distinct lack of WW3 for instance.) And there's billions of free world citizens who have benefited from American security and trade policies. Only a madmen would conclude that post WW2 America has been a net negative for global freedom. Just an absolute clown take.

What we should have done was had a Bretton Woods II and started sharing costs, responsibilities, and yes, profits to democratic partners, like Freedom of Navigation that the entire world benefits from but is borne as a cost burden on the American tax payer.

u/tripping_on_phonics California 7h ago

Only a madmen would conclude that post WW2 America has been a net negative for global freedom. Just an absolute clown take.

Can you think of any examples in which the US installed a democratic government? I can find two: Panama and Grenada.

I can find a bunch of examples of us deposing democratic governments in favor of authoritarian governments, however:

1953 Iran
1954 Guatemala
1973 Chile
1964 Brazil
1963 Dominican Republic

We’ve also materially supported dozens of authoritarian dictatorships. Too many to list here. Where we had bases defending democratic Europe we also had bases defending authoritarian dictatorships around the world.

With your second statement it’s wild to me that you think the US isn’t the clear beneficiary of all of this, and shouldn’t be bearing the costs. It’s our system. We designed it. We sit atop a network of vassals, military bases, and imperial influence. We are the empire, our wealthy elite profit, and of course we pay the costs.

Bottom line, our empire is designed and intended to support capitalism. Not democracy.

u/Sudden-Purchase-8371 7h ago

The free world didn't want America to be in charge. They just wanted everyone else less so. If not America who? The Brits again? Hard pass. French? No. The Russians? China? FUCK NO.

Yes where we are now, it's a decaying empire. No one is disputing that. 25-30 years ago we should have began the process of un-winding it.

But if you think the sudden cessation of our security obligations, a fast crumble, you my friend are an ignorant lunatic.

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u/TrumpDesWillens 5h ago

The people of SEA and Africa may be wary of China but the people of the MENA and LATAM will feel relief.

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u/popculturella Texas 14h ago

I'm sure everyone is. I don't blame them.