My Liberty Unyielding colleague Timothy Whiteman highlighted last Thursday the number of Air Force squadrons that will have to cease training later this year because the Air Force doesn’t have funds for the flying hours. This is real, and it is astounding. It will mean that, at a certain point in the near future – as early as this fall, if no additional funds become available – the cost of mounting an operation big enough to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons-related installations is likely to be too high.
This is because there will be no force depth to either sustain follow-on operations or overcome the geographic constraints U.S. forces are increasingly likely to face. Assuming all of the Air Force’s stand-downs and readiness losses do occur, the available front-line forces would be maxed out with a moderately scoped strike package. To meet the task, they would require the most favorable basing options that could be available in the Persian Gulf under today’s conditions – but which may not be. If we don’t have those favorable basing options, and the Air Force squadron groundings remain on track, the Iran strike goes from all-but-under-resourced to impossible.
There will not, after all, be two aircraft carriers on station near Iran, Read More…
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Posted in Air operations, General military, Great power geopolitics, Maritime operations, Naval operations, Political commentary, Strategic air operations, Strike operations, US Foreign policy | Tags: Air operations, Aircraft carriers, B-2, B-52, Bahrain, Geopolitics, Government spending, Iran, Iran nuclear, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Middle East, Military, Miltiary readiness, National defense, National security, Naval operations, Oman, Persian Gulf, Qatar, Sequester, Strike fighter aircraft, Strike operations, United Arab Emirates, US Air Force, US Navy, USS Dwight D Eisenhower, USS Harry S Truman, WMD
In his “Morning Jolt” today, Jim Geraghty of National Review Online highlighted a post from yesterday by Peter Wehner at Commentary’s website. In it, Peter muses on how today’s conservatives in America have strayed from the conservatism of Edmund Burke, which had a strong component of concern for community and social partnership. Peter says this:
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Posted in American liberty, Civil Rights, Conservative politics, Cultures, Education, History, Left-wing themes, Political commentary, Political Philosophy, Regulation, Social policy, Western | Tags: Alexis de Tocqueville, American liberty, American political philosophy, Big government, Community, Conservatism, Edmund Burke, French Revolution, Government policy, Governmentism, Liberty, Limited government, Political philosophy, Statism