Donald Trump wants to end the war in Iran. Iran isn't letting him. The Iranians are letting the Democrats and the media do their work for them in undermining support for ending the war on terms the U.S. can live with, and they see no reason to make a deal as long as they have a chance to get everything they want. That includes something that the Democrats also want.
A U.S. humiliation.
Politically, that's the jackpot for Democrats. It would castrate Trump and the Republicans, undermine the last two years of the Trump presidency, and bring immense satisfaction to the Democratic base.
Trump said on October 8 that he would refrain from striking Iran until after the midterms. Iran took that as an invitation and has escalated its proxy war, unleashing the Houthi rebels to attack Saudi Arabia and sinking container ships in the Gulf.
"Tehran is reportedly strengthening its defenses around sensitive energy and nuclear sites in preparation for a potential resumption of attacks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This has the Pentagon scrambling for a response. It may have found one.
The White House and the Pentagon have prepared operational plans, including the potential use of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb against Iranian military and nuclear sites, should the president order a strike once the electoral window passes.
The 21,600-pound MOAB is the largest non-nuclear ordnance in the U.S. arsenal. It's not very effective against underground sites, but a MOAB (AKA "The Mother of All Bombs") airburst could obliterate nine square blocks. This would make it an effective weapon against Iranian energy infrastructure, such as storage tank farms and the Isfahan oil refinery, which supplies a large percentage of Iran's refined petroleum products. One advantage of hitting those targets is the probability of minimal to no civilian casualties.
Over the course of the last several weeks, White House advisers have held meetings to discuss various options for Iran. While Trump announced publicly that he would not take new actions before the midterms, several advisers said privately they didn’t know whether that statement was definitive or could change before Election Day.
Trump has ordered the military to develop additional strike packages against Iranian targets that include “a lot of energy infrastructure” and the potential use of a MOAB, one of the sources told CNN. The same source said the phrasing used was that this attack would come “prior to US retrograde in CENTCOM AOR (area of responsibility),” indicating the administration could launch the additional strikes, attempt to declare victory and quickly pull everyone out.
The MOAB could also be used to hit Pickaxe Mountain, where it is presumed Iran has stored its remaining advanced centrifuges and highly enriched uranium. But the MOAB is not designed to penetrate underground to the depths needed to destroy nuclear storage facilities. It may be enough to have a surface detonation and hope the seismic disturbance destroys the target.
“The MOAB is a massive information operation type weapon that is great for huge area clearance but not much else,” a source told CNN. “It is definitely not designed as a deep penetration warhead.”
"As originally conceived, the MOAB was to be used against large formations of troops and equipment or hardened above-ground bunkers," CNN reports. "The target set has been expanded to include targets buried under softer surfaces, such as caves or tunnels."
It seems fairly certain that the MOAB will not be used to take out bunkers buried deep underground. The U.S. has another massive ordnance bomb, the GBU-57 "Bunker Buster" bomb, that has been used effectively against the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities. The 30,000-pound GBU-57 is dropped from high altitudes (typically by stealth bombers like the B-2 Spirit) to maximize kinetic energy. It can punch through roughly 200 feet of earth or up to 60 feet of reinforced concrete before its "smart" fuze triggers the heavy explosive payload.
Regardless of where it's used, Iran will know that the MOAB was deployed and that there are other targets it can be used against.
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Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats desperately try to stop it.
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