Even if Iran doesn’t take out a carrier, the US is now faced with no good options. It’s pretty clear they miscalculated, and Iran isn’t going to collapse. So, now they find themselves faced with an Ukraine style attrition war, except the logistics are far worse than they are for Russia which actually has a border with Ukraine. The US has to ship weapons and troops all the way across the ocean here. So, what does the US do now, do they commit to the war which is unwinnable, or do they run home with their tail between their legs?
Either scenario is a disaster. If the US commits to the war then there’s almost certainly going to be an economic crash as happened when the US invaded Vietnam. If the US is seen to be defeated, then everyone can see that the empire can be defeated. The whole narrative of the best military in the world that cannot be challenged falls apart at that point.
I’d argue attacking Iran was a far worse blunder than starting a proxy war in Ukraine, but it’s also compounded by it. The US has depleted a lot of its stocks of critical weapons like missile interceptors over the past four years, and the economic war on Russia forced a creation of a whole alternate economic system that’s outside western control. Both these factors have significantly weakened the American hand in the current conflict.
Even if Iran doesn’t take out a carrier, the US is now faced with no good options. It’s pretty clear they miscalculated, and Iran isn’t going to collapse. So, now they find themselves faced with an Ukraine style attrition war, except the logistics are far worse than they are for Russia which actually has a border with Ukraine. The US has to ship weapons and troops all the way across the ocean here. So, what does the US do now, do they commit to the war which is unwinnable, or do they run home with their tail between their legs?
Either scenario is a disaster. If the US commits to the war then there’s almost certainly going to be an economic crash as happened when the US invaded Vietnam. If the US is seen to be defeated, then everyone can see that the empire can be defeated. The whole narrative of the best military in the world that cannot be challenged falls apart at that point.
I’d argue attacking Iran was a far worse blunder than starting a proxy war in Ukraine, but it’s also compounded by it. The US has depleted a lot of its stocks of critical weapons like missile interceptors over the past four years, and the economic war on Russia forced a creation of a whole alternate economic system that’s outside western control. Both these factors have significantly weakened the American hand in the current conflict.