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News & Current Events Apr 22, 2026 at 3:50 PM

Iran more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say

Posted by CBSnews


Iran's military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say
www.cbsnews.com
Iran's military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say
About half of Iran's stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems were still intact as of the start of the ceasefire in early April, officials said.

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doneandtired2014 3 days ago +2056
Well...yeah, they've had 50 years to dig in, they're not flat broke like North Korea is, they're willing to get creative, and they've demonstrated they've been paying attention to modern conflicts instead of resting on their laurels.
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UnBearAble-1 3 days ago +639
100 percent, the Iranians used down US predator drones, made them cheaper and now are one of maybe two or three leading forces in modern drone warfare. I’m counting Russia as a partial since it’s Iranian tech anyway
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Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +312
Tbh I’d chalk up a lot of Iran’s supposed success at drone warfare to an absolute failure of Western CUAS innovation, doctrine & adoption, as opposed to Iranian technological genius. Shahed-type drones are artillery shells with fiberglass wings and a motor that fly directly at preprogrammed coordinates. They’re more like c**** cruise missiles than actual drones. It’s an abject failure of Western+allied CUAS adaptation and procurement that makes them a threat, not something inherent in their design or employment by the Iranians.
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cb_24 3 days ago +119
Russia has iterated on those initial designs to make them harder to destroy, like jet versions, adding cameras, and even anti-aircraft missiles. They’ve been using them to strike moving targets like locomotives and even aircraft hunting drones. It’s likely they’ve provided them as part of whatever agreements they have.
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Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +27
Yep, you're right, unmanned strike & CUAS (broadly construed) are currently locked in a vicious, proverbial "race to the sea" right now, iterating new updates on a sub-4 week cycle and pushing out new products/variants as fast as possible... in Ukraine, at least. It's moronic that the CUAS side has been so neglected by not just the US, but also the GCC, and honestly most other "Western bloc" countries. That said, while unmanned strike has an "edge" right now, CUAS is going to leapfrog it sooner or later (IMO sooner) - then unmanned strike will leapfrog again, then CUAS, then unmanned strike, and on, and on, and on...
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Black_Moons 2 days ago +36
Well of course its been neglected. There is no money to be made selling c**** drones and c**** anti-drone weapons. The western military industrial complex is only interested in making multi-million dollar missiles that only cost a few grand in parts to make and only investing in the minimal amount of factory and staff to make them. Working for your money? nah the rich don't play that game.
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zedascouves1985 2 days ago +16
The UK invented a laser that can kil drones at two pounds a shot. Unfortunately it's only going to be installed in destroyers in 2027. But it's NATO's first country to adopt such a thing. Also unfortunately the UK has only 10 destroyers or so. That's a different question though.
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DestroyerofCurries 2 days ago +17
Laser weapons are affected by weather and can only target one drone at a time effectively. Far from a silver bullet to drones.
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[deleted] 2 days ago +4
[deleted]
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FingerGungHo 2 days ago +3
Wouldn’t a mirror foil on the drone work to at least degrade the effectiveness?
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Black_Moons 2 days ago +7
Yea because the UK isn't interested in getting invaded by Russia any decade soon. As opposed to the US just trying to funnel as much taxpayer money to the rich as possible.
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TSL4me 2 days ago +7
Ohh yea, i dont think anyone realizes how vulnerable the worlds trains are now with drones.
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Fn_Spaghetti_Monster 2 days ago +7
I'm sure a lot of people don't realize how much freight trains still get moved by trains. 28% in the US..
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Goat_inna_Tree 2 days ago +6
"freight trains still get moved by trains." That is how trains work.
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neonlexicon 2 days ago +2
And in the US it's all poorly maintained & they overload everything to haul at least 3x more than they should, so it would be pretty easy to sabotage. A strong enough breeze could probably do it.
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Ferreman 3 days ago +60
It's actually insane how badly prepared the USA was on this front. They've seen what's happening in Ukraine for years and they still weren't prepared.
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Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +45
Oh trust me bro, I work in the defense tech sector in the US, and I know/work closely with a lot of Ukrainian defense companies & defense-oriented organizations. You can only imagine how I feel about this lol
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T8ert0t 2 days ago +9
And Ukraine was offering to train
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ZeroActual 2 days ago +6
What’s crazy is I was in the Army back in 2010 and all we talked about was strapping grenades to toy drones and flying them over enemies to deliver them. We knew it was coming if not already arrived. There we were, smoking cigarettes, imagining what it would be like to be on the receiving end of a drone swarm.
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PsychologicalSet8678 3 days ago +54
Iran has specifically designed it's strategy against the vulnerabilities of militaries like the US who can crush you in a classic war, but cannot fight with you asymetrically. It's a genius idea, and the US because of its role in its hegemony, cannot counter it effectively without becoming vulnerable against classic warfare powers like Russia/China.
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T-sigma 3 days ago +33
While I don’t think you are necessarily wrong, this is about oil and their strategy is about winning the economic and political war against US citizens living paycheck to paycheck. Not surprisingly, the US and Trump weren’t prepared for this. Trump won’t even remember it by next week.
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Katashi90 2 days ago +7
Of course they weren't prepared for this. The war wasn't waged with their people in mind. Trump didn't come up of manipulating other nation's oil to bolster US economy, he's doing it to line up his cronies pockets and messing with the stock market. It's no wonder US citizens are the ones paying the price for him.
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Utterlybored 2 days ago +3
I’m just an average Joe, but even I knew of Iran’s potential to shut down the Strait of Hormuz and cripple the global economy. The USA knew it, but Trump and his clown car of advisors somehow didn’t.
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Amethyst-Flare 3 days ago +4
True, but however they got there, they got there.
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Throwaway5432154322 2 days ago +5
Agree, but war is never linear, and capabilities that are effective now will not be effective in the future.
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FrostBricks 2 days ago +4
Depends how you define success. Building big, multibillion dollar vessels and arms are great for business buddies profits and photo ops. But you're not meant to use them. Y'know, it's all about priorities.
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HappilyDisengaged 3 days ago +7
This is the cycle. The us faced similar learning curves in a post world war, guerilla led conflicts, like Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Now it’s Iran. It’s the US’s smaller poorer adversary who usually teaches the US the next war, while remaining undefeated vs the US
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soulstormfire 2 days ago +26
What cycle? The US didn't really learn from those losses.
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moop44 2 days ago +4
It's an excellent way to transfer wealth from the poorest voters and up to the wealthiest. Works 100% of the time.
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ilikedmatrixiv 2 days ago +2
Iran makes something c**** yet effective: shabby design, the fact it's effective is due to our shortcomings, not their success. The West makes something c**** yet effective: innovative design, the fact it's effective is due to our foresight and skill.
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Kevin-W 2 days ago +7
Plus they're a massive country and a natural forretress with lots of mountains. Every expert have warned that going to war with Iran would have been a disaster and welp, lo and behold.
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Kataphractoi 2 days ago +3
Anyone remember when [this](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-16095823) happened? Their drone tech got a big boost from this incident, no doubt.
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throwaway277252 3 days ago +8
> the Iranians used down US predator drones, made them cheaper Most of their reverse engineered knockoffs are similar in appearance only, but lack the same capabilities. They often copy design features without being able to duplicate their function just to make it look alike.
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ralpher1 3 days ago +45
North Korea isn’t broke anymore. Russia has paid them for arms and soldiers for the past few years.
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Peacer13 2 days ago +43
Whatever economic status North Korea is, they got nukes. They're relatively safe from US 
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friendlyspork 2 days ago +8
What Russia had paid them pales in comparison to how many hundred of billions of dollars they make each year with crypto thefts. Also, keep in my mind North Korea was essentially stealing Bitcoin from the get-go, and I doubt they sold/laundered all of it. Kim Jong Un is the OG diamond hands.
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Plzlaw4me 3 days ago +85
It also helps that they have actual goals, whereas our goal going in was to distract from our president raping kids, and now our only goal is to try to minimize the pending global economic catastrophe we put in motion.
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Khaldara 2 days ago +5
Hey it’s not JUST raping kids. Sometimes it’s convincing the idiots that voted for him that letting him manipulate the stock market and embezzle from Americans is in their best interest.
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the_hair_of_aenarion 2 days ago +6
World leader in battle proven c**** drones too. They didn't sell all of them to Russia. They've got stockpiles.
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2Autistic4DaJoke 2 days ago +6
My biggest impression of this is that the American Military ego and bolstering has caused a lack of innovation and preparation for modern warfare.
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Any-Monk-9395 2 days ago +3
The North Koreans are still leagues smarter than the Iranians because they actually built nukes. No future invasions for them.
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nathism 3 days ago +116
Value engineering is a skill that Iran and the Ukrainians have honed while the US and Russia focused on how to make the oliogarchs richer
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Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +614
Good thing the US haven’t given them a few weeks to reorganize their defenses. (I don’t support the war, I’m just continuously astonished by the strategic incompetence of this administration)
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badasimo 3 days ago +259
I don't think it was by choice. The US didn't organize their offense (and local defense), used all their "fast" options trying to... I don't know what. Whatever they will do next, there is only one certainty-- it will be expensive
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Nextasy 3 days ago +185
They didn't even move their extremely expensive and scarce radar systems. Iran knew exactly where they were, because they've always been in those locations, and did some serious damage to the US' ability to counter missile threats in the ME the second the war started. The US and allies were really caught with their pants down there. Here's a quick rundown on their best missile defense systems: ---------------- For top-of-the-line missile defense, the US has 8 THAAD batteries total (WorldwidE). Each THAAD battery has 1 high-end AN/TPY-2 Radar system, which serves as the defense nucleus and also supports other, smaller anti-missile systems. Of the 8 US THAAD batteries, five typically defend the USA, one is in Guam, one in South Korea, and the last one is unknown (probably Middle East). Outside of the radars with these 8 THAADs, the US has had another 5 AN/TPY-2s delivered. One was once reported at a Turkish Airbase, used by the US. The Saudi's have purchased some THAADs, they had 1 delivered as of last year, and it's probably the only one they've got. Takes a long time to get these things delivered. The UAE purchased 2 THAADs, which have been delivered. So in total in the ME, at the outset of the war, there were: * 1x Saudi THAAD * 2x UAE THAADs * *probably* 1x American THAAD Each of these is reliant on a single AN/TPY-2 radar system, which is not easily replaced. ------- Within 3 days of the war (but probably on day one when the biggest flurry happened) the Iranians [destroyed](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/05/middleeast/radar-bases-us-missile-defense-iran-war-intl-invs) the AN/TPY-2 Radars of THAADs at: * Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia (probably the single Saudi battery) * Al Ruwais Industrial City (First UAE THAAD Battery) * Al Sader Farms (Second UAE THAAD Battery) * Muwaffaq Al Salti Base in Jordan (probably the unknown US THAAD) At a quick count, that's severely degraded, if not disabled entirely, ALL the THAADs that are tyically available for defense in the Mid east. *All of them!* NONE of them were apparently moved from their usual locations before the outset of the war. The radars alone are $500mil a pop. Explains why the US had to pull the THAAD out of South Korea, because it's either that, or leave gaps in the continental US. --------- Besides that, there's also the AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar. This was blown up by Iran by the 3rd of March. These are not mobile, and they are the highest-level radar systems for ballistics missiles. There are 6 of these in the world, and 5 of them defend North America. The 6th was in Qatar. Over a billion dollars for one of these. -------- So yeah, lots of people (including me) were surprised at how many of Iran's missiles and drones were able to get through missile defenses, and how quickly they ate up the western stockpiles of interceptors. But if you don't have the radars, it's much harder to track the missiles, and you end up needing to use the expensive systems on even some of the little stuff. It explains a lot, knowing how badly the radar systems were hit. Iran knew what they were doing. What's bizarre is the total lack of preparation from the US and allies. These systems were extremely obvious targets, they're the most important card in the missile defense strategy. How TF did they fail to defend *any* of them?? Extreme incompetence in planning, honestly unbelievable. You could blame it on Trump, but honestly, I'm not sure that even the president's failures could cause this big of a f***-up. It's a wonder more americans didn't die.
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Black_Moons 2 days ago +68
>How TF did they fail to defend any of them?? Extreme incompetence in planning, honestly unbelievable. You could blame it on Trump, but honestly, I'm not sure that even the president's failures could cause this big of a f***-up. It's a wonder more americans didn't die. Almost like all the generals who knew what they where doing where fired at the start of the war and replaced with yes-men who didn't have a clue what they where doing.
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rayjaymor85 2 days ago +2
Yep. Most likely the Generals that knew what they were doing told Trump that attacking Iran was "dumb as f***" and they got sacked for it.
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heisian 2 days ago +32
we should absolutely blame trump, because policy prior to his administration was capitulation through diplomacy, not war.
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moop44 2 days ago +29
You should blame Republicans and not allow them to use Trump as a scapegoat. The majority of all branches of government that were put there by the majority of voters made this happen.
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Reckfulness 2 days ago +5
While I agree blaming trump, I have no doubt that Netanyahu forced Trumps hand seeing how war hungry he is and how much he hates Iran, Trump was just like "f*** it lets do it then"
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AdPure5645 2 days ago +4
Wow. Thank you for the write up. I saw that Iran had taken out some radar stuff but did not know the importance or anything about thaad.
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PsychologicalSet8678 3 days ago +29
> It's a wonder more americans didn't die. They are covering it up, a book will be released a few years down the road uncovering this mess.
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Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +39
Eh, I don’t think there’s a cover up considering just how prevalent dead troop worship and social media is here in the US. Without massive payouts there’s no way the families stay silent, and some just wouldn’t even if you tried 
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jellyhessman 3 days ago +18
There were reports by folks on the ground of a lot more people being flown into Germany for medical care than were reported by the US military.
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Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +19
Wounded is a different story 
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PastryAssassinDeux 2 days ago +22
dead american contractors aren't required to be reported as killed in action unfortunately.
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LargeBrownBird 2 days ago +16
I mean the mysterious hero pilot that was found is still MIA
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Throwaway5432154322 2 days ago +15
Damn, this is a wild info bubble that I haven’t had the misfortune of encountering until now
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soulstormfire 2 days ago +4
hold up. how does that work?
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LargeBrownBird 2 days ago +8
It means we lied about the perfectly executed rescue operation that was all over the news for about 20 minutes
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soulstormfire 2 days ago +2
Dude wasn't rescued? :D
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Larcye 2 days ago +5
If it comes out that the MIA pilot was in fact found dead in a few years it's going to look very bad.
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LargeBrownBird 2 days ago +9
I look forward to hearing the news when it eventually reaches whatever work camp for socialists I've been sent to
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RickAstleyletmedown 2 days ago +2
Or it was just a black woman and Trump didn’t want to put her on camera.
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MyAltimateIsCharging 2 days ago +7
Considering the US is only barely starting to officially admit admit there were firefights outside Abbey Gate and the Kabul Airport *this year*, I would not be surprised if they're trying to sweep things under the rug.
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sadacal 2 days ago +9
Given how this administration has been inclined to ignore rules, I wouldn't be surprised if they're delaying reporting deaths. And they are definitely downplaying the wounded numbers.
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CouldBeLessDepressed 2 days ago +6
Coverup or no, just give it time. There will be more American deaths. Possibly by the tens of thousands if store shelves run bare because our global logistics went down because of a sudden and prolonged nearly 1/3 drop in the fuel supply, fertilizer supply, and other petrochemicals supply. Seems it will hit other parts of the world first, but the USA wont go through this unscathed. Our strategic reserve should run out around July. After that, hope everyone has a backup. For those who see this and feel the need to type out "USA is a net-exporter" as though that means anything at all, I just wanna say in advance: LOL. LMAO even.
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HeWhoDefiles 3 days ago -8
This isn’t accurate and these claims that have no credible evidence, I’d like to see you try to prove this by linking credible reports. Giving paid Iranian misinformation vibes. Yes, the U.S. and allies operate THAAD and AN/TPY-2 radar in the region, and yes they’re high-value assets. But there’s NO verified reporting that Iran destroyed multiple THAAD radars, hit bases like Prince Sultan or Muwaffaq Al Salti in that way, or took out a strategic AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar. If that had happened, it would be major global news with satellite confirmation and likely a U.S. response. Our mainstream news media would salivate at an opportunity to put down the current admin and the headlines would be constantly pushed down our throat if this actually happened. Yes the THAAD radar in Jordan was hit and some non THAAD radar damage is shown by satellite imagery in UAE / Saudi but there is ZERO high confidence reporting about what you are saying. Missile defenses obviously can get stressed by large salvos, depleted interceptor stock, but the “all radars wiped out / total collapse” narrative isn’t supported and also our cost of interceptor tech has been drastically reduced to the point where it costs more to make the missiles than the interceptors which I’ll admit used to not be the case. Crazy work your comment is upvoted where anyone who just does some leg work in verifying can realize it’s not a credible narrative.
-8
Nextasy 2 days ago +39
>I'd like to see you try to prove this by linking credible reports. Giving paid Iranian misinformation vibes Not everything thats hard for you to hear is Iranian propaganda lmao. I'm not some big fan of the Ayatollah >If that had happened, it would be major global news with satellite confirmation Did you even bother to look at the link in my comment? It's literally CNN (which is major global news, before you go all "CNN isn't credible" on me) and their reporting is based entirely on in-depth satellite footage, the article was out a week after the war began. >and likely a U.S. response. Hmm, have you not wondered why they [demanded](https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/03/satellite-firm-pauses-imagery-after-revealing-irans-attacks-on-us-bases/) planetlabs stop releasing footage of US bases? Planetlabs is literally the source of half the imagery in the CNN article. >But there’s NO verified reporting that Iran destroyed multiple THAAD radars, hit bases like Prince Sultan or Muwaffaq Al Salti in that way... >Yes the THAAD radar in Jordan was hit... Spoiler, the THAAD in Jordan was at Muwaffaq Al Salti. There's also satellite of damage at Prince Sultan. >there is ZERO high confidence reporting about what you are saying. I mean, I don't know what you expect besides satellite imagery. It's not like these systems are on the roof of some guys apartment with hundreds of civilians around. Are you waiting for the US military to come out and announce that they're shit got blown up? Oh wait, is that why they're moving "components" and radars from THAAD system out of Korea to the middle east? Or is that just for shits? >“all radars wiped out / total collapse” I didn't say either of those things but hey, if that's what it takes to paint me as an Iranian paid propagandists, keep stuffing propaganda in my mouth I guess. There's a reason I *specifically listed* the THAADs and how they are typically accounted for, then counted up the direct hits shown on satellite footage. If you have a problem with my math, tell me how your math works, so that I can correct my understanding. Don't just show up and say "no that's wrong because I don't like the narrative." And for the record, here is the source on the US having 8 batteries and their locations. Hope it's "reliable" enough for you: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12645 If you think the one in Jordan was anything but the unaccounted american battery, I'm ready to hear why.
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Micp 3 days ago +39
>used all their "fast" options trying to... I don't know what They thought that if they just took out the head of the regime the rest of them would just roll over and surrender. They thought that just because the population were protesting the regime at the time that they would greet the US with open arms, as if they didn't hate the US more than they hated the supreme leader. In'n'out, quick 20 minute adventure...
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Nippon-Gakki 3 days ago +15
Sounds almost like another 3 day operation that didn’t quite go as planned.
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Kataphractoi 2 days ago +2
Needs to be higher up. This literally was their entire plan.
2
Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +12
Yup, if only we had known what a boondoggle this would be for like, 50 year or something. Oh wait..
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monkeypincher 3 days ago +3
They used all their "fast" options trying to distract from the epstein files.
3
Ok-Drawer5245 2 days ago +38
What Trump is not saying publicly, but numerous signs point to, is that the US weapon stockpiles are under immense pressure (the US simply lacks the production means to win an extended conflict of this sort). This is probably the reason why Trump don’t really want to continue the war. It turns out, after all, that using 4m$ missiles to shot down 25k$ drones is not a particularly good idea. Either way the entire war, one big dumbass gamble that the Iranian government would be overthrown by the people, is the biggest strategic blunder in 50 years or more. Trump thinking himself the best president in history is shaping up to be the worst.
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soulstormfire 2 days ago +10
I don't think they wanted a revolution. It's much more likely they wanted to raise a docile 2nd in command like in Venezuela.
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joper90 2 days ago +5
Yep, they said revolution, but they wanted someone softer who they could then abuse for oil/gas/minerals etc etc and make them a lot of money.
5
WingerRules 2 days ago +2
I'm no expert in this stuff, I'm wondering if the issue is transporting the stockpiles there, not production. They seemed to have went in with little planning/preparing ahead of time and are still spending time getting assets there like additional ships and carriers and didnt get clearances approved with other countries to run operations out of them or see if they would join them (turns out the answer is no).
2
LesothoBro 2 days ago +9
Negative, it's production time AND transporting combined. The US was already sitting at 25% readiness of stockpile (stand-off munitions) after last years attack on Iran and prior year's supply of weapons to Ukraine. Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing and L3Harris are all manufacturing dependencies for the PAC-3 intercept systems and there is only about 500 units produced annually which are spread across the US military, strategic allies and other 3rd party purchasers. In short, the US doesn't have the military industrial complex to engage Iran in its current capacity of waging asymmetrical warfare with drones targeting Israel and the GCC states. It is taking 4-5 interceptors for each drone or missile fired by Iran... if you do the math, it doesn't go well for the GCC or Israel if this continues. There is also some [reporting](https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-administration-wants-ford-gm-033107863.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC56fg5sjkQ91RAf8Ja3d8jOzhIwHiXS1QZvn5vDEeq_XnPshEJVcdMQKpHDskvWvvVHlGLnMaQlshLgt6veBNbvsD5K8DEuWi1jE60lNPrvhGrpTpCY2QeKz7Mthw2euQ5kvby-tMKAtXUzjgVrpQTJOVKqKCzgWgMgG4E8XWhk) that the US administration has approached Ford and GM to repurpose their manufacturing to accommodate military production. This is NOT a sign that all is good.
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WingerRules 2 days ago +3
I thought most of what we were giving to Ukraine was outdated/end of life stuff and stuff about to expire?
3
LesothoBro 2 days ago +3
Still counts as inventory.
3
Flatus_Diabolic 2 days ago +7
The US and Israel were almost out of air defence missiles - [they basically blew through more Patriot missiles in two weeks than the Ukrainians have used in the last four years. That’s more than half of the USA’s total military reserve](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/war-iran-used-half-us-073648390.html). The US needed the ceasefire to rearm and “reorganise their defences” far more than the Iranians did. On top of that, the flight hours for America and Israel’s jets must be really getting up there by now, I wonder how many of their birds will be due for Intermediate or Depot (shipped back stateside) level servicing.
7
Ok-Drawer5245 2 days ago +3
Whenever Trump has said that the Iranians are desperate for peace, what he really means is that He is desperate for peace
3
dCLCp 2 days ago +3
Tactical incompetence. There was never even a hint of strategy here.
3
utrangerbob 3 days ago +28
Iran is the size of 2.5 Texas with 93 million people. It's also a natural fortress full of mountains. Dumbass in chief looks at a map, sees it the on the equator and thinks a flat plain and not that big compared to the countries around it. We can do it with 2500 marines and 2 carriers right?
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Strykerz3r0 3 days ago +31
I'm surprised we don't have a Sharpie that can handle this like when he rerouted the hurricane.
31
Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +28
> Don’t siege Leningrad, take it immediately  This is the level of acumen this administration is bringing to the table.  You got them on record saying “all other administrations did war stupid”
28
bloop7676 3 days ago +11
Part of that is I think a fair number of people really believed that many of those 93 million would actually be on their side, that everyone in Iran hated the government and was just waiting for this chance to get rid of them. They bought into the whole thing of "the people being the boots on the ground", so with some stretch of the imagination the 2500 marines could seem like enough
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NiewinterNacht 2 days ago +4
"We will be greeted as liberators"
4
heisian 2 days ago +3
democracy!!!! *bombs dropping*
3
heisian 2 days ago +7
yes, the population will rise up just as one of the missiles destroyed a girls’ school. the ego is insane. in what historical event has a nation overthrown its govt due to being bombed by a foreign country?
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teaisformugs82 3 days ago +8
I'm assuming it's trump that thinks it on the equator and not you?!
8
Traditional_Drama_91 3 days ago +7
They probably had “mercator” autocorrected
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teaisformugs82 3 days ago +3
Ok that makes more sense particularly with saying how large other countries are around it since Iran is larger than all it's land border countries!
3
Deletereous 2 days ago +2
Marines could rappel from the equator and take the country in one night.
2
Helios0186 3 days ago +215
Are we surprised the Trump administration lied again? No.
215
Mutchmore 3 days ago +50
At this point it would be more surprising that they're telling the truth..
50
amitkoj 3 days ago +11
They are arrogant and naive. A dangerous combo. One wonder what other landmine will they walk us into over next 3 years.
11
luxurywhipp 2 days ago +1
All you people need are the words ‘sources say’ and you’ll believe anything. Does anyone possess enough critical thinking to understand that it’s in Iran’s interest to spread these ideas as far and wide as possible as part of their war strategy? But people hate Trump so much that they leave their critical thinking at the door.
1
Substantial_Milk8170 3 days ago +127
Downplaying a geopolitical adversary's capabilities purely for domestic PR. Because historically, underestimating your opponent to save face has *always* worked out flawlessly.
127
Sephret 3 days ago +26
Agent Krasnov imports only the finest in Russian strategic stoogery.
26
CFCYYZ 3 days ago +171
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. \- Sun Tzu "The Art of War"
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Icy-Scarcity 3 days ago +111
They don't do Sun Tzu. They use "Art of the Deal" remember?
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PrivatePilot9 3 days ago +61
America is using tactics from the mind of Sundowning Tzu instead.
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Lets_Kick_Some_Ice 3 days ago +9
Sundowning* but solid joke.
9
PrivatePilot9 3 days ago +8
Dammit, that was ducking autocorrect. Fixing.
8
Kataphractoi 2 days ago +11
Nah, the Book of Don Tzu. (not mine, copy-pasted it into a chat weeks ago from another listnook post) > "Tariff, belittle and threaten to invade your allies. Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen." - Don Tzu. > "If you don't know what you're doing, neither will your enemy." - ⁠Don Tzu > "Surprise your enemies by backstabbing your allies" - Don Tzu >"Surprise your allies by befriending your enemies." -Don Tzu >"To command attention in a crowded room, shit yourself." - Don Tzu >"promise a plan in 2-3 weeks, in 2-3 weeks deliver nothing" - Don Tzu >"If you find yourself in a deep hole, keep digging but make sure you do it with the most expensive shovel available." - Don Tzu >"Don't try to understand war, economy, or diplomacy, for this is an impossible task. It's all computer." - Don Tzu >"Break an enemy blockade by blockading their blockade." - Don Tzu
11
Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +14
I guarantee that if Trump ever learned who Sun Tzu was, he would near-instantaneously claim that *Art of War* “wasn’t as good” as *Art of the Deal*.
14
Yvaelle 3 days ago +5
Or he would claim he wrote The Art of War
5
whythoyaho 2 days ago +3
“Shart” of the deal
3
LaoTzeMachiavelli 3 days ago +6
I approve of this message…
6
FunnyOneJC 2 days ago +2
The Trump Regime and the Secretary of War failed hard at Sun Tse’s art of war.
2
thput 2 days ago +13
That because hegseth and the idiots he has not fired all over estimate their own capabilities and underestimate everyone else. This sounds like normal for this administration.
13
gatesartist 2 days ago +32
That headline gave me a stroke
32
Ace220611 2 days ago +6
sources say is a lowest form of journalism
6
SingularityCentral 3 days ago +28
The incompetence on display from the Administration is truly staggering.
28
bigedthebad 3 days ago +15
Why do these guys keep making the same mistake, over and over again? I know Hegseth is behind this, he convinced Trump that we could go in there, wipe them out in 10 minutes and be home for lunch. They were convinced this would be an easy win, that Iran, who has been defying the West for almost 40 years, would just roll over. I guess stupid is as stupid does.
15
Flatus_Diabolic 2 days ago +12
Nah, I think the one who’s behind this is Netanyahu. He’s been wanting the USA to help him do this for decades, but in Trump, he finally found someone gullible and arrogant enough to agree to it, probably because he was high off the smell of his own farts after his military successes in Venezuela and the 12 Day War, so he thought this would be another easy win to flex over. Hegseth would have been excited for the chance to pose and say badass things at a podium like he’s filming a trailer for an action movie starring himself, but I strongly doubt he talked Trump into much of anything. The interesting thing is Trump: he’s always been the kind of guy to not take a success and move on - it’s why everything he does always fails. He sees a small success as an invitation to go bigger and bigger, taking incrementally more and more risk, committing himself to larger and larger military “excursions” until eventually he over commits and someone claps back or the investment doesn’t pay off like it did before, and then whatever business venture it was goes bankrupt or he ends up trapped in a quagmire, then he slinks away and looks for a new grift. That’s why I’m surprised he’s already talking about Cuba - he’s burnt his fingers now, but he’s going in again anyway, which is out of character. I can’t wait to see how Biden will be to blame for the massive influx of illegal Cuban migrants into Florida after Cuba collapses.
12
DeeplyEepy 3 days ago +36
I thought their military capabilities were obliterated? Are you telling me that Donald J. Trump lied?
36
thecloakofignorance 3 days ago +31
decimated is the correct word, i.e., reduced by 10%
31
DeeplyEepy 3 days ago +6
Is that what decimated actually means? lol
6
thecloakofignorance 3 days ago +25
yes. It was this weird roman thing where they would punish a legion by executing one in ten soldiers
25
DeeplyEepy 3 days ago +4
Huh. I had no idea! Thank you for the history on that.
4
Flatus_Diabolic 2 days ago +3
> executing That’s a fairly mild way of describing it. The remaining 9 would be ordered to beat their 10th compatriot to death with their bare hands. Decimation was reserved for legions that had disgraced themselves in battle by fleeing. Killing more than 10% of them would be a loss of valuable resources, but the Romans definitely knew how to use quality of a punishment to make up for quantity (just ask Jesus) so, on the whole, it could have been a lot worse than merely being pummelled to death by your own friends.
3
tanaephis77400 2 days ago +5
Mostly a legend though. It happened maybe half a dozen times over the course of many centuries, and always on a very small scale (like 15 executions out of a 150 soldiers unit). Roman soldiers were citizens who could legally appeal their punishment, so extreme punitive measures would have been very unpopular and counter-productive. It's still a cool origin story for the word though.
5
ren_reddit 2 days ago +2
Yes, You know, the Metric system and all that..
2
According-Bet-141 2 days ago +5
Everybody knew it except Trump and his trumpets. 
5
Texden29 3 days ago +7
Of course Trump and Hegseth lied. Incompetent DEI hire. They’ve made our country the laughing stock of the world.
7
hoodlumonprowl 3 days ago +3
lol no shit. They can pretend the narrative is that we're "winning" but that is such a silly way to think about all of this.
3
Hefty-Comparison-801 2 days ago +3
You need a source for this? My source is comparing what's been happening with what Trump and Kegseth say.
3
Giltar 2 days ago +3
No surprise
3
tykneedanser 2 days ago +3
There’s a reason no one, until dipshit, has tried this before.
3
Carittz 2 days ago +3
I mean they've shut down one of the most important trade routes in the world and have seemingly convinced the most powerful military on Earth that the cost of forcing it open again would be too high to be worth it.
3
Notonfoodstamps 2 days ago +3
I mean anyone with half a brain should know this. American propaganda is a thing ~~Veitnam~~ , and Iran, as shaky as it is, isn’t inept.
3
Normal-Rope6198 2 days ago +3
What the heck is that title trying to say?
3
[deleted] 3 days ago +22
[deleted]
22
freeman_joe 3 days ago +12
So Schrödingers army?
12
Nextasy 3 days ago +14
Iran is definitely still hiding some valuable cards. I think they know they could go toe-to-toe with the Israeli and US bombings and escalate to the maximum, and the war would be over quick. (Apparently necessary clarification: it would be over quick because Iran would be defeated, regardless of losses to the US/israel. Sorry if anybody thought anything other than this was possible...) But even with some US losses , that would probably serve US interests better than Iran. I think they're waiting to see if an attempt at a ground invasion comes. Holding defense systems until they can hit a more valuable target is not unheard of, and Iran is a different country than the west. While they're definitely suffering, I think they'd be willing to let a lot more of their infrastructure be hit, than reveal all of their defenses. They know the way to win a war against the US isn't by destroying expensive aircraft, the US has near-unlimited money compared to Iran. The way to win a war against the US would be by blowing up transport planes and helicopters packed with US soldiers, and causing casualties by launching missiles at american forward bases in an invasion scenario. Blowing up expensive tech is embarrassing for the US military industry. Killing and maiming thousands of US soldiers is where the actual pressure would lie. Nobody reports much on the billions of dollars of radars that Iran blew up, they report on the 13 dead soldiers. Irans no dummy, and they're willing to take a beating. I imagine that's the opportunity that they're saving the other half of their military for.
14
Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +14
>I think they know they could go toe-to-toe with the Israeli and US bombings and escalate to the maximum, and the war would be over quick. Lmao this is awesome - definitely deserves a meme-type response, I'm just struggling with which one... Is it more like, "It's only a flesh wound!" Or, "HOLD HIM BACK" Or, "Doctors Hate Him! Get bombed 14,000 times - but its actually all part of this one simple trick!"
14
Nextasy 2 days ago +6
By that quote, I mean the war would be over quick, because everything would be spent. All of the irani materials, and maybe some US losses, but it would be over. Not that they would 1v1 the states and Israel and win. As for irans remaining capabilities, take it from [the head of the US defence intelligence agency](https://armedservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/lt._gen._adams_witness_statement.pdf), not me >Iran retains thousands of missiles and one-way attack UAVs that can threaten U.S. and partner forces throughout the region, despite degradations to its capabilities from both attrition and expenditure If these missiles and drone launchers were in use, they obviously would have been struck by the US and Israel during the bombings, right? The rational explanation is that they were deliberately not put out there. Unless you think the US just missed them or something, idk. >Iran’s ground and air forces have outdated equipment and limited training and sustained damage during coalition strikes; they almost certainly cannot defeat a technologically superior adversary. Iran likely will further asymmetric warfare advancements to augment its conventional capabilities as it remains in conflict with the United States and Israel. This is more what I was getting at. Iran knows it can't win toe-to-toe, and it will be over very quickly, which is not how you win a war against the US. You win by drawing it out in asymmetric warfare, a la Vietnam and Afghanistan.
6
RJCHI 3 days ago +6
I laughed too. Was that a typo? Lmao
6
Nextasy 2 days ago +3
It was a misunderstanding, I should have clarified, I didn't think anybody would interpret that as Iran defeating the US - by toe-to-toe, I meant "attempt to take them head on"
3
Throwaway5432154322 3 days ago +5
Idk man haha, its an all-time comment though "I'm just saving my strength" - quote from man punched 100 times in the face
5
MareC0gnitum 3 days ago +4
Yeah, well we noticed...
4
Dark_World_Blues 3 days ago +14
True, and USA is much more capable than the Iranian media is publicly acknowledging. The Iranian media is extremely funny.
14
Solugad 3 days ago +9
So are all the people that eat it up lol
9
Dark_World_Blues 3 days ago +2
I agree
2
Yet_Another_Dood 2 days ago +2
USA is obviously the biggest military leader by a long shot. Iran doesn't supply the world's military lmao. But the conflict is nothing but a badly planned shitshow it seems.
2
heisian 2 days ago +2
equivalent to putin thinking he could sweep ukraine in a few days
2
Madblood 3 days ago +4
> Iran more capable than Trump administration ~~is publicly acknowledging, sources say~~ FTFY
4
hurdurnotavailable 3 days ago +13
Sources do say that? And what evidence do they have for that? How many targets was Iran able to destroy? How is their economy doing? Do people still overwhelmingly hate them? Surely not, I mean only 80% of the country hated them... but then they just killed tens of thousands, so surely that's not as bad anymore, right? nah, it's going really well for Iran. Sure, their currency is worthless, they have to keep internet off to prevent uprisings and their own population from destroying them. They're running out of water and can't pay their soldiers because of damage to banks datacenters. But hey, going really well! Ah, and let'S not forget the use of child soldiers and importing of iraqi & afghan shias because they're running out of soldiers for checkpoints so... they can terrorize their own population? lol
13
Megidolaon10 2 days ago +2
But would you look at the US stock market? /s
2
Sweatytubesock 2 days ago +2
Imagine that.
2
ScottOld 2 days ago +2
Trump? Lying about something? Never
2
SuperTittySprinkles 2 days ago +2
Yes. Very obviously. When the man says completely obliterated and knocked out, then I know that in fact nothing has been obliterated and nothing has been knocked out. 
2
igot8001 2 days ago +2
>Iran is more capable than Trump Administration FTFY
2
ModernAutomata 2 days ago +2
The proof is that despite "having won" twelve times over, we are still negotiating. And extremely poorly. Art of the deal more like art of dog shit. And we're still at the shit part.
2
Rynowash 2 days ago +2
You don’t f****** say.
2
LincolnElizalde 2 days ago +2
What is all this malarkey. The war is over. Iran agreed to everything. We are sending trucks to haul out the nuke stuff. The straight is open. Gas prices are the lowest since before the ‘73 embargo. This the best it’s ever been. Whatever “this” is……..
2
midnightrider747 2 days ago +2
Well the military isnt the problem. The total shit show is the trump administration which just said do it without any plan whatsoever. Iran is very lucky to deal with incompetent idiots on the political lvl. And Trump cannot afford that massive amounts of body bags fly home on his account since using Soldiers will be the means to win since Iran is weaker military wise.
2
rayjaymor85 2 days ago +2
You mean the other side's military of a war that we won 4 weeks ago and somehow still going on? You don't fkn say...
2
yee_88 2 days ago +2
The US has been planning for innumerable events. Iran has been preparing for exactly ONE event; stopping an attacking force, either Israel or the US by closing the Strait of Hormuz. This makes the asymmetry far less important. Russia made the same mistake in attacking Ukraine. The US has wargamed this scenario and apparently have yet to figure out a solution. The Millennium Challenge 2002 had General Van Ripper represent Iranian forces. He used asymmetric warfare to win against the USA. Of course, the US re-did the exercise with restrictions that allowed the US to win anyway, a restriction that Iran does not currently have to obey.
2
darktumbles 3 days ago +4
Don't worry no one believes anything the Trump administration says anyway.
4
Tattered_Reason 3 days ago +3
But Mr. President Doctor Jesus TRUMP Sir said that Iran’s military had been completely obliterated several times over!
3
TheWorclown 3 days ago +2
… I’m kinda having a stroke reading this headline, I think.
2
abeBroham-Linkin 3 days ago +3
The way Trump keeps changing the narrative, they absolutely are more than capable of putting up a good fight. Afghanistan only has like 30-38 million people when the U.S was there for 20 years. What do you think 90 million people for Iran would do? Just twiddle their fingers?
3
nickname13 2 days ago +3
the headline should have stopped after six words.
3
0b1w4hn 3 days ago +5
Iran can wait, the Iranian government don't give a shit about the Iranian people. If it is necessary they let there people starve and die until they get what they want. Trumps weakness is obvious for everybody, his bluffs don't work. Now the orange idiot wants a deal, something like a nuclear deal... maybe he should ask Obama and Biden how they managed to get a deal like that.
5
ThereInAFortnight 3 days ago +4
You can remove the words "is publicly acknowledging" and it's also true.
4
cscottjones87 2 days ago +2
What is this title?
2
Raise_A_Thoth 3 days ago +3
I'll take "More Shit I Already Knew" for $500, Alex.
3
Got_Engineers 3 days ago +1
I wonder how much mind games Iran has been playing. The US has the insane advantage with surveillance and imaging and mapping and satellites. But Iran would also be able to do a lot of stuff to throw off the trail of the US. Like they could just build as many fake missile bunkers as real ones because satellites would never know if it’s real or not. Iran already has its own satellites from China
1
Cornelius-corbread 3 days ago +1
It’s almost like they had several decades of sky high tensions with the U.S. and Israel to prepare for this exact situation. Who woulda thought?
1
Wayelder 3 days ago +1
Trump thought he would just hide (from Trump/Epstein files) behind a tree, he ran into a saguaro cactus and now...it's got him. He is, of course, still unaware that the cactus was waiting for this.
1
Unfair-Plant-5605 3 days ago +1
Lying conman grifter lies. More at 11
1
UnsolicitedNeighbor 3 days ago +1
I mean, those Lego themed diss tracks are bangers
1
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