Brett Wilkins Jun 16, 2025
Flight-tracking websites showed dozens of Air Force aerial refueling planes departing from military bases in the United States and heading to Europe on Sunday, fueling speculation of direct U.S. involvement in the widening Israeli-Iranian war.
Military-focused news sites reported that around 30 U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers were identified by flight-tracking software in what The Times of Israelcalled an “unprecedented mass deployment” to Europe.
I didn’t call it, but there’s nothing quite like a war to distract the population from rampant decline at home.
This one is weird though, Iran is allied with Russia. Israel is allied with the US. Historically, this made sense.
But Trump and Putin playing war together would benefit both of them. It allows Putin to pull out of Ukraine because “Iran provided us much help and they need us now.” And it allows Russia to maintain the war economy. It benefits Trump because he wants to play war.
Neither leader would have any actual skin in the game, it’s just people’s lives that would never contribute in another meaningful way to their power.
I don’t like this. This is feeling more 1984 than 1984.
Edit: I like this even worse after I read the specifics of the KC-135R and KC-46A. Each can carry about 200,000 lbs of additional fuel. A single F-15E can hold 13,000 lbs internally. 30 KC-135Rs can refuel an entire F-15E 460 times. Israel has 7 KC-130H (60,000lbs) and 7 Boeing 707s (which is what the KC-135 was based on). This isn’t just escalation, this is staging for invasion.
Both Putin and Trump are approaching dead-ends in their current campaigns. This ICE stuff can’t end well for him with so many people out last weekend, and Putin is well stuck in Ukraine, as you say. Whilst they may not be personally interested in the future of Iran and them having nukes by itself, they may need this to save their skin, actually.
They hope Iran does something, that warrants NATOs article 5 to be triggered. Either the other Nato countries follow along, weakening Europe, or they don’t, which basically desolves NATO and thus, weakening Europe.
No one in Europe still counts on the US in case of an article 5 situation
It allows Putin to pull out of Ukraine
Why would Putin pull out of Ukraine? Russia is currently advancing and has a much better position in this war of attrition, and the more it keeps gaining, the better the “peace terms” will be in the end. Putin’s not fearing for his next term since elections in Russia are manipulated, the Russian economy is alive and well, and in military terms he’s in no hurry
Before COVID, 2020 started off with Trump drone striking a foreign diplomat and nearly starting WW3.
Come on now, you don’t need to invoke some BlueAnon conspiracy to explain why the US would attack Iran; it’s been champing at the bit to do so for decades.
The nice thing about Americans going to war is that it reduces the amount of dodge owners drag racing late at night. Silver linings.
Sounds like personal beef.
yea its a distraction from all the protests, its really making him look bad, but he has the msms focusing on this instead, plus he was using the parade and the shootings as another distraction as well. right now the news practically ignoring the protests. using the. BANNER strategy, flood the MSM with so much crap its hard to focus on one thing. its also known as the firehose of falsehood which is a Russian strategy for propaganda.
Not to mention that this gives him a legitimate reason to invoke the alien enemies act, not that he needed them in the first place, but it will tie up the courts even further.
Neither leader would have any actual skin in the game, it’s just people’s lives that would never contribute in another meaningful way to their power.
Cold War 2: now with more stupid!
Ukraine could throw a wrench in their plans by simply not accepting whatever Putin offers. He’s then left with “stay out of it and stay in Ukraine” or “join Trump and risk Ukraine flanking into Russian territory”
The silver lining is that this will accelerate the decline of the US Empire which in turn will weaken Israel. Although this will be too late for the millions who have been or are still to be killed because of these psychopathic regimes.
Israel is a project, literary run by people not their in the first place, so even if US Empire collapse they will move their money to the next dominant power.
I don’t think China gives a shit about Zionism. There’s no natural pool of evangelical Christians to brainwash.
China is self-sufficient and has advanced military tech that is at least equivalent to what the US has. Israel has nothing to offer it besides localised spying or murdering people.
Russia is a possibility but it has always found common cause with the Arab nations and Iran so wouldnt be as reliable. It’s also not as powerful.
The US is the only sugar daddy for this parasitic colony.
When did china has imperial ambitions in the middle east? From history i only saw cooperation.
True. It does not have the warmongering malign ambitions that settler colonial states like the US and Israel have.
The silver lining is that this will accelerate the decline of the US Empire
But not without a tremendous loss of life.
Maybe they are invading Greenland. Or it is a ruse and they are invading Canada.
“How to start WW3 in 10 seconds”.
“How to lose WW3 in a day”
This will drive oil prices up.
This will give the oil companies a reason to …
I’m seeing a lot of posts drumming up war hype and WW3 fears but there is nothing to fight. Iran is already cooked and no one is wants to do a ground invasion of Iran. Iran’s allies have abandoned them. This is american security preparing for possible counter attacks and bombing targets, not a full on war. Iran is already at war with Isreal.
Early 2000’s era nostalgia goin real hard
If anyone has good reasons to think otherwise, my anxiety needs something to believe in rn
Well, you’re dependent on tramp’s judgement at this point (panik)…on the one hand his caveman brain knows “oil price spike bad” and he can say no to bibi (kalm)…but he’s an idiot and easy to manipulate, so maybe he’ll fuck that up too (panik).
Oil price spike is actually very profitable for oil company and bad for not oil company
Surprise attack on Ukraine?
you are making it worse somehow (But I did laugh at the absurdity of it all, so thank you)
Lol same reaction. I don’t think it’s too absurd, sadly 😔
Chuckle… Oh shit!
Realistically it would be a normal thing to build up forces in the area to monitor and contain the conflict in case of further escalation by either party. Especially with Iranian proxy liable to strike at international shipping in the red sea and straight of Hormuz.
So this could just be a nothing burger. I hope.
Edit: okay yeah. No. 🍊 Is absolutely involving the military in there.
That doesn’t’ really seem plausible based on the scale of the deployment.
Search “Altlantic Trident 25”
Yeah we’re gonna use like 1 tanker for that, 2 on a busy day. The 28 others are going somewhere else
Under rated comment— is planned excercise in Finland it seems although they don’t mention tankers so who knows
This is not part of that, these tankers are escorting fighters to the middle east
That article is talking about tankers deployed from their European bases.
read the article
“Over the past hours, at least 20 tankers took off from various bases across Europe—including Prestwick (UK), Morón (Spain), and Ramstein (Germany)—to support what can now be confirmed as a large-scale redeployment of U.S. fighter jets to the Middle East.”
~~Yes, and the OP article is talking about tankers going across the Atlantic. So these are two separate things. (Maybe related things, but neither article connects the two)
I personally found no source relating then, but I may not know what to search for.~~
Edit: I see now that the OP did list those as airbase where tankers landed after crossing the Atlantic.
Wasn’t Trump the peaceful dove?
No US president is a peace dove. Between supporting proxie wars to police actions to declared war, they all end up getting people killed by bombs.
No.
We had a lot of “I’m willing to make deals with anyone” rhetoric from the Trump campaign that low-info voters took to mean he was anti-war.
But the underlying Pentagon leadership hasn’t significantly changed between Biden and Trump (or Bush and Trump, for that matter). Its all the same neoconservative think tanks writing variations on Project For A New American Century for the modern government.
The idea that you were going to elect an anti-war president went out the window during the primaries. Vanishingly few federal office holders have shown opposition to attacking Iran. Less than what we had in 2003 against Iraq.
Everyone from Richie Torres to Mike Lee seem on board with a brand new Holocaust in the Middle East.
But the underlying Pentagon leadership hasn’t significantly changed between Biden and Trump (or Bush and Trump, for that matter). Its all the same neoconservative think tanks writing variations on Project For A New American Century for the modern government.
That isn’t congress or the president. Pentagon leadership doesn’t declare war. Congress has the power to declare war which hasn’t happened for some time and since then the president has basically done so, although arguable that it’s been a “formal” declaration of war.
This is what people voted for, up and down the ballot. US voters put Trump at the top and yes men in the house and senate.
Vote better next time, I guess.
Congress has the power to declare war
That they fully abdicated with the 2001 AUMF, which they keep renewing specifically so they don’t have to ever make these decisions.
This is what people voted for
The people vote for candidates, not policies. And they candidates they vote for routinely talk out of both sides of their mouths. NDAAs regularly pass with overwhelming bipartisan support, even as a super-majority of Congresscritters campaign against this or that component of them.
Vote better next time, I guess.
I was told to VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO because there is a Cheeto In The White House. If both major parties field pro-war candidates, what’s the move?
But the underlying Pentagon leadership hasn’t significantly changed between Biden and Trump (or Bush and Trump, for that matter).
That’s not strictly true. Trump purged a lot of leadership that was loyal to the Constitution rather than personally to him.
But your overall point about the war-hawkishness remains valid.
Everyone knew he wasn’t going to be able to curtail democratic elections without the excuse of a war. This is on schedule.
I always thought Trump could curtail democratic elections without the excuse of war … by relying on a convenient terrorist attack instead.
Nah, a war in the middle east is normal. Nobody would accept a normal situation as justification to cancel elections.
Good thing states control the elections.
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We’ve got an election in NYC right now, with a pro-Palestine Muslim threatening to upset Trump’s close friend Andrew Cuomo. Weird that nobody is claiming this election is being threatened by Trump, given that NYC has an enormous stock of Trump/Kushner accumulated capital.
Or 50x the chances for hijinx, depending on your angle.
I mean, Trump just illegally deployed the national guard and the marines in California. He needed the state’s permission (which he didn’t get) to deploy the guard and deploying the marines is on a whole other level of illegal.
Not anymore. The SCOTUS ruled already that they must have their ballots approved by the Feds, and feds can overrule their ballots.
False
So, Donald wasn’t allowed to appear on the Colorado ballot, being an insurrectionist?
That’s a state issue, not a federal issue.
Donald Trump was allowed to remain on the Colorado ballot despite the challenge based on the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, because the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that states lack the authority to remove federal candidates from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
There is nothing about “approval” from feds, nor is there a process federally to approve such things. There’s courts. That’s it.
So, the SCOTUS ruled the feds control who is on the ballots in each state, right?
There is no such thing as a federal ballot.
Unfortunately the republican run states will bend over whenever Trump tells them to.
That’s not true, they are protesting too.
I mean the republican lawmakers, not the citizens.
What happens when the federal and state government disagree?
looks at US history book at 1860
👀
God I hate Republicans.
Trump is absolute garbage on every single scale and stat, but it’s the republican voters who got us here. Fuck every republican voter.
If they feel safe leaving their homes, you’ve failed.
What got us here is the same two parties cycling in power for a century. If you believe war is red fault alone and that voting blue will change anything, you are part of the problem.
Let’s not pretend that the Democrats wouldn’t also side with Israel
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Not if the democrats keep electing the same type of candidate. The trouble began when they shoehorned in Hilary, would Bernie have ran in 2016 the world would be a better place.
Venture?
Bernie, autocorrected
Ah ok. Lol, for a moment I thought you might have meant Jessie Ventura
Lol. Whilst that would not have solved many problems. In retrospect I would’ve preferred that timeline.
Yeah, would still probably be an improvement on this one.
It’s really Democrats and independents who got you there. Unconvinced ones, though. Republicans did what they do, just enough Democrats and independents stayed at home.
Hate is not going to get you anywhere.
Yes some of them voted for him but a bunch of them didn’t.
Stop being defeatist… inform yourself… look at the numbers. Look at the evidence. Get active.
If you’ve wondered why everything looks like a coup since he got in, perhaps it is because it is one.
https://lemmy.world/post/31401705
https://electiontruthalliance.org/
Edit: the upvote/downvote ratio on a comment like this shows how rapidly Lemmy is turning into Reddit. Nobody cares about the data, if you remotely sound like defending the GOP down the chute you go.
It’s your loss America. I’ll sleep fine as long as we don’t have electronic voting systems here.
Edit: the upvote/downvote ratio on a comment like this shows how rapidly Lemmy is turning into Reddit. Nobody cares about the data, if you remotely sound like defending the GOP down the chute you go.
Many people just aren’t serious enough to take actions that are material beneficial. We want leftist ideas, but no one wants to form a party or vote for one.
It’s not that we don’t agree with you, it’s that your kinda acting like a dick. Change your tone and you might get a better reception.
And leading with “hate is not going to get you anywhere” and following it with more blame instead of action.
Find your local mutual aid group. Volunteer. Protest. Get involved.
following it with more blame instead of action.
I don’t see blame anywhere?
[you’re] kinda acting like a dick
I really don’t see it. I see only advice trying to help them get a healthier point of view. 🤷♂️
Change your tone and you might get a better reception.
This has literally the same vibe.
Edit: didn’t realize the response was a different user.
I’m not trying to convince anyone of something. I’m just telling why
you’rethey are being downvoted, and it’s not because of the content ofyourtheir post. I’d post differently if I were trying to make a sincere point.I’m not the one who made the “dick” comment…
I’m not trying to convince anyone of something.
You’re saying they should change their tone. 🤷♂️ Meh. Whatever you say.
Apologies, I didn’t realize that you weren’t the person that I originally responded to.
I’m not trying to convince them. I don’t give a fuck if they change their tone. I was only telling them why the post wasn’t well received.
Right, fair enough I guess. I just can’t see where exactly the dickishness lies. I don’t see a “tone” anywhere.
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Hahaha WHAT? You’re a liar for saying I’m a sexist and for saying I said those things in DMs. Post whatever evidence you want, you asshole. I dare you.
Do you also go around saying men raped you when they didn’t?
God, I was hoping I wouldn’t run into people like this here on Lemmy. I thought Lemmy would be different.
At least it took over a year or two until I ran into one again. That’s to Lemmy’s credit.
Spite can be a powerful motivator.
Sounds like the perfect time for Canada, Greenland/Denmark and Panama to launch their preemptive strike and ensure regime change and eliminate US WMD.
Only idiots are excited about wars.
So NOW they want to have bases in Europe?
Huh? You do know that the US has bases in Europe since WW2 right?
And you do know Taco Don had a massive meltdown and told everyone the US won’t be having bases in Europe any more.
To a point where personnel in Rammstein base cancelled plans on buying houses in the city.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/03/02/us-troops-europe-trump-russia/
Yeah, the US empire sadly won’t be pulling out its bases from the EU anytime soon. I wish it did, though
This would have to be the most unpopular war in US history and yet I think everyone Trump has surrounded himself with is telling him to do it.
Is this san andreas?
Yup, that’s right. The scene in GTA San Andreas there has become a viral meme to express… well… “ah shit, here we go again.”
