© CNN
Today's major shock came when not one, not two, but an unprecedented three American F-15E fighter jets were mysteriously shot down over Kuwait. Note the official US military report admits that Iranian aircraft had been engaging them at a time when "air superiority" was allegedly long established:
There are even logical speculations that Iran had received the latest Geran drone tech from Russia which attaches air-to-air missiles onto the Gerans and Shaheds, allowing them to shoot down pursuing craft as Russia has now verifiably demonstrated against a number of Ukrainian aerial assets. It's impossible to know for sure, but friendly fire on three aircraft in a row strains credulity.
That said, if friendly fire was the case we can point to how the West mocked and ridiculed Russia for its supposed lack of IFF (Identify Friend Foe) systems, when Russian ADs occasionally shot down their own assets in highly contested air spaces. But even Russia has never managed to humiliate itself with three lead aircraft shoot-downs in the same hour, let alone the same day. It's clear that once again we find everything the West mocked Russia for over the past few years the West itself finds difficult in time of a real shooting war.
Recall how superior US's IFF systems were said to be, now suddenly it quickly turns to "Well, we always knew IFF wasn't reliable..."
Iran officials claim over 650 US casualties so far, which includes wounded. At first glance this may appear like wild exaggeration, but recall that "dozens" of US troops were wounded with "severe brain trauma" according to official US sources after Iran did a minor one-time strike on US bases following Soleimani's killing.
CNN reports:
The first U.S. service members killed in the conflict with Iran died in a direct Iranian strike on a makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait on Sunday morning local time, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.Additionally, major damage is being done to American assets all across the region. US's Bahrain base, which is the home of the US 5th Fleet, has sustained massive damage according to satellite imagery obtained by NYT:
The source said the strike hit just after 9 a.m., directly impacting a triple-wide trailer used as office space. There were no warning sirens. Parts of the building were still smoldering hours later.
Satellite images from March 1, reviewed by The New York Times, show heavy damage at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, home of the U.S. 5th Fleet, after sustained Iranian missile and drone strikes.Read more...
There's always a cost when you do not negotiate in good faith.
Z should be thankful that Russia doesn't negotiate the same way as Oosa.