[News] Iran's Strategy Vindicated as US's Logistics Chain Hobbled and Stretched by Early Strikes
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Aug 17 10:54:32 EDT 2026
Iran's Strategy Vindicated as US's Logistics Chain Hobbled and Stretched
by Early Strikes
On the Iranian front, the most interesting item over the transom today
are new reports vindicating something many analysts have proposed since
the beginning of the conflict.
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Iran's Strategy Vindicated as US's Logistics Chain Hobbled and
Stretched by Early Strikes
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Simplicius <https://substack.com/@simplicius76>
Aug 17, 2026
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On the Iranian front, the most interesting item over the transom today
are new reports vindicating something many analysts have proposed since
the beginning of the conflict. Namely, that US’s naval problems in the
theater all stemmed from Iran’s deliberate strategy of wiping out US
bases in the region, resulting in the extremely inefficient lengthening
of US supply chain logistics for war:
<https://substack.com/redirect/ae1c5f2b-8972-48cc-b329-35ee01e86f79?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/us/politics/uss-abraham-lincoln-trump-supplies-diego-garcia.html
<https://substack.com/redirect/9a223bb5-d0e9-47d4-ae02-ef7c3279f7b7?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
The piece asserts that the US Navy’s problems began immediately after
Iran’s opening salvo of the war, which saw the Navy’s top regional
logistics hub in Bahrain go up in smoke from Iranian missiles and drones:
/The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln’s supply problems began
soon after the first day of the war, as Iranian missiles and attack
drones fell on a Navy base in Bahrain./
/*The Iranian attack, retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli assault on
Tehran, destroyed much of the base. And as it went up in smoke, so
did a major logistics hub that the Navy has relied on for decades.*/
/The Navy needed a Plan B to continue feeding the sailors working
around the clock to keep warplanes flying strike missions, and later
to maintain a blockade of Iran’s ports./
<https://substack.com/redirect/4af9c4f0-54a6-4841-8e07-44e977308439?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
Israeli outlets had previously covered the fact that the Pentagon
allegedly launched a ‘secret’ operation to essentially retreat strategic
assets from within immediate range of Iranian strikes toward “protected
rear hubs”, which stretched an aging and sclerotic US military to the brink:
X avatar for @c14israel
C14 News Israel • Headlines
@c14israel
The Pentagon has secretly launched "Defensive Arc," moving strategic air
assets away from frontline Middle Eastern bases near Iran to protected
rear hubs. Following canceled strikes, the US shifted to an
"over-the-horizon deterrence" strategy to shield forces from Iranian missile
Image
11:43 AM · Aug 4, 2026· 1.51K Views
1 Reply· 6 Reposts· 18 Likes
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The NYT piece goes on:
/*The loss of the hub in Bahrain has contributed to a host of
reported problems on carriers supporting operations against Iran*,
as Democratic senators raise concerns about the Lincoln’s 5,000
sailors and their nearly nine-month deployment./
NYT details how the ailing USS Lincoln will now be replaced by the USS
George Washington, hobbling over from INDOPACOM, leaving the 7th Fleet
with no forward deployed carriers on the critical ‘Chinese front’.
<https://substack.com/redirect/39e643a9-a9f0-4607-8146-56e3af52da56?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
https://apnews.com/article/aircraft-carriers-trump-china-pacific-iran-war-87cfb838de8c13464fa3cab1840ad87d
<https://substack.com/redirect/7525c3e6-e528-4bf9-a470-d44b49adae5e?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
<https://substack.com/redirect/1065c035-e519-446a-9a88-facc9a7a33f7?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
This comes amidst reports that USS Benfold had major “engineering
issues” that caused it to go dead for four days in the South China Sea:
<https://substack.com/redirect/26d94b50-14d3-4c25-afe9-5068becd4ed6?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
https://news.usni.org/2026/08/14/uss-benfold-was-stalled-in-the-south-china-sea-for-four-days-after-engineering-casualty
<https://substack.com/redirect/db7ed668-f8c0-4069-8e77-b27442ff65ec?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
/*Guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65) spent four days in
the South China Sea without power after an engineering failure, USNI
News has learned.*/
/Benfold suffered the engineering casualty resulting in a loss of
power last month, Cmdr. Matthew Comer, spokesperson with U.S. 7th
Fleet, told USNI News in a statement./
/*The loss of power meant sailors were without galley services,
toilets and air conditioning. Potable water was also affected, Comer
said.*He did not respond to a question about how sailors handled waste./
Not far away, another US Arleigh Burke destroyer—some having identified
it as DDG-74, though it isn’t fully confirmed—was spotted looking in
rough shape, reportedly somewhere near Japan:
<https://substack.com/redirect/f62ce507-3599-419c-8869-46650f99ddaa?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
The state of the US Navy has shocked observers who were not attuned to
such a rapid decline in the state of things, particularly amidst a major
conflict wherein the Navy was meant to play the key sustaining role.
Now WaPo reports that US’s Gulf allies are again reconsidering the
deployment of US bases on their territory in frustration for Trump’s
erratic and amateurish handling of the Iran conflict:
<https://substack.com/redirect/7f8cd0f5-32ee-4a07-8299-3cf283efe31d?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/08/15/frustration-with-trump-grows-among-us-persian-gulf-allies-officials-say/
<https://substack.com/redirect/6189cf71-2205-4855-a9d2-67cdae792ea9?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
/*Some have begun to debate the utility of continuing to host large
U.S. military installations on their territory.*/
/“Trump started this war,” one Gulf official said, “and we are
paying the price.” Like others in this article, he spoke on the
condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject. Anger with
the United States, the official said, was at its highest point since
the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February./
/The Gulf states continue to rely on Washington as a close security
partner and major arms supplier, and Qatar and Bahrain host large
U.S. bases. *But the frustration is leading some states to consider
new arrangements. These dynamics are unlikely in the near term to
significantly reorder the region, analysts say, but some countries
have begun to explore their options.*/
We can conclude that Iran’s strategy has worked: Take out US’s eyes and
ears in the region by targeting radar systems, saturate air
defenses—whose stocks can’t be regenerated—with cheap drones and
throwaway first-gen ballistic missiles; then when the battlefield has
been sufficiently shaped, begin throwing in the most advanced and
accurate ballistic missiles to hit the actual logistics nodes, base C2
HQs, etc., to cause US to scramble its entire tail out as far out of
range as possible. This then strains the deteriorating logistics chain
to the point of breaking, as we’re seeing now *with the striking
deterioration of morale
<https://substack.com/redirect/14a88c34-d579-417b-b506-217ad8df1698?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>*.
<https://substack.com/redirect/1325fe27-8288-4bb5-918d-54e2abfba71f?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/13/us-military-has-lost-roughly-25-its-reaper-drones-iran-war-depletes-arsenal/
<https://substack.com/redirect/67af7059-4f91-436c-be54-6c957dc175e3?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
/The U.S. military has lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones during
the war with Iran, or roughly 25 percent of its fleet, according to
three U.S. officials familiar with the matter./
As noted above, WaPo “confirms” the US lost 45 Reapers, equivalent to
25% of the entire drone fleet. Some have added that the Houthis had
already taken out an additional 10% or so, which would likely edge it
closer toward 35% total lost in the past year or two.
Interestingly, WaPo reports not all were shot down but many apparently
fell victim to Iran’s—perhaps Russian-sourced—EW:
/A fourth U.S. official, who like the others spoke on the condition
of anonymity to discuss Pentagon data, said that not all of the lost
Reapers were shot down. An unspecified number crashed after their
operators’ communications link to the drones failed, the official said./
In truth, the losses likely represent even more than 35% because the
total number of drones in the fleet does not necessarily mean they’re
all in usable or flyaway shape, at least at any given time.
Amidst the total lack of military options, the US continues to bide for
time, plying its charade of “controlling the Strait”. Ex-Congresswoman
Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed to have insider info as to what kinds of
desperate options are actually now being put on the table in Trump’s
manic war room:
X avatar for @FmrRepMTG
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸
@FmrRepMTG
They are discussing using nuclear weapons on Iran in strategy meetings.
Yes you read that correctly. It’s real. I’m not speculating, I know. And
it’s pure evil. The last time a nuclear weapon was used was August 6th
and 9th of 1945 on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and
7:19 PM · Aug 16, 2026· 17.3K Views
154 Replies· 136 Reposts· 506 Likes
<https://substack.com/redirect/27b55dc5-e14c-403d-a315-40e6caa7a288?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
Well, when you run out of usable munitions—for both attacking
and/defending//yourself/—one supposes that the consideration of an all
out nuclear option is only logical—in a manner of sheer desperation.
Given that America’s decline is clearly on its final terminal arc, it
would almost be a kind of poetic valediction, in a twisted sort of way:
the country which rose to ‘superpower’ prominence with the first ever
use of nuclear weapons in 1945 comes full circle to reach its waning
civilizational surrender with another final nuclear send-off.
More likely though, no such thing will happen, and the only thing
resembling nuclear fallout will be the US economy, with the continuation
of Trump’s blind intransigence on the Iranian issue. We’ve now seen that
he is willing to stake everything on his Hormuz vanity project,
including the wellbeing and livelihoods of all Americans.
*Yesterday, he remarked that the economy was doing “unbelievably….from
the standpoint of Wall Street”
<https://substack.com/redirect/35f90631-a00f-4118-9920-421271b1b5a2?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>*—and
soon after he explained that rising gas prices are a small price to pay
for stopping an “evil nation” from having nuclear weapons:
<https://substack.com/redirect/9dcf3abe-e28a-46d9-9b45-831da3dc4ace?j=eyJ1IjoibHZwcGIifQ.9RIwWbE6EVIB7Jy8lfazxZKfps8R18neRGMKwOiqnRM>
But many “small prices” can quite quickly add up to one /big price/.
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