Absolutely They Are...

 ... as Larry summarizes it correctly. 

Israel’s initial euphoria over its Friday morning strikes on Iranian targets is fading as Israeli inhabitants get a taste of their own medicine. Israel’s much touted Iron Dome is a total bust.

Pretty much all of the Israel's (the US) AD-ABM is nothing but a propaganda show which failed miserably. And, of course, the "plan" was to get the US involved directly. But here are some interesting details from Capitol Hill. I am not going to be talking about Thomas Massie--love him or hate him, he has balls unlike most cowards in Washington, so his position is no surprise and he openly laughs in the faces of AIPAC crowd. Same pretty much goes to Rand Paul. But suddenly other voices begin to be heard:

Trump must oppose Netanyahu’s escalation and pursue a diplomatic path to deal with Iran’s nuclear program,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) wrote on X. “Trump must not violate the Constitution by involving American troops in Netanyahu’s war without coming to Congress.” “This is a disaster of Trump and Netanyahu's own making, and now the region risks spiraling toward a new, deadly conflict. A war between Israel and Iran may be good for Netanyahu’s domestic politics, but it will likely be disastrous for both the security of Israel, the United States, and the rest of the region,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a statement. “As Secretary Rubio stated, the United States was not involved in today's strikes, and we have no obligation to follow Israel into a war we did not ask for and will make us less safe.”

Members are particularly concerned that the U.S. will move to defend Israel if Iran retaliates and furthermore acts in tandem to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Trump told Fox News last night that the U.S. is ready to defend itself and Israel if Iran retaliates. “The president cannot circumvent congressional war powers and unilaterally send U.S. troops to war with Iran. This is a violation of Article I of the Constitution which requires congressional approval to declare war,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D- Mich.) said. “The American people do not want another endless war in the Middle East that will cost lives and tear their families apart.”

Yes, Democrats, and no--Trump is not going to Congress for any authorization, but the run for mid-terms has already started and records and "paper trails" created. Now that Trump chickened-out of immigration issue, the only thing he has is one of the last fences to sit on before finishing off his presidency in a complete catastrophe. 

Now, to those who still think that the US has an option of direct involvement--it sure does, but once, God forbids, any US Navy ship is sunk and the steady stream of the body-bags from defenseless (US doesn't have functional air defense, I warned about it for many years) US bases in the region begins to hit US shores, what's left? Correct--nuclear option, or blackmail or what have you, and that will be the end of the United States. I mean politically speaking, because it will be completely isolated and eventually fully boycotted. It will become a pariah nation with all that it entails.   

He Doesn't Have Many Options Left.

And that is to put it mildly. 

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is open to Russian President Vladimir Putin serving as a mediator in the Israel-Iran conflict. In an hour-long phone call the previous day, the two leaders focused on the Middle East crisis. “Yeah, I would be open to it. He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump responded to ABC News’ Rachel Scott, when asked about Putin’s potential role in brokering peace. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved,” Trump added.

No, Donny, this is not a quid-pro-quo and if you are trying to convince Russia that in exchange she should allow the US, who is at war (through NATO proxy) with Russia, any "mediation" between Moscow and whatever will be left of 404--I have a bridge to sell you. In related news, Iran continues to demonstrate military and technological incompetence of NATO (Israel is a ME iteration of NATO), while you lost all credibility by greenlighting Israel's attack on Iran, while heralding to the whole world how much you are for peace. 

I am on record, will repeat again--the US lost the arms race(c). For the nation which made military fairy tales a central piece of its national mythology it is a bitter and painful recognition that now Iran will be doing, on a smaller scale what Russia is doing on a much larger one--yes, Al Capone's approach that with the kind word and a gun, one can get much further than with kind word alone. And combined West better start shaking in its boots now because on Monday Iranian Parliament may decide to really close the Strait of Hormuz, and we all know what it means. In latest updates, however, a truckload of Israeli strikes landed on the ... fake targets Iran placed all over the country--plenty of videos of Israelis attacking empty trailer. But yes, they are good at propaganda. If there is a firm confirmation of THAAD leaving the chat, which not only I believe but anticipate, that will merely confirm my old-standing thesis that NATO's AD is for the wars between 1960 and 1980, not for 2025. 

That is why it doesn't matter how many Patriots or even THAADs the US will move to Israel. So far, not a single successful exoatmospheric intercept by Israelis--you can be sure they say they did, but then again, they also say that they have functional and effective AD--but then again, nothing is more entertaining than some moron journo coming up with pseudo-military platitudes. I will abstain from comments on the parade in D.C. I want to say one thing, though--while much of the US Army history is exaggerated, if not simply made up, it is still an important Army with respectable WW II history and its own share of heroism, dedication and, once, strategic brilliance. It didn't deserve to be humiliated at DJT's "parade", but it is too late now. Donny, one cannot buy class and I am telling this to you, not the US Army.  

Well, Let's Agree ...

 ... the most appropriate soundtrack. 

Meanwhile, Russians continue to test actual models of combat lasers. 

Just For Comparison ...

 ... while Haifa reportedly is getting it from Iran hard and loud. Why Russia builds the best AD systems in history. Here is President Putin verbatim.  

Russian forces have shot down more than 80,000 aerial targets in the conflict with Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has revealed, adding that the country is seeking to create a universal anti-aircraft system capable of intercepting any incoming projectiles. ... The figure of 80,000 includes around 7,500 sophisticated munitions, such as tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and projectiles fired by multiple rocket launchers, Putin noted, adding that nearly all the weapons that were destroyed were supplied to Kiev by the West.

This is 80,000 COMBAT episodes which constitute the state secret--these enormous empirical data is what in the foundation of constant upgrades of existent and design of the new generation of AD systems. 

Bluntly Stating Obvious ...

 ... of which I write for decades now: 

1. US (hence Israel) have no functioning Air Defense, mostly expensive junk which cannot protect itself, forget protecting something else. 

2. There is no a single US officer (top-bottom) who has any grasp of national resolve of cultures formed by the continental warfare. So ...

3. Apart from being unable to properly plan REAL operations--as Israel learned the hard way in the last 48 hours--no Pentagon planner understands the defense of own land, period. As the result of technological backwardness, fairy tales military history and knowing nothing about REAL war--MISCALCULATION. 

Iran recovered and responded, Happy Birthday, Mr. President, go lick boots of your cowardly incompetent masters from Tel Aviv. 

Oy Vey.

 When winds abruptly change direction))) 

Ouch!

 As was the case with Serbia in 1999--sorry, we didn't know your were invisible.