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.

  • Hotzilla@sopuli.xyz
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    7 hours ago

    This is basic dictator playbook, problems in domestic politics, start a war and problems change to foreign policy.

    Putin has done this multiple times now, and Trump is following up.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      37 minutes ago

      Putin has done this multiple times now, and Trump is following up.

      The United Russia party has had a chokehold on Russian elections practically since the day the USSR was dismantled.

      There’s a lot more to their socio-economic dominance than Russia just starting new wars. RU controls the national media, they have deep roots in petrochemicals and finance and real estate, they’re mobbed up, they have control of the military across the officer’s corps, and they’re embedded all through local government.

      Putin could be the biggest peacenik hippie in Russia and that party wouldn’t budge from its perch.

      He’s doing these wars because he’s fascist. Not because he’s doing 11D politics chess.

      • Zenith@lemm.ee
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        17 minutes ago

        Everything you said is true of the GOP/American Right as well, and they do it the same way, through oligarchy, it’s just a matter of they having more time to ratchet it down where the US is just getting its official start, although it’s been working behind the scenes towards this for decades too

    • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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      7 hours ago

      This is why I say Canada, Greenland, and Mexico are not safe. Added to the fact that all 3 countries have lots of resources the US needs.

        • driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br
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          1 hour ago

          If the US ever try to take out the Panama channel it would fuck up bigly international commerce. Basically only the US military is going to use it because no insurance company is going to cover ships going through them, and without insurance ships can’t even leave port.

      • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 hours ago

        Wouldn’t this cause catastrophic domestic problems though. I think the US would tear itself apart trying to go to war with either of those three. Greenland perhaps less-so but still incredibly distasteful.