Human chains of youths.

Four days back, "Iran's downing of two US military aircraft marks the first time in more than 20 years that American warplanes have been shot down by enemy fire, underlining Tehran's ability to retaliate despite claims by US President Donald Trump that the country has been 'completely decimated'." The US confirmed that an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down. "One service member has been rescued, while search operations continue for another." TOI. Three days back, the missing weapons officer "was rescued by US Special Operations Forces in a risky Saturday night mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory." There were no US casualties and "All commandos and the weapons officer returned safely." DH. The rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft, and more, Trump said." Two planes got bogged down in the soil and "were destroyed to keep them out of enemy hands." BBC. This operation values the officer at hundreds of millions of dollars. "One of the biggest miscalculations by Washington and its allies appears to be the expectation that sustained strikes would destabilize Iran internally," "Instead, Iran's power structure has adapted. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has consolidated control and continues to drive both military operations and internal security." MC. Iran has resorted to asymmetric warfare and its "strategy is based around the Shahed, a one-way attack drone costing between $20,000 and $50,000." "Iran has fired thousands of these drones since the war began, combining them with more expensive ballistic missiles in an attempt to overwhelm air defenses." DW. Perhaps, Iran's main strength is its disregard for the welfare of its citizens. Iran's Ministry of Health told Time Magazine that 30,000 protesters were killed on 8 and 9 January alone. Even now, Iran is executing civilians. yahoo.com. Whereas, the US media conduct polls showing that a majority of Americans are against the war, to pressure Trump. pbs.org. The US Department of Defense planned to spend $995.13 billion in fiscal 2026. usaspending.gov. Why spend so much of taxpayer money on defense if it is just for show? With a population of nearly 350 million (worldometer), every citizen could receive over $3000 each, $12,000 for a family of four, if this money was saved. Iran has responded to US attacks by attacking Gulf countries (Reuters), consisting of a large majority of Sunni Muslims. Of the total of over 2 billion Muslims in the world, 1.7-1.8 billion are Sunni and about 200-300 are Shia. Iran and the south of Iraq are mostly Shia. wikipedia. Yet, with more than six times the number, the Sunnis seem to be terrified of Shia Iran. TOI. "An Iranian official on Tuesday (today) called on youths in the country to form human chains around power plants ahead of potential strikes threatened by US President Donald Trump." Fox. It's striking that they are willing to sacrifice ordinary people but not the IRGC or the Basij militia thugs. Was it a request or an order? Will they force ordinary people at gunpoint? They can and may. Inhuman scum. Yet the US media is rooting for Iran. That's how treacherous they are.