The big problem I'm having with the stories about the rescue is

[mahatmakanejeeves]

that they all take the form

[Something happened], Trump says.

[Something happened], White House officials say.

Every account is based on details that are being orchestrated by the White House.

Maybe someday we'll get an independent account of how this event proceeded.

Will that be before or after Trump has erected a monument to the event and himself on the grounds of the White House, floodlit twenty-four hours per day?

[malaise]

1. And don't forget it's the greatest rescue in history

says the draftdodging liar who is clueless about both the military and history .

[agingdem]

3. and don't forget this is Trump's vanity war..

our pilots/soldiers are in harm's way because of Trump.....for the psychotic clown to take credit for the rescue is like an arsonist setting fire to a building and then takes credit for the fireman who rushed into the burning building and saved a baby...

[malaise]

4. Precisely

Rec

[thought crime]

13. Let's not forget who the real hero is in the greatest rescue in history

The crewman..."was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue. At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him."

And let's not forget that John McCain's plane was shot down over Vietnam and he was captured and tortured. Trump didn't much care.

[malaise]

15. An effin clown and a monster

He does know all about crazy

[617Blue]

2. Apparently lost 2 C130s and helicopter in this mission - but Iran's air defense was obliterated right?

Look, I'm glad we don't leave people behind - but when your "victory" is rescuing downed airmen than the goalposts have moved.

[TheRickles]

8. Our official story is that they were stuck in a refueling depot,

but had to be destroyed to prevent getting into Iranian hands. Iranian news agencies report that they were the ones who bombed and destroyed them. Who ya gonna believe....?

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260405-iran-claims-it-shot-down-us-c-130-support-aircraft-in-isfahan/

[617Blue]

9. I have been watching Malcolm Nance's YT channel

It has been an excellent source of info. He was right on about the sear / rescue. Wonder if he'll be on today.

[WarGamer]

14. weren't shot down.

[druidity33]

5. There's some more info here...

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/4/2376418/-Breaking-Missing-airman-rescued?

As the author notes as well, we won't know much about this debacle until we get an independent account. I suspect that will take a Congressional investigation... but that might have to wait in line.

[debsy]

6. Meanwhile ...

I’m glad they are rescued but how many millions of dollars did this operation that we paid for and that should never have happened cost??

Why are we there? We have already drifted into the fog of war and continue to be plundered by this administration and its benefactors who are not the collective, “We the People”!

[allegorical oracle]

7. Am scolding myself for a cynical response to what should be a

valiant survival event. But cannot trust djt -- or our gov't right now. Instead, I imagine an Apprentice episode produced and directed by djt and Pentagon Pete. And they're smirking at how naive we are.

Hope to be proven wrong.

[Mtnmama]

10. I don't trust anything this administration says.

Never trusted anything trump said, now I don't believe anything the administration says.

[ToxMarz]

11. This is for his base who accept anything his government says without question but believe the moon landing was faked

and the earth is flat.

[AverageOldGuy]

12. In a huge white House ceremony . . .

Just wait -- in a huge White House ceremony, Trump will hand out Medals of Honor like candy at Christmas.

The Medal of Honor (NOT the "Congressional Medal of Honor&quot is awarded for

conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States.

Almost 20% of Medals are awarded posthumously -- that is, the recipient died in the action for which he received the Medal.

In no way am I denigrating the valor of those who participated in this rescue mission. I served a year in the bush in Vietnam with a 60-pound rucksack on my back, an M-16 in my hand, a Kabar on my hip. I don't tell war stories. When combat veterans get together, we dont' tell war stories -- everybody has them -- we talk about our grandchildren, our enlarged prostates, and the guys who did not come home alive.

Any soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine who went into hostile territory to rescue a comrade in distress deserves to be put on a pedestal. The ignorant assholes who sent them there deserve to burn forever in the Ninth Circle of Hell.

"War is at best barbarism. . . . Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell."
William T. Sherman

Got that? "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation." I wonder who it is Sherman was talking about?

Do I fucking hate Trump and Hegseth with hate that burns me through and through, hate the won't let me sleep at night? What do you think?

[spanone]

16. K&R

Trust nothing from this maladministration

[David__77]

17. It sure points to the precarious position of the US politically in my opinion.