(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Kitchen Table Kibitzing: A Drone-deaf president [1] ['Greg Dworkin'] Date: 2026-05-30 The Trump administration apparently hopes its whimsically- waged war on Iran gradually descends to the low hum of background noise, as long as overt hostilities between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic have settled down, relatively speaking. That strategy appears to assume that there must be a reasonable, face-saving solution for all parties involved — including, most obviously, Israel, which instigated the whole thing — since trillions of dollars and the continued existence of a thriving “global economy” (whatever that means) are now at serious risk, as long as control of the Strait of Hormuz remains disputed. And that may in fact happen, although nothing that has transpired over the last week provides any sense of optimism. But whatever shape the world is in come U.S. midterm elections in November, at some point the American people are going to be asking some serious questions not just about “why” this war was started, but how it was planned and conducted. Those two questions intertwine, of course, but one glaringly myopic operational defect is already becoming clear: the U.S. was not prepared for a drone-centric conflict, despite having the benefit of years of observation and military intelligence from Russia’s war on Ukraine. The question we should be asking not just the administration, but the military establishment as well, is “why not?” As Jonathan Last, writing for The Bulwark, explains, Americans “should understand that drones are also the reason America has lost the Iran war.” Despite the fact that the U.S. “was the first military to widely integrate drones” (Last cites to the Reaper and Predator drones, introduced three decades ago), we as a nation have clung to expensive, now frankly obsolete technologies, systems continually fed by our gargantuan military budgets. Meanwhile, countries which spend a comparative fraction of their GDP are now well-equipped to dictate military outcomes — which is what Iran is doing right now — simply because they’ve developed a far cheaper, far more effective alternative in the use of drones. As Last points out this is not a technological advance to much as an economic one: A guided munition is expensive. A Tomahawk missile, for example, costs about $2m. These munitions then need dedicated platforms from which to launch—typically a submarine or ship in the case of the Tomahawk. Other guided munitions can be fired from aircraft or land-based batteries or, in the case of some extremely short-range weapons like the Javelin anti-tank missile, by infantry. In every one of these cases, the munition itself is costly but that price is dwarfed by the long tail of costs needed to put those munitions in the field. To stick with our $2m Tomahawk, it can be launched from an Ohio-class submarine—which cost about $3 billion each and requires about 155 crew members, never mind the dockside logistical costs to keep the boat running, pay veteran’s benefits, etc. A Shahed 136 drone costs between $20,000 and $50,000. Do the math. As Last notes, at the same time as the primacy of drone warfare was becoming clear in the war with Russia, Ukraine also developed ways to more cheaply shoot down Russian drones than the cost those drones represented to Russia. In fact, that is one of the reasons that Ukraine is still around today. Last notes that this race between Russia and Ukraine to out-cheapen each others’ war efforts fundamentally inverts the “superpower” strategy that has guided U.S. military planning for decades. And Last emphasizes that all of this was obvious during Trump’s first administration. It has also been obvious ever since. As has the fact that Iran has a “huge, home-grown drone industry.” Hell, they’re actually supplying the Russians right now. As Last observes, that’s why Iran was never going to be another “Venezuela.” Rather, attacking Iran was almost certainly fated to turn out exactly the way it is turning out now. It beggars belief to suppose our military leaders did not know this. It also beggars belief that someone did not attempt to inform Trump of this. Unless– and I guess this is remotely possible — the entirety of our military establishment is so wedded to traditional, now-obsolete weapons and tactics of warfare that they could not bear to part with their assumptions about the primacy of America’s overwhelming conventional arsenal. That hopefully is not the case . If it is the case, a whole lot of four-star generals need to be fired, not for “DEI” reasons but for reasons of fundamental incompetence. Last cites to an article written by Noah Smith and Shawn Wang, convincingly arguing that “All non-drone militaries are obsolete,” even as Trump has continued to sign on to behemoth battleships, multi-billion dollar fighter jets and bombers, and other now-suddenly-supplanted tokens of America’s vaunted supremacy over all things military. But let’s assume our trillion-dollar military establishment is astute enough to recognize such an obvious fact that has been staring them in the face for the last ten years. That means either Trump was a) not informed about it, or b) was informed, but disregarded the information. If the former, then the military failed in its duty to the Commander-in-Chief. If the latter, then Trump is the one completely at fault for the outcome in Iran. So it’s important to find out which scenario actually happened here, if simply to ensure it never happens again. The only way that can occur is through Congressional — preferably Senate — investigations. As in the Senate Armed Services Committee. And if sensitive national security matters are discussed, then OK, those specific hearings can be convened privately. Maybe. Finally, Last emphasizes why the failure to account for the fact of Iran’s newly-demonstrated drone supremacy is so important. Because for nearly 75 years American military supremacy has guaranteed the free passage of the seas. That, Last asserts, is no longer the case: Until two months ago the Strait of Hormuz was governed by international laws which we wrote to benefit ourselves. From this point forward, the strait will be governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. This fact makes Iran a world power which must be accounted for. Every nation in Asia will have to reach an accommodation with the Iranians. And China’s alliance with Iran has now become infinitely more valuable. Likewise, Last notes that the Iran debacle has given China a “blueprint” for conducting its own military operations in the future, and dominating the entire Asian-Pacific region and all the trade that goes through it. So it’s not too great a stretch to suggest the entire world order has been upended by Trump and Bibi’s thus far failed “excursion” in Iran. The American people deserve to know why this happened, exactly who was involved in the decision, what people like Hegseth, Rubio and Vance knew at the outset from speaking to our military leaders, and what they decided to say, or not say, to Trump. And finally, what Trump did or didn’t do with that information. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/5/30/800046807/community/kitchen-table-kibitzing-our-drone-deaf-president/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/