Today I haven’t found a theme to write about. But I picked up some crumbs while reading around.
The Inspector General of the U.S. Defense Department published a first report of the war on Iran. The cutoff date is June 30 so there is nothing current in it. However, this fact stands out (pdf):
USCENTCOM reported that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict. In addition, dozens of U.S. aircraft were destroyed or damaged during OEF.
US military reveals it has weapons in space (archived) – FT
Security experts warn announcement could result in the proliferation of weapons by other governments
“The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action,” air force secretary Troy Meink said at an Air & Space Forces Association conference in Maryland.
Meink declined to say what the weapon was or detail its capabilities but said his exact phrasing was “important from a deterrence perspective” and further elaboration on “what we’re doing would actually not benefit that deterrence”.
He added that the US needed to make sure it could “operate freely” in space and that it was an important arena for American military and economic security.
The weapons included are most likely electronic weapons and potentially lasers to blind other satellites.
This will disturb the international balance as others will now do the same. The U.S. might well hope to be supreme in space. But its military is also the one that is most depend on it. It is not difficult to destroy the military version of Starlink, U.S. reconnaissance satellites, and other such tool. It doesn’t even necessitate to put weapons into space. A few missiles exploded at the right height and the debris they will cause is all that needed to blind or destroy U.S. assets.
As a Chinese personality comments:
Hu Xijin 胡锡进 @HuXijin_GT – 15:56 UTC · Sep 15, 2026
The United States has opened Pandora’s box in space. China has consistently opposed the militarization of outer space; however, if the U.S. persists in its course and continues to deploy in-orbit weapons, it would be nearly impossible for China and Russia to avoid taking reciprocal actions.
Our world is full of divides. Yet, the greatest divide is between the 12% of the world’s population who live in the West and the 88% who live outside. When the West looks at itself in the mirror, it sees itself as the most virtuous civilization on planet Earth, taking care of its own citizens and generously and selflessly making the world a better place. And when the rest of the world looks at the West, they see a trigger-happy, violent civilization which has killed more innocent people in unnecessary wars than any other civilization in recent decades. So where does the truth lie?
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