The Defense Department is trying to quickly find vendors who are able to ship pre-made shelters to protect troops in the Middle East as the United States’ war with Iran continues.

The department is looking for information from private contractors who can provide “prefabricated, transportable, hardened shelter systems designed to protect personnel from blast and fragmentation threats,” according to a new federal contract notice posted Monday.

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[–] 141 points 7 months ago (22 children)

So we can have blast hardened shelters shipped halfway around the world in 30 days but homelessness is unsolvable.

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  • [–] 70 points 7 months ago (18 children)

    Who said homelessness is unsolvable? We don't want to solve homelessness because poverty is the lynchpin for capitalism.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (16 children)

    People with no money can’t participate in capitalism though so it’s every company’s motive to ensure their workers can afford to buy things and keep the economy going.

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  • [–] 30 points 7 months ago (11 children)

    Better to err on the side of people dying in the streets than to accidentally let too many workers be able to have enough free time to think about improving society and organizing or protesting.

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  • [–] -5 points 7 months ago (10 children)

    If you give them more free tine they’ll spend more money.

    This is America people don’t protest, organize or improve society they think that’s other people’s jobs.

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  • [–] 11 points 7 months ago (8 children)

    Americans have had a long tradition of organizing and resisting. The 40-hour workweek was bought with worker's blood. The apathy of the American body politic is a relatively new attribute, historically. My opinion is that it metastasized in 1971.

    I was taught all of this in American public high school and public university. Howard Zinn was required reading.

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  • [+] -8 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    I don’t care what happened in the 1900’s or in 1971.

    I care what’s happening now.

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    We learn about the past to understand the present.

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  • [–] -1 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    We didn’t learn much if we haven’t protested or organized in fifty-five years.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (4 children)
  • [–] -2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    The highest protestor count estimation was 7 million people across the nation or slightly higher then 2% of the population or about seventy million less people then Trump got votes.

    That’s kind of sad for ‘one of the largest protests in history.’.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    You said there hadn't been any protests in 50 years, Debbie Downer.

    This one happened.

    A little internet sleuthing will show lots more in your 5 decades of supposedly nothing.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    Think bigger picture. If you don't have the threat of poverty, you can't convince workers to sell their time for less than it's worth. That's the entire basis for an investment economy. I pay you and sell your work product for more than I paid you, and you can't say no because you'll die ina gutter without my investment capital.

    The thing you said is how they keep the masses working, by convincing them that 1) they need to buy stuff, and 2) they will deserve it if they work hard enough.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    ... We actually can't.

    They're not gonna find people that actually do this, this is not a thing that exists.

    This is ... what something like an engineering battalion is meant to be able to do.

    But we have hollowed out the military itself, as we have hollowed out the entire rest of the country.

    Terminal subcontractor brainrot.

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  • [–] 37 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Protection for the troops a month after starting the war and 13 of the nearby bases destroyed.... there doesn't even seem to be a plan on where to place these additional 50,000 troops arriving within the next 2 weeks other than leaving them as sitting ducks in ships. There was never a plan ... they are winging it I really hope everyone is realizing this. If it wasn't for some of the naval commanders already saying no to the madmen on bringing our ships closer to shore for an invasion so far, the number of casualties would be alot higher on both sides.

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    50,000?!

    I only saw news about the Tripoli and Boxer which combined carry about 5,000 marines.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    It is completely insane to me that basically no one in major media is discussing this:

    Ok, so say we somehow get the Tripoli and Boxer up close enough to Kharg or anywhere else such that they can actually deploy LCACs and LAVs and ACVs in an amphib assault.

    ... Awesome, there are now 500 to 5000 Shahed drones en route to blow them all up while they are motoring to the LZ.

    .... what is the fucking counter to this?

    Literally none of those things have anti-drone capabilities.

    What, are we going to screen an amphib assault with... AH 1Zs and F18s and F35s... shooting down all the drones?

    Cool, then a significant proportion of those get shot down too.

    Our doctrine is so based on the concept of aerial supremacy that we seem to have just forgotten how to conceptualize not having it.

    You do not have aerial supremacy if the enemy can launch aircraft/drones and missiles against your assets.

    Its a similar problem with an aerial / air cav style assault... Ospreys or other choppers doing advance insertions, or the 82nd jumping out of C130s...

    ... They'd all be a shooting gallery for the shorter range drones and missiles that Iran has tons of, that we are not able to premptively destroy.

    And if anything manages to land or come ashore... the same problem remains.

    Even NeoCon think tanks that have been pushing for the US to fuck up Iran for 20+ years are frantically writing reports trying to explain how stupid the current apparent 'strategy' is.

    Its like we are trying to fuck up harder than Gallipoli.

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  • [–] 30 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    This couldn't be more American if the trenches included a fast food restaurant.

    Any other country would've issued spades.

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  • [–] 14 points 7 months ago

    But please, oh great and wise gubbernment, tell us more about how healthcare is unaffordable, grocery prices can't get cheaper, and gas prices need to increase to win duh wahr!

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  • [–] 13 points 7 months ago

    Surely another sign that the US has everything under control and knows what they're doing in Iran. /s

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago
    [–] 10 points 7 months ago

    I think they're doing this in the wrong order... you order shelters first then attack, not the other way around.

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago

    I was unaware they could store planes in bunkers. You know, since there will be no boots on the ground, right?

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Work is proceeding in secret at the back of Mt Rushmore.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago

    So much for preparedness. Feel bad for the soldiers who will be launched into this.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    With a complimentary pony or unicorn, I imagine

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Turns out Trump has a shelter guy.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    And here I was trying to find a use for all those cardboard boxes.

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  • [–] -1 points 7 months ago (1 child)