Katim S. Touray

Independent International Development Consultant, and writer on global affairs, science and technology.

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@ClimateAudit To find that the Trump administration is using the FDD as a crutch to justify the latest US war on Iran is to come face to face with the sad reality that the US is, under President Trump, a Failed, Captured State which has gone to the dogs. They need prayers.

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

The IRGC claims it fired four anti-ship ballistic missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. The Pentagon has not confirmed a hit. It does not matter. What matters is what just happened for the first time in the history of naval warfare. A nation-state deliberately launched anti-ship ballistic missiles at a United States aircraft carrier.

This is the scenario that the entire US Navy has been war-gaming for two decades. Not this specific attack. This category of attack. The anti-ship ballistic missile targeting an aircraft carrier at sea. China developed the DF-21D for precisely this purpose and the US Naval Institute assessed in 2009 that there was “currently no defense” against it if it worked as designed. The United States restructured its entire Pacific naval strategy around the theoretical possibility that a ballistic missile could be guided to strike a moving ship. It developed the AirSea Battle doctrine. It redirected most of its ballistic missile defense capable ships to the Pacific. It increased procurement of SM-3 interceptors. Billions of dollars. Decades of planning. All for a scenario that had never actually occurred in combat.

Until now. Iran just ran the experiment.

The Abraham Lincoln is operating off Oman with a carrier strike group that includes Aegis equipped destroyers carrying SM-3 and SM-6 interceptors, the most sophisticated naval missile defense architecture ever deployed. The strike group carries F-35C stealth fighters with advanced sensor fusion, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, and EA-18G Growlers for electronic warfare. It is layered defense at its most extreme. If the IRGC’s four missiles were intercepted, it validates that the multi-billion dollar Aegis architecture works against real anti-ship ballistic missiles in real combat conditions, not simulations. That is worth more than the cost of the interceptors.

But if even one missile penetrated the defense envelope, even without hitting the carrier, the implications cascade across every navy on earth. The Houthis came within 200 meters of the USS Eisenhower with an ASBM in 2024, according to the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. That was a non-state actor with Iranian supplied weapons. This is the Iranian state itself, with its full indigenous missile program, targeting the Lincoln with dedicated anti-ship ballistic missiles.

The Abraham Lincoln is a 100,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier carrying approximately 80 aircraft and 5,000 personnel. It costs $13 billion to replace. Its strike group represents the single most concentrated expression of American military power on earth. The entire theory of American force projection since 1945 rests on the assumption that carrier strike groups can operate with acceptable risk in contested waters. China has built its entire anti-access strategy around challenging that assumption. Iran just tested it live.

CENTCOM stated that it suffered no casualties and minimal damage from hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks across the region. If that assessment holds for the Lincoln specifically, it means Aegis works. It means the carrier remains viable in a ballistic missile environment. It means China’s DF-21D theory does not automatically translate to carrier kills. That would be the most consequential combat validation of American naval defense systems since the Patriot batteries of 1991, and far more significant because the target was moving.

The IRGC’s claim may be propaganda. The missiles may have been intercepted hundreds of miles from the ship. Or they may have splashed close enough to vindicate every admiral who argued that the carrier era is ending. We will not know the full truth for days or weeks. But the strategic fact is already established. The taboo against firing ballistic missiles at an American aircraft carrier has been broken. Every navy on earth is now recalculating.

https://t.co/BrzGRrU3VW

[Marcus Stanley @MarcusMStanley]

A truly remarkable editorial by Tim Kaine. Remarkable because it includes the full story of U.S.-Iran relations, e.g. US support of Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war that killed a half million Iranians. U.S. discourse almost never includes the perspective of the enemy.

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@shanaka86 The possibility of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier being hit raises very important questions:
1. what if it's nuclear reactor is hit; would radioactive materials be released?
3. why should any Middle East country allow the US to park a carrier close to it in this time of war?

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@Keir_Starmer Once again, Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer shows Western hypocrisy when it comes to Israel. Furthermore, the fact that he, @POTUS Trump and other Western leaders often lie on behalf of Israel shows their arrogance, hubris and enslavement by Israel and Zionists. Shame on them!!

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

My latest article, 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭'𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢 𝘐𝘊𝘛 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘺, in my 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘌𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 newsletter on 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 is available here:

https://t.co/gLUAoKWZl9

Please share it if you enjoy it!

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@netanyahu I have one question for you, Prime Minister Netanyahu: if, after killing over 67,000 Palestinians in two years of your Genocidal war on Gaza you still want to kill more of them, what kind of a person are you? Do you have any speck of human decency in you, do you not fear God?

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

Please check out my latest article: "What Are You Doing With Your Life?" It's about inspiring, encouraging, educating, and helping people to change lives for the better.

https://t.co/eUhAN27iNg via @LinkedIn

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

Please check out my latest article: "What Are You Doing With Your Life?" It's about inspiring, encouraging, educating and helping people to change lives for the better.
https://t.co/eUhAN27iNg via @LinkedIn

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@bobmarley Speaking of #bobmarley and war, please check out my article, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘰𝘣, which looks at Israel's war on Hamas through the lens of Bob Marley's music:

https://t.co/nZMtJFUTIb

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@Moonalice Speaking of #bobmarley, please check out my article, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘰𝘣, which looks at Israel's war on Hamas through the lens of Bob Marley's music:
https://t.co/nZMtJFUTIb

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@ZelenskyyUa Here's my article, 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦, which provides a plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war:

https://t.co/ePAZv8zBlA

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@Ukraine Here's my article, 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦, which provides a plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war:

https://t.co/ePAZv8zBlA

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@generalkellogg @SPE_Kellogg @AndrzejDuda Here's my article, 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦, which provides a plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war:

https://t.co/ePAZv8zBlA

And best wishes for success in your assignment!

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

Dear all,

Here's my latest article, 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦, which provides a plan for ending the Russia-Ukraine war:

https://t.co/ePAZv8zBlA

I hope you enjoy it and please share it if you do!

Thanks!

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

@GabeZZOZZ Here's my article on President Zelenskyy's handling of Ukraine's war with Russia. It's not flattering, bit it is what it is.

https://t.co/rA4oBec4gW

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

The following article alleges and provides evidence that Ugandan and new #ICJ President Julia #Sebutinde engaged in plagiarism:

https://t.co/VBz8Tgk4OA

What will the #ICJ do about this, and what does it mean for South Africa's case against #Israel? The whole world is watching!

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

https://t.co/rA4oBec4gW

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

I published an article "And the winner is ... Hamas!" yesterday, Oct. 7, 2024, the first anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel. You can get the article, here:

https://t.co/mWFGX73ChT

I hope you find the article informative and useful, and pleasel share it on your networks.

[Katim S. Touray @KatimSTouray]

I just published my latest article, 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘳! (about my recent visit to my home village) on 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮: https://t.co/DEbHYkbJFT

I hope you enjoy, and please share it if you do!

Have a great day, and please stay safe!