{"id":9028,"date":"2026-04-04T10:53:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/?p=9028"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:01:14","slug":"9028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/coatesn\/2026\/04\/04\/9028\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Notice the headline.\u00a0 \u201cMissing Airman Raises Concerns That Iran Could Gain Leverage Over the U.S.,\u201d<\/a> NYT, 4-4-26.\u00a0\u00a0The sub-headline is \u201cSince 1979, Iran has repeatedly used Americans and Europeans detained on its territory to win concessions over more powerful adversaries.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Can we please rephrase the headline to be more accurate?\u00a0 Something like, \u201cMissing Airman Raises Concerns That Iran Could Hold Him as Hostage,\u201d or \u201cIran Will Most Likely Follow Practice of Holding the Found Pilot Hostage.\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s call a spade a spade, a terroristic, pirate act as such.\u00a0 They have held hundreds of hostages and have received hundreds of millions of dollars in ranson from multiple countries.\u00a0 BTW, based on what the Obama and Biden administrations gave in cash to the Regime at hostage release times, I predict that if Iran finds the F-15 crew member the asking price will be $2 billion.<\/p>\n

MEK, arrested two years ago.\u00a0 \u201cIran executes two linked to opposition group, media say,\u201d<\/a> Reuters, 4-4-26.<\/p>\n

China targeting U.S. forces, it\u2019s not just Russa.\u00a0 \u201cChinese firms market Iran war intelligence \u2018exposing\u2019 U.S. forces,\u201d<\/a> WPost, 4-4-26.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBeijing has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into supporting private firms developing AI with practical defense applications under its civil-military integration strategy, and last month announced plans to supercharge those efforts as part of a broader five-year national strategy.\u201d\u00a0 (Remember, in China the private-government distinction is not really present.\u00a0 China uses these groups to save the government money but also to feign non-responsibility for their actions.)\u00a0 \u201cPrivate firms have long used open-source data \u2014 including flight trackers, satellite imagery, and shipping data \u2014 to generate market intelligence. But the growing AI capability of Chinese firms is making these tools more powerful, underscoring the growing challenge of concealing U.S. military movements from adversaries.\u00a0 \u201cThe proliferation of more and more capable private sector geospatial analysis companies in China will augment China\u2019s defense capabilities and ability to contest U.S. forces in a crisis,\u201d said Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank.\u00a0 MizarVision, a Hangzhou-based firm founded in 2021, is one of the companies that uses a mix of Western and Chinese data filtered through AI to catalogue activity at U.S. bases in the Middle East, track naval movements and identify the position and number of specific aircraft and missile defense systems. Images sourced to the firm \u2014 which is not part of China\u2019s military but holds a National Military Standard certification required for firms supplying services to the People\u2019s Liberation Army \u2014 and posted on Chinese and Western social media, for example, detailed the buildup of U.S. forces in the Middle East on the eve of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, including the passage of the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups. It also shared detailed breakdowns of the number and types of aircraft massing at Israel\u2019s Ovda Air Base, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Prince Sultan Air Base and Qatar\u2019s al-Udeid Air Base. \u201cIn the lead-up to the escalation of tensions in Iran in 2026, we quickly identified the locations of weapons and equipment deployed in the Middle East,\u201d and \u201cexposed\u201d the refueling patterns of U.S. carrier groups, MizarVizion\u2019s website claims. Elsewhere on the site, it claims to have tracked U.S. military escalation ahead of the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro \u201cmonths in advance\u201d and says it can \u201ctrack the entire transport process\u201d of U.S. medium-range missiles in the Asia Pacific \u201cin real time.\u201d MizarVision \u2026 does not disclose the sources of the data it analyzes \u2014 including satellite imagery, ADS-B flight data and ship AIS data \u2014 though Chinese state media reports, an analysis of images posted online and accounts from two users of the company\u2019s platform suggest it draws on a mix of Chinese and Western sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s \u2018new\u2019 regime looks much the same, only harsher,\u201d<\/a> CNN, 4-4-26.\u00a0\u00a0If so, let\u2019s don\u2019t give them Hormuz.\u00a0 If not, let\u2019s not give them Hormuz.\u00a0 Either way, let’s not give them Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cIDF believes Iran still has over 1,000 ballistic missiles that can reach Israel, intelligence officer says,\u201d<\/a> Times of Israel, 4-4-26.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Israeli military believes that Iran still has more than 1,000 ballistic missiles that can reach Israel, an Israeli Air Force intelligence officer tells Channel 12 news. \u201cThe Iranians have more than 1,000 missiles that are capable of reaching Israel,\u201d says Lt. Col. \u201cTet,\u201d who leads the research on Iran\u2019s missiles and drones in the Air Intelligence Group, the IAF\u2019s intel unit. At the start of the war, the IDF assessed that Iran had 2,500 ballistic missiles. Iran has since fired over 500 missiles at Israel, as well as hundreds at other countries in the Middle East, and potentially hundreds of missiles were destroyed in strikes. Iran\u2019s missile fire on Israel has slowed to around 10-15 missiles a day in recent weeks, down from around 90 on the first day of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notice the headline.\u00a0 \u201cMissing Airman Raises Concerns That Iran Could Gain Leverage Over the U.S.,\u201d NYT, 4-4-26.\u00a0\u00a0The sub-headline is \u201cSince 1979, Iran has repeatedly used Americans and Europeans detained on its territory to win concessions over more powerful adversaries.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Can we please rephrase the headline to be more accurate?\u00a0 Something like, \u201cMissing Airman Raises Concerns That … <\/p>\n

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