Well, no, actually. The Iowa-class carried:

The flight deck idea didn’t materialize but the updates for Phalanx CIWS mounts, two of which sit just behind the bridge and two which are next to the after ship’s funnel, and Armored Box Launchers and “shock hardened” Mk. 141 quad cell launchers were added for the BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) for use…

The BB’s carry the same air defense weapons as the rest of the fleet. And the BB’s have a shitload of armor in the hull. Their top structures are no greater or no less as vulnerable as the top structures on a Tico or CVN.

The only good thing about sending a LCS in is that the Chinese on the island might hurt themselves falling over laughing when it sails into sight.

So, easy solution: Send an entire carrier group, three full squadrons, and all support vessels and personnel.

Iowa class would be ludicrously expensive to operate. Each turret requires significantly more crew than an LCS, to say nothing of the rest of the ship.

Given that the US has not won any of the many conflicts it got involved in and never faced off but much weaker and worse prepared and equipped nations

If the PLAN sunk an LCS, the US Navy’s response would be quick and incredibly powerful.

...or look at the Vietnam era M551 Sheridan armored vehicle. It had a 152mm gun, was air droppable (on a good day) and was pretty fast. It also used caseless rounds which meant you could fire it about as fast as a muzzle loading cannon. And the armor was about the equivalent of an APC. Good idea, poor execution.

...and just in case any of the Democratic Presidential candidates where under the misconception that the Iranians are a peace loving people,

“Additionally, the vast majority of Russian air strikes and patrols have occurred in the western half of Syria, with just a few strikes venturing towards the west east, where ISIS largely rules.”

...kind of like the media that calls all rifles assault rifles and thinks automatic is synonymous with semi-automatic.

so what’s the best guess? The Russians will have ground troops in place by Christmas because Assad’s army is either so bad, or leaving for ISIS, to be an effective ground force? And the only way to consolidate the Assad government gains is for the Russians to take control of the ground war.

interesting concept. However, for the US to have engineered this, we’d actually need someone like a Henry Kissinger in the government to come up with it. No one in the Obama administration, from the head guy on down, comes to mind.

unreliable, easily spoofed and virtually blind UAVs.

it's as if Odin has opened the gates of Valhalla and is looking down on the 'Hogs and smiling.

yeah, I could see it as a zero gravity toilet. Since I've never been inside the cockpit of a Su-34, I have to say you've raised a question of reasonable doubt.

Su-34 toilet

too bad there wasn’t an Iranian nuclear bomb factory under one of the “crashes”.

maybe it's time to take a break from blowing holes in the sand and let the Russian's have at it.