Iran's "sharp escalation" today involved less than 200 missiles and, apparently, zero casualties.
It's barely conceivable that this wasn't intensely deliberate. Twice now, Iran has lobbed missiles at Israel, and both times they've done it with plenty of warning, small numbers, and ineffective targeting. They might as well be wearing a sandwich board announcing that the whole thing is purely symbolic and not meant to do any real harm.
I have no love for Iran. If its theocratic rulers could be snuffed out at a stroke I'd shed no tears. They are living proof that there are way worse things than a thuggish and corrupt shah.
Still, this is obviously not worth a wider war. Netanyahu can't possibly not understand that, from a politics of cynical self-survival if nothing else.
"Netanyahu can't possibly not understand that, from a politics of cynical self-survival if nothing else."
Netanyahu: "Hold my Goldstar."
right on point:
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/02/iran-israel-missile-attacks-response
The Israelis could just take the W. Although I think that they would need a token counterattack, because they cannot entirely let Iran get away with shooting even relatively ineffective missiles at Israel. (And a real question... do the Iranians HAVE a missile force that is capable of causing real damage to Israel considering the range and Israeli missile defense?).
That said though, the Israelis could want to really BREAK the Iranians. I mean, Iran has been sponsoring forces that are trying to destroy the Israeli state for a couple decades now and the Israelis may have just had enough of it and see a chance of shattering the "Axis of Resistance." I would not blame them for feeling that way.
And the other possibility is that Israel could use this as an excuse to try to deal a massive setback to Iran's nuclear program. I do not know how militarily feasible that is, but that has to be on Israel's mind. And if they succeeded... well, there are a lot of people who do not want to see a nuclear Iran.
Why do you bother to post when we already know what you're going to say?
I have no love for the current regime in Iran, but are you really certain of that assertion? Not that SAVAK vs SAVAMA/its rebrands is a great choice…
I gotta say, I’m disappointed. Bunch of pathetic idiots all around. It’s a shame it’s so one sided. Allah is a jackass. 😂 it’s a good thing they revere martyrs.
And the media hacks can’t deal with it.
Israel’s assassinations can’t kill resistance. The long history of Israeli assassinations demonstrates their futility and counterproductive nature.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/9/29/israels-assassinations-cant-kill-resistance
Sure… you keep telling yourself that. Worst people in the world all around. And that’s saying something.
"Netanyahu can't possibly not understand that, from a politics of cynical self-survival if nothing else."
Netanyahu, who wrote the book on cynical self-survival, understands only too well. Nevertheless they persist. Meanwhile, another champion of cynical self-survival is cheering on an imminent world war 3. This is how the seeds of global conflict are sown.
Iran is in economic and political shambles, so it has to pull its punches. A lot of the threat and power projection it had was, in fact, in Hezbollah and, to a lesser extent, the Houthis in Yemen and with Nasrallah's assassination, that's been largely neutered now. Netanyahu is just trying to escalate a crisis with Iran to spike oil prices and get Trump reelected.
Quite. And his contempt for Biden has reached such levels, he's not even hiding that he's screwing him (and Harris) over.
Yup. He also has the added bonus of everyone watching Lebanon and his Gaza purge campaign can be bumped to the back page.
And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you...
Hezbollah exists because it has the active & passive support of the Shiite population of Southern Lebanon. Short of killing every Shiite in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah will do just fine. All that has been done was remove the old leadership and open promotional slots for a younger leadership.
Much of that younger leadership is now blind, singing soprano, and sits down to piss.
Israel has already mowed the grass. Now is the time to pour down some weedkiller and salt the ground.
Rebuilding an organization like Hezbollah from a handful of experienced people and several thousand raw recruits will take a decade or more.
Netanyahu has been trying his damndest to goad the US into a war with Iran for years; he’s now upping the effort, given uncertainty about the US political situation.
He is a big one for creating "Reality on the Ground," aye?
Netanyahu is just smashing because that is all he knows. Meanwhile the hostages fade to the background.
They fired more missiles than their April response. Unlike April, this time missiles got through and hit cities. In April Biden told Bibi to "take the win". Following this attack, US has openly said it is coordinating with Israel's response.
Iran is stuck in a conundrum of their own making, trying to calibrate physical responses to avoid a war while ratcheting up the violent rhetoric.
Options are said to include oil facilities, targeted assassinations, and additional air defense systems. Seems a bit far-fetched to target the oil facilities. Maybe target their air force and naval assets, instead; degrade their ability to go to war to prevent Iran from going to war.
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/02/iran-israel-missile-attacks-response
Why not target their oil infrastructure? I'm pretty sure that's why Iran is pulling its punches. Destroying the refineries and oil export facilities would shut the entire economy down and wouldn't require much. There's no point in attacking their military assets. Iran isn't going to invade Israel.
Oh come on! You think he cares? Eternal war is his strategy for staying in power. If it gets too dicey, he'll demand that we pull his nuts out of the fire and as long as Biden is in power we will. We don't do a damn thing to use our leverage to make him stop. We wring our hands and wish that he would listen while he pisses all over us, makes common cause with Republicans, and waits for Trump to give him a better deal. If they cross the Lebanese border, the flow of weapons should be terminated immediately. In fact, it should have been terminated when it became abundantly clear that he is making war on everyone in Gaza, not just Hamas. He has systematically violated both international and US law and we let him. He treats the US like a client state.
Iran makes symbolic retaliation against Israel for murders committed and Democratic liberals want Iran's theocratic leaders snuffed so liberals can dance a little jig.
Killing terrorists is not murder. It is pest control.
Of course, Israel's definition of "terrorist" includes UNRWA and Gazan infants.
https://time.com/2840/himmler-letters-nazis-play-cute/
It's weird that "Axis of Evil" Iran can get its point across without targeting civilians and "the world's most moral army" is slaughtering children by the tens of thousands in schools and hospitals.
+1000