I’m just waiting to see what Biden does if there’s a two prong attack on Israel, one from Hezbollah and the other from Iran. If the Houthis fire one fucking missile and Biden doesn’t flatten every military asset they have then I just don’t know what it takes for Biden to respond. It used to be that if you fire upon a ship in international waters it was a declaration of war.
With Chobham "sunsetting" as he entered his 8th and final decade of life, the "might makes right" torch has been passed to Rightguide, a man with no military experience, to espouse the principle of "violence as the first option" and "perpetual conflict".
Those ships have tremendous capability within their design and limits of their tactical areas of responsibility, but they are just targets if their commanders are leashed by a feckless national command authority afraid to act, or if the adversary understands and accepts the limits placed on that capability.
Might does not make right. The use of the military is diplomacy taken to another level. Whether it's going to be defensive or offensive or its violence of action, is guided by political objectives, strategic goals, and initial actions on the ground.
Right now as we speak. I think the Iranians are thinking twice about how they are going to respond to the Israeli strike. Israel has sent them a clear message that they are ready to go deep into Iran and inflict catastrophic destruction to Iranian infrastructure. Like they just did to the Houthis. They have demonstrated the logistical ability to go after Iranian oil infrastructure for instance.
What a remarkably innocent world view!
I notice you donned your water wings and offered a fearful toe to the shallow end of the pool.
I agree. The big problem now is how do we establish deterrence in the Middle East and if the American people will even support it. I'm thinking four carrier battlegroups, a Marine division, and an Airborne Division, on alert, but we can't spare them.
Sure could use Bagram air base today!
Does the phrase have any special resonance with you?
The Houthis should have been removed as a threat to shipping right from the beginning, sending a very stern warning to Iran that any more errant missile attacks would put downtown Tehran and Iranian oil infrastructure in the crosshairs. There is no negotiation with the Mullahs. JCPOA was farcical right from its inception. Analysts predict any Iran missile strike on civilian targets could initiate all out war. What a fucking mess and to think this could all have been avoided.
Instead, Biden gave Iran enough billions to finance their war against Israel. Nobody has been more fucked up on foreign policy than Joe Biden.
There ya go. I think the Chinese are sitting on it now.
Israel's naval blockade has been in effect for almost two decades now. They prohibit the importation of most food and virtually all medical supplies. More than one Israeli politician has referred to Gaza as "the world's largest outdoor prison camp".
He is right
Democrat Harry Truman contemplated starving 40% of the remaining German population after the war. Study the details around the Morgenthau Plan. I mentioned it a couple of years ago in a post.
How many American Presidents have promised that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon? How many Israeli leaders? how do you think those promises were going to be ultimately enforced?
i can't believe he came out and said this and there hasn't been MAJOR coverage... busy news cycle, i know, but really???!
Immediately following his statements, there were reactions worldwide. Some major global powers decided to respond furiously, condemning Smotrich's remarks as unacceptable and shocking.
I don't know how convinced I am by your argument, Laz, but if Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor means achieving peace in the region, maybe there can be some solution reached if the border area there could be maintained by a coalition of troops from (say) countries such as America who have a shared interest in stabilising the region?There are certainly individual Americans who are complicit with the corrupt Mexican government and the Mexican cartels, and everything in the United States’ government’s power should be done to end them.
Full stop.
The corrupt Egyptian government is complicit with Hamas, and vice versa. Everything in the United States’ government’s power should be done to end them.
Full stop.
