"The obliteration-or perhaps one should say, re-obliteration-of the Iranian nuclear program is a good thing, as are the elimination or drastic reduction of its arsenal of drones and missiles, and the weakening of its proxy forces. The overthrow of the Iranian regime is a consummation devoutly to be wished, not only for the United States but above all for the Iranian people, most of whom hate a regime that has impoverished, oppressed, and murdered them."
"None of that, however, should diminish concern about the fecklessness of the way in which the United States has gone about launching this war. The mood was set by President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, tieless and wearing a goofy baseball hat, announcing the attacks and justifying them on mixed grounds."
"We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally-again-obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy. We're going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs, or roadside bombs, as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans."
The Iranian regime under Ayatollah Khamenei and its security apparatus warrant strong opposition due to their hostility, oppression, and crimes against their own people and international actors. Eliminating Iran's nuclear program, drone and missile arsenals, and weakening proxy forces represent legitimate objectives. However, the U.S. approach to military action has been characterized by poor execution and unclear strategy. President Trump's announcement of the campaign, made casually at Mar-a-Lago, set unrealistically ambitious war aims including complete destruction of Iran's military capabilities and nuclear program. The messaging lacked coherence, combining accurate descriptions of Iranian threats with grandiose promises to the Iranian people about imminent freedom, while simultaneously warning them of indiscriminate bombing.
#iran-military-strategy #us-foreign-policy #nuclear-proliferation #military-campaign-planning #middle-east-conflict
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]