Friends, today our Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, assured us that, while the Iranian theocratic regime remains "intact", it has been "largely degraded" by the furious pace of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes. Well, I should think so! We're aiming, of course, not merely to degrade this odious dictatorship, but to overthrow it, and in that regard we have to be disappointed at this stage of the operation. Regime opponents haven't risen up and seized control of even a small part of the country. I remain hopeful that they will, but we have to face the possibility, even the probability, that, when we wind down our offensive, the mullahs will still be in power. That would stink, but we can, and probably should, look on the bright side: Iran's capacity to be a regional nuisance (and worse!) will be substantially reduced, one way or another. Perhaps this is why Trump supporters, conservatives, and Republicans remain broadly supportive of U.S. operations against Iran. There is much talk in the mainstream media of MAGA fissures due to Trump's "aggression", but the reality is that Democrats are much more divided over the "war", if indeed we can call it that, than Republicans are. Many Democrats are big supporters of Israel, and enemies of Islamic fundamentalism, so it's not surprising that they might be skeptical of the doomsaying going on in the media and in elite leftist circles. Anyway, I expect the political impact of the fighting in the Middle East to be largely transitory. A month from now, I feel confident that the airstrikes will be over, and either we'll be dealing with a new Iranian leadership, or we'll be dealing with the tottering remains of the old one. Either way, the world, and America, and Trump, can get back to business as usual. Of course, what is "normalcy" these days???
Dr. Waddy from Jack: We may have to live with an Iran controlled by a fanatically America and Jew hating regime for an indefinite time. Should it come to that perhaps very tight containment, in full cooperation with Israel, would be necessitated. Let it be very visible and proven hair trigger alert to and intolerant of any suggestion of Iranian aggression. organized or irregular. Our naval , air and space power give us the means to quarantine this rogue regime and to make short work of almost any bellicose Iranian sortie beyond its borders.We have demonstrated astonishing surveillance skills in locating targets , including leaders, in that large country. Let us be RELENTLESS in this as long as the present regime obtains and in comprehensive distrust of these proven ideologically driven reflexive enemies of world well being. We must continue, without stint, to destroy their means of acting out their insane hate for any they hold to be heretic.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the regime may still implode and it could be due to unforeseen factors but if it doesn't , then we must imprison it, maximum security! That also could lead to its fall.
DNI Gabbard lists Pakistan among countries (eg, Iran, China, N. Korea) developing technologically advanced arms. Does she mean to suggest that Pakistan may share at least a measure of the ill will these countries pose us? I do not know Pakistan to be radical Islamist but what if their regime was to change for the worst? They have nukes already.
Western Europe had, of necessity, to face the harrowing threat of a then very expansive Islam , especially in the Ottoman empire, for centuries. And so it did and so our civilization survived to , on balance, benefit the world. If long term readiness to keep Iran toothless, clawless and under close confinement is to be our lot, then '"let us brace ourselves to our duties" .
Dr. Waddy from Jack: The neomedievally thinking regime is still able to work some destruction but continued degrading can reasonably be expected to reduce that capability to a pittance.
ReplyDeleteWhat if a French Trump had reacted with full power to Hitler's audacious reinvestment of the Rhineland in the mid '30s?I don't think vindictive Clemenceau was still functioning; he might have jumped at the chance to smash reprised Boche insolence. Yes , the French had the scalding recent memory of the Great War's incalculable and incomprehensible carnage which understandably filled them with abject horror at the thought of another go with the savage and competent German military. In a far less justified sense an influential faction in our country holds that any use of American power is , by their emotional definition "icky". They are reflexively blind to the fact that failure of timely use of our proven honorably conducted power would have consequences truly "disturbing".
Churchill probably had a creditable ability to predict what was in store but of course he was deep in his "long dark night of the soul" in the political wasteland and almost nobody listened to him. Powerful, highly placed British doubt of the dreadful certainty of steely German intent to subject all of Europe , at least, to the brilliant technologically empowered dark age of their murderous doctrinally abetted neo Mongol ,neo Stalinist , hellishness , thrived and almost denied Churchill of the redemptive power he mobilized, until it was nearly too late.
We in the U.S. have no experience of aerial assault; we may well be unable to imagine the TERROR of it. But it is entirely reasonable that we take the mullahs at their word in celebrating a "promise" of literal death for America and Israel and in their demonstrated willingness to rain squadrons of missiles on any who earn its easily provoked antipathy. We KNOW they were very busily working credible development of nuclear weapons and ICBMs. We also KNOW that the radical faction of Islam honors suicidal aggression. Would they consider the national obliteration which would be their lot if they ever nuked American cities? Would Hitler have been thought capable of taking the appalling risks he exposed his country to, prior to his actually hazarding them?
We have a President of almost completely unexpected brilliance and granite resolve. He has demonstrated this in his endurance of the personal , legal and political crucible he has faced since 2015 at the hands of incipiently totalitarian America haters incensed by his love of country and "happy warrior" contempt for them. His logic is graced with consummate common sense: " They say they want to see us dead; they have the ability to construct the means to treat us to the unrelenting danger to which they have subjected formidable Israel; we have the power to prevent them from ever gaining that power. So instead of talking 'don't do it ' with them, we must DO 'don't do it ' TO them . That's just common sense!" The "American" far left and their obsequious Dem party subjects, enmired in "politically correct " sludge , are incapable of such direct action. And if they were capable they would no doubt direct it to antiAmerican goals.
I think we have an American President whose resolve will prevent our country from approaching the harrowingly immediate extremes of desecration reached by France and Britain in their hesitance to face the terrible threat the inhuman Nazi power posed them. Nuclear clouds over U.S. cities would have been the consequence of past spinelessness both in our leadership and our polity.
Jack, I think by and large we still regard Pakistan as a friend and ally. And I can't imagine they're developing anything more sinister than the nukes they already possess...
ReplyDeleteHmm. True: we may be forced to "contain" Iranian power more consistently and aggressively than we have in the past. Since we can also throttle up or down the Iranian economy as we wish, they would be wise to consider falling into line!
Agreed: it was France that was most likely to head Hitler off at the pass. Probably they could have done so with relative ease in 1936. Hindsight is 20/20, or Vingt/Vingt, as the case may be...