Continuing Assessments: Iran Retaliatory Strike On Israel
No doubt this continuing process will … continue. For quite a while. Here are some quick updates.
First, it’s worth citing Doug Macgregor, for a number of reasons. Going into this scheme by Israel to get the US into a war with Iran Macgregor—for those who have listened to him over the months and years since the Special Military Operation began—has always been reflexively pro-Israel, like most military types. That means that he’s unlikely to be inventing anti-Israel narratives. He has obviously had his eyes opened by Israel’s genocidal approach to warfare. He retains, I’m quite sure, excellent contacts within the US national security agencies, so what he says carries some weight. He’s fallible, like all experts, but his track record is pretty good. So …
Douglas Macgregor @DougAMacgregor
Breaking:
NBC News now reporting that “Joe Biden has privately expressed concern that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to drag the U.S. more deeply into a broader conflict.” We warned you 4 months ago!
Douglas Macgregor @DougAMacgregor
Israel’s air and missile defenses are not air tight. Serious damage was done to military targets, but Iran deliberately did not target civilians.
The cover up begins.
Our Country Our Choice @OCOCReport
MAJOR DAMAGE TO ISRAELI AIR BASES Satellite photographs reveal significant damage to Israeli air bases. Negev was hit seven times last night as they were just overpowered by missile barrages.
“Serious” and “significant” are relative terms. No doubt we’ll be hearing more on this. What seems fairly obvious is that anyone who expected the US or Israel to rush their flacks in front of some microphones to announce that Iran’s strike had achieved seriouss successes doesn’t understand how this works. We’ll just wait.
Earlier I stated that Iran will come out of this with its status significantly increased in the Muslim world. Andrei Martyanov makes an excellent point along those lines:
Whatever Israel does now, including the use of nukes--1.5 billion of Muslims look up to Iran. Erdogan lost... In geopolitics timing is everything.
Erdogan has long been trying to position himself as the leader of the Muslim world. In political terms he’s a big loser now. Iran’s cred in the Arab world specifically as well as the Muslim world in general got a big boost.
MoA quotes this thread, which makes a lot of sense to me:
Amal Saad @amalsaad_lb - 11:06 UTC · Apr 14, 2024
THREAD: The region is entering uncharted territory where the previous strategic paradigm and rules of engagement no longer apply. From now on, any Israeli action will be met with a direct and collective response by the Axis. 1/
Regardless of what Israel does next, there is no going back to the status quo ante. This is no longer the Iran that just supports resistance movements with weapons and training. This is the Iran that directly engages in strikes against Israel. 2/
This is a new proactive phase of the Resistance Axis' "offensive defense" strategy, which was officially launched on October 8 when Hizbullah and later other Resistance Axis allies directly intervened in the conflict against Israel. 3/
The US and other Western and Arab allies have also taken the unprecedented step of directly defending Israel. Yesterday night proved that Israel's self-sufficiency in security and defense matters is limited. Israel will not be fighting any of its future wars independently. 4/
That last point supports what Martyanov is saying. The “Arab street” sees who’s on which side very clearly now. There’s no going back.
Going forward, as they say, with the US ever more deeply mired in conflicts around the world, the question of preparedness takes on special importance. I highly recommend the linked article:
Paper Tiger "On paper" the US Navy consists of over 400 vessels. In reality, as the Navy itself admits, it can only put to sea 50 - 60 surface warships at any given time.
Troubled USS Boxer Returns Home 10 Days into Deployment Due to Maintenance Issue
This @FactsVsZios
Replying to @SenTomCotton
Tom Cotton was bought by Israel for $4.5 million [from AIPAC]. In a serious country this traitor would be tried and jailed, not elected to the senate!
Will Schryver @imetatronink
It was a waste of money, if you ask me. Cotton would still be #BatshitCrazy for free.
Attack of the Chicken-Hawks: Macron, Cameron, Netanyahu, Biden
https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2024/04/attack-of-the-chicken-hawks/