Lots of people "have got it coming;" few of them ever get it.
War...doesn't work that way; drastic action is often taken against important centers of command.
And in a state of almost-war? Cold War? Over-arching principles are rare, plausible deniability is common -- but not the rule. Sometimes actions are overt to the point of challenge.
U. S. forces killed a top Iranian officer. A drone strike in Iraq, near Baghdad. It appears he was instrumental in a lot of damage to our people.
What happens next, I don't know.
I don't know for sure what will happen either, but as the brother of a sister who believes in psychics, I can make a pretty good prediction.
ReplyDeleteThe people who support the president will rally around the flag, and say what a great job he has done.
Those who dislike the president, to the point of hating him, will condemn this action, saying things like, we are now at war with Iran, and we better look out for whatever comes next.
The television pundits will ride this for all they can, no matter which side they are on. Until the next big thing.
Those who pay little attention to politics, but just try to raise their families, and have enough money at the end of the month to maybe take them to a movie, and at the end of the year to take them to Disneyworld, or some other vacation spot, will not even pay any attention to this, but will maybe have a cookout next weekend if they live in nice weather spots, and if not, buy a six pack and watch football playoffs.
In other words, life will continue on pretty much the way it always does. I think that Iran is in some ways too crippled financially by the sanctions, to mount much of a big attack, or to furnish much in the way of large numbers of weapons to other groups, because they need to keep them for themselves. From things that I have seen, the sanctions that Trump has added, are taking a bigger toll on Iran than many people realize. And Israel has also been hitting them behind the scenes, quietly, with some of their firepower, trying to keep them at bay.
The middle east has been at war for probably 2000-5000 years. I see no reason to think it has any chance of stopping now, just because we have a president in office who is willing to shoot at a general or two. Unless he would be willing to start a firestorm, and I don't think that Donald Trump is that reckless or crazy. He seems to know just how far he can push things, and then when to back off. He didn't get to be where he is, both politically and financially by being reckless or stupid.
Yes, that's very much so. I was thinking more of the next move in the current round of the Great Game, played, as ever, on the swath that runs from the (once) Fertile Crescent through the mountains to the borders of India. It's been the default chessboard since about the time Alexander the Great stormed through and there's no sign of that changing soon.
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