Vladimir Putin has found he cannot defeat Ukraine, and now there are attacks within Russia which show he has great difficulty defending the people there. The conclusion that he "might do anything" is manifest in the Middle-East. His friends, the Iranians, and their friends, Hamas, IS, and others, are acting as powerfully as they can to distract America.
We know Putin and Iran prefer to act through intermediaries, but Donald Trump and Hamas have been defanged, so they moved on to other ways of attacking America (or our ally Israel). Sadly, we must also consider the U.S. politics involved.
As long as Donald Trump is destroyed politically and financially, the threat within America is muted. Even the craziness in Texas is not a huge problem. In Ukraine, the Russian military has been pushed back and is hardly a roaring fire. In Israel, Hamas has been severely damaged, perhaps (and hopefully) permanently. Iran remains Putin's last obvious chance to hurt America.
Today, they attacked a base and killed several soldiers, with others injured. A key question is whether we focus on the militia groups or on Iran proper. It's a military question in part. Can our military find and deal with the militia groups which have been using drones to attack us? If they can do that, then action against Iran can be delayed. We can give our military a period of time to prove their abilities vis-à-vis the militia groups. If that isn't sufficient, then Iran awaits. Assessments and plans should already exist in some part, and they should be completed. We need to be ready to act at a moment's notice.
One caveat or reminder: we need to be goal-based, and not focused on any particular technique(s). It may be lawyers in court or financial sanctions or support for Israel and Ukraine or strong political speech or direct attacks on Iran. Those choices are all subservient to the goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.