After months of saber-rattling, the “death-to-Israel” crowd in Tehran (an affiliate of the “death-to-America” crowd in Dearborn) finally made good on their threat to attack Israel.
First, the U.S. war machine is indeed depleted under Biden, but there's plenty of firepower to handle the likes of Iran. I assure you that Iran will run out of bullets long before America does.
Second, you're mistaken that the IDF is 100% armed by the U.S. To give just one example, but an important one, the Iron Dome defense was invented and armed by Israel itself. (The U.S. supported it money-wise but not in designing or manufacturing it.) In fact, at least two European nations are buying a knock-off from Israel.
As for the Iranians "saving face." An attack of 300 drones and missiles of which 99% are intercepted and the few remaining inflict zero casualties and hardly any property damage, is not exactly face-saving. It's more like face-planting.
US, UK, Jordan and France all helped intercept missiles and drones in this attack. Alan doesn't want to acknowledge that. It doesn't seem to fit his narrative.
They did not bomb the Iranian embassy. They targeted a consular annex bulding in Damascus in which their human targets-specifically senior Quds Force commander of the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and seven other IRGC officers-were congregating, planning future attacks by Hez b'allah and Hamas. Getting one's facts straight is essential if one expects others to value one's opinions.
You must also add Saudi Arabia. However, the 2 middle east countries intercepted missiles that were in their airspace.
Sorry, but the contributions of France and U.K. are farcical. France will look better if it sends its naval vessel back to the Straits after it replenishes its ammunition.
Meanwhile, our "esteemed" President Doofus is funding the Iranians and then telling the Israelis not to attack them? Seems par for the course for him as he won't even defend OUR country border-wise. Finally, the Middle Eastern militaries except Israel are good at public displays and passing in review but little else.
Maybe. But the Persians' last great military victory was the Battle of Thermopylae about 2500 years ago. And it took them tens of thousands to beat about 300 Greeks -- who were of a passion much like modern Israelis.
The Iran-Iraq War lasted 8 years and ended in a ceasefire which led to a peace treaty in 1990. Except for Israel's IDF the rest of the Middle Eastern armies are not much and are only useful at keeping their regimes in power against dissent.. When, not if, Trump returns watch the change that will occur and this time we won't have Milley calling ahead.
It seems like there's an urge in some of the comments to say "this is a disaster" simply because it happened while Biden was president.
I hate Biden as much as any of you. But it's worth separating out Biden from what happens in the world. Not everything that happens is a bad thing simply because he's president.
BTW, I often advise my more liberal readers that not everything that happens is a GOOD thing, either, simply because Biden is president. Let's get beyond tribalism.
This isn't on Biden just because he's Biden. We have two factors at play: one, by him rescinding sanctions, and trying to get the "deal" back in place, Biden has been funding them. Two, Biden's response on anything to do with Americans, or our allies, being harmed has proven himself to be weak.
I agree completely. Biden has screwed up the Mideast, and now we, the Israelis, the Arabs and even the Palestinians are paying the price.
But the point of my piece is something different. It's that Iran utterly failed in its face-saving adventure last night. It was a victory for the West. And yes, it was a victory for the West even though fumbling, bumbling Biden is president.
Is partisanship so crazy now that if the other side is president then we cannot acknowledge and celebrate that a foreign enemy has lost a battle with our ally and us? If the answer is yes, then isn't that getting close to rooting for Iran and against Israel -- and against America -- in order to beat Biden???
I dunno, Glenn. The skies over my particular tribe are as filled with “missiles” as Iran has thrown at Israel, to say nothing of the ground assault that Biden’s puppeteers are conducting across our borders. Get beyond tribalism? Should I choose a different “gender” too? 🫤 FJB.
All I ask is that people evaluate issues on their merits. Rooting for Iran and against Israel and America, for the purpose of defeating Biden, is not that. And is not helpful to Republicans, Americans or the world.
Would you agree that those rooting for Iran (and others) and against Israel, are likely to be Biden supporters who are courting pro-Palestinian voters in Michigan?
The Biden supporters want it both ways. They insincerely want to appear to be pro-Palestinian in order to court the Palestinian vote while still letting the Israelis win. The ones who sincerely want the Israelis to lose are the real pro-Palestinians.
On the other side, there is a hard right contingent that seems to be so anti-Biden that they find themselves rooting for Palestinians simply for the purpose of racking up a loss for Biden in order to defeat him in the election. I hate to say it, but that contingent is just as repulsive as the Palestinians
I can see your point. I am probably biased in my views since I don't know of any conservatives who are as crazy as the ones you describe. I also agree that those folks would indeed be repulsive.
Was it a total fail? If the goal of the attack was to kill Jews and lay waste to Israel or to discourage them in any way, then it was certainly an abject failure, and the mullahs should be embarrassed.
However, what if the goal was a test of Israel's aerial defense strategy? In that case, the information gained could be invaluable for the real attack to come.
First, the U.S. war machine is indeed depleted under Biden, but there's plenty of firepower to handle the likes of Iran. I assure you that Iran will run out of bullets long before America does.
Second, you're mistaken that the IDF is 100% armed by the U.S. To give just one example, but an important one, the Iron Dome defense was invented and armed by Israel itself. (The U.S. supported it money-wise but not in designing or manufacturing it.) In fact, at least two European nations are buying a knock-off from Israel.
As for the Iranians "saving face." An attack of 300 drones and missiles of which 99% are intercepted and the few remaining inflict zero casualties and hardly any property damage, is not exactly face-saving. It's more like face-planting.
Israel has nukes! That will help if we don't help them---for any reason. I also think Putin and Xi know this!
US, UK, Jordan and France all helped intercept missiles and drones in this attack. Alan doesn't want to acknowledge that. It doesn't seem to fit his narrative.
They did not bomb the Iranian embassy. They targeted a consular annex bulding in Damascus in which their human targets-specifically senior Quds Force commander of the IRGC, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, and seven other IRGC officers-were congregating, planning future attacks by Hez b'allah and Hamas. Getting one's facts straight is essential if one expects others to value one's opinions.
Steve beat me too it in his response.
You must also add Saudi Arabia. However, the 2 middle east countries intercepted missiles that were in their airspace.
Sorry, but the contributions of France and U.K. are farcical. France will look better if it sends its naval vessel back to the Straits after it replenishes its ammunition.
JD Vance published an editorial in the NYT on this very subject. He has the numbers and they're grim.
Meanwhile, our "esteemed" President Doofus is funding the Iranians and then telling the Israelis not to attack them? Seems par for the course for him as he won't even defend OUR country border-wise. Finally, the Middle Eastern militaries except Israel are good at public displays and passing in review but little else.
Don't underestimate the ability of Persians to learn.
Maybe. But the Persians' last great military victory was the Battle of Thermopylae about 2500 years ago. And it took them tens of thousands to beat about 300 Greeks -- who were of a passion much like modern Israelis.
And the Greeks were undone by a traitor who led the Persians behind the Spartans!
The Iran-Iraq War lasted 8 years and ended in a ceasefire which led to a peace treaty in 1990. Except for Israel's IDF the rest of the Middle Eastern armies are not much and are only useful at keeping their regimes in power against dissent.. When, not if, Trump returns watch the change that will occur and this time we won't have Milley calling ahead.
It seems like there's an urge in some of the comments to say "this is a disaster" simply because it happened while Biden was president.
I hate Biden as much as any of you. But it's worth separating out Biden from what happens in the world. Not everything that happens is a bad thing simply because he's president.
BTW, I often advise my more liberal readers that not everything that happens is a GOOD thing, either, simply because Biden is president. Let's get beyond tribalism.
This isn't on Biden just because he's Biden. We have two factors at play: one, by him rescinding sanctions, and trying to get the "deal" back in place, Biden has been funding them. Two, Biden's response on anything to do with Americans, or our allies, being harmed has proven himself to be weak.
I agree completely. Biden has screwed up the Mideast, and now we, the Israelis, the Arabs and even the Palestinians are paying the price.
But the point of my piece is something different. It's that Iran utterly failed in its face-saving adventure last night. It was a victory for the West. And yes, it was a victory for the West even though fumbling, bumbling Biden is president.
Is partisanship so crazy now that if the other side is president then we cannot acknowledge and celebrate that a foreign enemy has lost a battle with our ally and us? If the answer is yes, then isn't that getting close to rooting for Iran and against Israel -- and against America -- in order to beat Biden???
Agreed. The weakness of Iran and the weakness of Biden are two separate issues.
On the other hand, Glenn---had Trump still been in office, NOTHING would've happened in Ukraine OR on Oct 7th!
I dunno, Glenn. The skies over my particular tribe are as filled with “missiles” as Iran has thrown at Israel, to say nothing of the ground assault that Biden’s puppeteers are conducting across our borders. Get beyond tribalism? Should I choose a different “gender” too? 🫤 FJB.
All I ask is that people evaluate issues on their merits. Rooting for Iran and against Israel and America, for the purpose of defeating Biden, is not that. And is not helpful to Republicans, Americans or the world.
Would you agree that those rooting for Iran (and others) and against Israel, are likely to be Biden supporters who are courting pro-Palestinian voters in Michigan?
No, I don't think I would agree with that.
The Biden supporters want it both ways. They insincerely want to appear to be pro-Palestinian in order to court the Palestinian vote while still letting the Israelis win. The ones who sincerely want the Israelis to lose are the real pro-Palestinians.
On the other side, there is a hard right contingent that seems to be so anti-Biden that they find themselves rooting for Palestinians simply for the purpose of racking up a loss for Biden in order to defeat him in the election. I hate to say it, but that contingent is just as repulsive as the Palestinians
I can see your point. I am probably biased in my views since I don't know of any conservatives who are as crazy as the ones you describe. I also agree that those folks would indeed be repulsive.
A much less optimistic take, by Daniel [Sultan Knish] Greenfield: https://www.frontpagemag.com/this-was-not-irans-actual-attack/
Was it a total fail? If the goal of the attack was to kill Jews and lay waste to Israel or to discourage them in any way, then it was certainly an abject failure, and the mullahs should be embarrassed.
However, what if the goal was a test of Israel's aerial defense strategy? In that case, the information gained could be invaluable for the real attack to come.
Great article...
I will be interested in the response from Israel. No doubt it will be less than hundreds of weapons. I suspect that the response will be effective.
I'm guessing it will be handled quietly and effectively by the Mossad.
This was a great article BTW.