What I am more interested in is how France is on the verge of taking a greater leadership role in NATO, but that is likely a subject of another thread.
That noise you can hear in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises is surely De Gaulle spinning in his grave.
I thought it was France not being in charge he had a problem with.
Indeed. Which, if I recall correctly, was why he was no fan of NATO, and withdrew France from its integrated command structure in 1966.
A pundit on BBC Radio 4's World at One this afternoon opined that the Trump administration may be shifting back from regime change to simply reducing Iran's capacity to harm its neighbours or US interests in the region.
That way it becomes easier to claim victory after a few weeks bombing.
GWB was mocked for it, but if Trump called a quick end to the bombing and unfolded a "Mission Accomplished" banner, it would be most welcome.
The sheer scale of the lunacy of these nutjobs is breathtaking.
The US and Israel may well have done immense damage to Iran's military capabilities, but where do they stop? Invading and subjugating a huge country like Iran is going to be a drain on the resources of even the US.
The sheer scale of the lunacy of these nutjobs is breathtaking.
The US and Israel may well have done immense damage to Iran's military capabilities, but where do they stop? Invading and subjugating a huge country like Iran is going to be a drain on the resources of even the US.
I can't believe they will invade. For one thing, that immediately sets up an armed resistance, I would think. And it is huge. I don't think Trump has a clue.
[Dan] Caine added that Iran’s ballistic missile capability had been reduced by 86% since the opening day of hostilities, its navy largely destroyed and its senior leadership killed or in hiding. He said the progress had allowed the US to establish air superiority along Iran’s southern coast, and that forces would now “begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory”
My italics. I took Caine to be referring to the use of ground forces, but I may have misunderstood.
The sheer scale of the lunacy of these nutjobs is breathtaking.
The US and Israel may well have done immense damage to Iran's military capabilities, but where do they stop? Invading and subjugating a huge country like Iran is going to be a drain on the resources of even the US.
I can't believe they will invade. For one thing, that immediately sets up an armed resistance, I would think. And it is huge. I don't think Trump has a clue.
The irony is that if they played it right, Iran could take care of itself from the inside, but that kind of operation requires a certain amount of finesse that I'm quite sure Trump isn't capable of.
Israel might be, but I'm very skeptical, and I'm also really not sure the average Iranian wants to be owned and operated by a nation on the opposite side of the middle east.
Based on my own experience, nobody likes being owned and operated from the opposite side of the same state. It's one of the biggest gripes in small town USA.
"Summarising the Israeli government’s position, Citrinowicz said: “If we can have a coup, great. If we can have people on the streets, great. If we can have a civil war, great. Israel couldn’t care less about the future . . . [or] the stability of Iran."
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Indeed. Which, if I recall correctly, was why he was no fan of NATO, and withdrew France from its integrated command structure in 1966.
The US and Israel may well have done immense damage to Iran's military capabilities, but where do they stop? Invading and subjugating a huge country like Iran is going to be a drain on the resources of even the US.
Broken clock strikes again! That man never saw a war he didn't like.
I can't believe they will invade. For one thing, that immediately sets up an armed resistance, I would think. And it is huge. I don't think Trump has a clue.
[Dan] Caine added that Iran’s ballistic missile capability had been reduced by 86% since the opening day of hostilities, its navy largely destroyed and its senior leadership killed or in hiding. He said the progress had allowed the US to establish air superiority along Iran’s southern coast, and that forces would now “begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory”
My italics. I took Caine to be referring to the use of ground forces, but I may have misunderstood.
The irony is that if they played it right, Iran could take care of itself from the inside, but that kind of operation requires a certain amount of finesse that I'm quite sure Trump isn't capable of.
Israel might be, but I'm very skeptical, and I'm also really not sure the average Iranian wants to be owned and operated by a nation on the opposite side of the middle east.
Based on my own experience, nobody likes being owned and operated from the opposite side of the same state. It's one of the biggest gripes in small town USA.
Sample:
"Summarising the Israeli government’s position, Citrinowicz said: “If we can have a coup, great. If we can have people on the streets, great. If we can have a civil war, great. Israel couldn’t care less about the future . . . [or] the stability of Iran."
So collapsing the state it is, then.