Thank you so much, for presenting the entire picture, world wide. We tend to focus only on our country and we miss the forest for the trees. We are part of the world and for so long our size fooled us into a sense of false security. AND an excuse to not look at this country in context.
I appreciate Zeteo for the world wide understanding that what we do, affects the entire world
No forests anymore, even the biggest ones are shaved down and on log trucks now. There's just a few trees left. So, no worries about that!
The US gov has been working on destroying Iran for at least 80 years--remember all the time prior to 1953 it took Kermit Roosevelt and his gang to covertly infiltrate Iran and ultimately oust the very popular,democratically-elected, pro-secular Mossadeq. Then, ongoing meddling by the US gov led to the installation of the Shah, after further infiltration and destruction of Iran's nascent revolutionary leadership in the late 1970's.
The US gov is reaping what it's sown. Too bad for all of us who are trying to survive through this cupidity and hubris.
All about bad tactics, not about bad morals. Shipping matters, but so does killing innocent people.
It's good to know they should have known better, or perhaps even did, but continued on this path anyway. Nevertheless, honest criticism ought to deal with the fact that this war should never have happened, not because the tactics weren't properly thought out, but because it was, and still is, the wrong thing to do.
This article simply laid out all the pragmatic reasons — known by experts for years —for not going to war with Iran. Ethics, morality, etc. was beyond its scope. That discussion is for another article. The central question becomes: was Trump really uninformed of the likely consequences of war or is he lying about not being told because he won’t take
responsibility for this disaster? He won’t listen to anyone on any topic anyway (eg, tariffs), so my guess is he’s lying, as usual.
"There are no real winners in such a war – except, perhaps, Vladimir Putin." Really? Cant think of any other country or leader that is getting exactly what it has been wanting for decades, eh? I suppose this is how one rises in the Dem foreign policy establishment in DC.
Decades ago I saw a photo in Life magazine of a lovely looking Iranian woman on her balcony armed with a rifle. I immediately got the picture, go for tea, not for war with Iran. Who am I with insight that has lasted so long? I am Ms. Nobody and I know this. You do not have to be a military advisor to know this. I also know from a lifetime and the knowledge of people involved in liberation struggles, from childhood and against Imperialist rulers, that she will use that gun against those who mean her nation harm. Cowardly bombing by USA from the air and sea can cease but you will never get past that woman on the balcony ( you will be looking at her granddaughter shooting)
Great image. It's almost they're like an ancient civilization who's survived since, I dunnno, the 7th c. BCE or something, the Greeks, the Macedonians, the Arabs, the Mongols, etc. etc.
A good article. We are now in what Robert Pape calls an Escalation Trap. I doubt Trump didn't listen to any experts, since he has surrounded himself with sycophants. It is clear that Netanyahu and Lindsay Graham led Trump by the nose to this war. This war, while terrible for us, is extremely good for Israel because the world's attention is away from Gaza and the West Bank. Israel's regional rivals are all weakened and are mistrustful of each other.
It is remarkable how the mainstream media is playing down Israel's role in leading us to this war (and the Iraq war for that matter). They are working overtime to discredit Joe Kent's account. We didn't need Kent's letter and we don't even need to speculate because in a rare moment of candor, Netanyahu admitted that he had been dreaming about this moment and finally found a president that would do it. There are video clips going back at least to 1995 with Netanyahu claiming that Iran was at the threshold of having a nuclear weapon. Rubio and Johnson even admitted that this war was Israel's call.
It's never made sense to try to go to war Iran, a civilization that stretches back to Pericles. Piketty showed one way that gross inequality was shattered was by cataclysmic world war. Will all sides bombing so much key fossil fuel infrastructure also accelerate the transition to a decarbonized world economy?
The Be Careful of What You Wish For file is getting fuller every day: Putin's war causing NATO to expand, Trump's moves that're leading to greater European/Canadian leadership and autonomy, and now perhaps setting the middle east aflame is the new best motivation to move to renewables.
I'm just a regular civilian if a certain age..and even I knew samned well better than to attack k Iran. Trump is severely lacking in knowledge, judgement, sanity, ethics...I could go on...
Trump is the most stupid, corrupt, criminal in US President history. There is no argument about that. He has been enabled primarily by Fox not news. Imagine this: If the dems had a leader besides Chuck Shumer who is horrible, they would have probably primaried Biden and Josh Shapiro or some other more youthful middle aged prominent politician would have run, won the primary, and beaten Trump.
Shapiro is a hard core, unapologetic Zionist. He’s much smarter than tRump (so is a hamster). The Dems never would primary an elected president. The last elected president to lose his party’s primary was Pierce in 1856. It’s not just a Schumer thing.
The zionists are the elephant in the room. Western media doesn't refer to their role in starting this, or elaborate on the battering Tel Aviv is getting. They don't report the elimination of their leaders. And they don't dare tell the world about their murderous bombing of civilian areas in Iran.
And we also don't want to talk about what it is that is being rocketed in the Gulf states by Iran. And let's ignore that it is Iran reacting and defending themselves from being attacked by Israel and USA.
Whatever we do, don't talk about it being all about oil and gas, US bases, and zionist expansion dreams.
When President Trump chose to escalate against Iran, did his team fully consider the far-reaching, unintended consequences for the Indo-Pacific? Evidence suggests that concentrating U.S. forces and attention in one region creates dangerous gaps elsewhere - gaps that peer adversaries can and will exploit.
Are we prepared for a true two-theater war, especially one where the loss of Taiwan could fundamentally alter the global balance of power? The answer, for now, is deeply uncertain. U.S. force structure, munitions stockpiles, alliance trust, and rapid decision-making are all under strain - vulnerabilities that Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow are watching closely.
And what if Russia, seeing America stretched and distracted, decides to further intimidate or even destabilize Europe? This is no longer a hypothetical; it is a real possibility in a world where crises are increasingly linked, and adversaries coordinate to maximize U.S. vulnerability.
These questions are not academic. They demand urgent debate, renewed investment in readiness, and a sober reassessment of U.S. security strategy for an era in which “business as usual” is no longer an option.
Let me ask a question: did you ever war game Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
How about wargaming illegal West Bank settlers killing hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians?
Did you war game Israel detaining thousands without charge? Or anal raping handcuffed detainees so hard they pierce a lung?
What were the red team’s thoughts if Israel was to violent displace a million people in Lebanon?
In short - did you ever war game constraining Israel in any sense?
Because that’s going to have to happen.
Israel is a psychopathic country in the grips of a genocidal mania. They will not stop, they can only be stopped, and the only country that can stop them is the United States.
There is no agreement or ceasefire that will honor. There is no law, domestic or international, they will not violate.
In the end it must be us to mechanically constrain them.
Or at least, that would be the result of a necessary war game.
Thank you so much, for presenting the entire picture, world wide. We tend to focus only on our country and we miss the forest for the trees. We are part of the world and for so long our size fooled us into a sense of false security. AND an excuse to not look at this country in context.
I appreciate Zeteo for the world wide understanding that what we do, affects the entire world
No forests anymore, even the biggest ones are shaved down and on log trucks now. There's just a few trees left. So, no worries about that!
The US gov has been working on destroying Iran for at least 80 years--remember all the time prior to 1953 it took Kermit Roosevelt and his gang to covertly infiltrate Iran and ultimately oust the very popular,democratically-elected, pro-secular Mossadeq. Then, ongoing meddling by the US gov led to the installation of the Shah, after further infiltration and destruction of Iran's nascent revolutionary leadership in the late 1970's.
The US gov is reaping what it's sown. Too bad for all of us who are trying to survive through this cupidity and hubris.
Yes..me too!
All about bad tactics, not about bad morals. Shipping matters, but so does killing innocent people.
It's good to know they should have known better, or perhaps even did, but continued on this path anyway. Nevertheless, honest criticism ought to deal with the fact that this war should never have happened, not because the tactics weren't properly thought out, but because it was, and still is, the wrong thing to do.
This article simply laid out all the pragmatic reasons — known by experts for years —for not going to war with Iran. Ethics, morality, etc. was beyond its scope. That discussion is for another article. The central question becomes: was Trump really uninformed of the likely consequences of war or is he lying about not being told because he won’t take
responsibility for this disaster? He won’t listen to anyone on any topic anyway (eg, tariffs), so my guess is he’s lying, as usual.
"There are no real winners in such a war – except, perhaps, Vladimir Putin." Really? Cant think of any other country or leader that is getting exactly what it has been wanting for decades, eh? I suppose this is how one rises in the Dem foreign policy establishment in DC.
Yup.
Decades ago I saw a photo in Life magazine of a lovely looking Iranian woman on her balcony armed with a rifle. I immediately got the picture, go for tea, not for war with Iran. Who am I with insight that has lasted so long? I am Ms. Nobody and I know this. You do not have to be a military advisor to know this. I also know from a lifetime and the knowledge of people involved in liberation struggles, from childhood and against Imperialist rulers, that she will use that gun against those who mean her nation harm. Cowardly bombing by USA from the air and sea can cease but you will never get past that woman on the balcony ( you will be looking at her granddaughter shooting)
Great image. It's almost they're like an ancient civilization who's survived since, I dunnno, the 7th c. BCE or something, the Greeks, the Macedonians, the Arabs, the Mongols, etc. etc.
And... the seething hatred for the UGLY AMERICANS will have grown exponentially.
A win for Netan-the-yahoo.
A good article. We are now in what Robert Pape calls an Escalation Trap. I doubt Trump didn't listen to any experts, since he has surrounded himself with sycophants. It is clear that Netanyahu and Lindsay Graham led Trump by the nose to this war. This war, while terrible for us, is extremely good for Israel because the world's attention is away from Gaza and the West Bank. Israel's regional rivals are all weakened and are mistrustful of each other.
It is remarkable how the mainstream media is playing down Israel's role in leading us to this war (and the Iraq war for that matter). They are working overtime to discredit Joe Kent's account. We didn't need Kent's letter and we don't even need to speculate because in a rare moment of candor, Netanyahu admitted that he had been dreaming about this moment and finally found a president that would do it. There are video clips going back at least to 1995 with Netanyahu claiming that Iran was at the threshold of having a nuclear weapon. Rubio and Johnson even admitted that this war was Israel's call.
It's never made sense to try to go to war Iran, a civilization that stretches back to Pericles. Piketty showed one way that gross inequality was shattered was by cataclysmic world war. Will all sides bombing so much key fossil fuel infrastructure also accelerate the transition to a decarbonized world economy?
The Be Careful of What You Wish For file is getting fuller every day: Putin's war causing NATO to expand, Trump's moves that're leading to greater European/Canadian leadership and autonomy, and now perhaps setting the middle east aflame is the new best motivation to move to renewables.
Honestly, I don't think you needed to be an expert, just a person with a functioning brain!
I'm just a regular civilian if a certain age..and even I knew samned well better than to attack k Iran. Trump is severely lacking in knowledge, judgement, sanity, ethics...I could go on...
Excellent analysis, thank you for sharing your expertise.
Trump is the most stupid, corrupt, criminal in US President history. There is no argument about that. He has been enabled primarily by Fox not news. Imagine this: If the dems had a leader besides Chuck Shumer who is horrible, they would have probably primaried Biden and Josh Shapiro or some other more youthful middle aged prominent politician would have run, won the primary, and beaten Trump.
Shapiro is a hard core, unapologetic Zionist. He’s much smarter than tRump (so is a hamster). The Dems never would primary an elected president. The last elected president to lose his party’s primary was Pierce in 1856. It’s not just a Schumer thing.
Shapiro’s fanatical Zionism is so unpopular he’ll drop out before the first Primary.
Did everyone else notice the revolving door between the national security apparatus at the federal government and the Zionist lobbying groups?
The zionists are the elephant in the room. Western media doesn't refer to their role in starting this, or elaborate on the battering Tel Aviv is getting. They don't report the elimination of their leaders. And they don't dare tell the world about their murderous bombing of civilian areas in Iran.
And we also don't want to talk about what it is that is being rocketed in the Gulf states by Iran. And let's ignore that it is Iran reacting and defending themselves from being attacked by Israel and USA.
Whatever we do, don't talk about it being all about oil and gas, US bases, and zionist expansion dreams.
When President Trump chose to escalate against Iran, did his team fully consider the far-reaching, unintended consequences for the Indo-Pacific? Evidence suggests that concentrating U.S. forces and attention in one region creates dangerous gaps elsewhere - gaps that peer adversaries can and will exploit.
Are we prepared for a true two-theater war, especially one where the loss of Taiwan could fundamentally alter the global balance of power? The answer, for now, is deeply uncertain. U.S. force structure, munitions stockpiles, alliance trust, and rapid decision-making are all under strain - vulnerabilities that Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow are watching closely.
And what if Russia, seeing America stretched and distracted, decides to further intimidate or even destabilize Europe? This is no longer a hypothetical; it is a real possibility in a world where crises are increasingly linked, and adversaries coordinate to maximize U.S. vulnerability.
These questions are not academic. They demand urgent debate, renewed investment in readiness, and a sober reassessment of U.S. security strategy for an era in which “business as usual” is no longer an option.
Easy to understand. As others have said, leaves out the morality and legality issues. Also, for some reason, forgot to mention:
Israel always wins.
Let me ask a question: did you ever war game Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
How about wargaming illegal West Bank settlers killing hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians?
Did you war game Israel detaining thousands without charge? Or anal raping handcuffed detainees so hard they pierce a lung?
What were the red team’s thoughts if Israel was to violent displace a million people in Lebanon?
In short - did you ever war game constraining Israel in any sense?
Because that’s going to have to happen.
Israel is a psychopathic country in the grips of a genocidal mania. They will not stop, they can only be stopped, and the only country that can stop them is the United States.
There is no agreement or ceasefire that will honor. There is no law, domestic or international, they will not violate.
In the end it must be us to mechanically constrain them.
Or at least, that would be the result of a necessary war game.