A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To Jerusalem: Gaza/Israel conflict

[Maximus]

The last paragraph of this, if correct, is incredibly damning of US military leadership.

Embedded Tweet

can you clarify, why a failure of the US? Meaning that they didnt bomb them before?

Iraq was the wrong target back then. But not sure which president wouldve been willing to bomb lebanon.

[YOhio]

can you clarify, why a failure of the US? Meaning that they didnt bomb them before?

Iraq was the wrong target back then. But not sure which president wouldve been willing to bomb lebanon.

The quote to which I was referring is this:

And now, over the past six weeks or so, Israel has eliminated as many terrorists on the US list of wanted terrorists as the US has done in the last 20 years.

Assume it's a true statement which, as frank points out, is a charitable assumption. That means we engaged in two decade plus wars and didn't kill all the people we wanted to and were capable of killing.

[myboynoah]

The quote to which I was referring is this:



Assume it's a true statement which, as frank points out, is a charitable assumption. That means we engaged in two decade plus wars and didn't kill all the people we wanted to and were capable of killing.

Maybe he could provide the numbers for us to verify his assertion. It seems dubious to me. He is correct that what Israel has done to Hezbollah is awesome and efficient. At the same time, Israel is able to do things in its theater of operations that the U.S. could just not do (like bomb a block of buildings in Beirut to kill the head of Hezbollah, or bomb hospitals and other targets in Gaza to kill Hamas leadership). In the past 20 years the U.S. has taken on Al Qaida, the Taliban, ISIS, IRGC, and other terrorist groups, all of which made Israel safer.

I've met Kushner and have been in meetings with him. I did not come away impressed. I assume he's good at his real estate work, but on international policy, he seems to come to conclusions and then tries to find the evidence to support his conclusions. That last paragraph is a good example and smacks of Israeli propaganda.

Believe me, I fully support Israel's right to protect itself and proactively take care of threats on its borders. Please, take out Hezbollah. Please, lessen Iranian influence in the region. At the same time, the U.S. cannot tie it's foreign policy to Israel's security strategy, which Israel tries everyday to see happen. This is a pretty blatant attempt to do just that.

[YOhio]

Maybe he could provide the numbers for us to verify his assertion. It seems dubious to me. He is correct that what Israel has done to Hezbollah is awesome and efficient. At the same time, Israel is able to do things in its theater of operations that the U.S. could just not do (like bomb a block of buildings in Beirut to kill the head of Hezbollah, or bomb hospitals and other targets in Gaza to kill Hamas leadership). In the past 20 years the U.S. has taken on Al Qaida, the Taliban, ISIS, IRGC, and other terrorist groups, all of which made Israel safer.

I've met Kushner and have been in meetings with him. I did not come away impressed. I assume he's good at his real estate work, but on international policy, he seems to come to conclusions and then tries to find the evidence to support his conclusions. That last paragraph is a good example and smacks of Israeli propaganda.

Believe me, I fully support Israel's right to protect itself and proactively take care of threats on its borders. Please, take out Hezbollah. Please, lessen Iranian influence in the region. At the same time, the U.S. cannot tie it's foreign policy to Israel's security strategy, which Israel tries everyday to see happen. This is a pretty blatant attempt to do just that.

Great post. Thoughtful and wise. Thanks for taking the time.

[Maximus]

iran attack round 2 seemed to be the same as the ~april one , hopefully israel doesnt really respond like last time but who knows what bibi wants to happen

[USUC]

iran attack round 2 seemed to be the same as the ~april one , hopefully israel doesnt really respond like last time but who knows what bibi wants to happen

Why wouldn't they respond? Iran lobbed 100+ ballistic missiles at their country. Of course they'll respond and they should.

[Maximus]

Why wouldn't they respond? Iran lobbed 100+ ballistic missiles at their country. Of course they'll respond and they should.

Similar to april, I think they will do a small show of force that Iran can play off. I do not think they will attack any more significantly this time.

no bigger blow they can make to iran than taking out nashrallah aside from the nuke reactors which I dont think israel would do on its own

[USUC]

Similar to april, I think they will do a small show of force that Iran can play off. I do not think they will attack any more significantly this time.

no bigger blow they can make to iran than taking out nashrallah aside from the nuke reactors which I dont think israel would do on its own

Perhaps. The Israelis are being vague saying they will respond to targets in the "Middle East" and they they will respond to Iran at a time of their choosing.

[Shaka]

iran attack round 2 seemed to be the same as the ~april one , hopefully israel doesnt really respond like last time but who knows what bibi wants to happen

Isreal should respond by kicking ass and taking names. They've been pummeling Iran's proxies thereby weakening the Iranian regime. Isreal could be looking to go all the way on this one.

[Bo Diddley]

Isreal should respond by kicking ass and taking names. They've been pummeling Iran's proxies thereby weakening the Iranian regime. Isreal could be looking to go all the way on this one.

Iran should be nervous.

[SteelBlue]

My question is why is Iran so confident after a multitude of ass kickings over the past months? Seems they are begging for the big response. Why?

[Moliere]

At least oil prices are up

[Maximus]

Isreal should respond by kicking ass and taking names. They've been pummeling Iran's proxies thereby weakening the Iranian regime. Isreal could be looking to go all the way on this one.

so you think israel should go to war with iran right now?

[Shaka]

so you think israel should go to war with iran right now?

I think they are against the ropes and now is probably a golden opportunity to knock them out.

[falafel]

I think they are against the ropes and now is probably a golden opportunity to knock them out.

knock them out? When was the last time that happened? There's no knocking anyone out these days.