Israel and Iran

While I may not have been a huge proponent of getting involved, I'm not losing sleep over the strike either. It's done, so now it'll be interesting to see BDA and subsequent impact of this action over the coming days and weeks. Was the strike as effective as we'd wanted? I believe this was a limited strike with no intention for a larger commitment. So, that's good.

I do appreciate the idea that the administration is following through on what it says and holding parties accountable. Iran was given opportunity and now sees consequences. There's probably a broader message here as well.

Also, OPSEC for this strike appears to have been good, based on the number of Dem heads in Congress that exploded

What options does Iran have left to respond? Close the Strait of Hormuz? Good luck with that.
 
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There was overconfidence, complacency and some toxic leadership aspects involved in IDF's dropping the ball before October 7th. Israeli Signals Intelligence gave warning but certain pockets along the chain downplayed it or discounted it. The atmosphere, I am told, at certain levels, was similar to that which existed prior to October 6th 1973.

I don' t believe the warnings were deliberately ignored.
Same things that led to 9/11. Failure within the chain is always a possibility.
 
The crazy thing is this has been pushed by Bibi himself.



Personally, I think this is more likely Bibi trying to put the blame on somebody else so he deflect blame, which the article also addresses.
But when the PM is "asking questions" that imply the attack was allowed to happen, people are gonna run with that.
^ solid assessment.

The timing and specificity of intel warnings are also important. As much as I loathe politicians blaming everything on intel, sometimes it's intel's fault. Not sure if that's the case here; maybe there was in fact enough specificity to act, and those who were supposed to didn't. But somebody who is always starting some shit, starting some some kind of unspecified shit at some unspecified time and place is way different than OMG IN ONE HOUR THEY ARE COMING OVER THE WALLS IN MUTHAFUKIN GLIDERZZZZ!!!! FOR GOD'S SAKE ROLL THE MERKAVAS, MR. PRIME MINISTER!!!!!

Also, Hamas knows how the Israelis work. For years, they were testing boundaries and lulling their opponents into a lower state of readiness

That's why it's important to crack down on things while they're small, so they don't build up to this. It's similar to the situation in America; we ignore people pushing cops, so then they get emboldened and start throwing bottles. Then firecrakers. Then large rocks. Eventually it will be Molotovs and bullets. And people will wonder how we get it get to that level, just like a whole bunch of people wondered how the October 7th attacks could have ever happened.

Sometimes it's hard to absorb the enormity of a situation in the moment. Nothing this big, this well-organized, this complex, and this successful was ever even attempted AFAIK. Not by Hamas. It could have been hard to tell in the opening hours that this was something more than a performative push against the wall and a more-intense-than-usual projective barrage.

Also, a whole lot of Israelis, particularly liberal lawmakers, thought that their pacification campaign was working. "The Palestinians are just like us, they want the same things we do. Look, we can all get along, we're giving you jobs, trusting you to come into our country, our homes; we're spending millions on educating your children, this is DEFINITELY going to work. There is no need for further bloodshed." Meanwhile, Hamas: "Hold my keffiyah, Jew dogs."
 
The Democrats, and some Republicans, are already joining their friends, the Iranians, in condemning the attack. There are even moves to begin the impeachment process. Same old shit, different day.

They forget Clinton's cruise missile launches in 1993 and 1998, etc
I think there is going to be a lot of noise about this, partly from peoples' genuinely held beliefs that this is a bad thing, but more often because this was a clear win for Trump, and we just can't have that.

I think secretly, if not overtly, a lot of the people in the world who really matter, including (and especially) normies like us, will see this as a good thing in the long term. Reasonable people will disagree, and that's OK too.
 
What options does Iran have left to respond? Close the Strait of Hormuz? Good luck with that.
Simplest option would be re-authorizing militias attacks on positions in Iraq. Second simplest option would be directly launching against those bases from Iran.
I think the first option is almost a given at this point. The second is a possibility because of our direct involvement in attacks on nuclear facilities.

Guess we’ll see what happens.
 
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