December 2, 2021
WAR ON IRAN HAS BEEN FAILING FOR 50 YEARS:
Iran -- the gamble, the original sin, and the unthinkable current consequence (David Horovitz, 12/02/21, Times of Israel)
First, Netanyahu encouraged the Trump administration's withdrawal from the accord, and its imposition of "maximum pressure" sanctions, in the belief or hope that a combination of economic pressure, consequent domestic unrest, and the threat of US-led military action might compel the regime to set aside its bid for the bomb.Second, he relied on the Trump administration being prepared to take military action, or support and help facilitate Israeli military action, if the point arrived where nothing else could halt Tehran's military nuclear program -- and if, in the curt, graphic summation of the late Mossad chief Meir Dagan, the sword was at our throat.And self-evidently, by extension, Netanyahu bet on Donald Trump retaining the presidency, rather than losing out to a Democratic rival likely to seek to reinstate the 2015 JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).Needless to say, the strategy failed.
Of course, the "strategy" depended on both a sovereign nation being content to have nukes pointed at it without defending itself and on an Islamophobe permanently occupying the White House. Neither were based in reality.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2021 12:00 AM