Strategery

So it’s gonna be tit for tat. Or how about a regional war, or worse?

Israel took little time in developing and implementing a plan of retaliation in response to Iran’s retaliation, despite conjecture that it might be a good idea to refrain from such madness.

The public face of an American position was that Israel should leave well enough alone and not retaliate. But what was going on behind the scenes? What was the intent of Iranian leadership saying that the barage of missiles and drones and rockets was, basically, a one-off, a reponse to the Israeli attack in Damascus, and that they considered the whole episode over and done, or closed?

Is Netanyahu just that much of a hawk, or do the generals around him have the real power? Was this an opportunity to break the cycle of attack/respond, or was Biden’s attempt at reasonableness just naïve wishful thinking, or maybe even a facade?

The fact remains that Iran’s substantial response would most likely have inflicted heavy damage and loss of life, had not the defensive weaponry of multiple countries worked so well. And maybe this is what was sticking in Israel’s craw– the Iranian response didn’t exactly seem proportionate, so how could Israel let that go without… retaliating?

Regardless of what happens next, it is clear that humans have trouble getting out of their own way. There is no trust. Only suspicion.