I forgot what class I heard this in but the topic was bombing people into submission, and how that can go both ways. It can get the aggressor what they want — a dispirited broken people that surrenders.
It can also harden the resolve of the people against the aggressor. Think England during WWII.
It can make the people you want to rise up against their government, even when they hate the government, turn toward their government in support.
It’s a fine line, that can easily go south.
It has gone south.
trump and netanyahu have managed to do the last, harden Iranian resolve against us and have the people side with their government.
Iran also apologized to its neighbors for attacking them. Saying that they will stop if those countries stop allowing the US to attack them from bases in their countries.
trump stuck his fingers in his ears and said that with that statement Iran has surrendered. And with that response Iran replied that trump killed any prospect of de-escalation.
“President Pezeshkian’s openness to de-escalation within our region — provided that our neighbors’ airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People — was almost immediately killed by President Trump’s misinterpretation of our capabilities, determination and intent,” the foreign minister said. - The Hill
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trump thought, or Bebe sold him on the idea that he’d be a “buckaroo” (see “Hunt For Red October”) Ride in in a white hat, bomb a few places, Iran would see all the technological might and bend the knee. The trump regime needs to look at what happened in the USS Cole attack. Which was basically David and Goliath in the modern day.
If the attack on the Cole taught us anything (not trump) low tech can undo high tech.
Iran doesn’t want a ceasefire. They were attacked by us (I argued with a MAGA who was under the impression they struck us first — even a calendar wouldn’t dissuade him). Iranians are proud and they remember. Their memory was recounted starting at 9:00 above.
We continue our bad habit of American hubris by not knowing our enemy. Sun Tzu would be appalled.
The US has also said that it doesn’t want any oil in the ground to be controlled “by terrorists.” Lindsey Graham says we will be marching through the entire world, and demands that Arab countries join us in fighting Iran, saying we’ll bomb them to kitty litter. And then threatened Cuba. (I remember when the world thought Germans were inherently militaristic. Lindsey seems to say that’s us now.)
The Straight of Hormuz is quiet, the first time in 80 years.
BTW UAE is not joining the US or Israel. It’s staying on defense.
And for all trump’s trouble Iran has said that there is a lifetime threat on his head. In another time the US media would have called it a fatwa.
see also: Anticipating the dreaded terror attack
Updated to add X post from Ali Larijani (translation image below) . Ali Larijani is an official with Iran’s Security Council.
