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Commencing ‘Operation Epic Fury’
"Major combat operations in Iran."
Who's excited?! Pete Hegseth, surely. I don't know about anybody
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I had to google it. Just to make sure. I didn’t want to believe he really named it “Epic Fury.” What a world.
What caught my eye in all this [waves hands around generally] whatnot is that Trump warned there could be US casualties. “That often happens in war,” were his exact words. That suggests boots will be (at least temporarily) on the ground. The man who loves TV wants to see more live-action command raids on people who’ve defied him.
It’s all fine as long as it’s an “operation” and not a “war”.
Of course non of these clowns (the Orange Menace, Pistol Pete, Raisin’ Cain) can answer the question “So what happens next?” Seems to be a perpetual problem when we show up in the Middle East.
Indeed, and it’s my primary concern in the Iran saga: who ends up in charge, and what does that do for the Iranian people in terms of human and civil rights, and (more callously and with admitted self interest) for Iran’s position in the global economy?
If I were an IRGC head honcho, I wouldn’t see a point to formally abolishing the theocracy; why rock the boat unless I stood to gain something? And, isn’t the cover of religiosity a huge asset to the Basij when it comes to population control? Why not nominate a new God botherer as Supreme Leader and continue business as usual?
The military purpose of this strike appears to have been to remove any whiff of projection of power from Iran’s inventory — for example, the Strait of Hormuz will be open for business at the cost of 85 schoolgirls’ lives after the strike in Hormozgan province.
Attempting to decapitate the political leadership at the same time, however — for example, going after Ahmedinejad even though he holds no formal office at this point — only makes sense if there is some faction within the IRGC/bureaucracy that is known to be more amenable to the outcomes that the US and Israel desire. (And what do we desire? Dismantlement of the weapons program, financial and logistical abandonment of extra-territorial militias; anything else?)
So: either there’s a hidden card, some faction that we hope to promote to power; or this is just Benjamin Netanyahu using his pointy missile-shaped words to send a message to any remaining adults in the room, over in IRGC’s command bunkers: your ability to project power is permanently in check; give up on the nukes or face economic ruination.
” . . . and what does that do for the Iranian people in terms of human and civil rights . . .”
With the caveat that my knowledge of current Iranian society is very limited, is living under the current regime good for the Iranian people in terms of human and civil rights, particularly women?
I get that it can always get worse, but I’m not the under the impression the average Iranian is living the good life under the theocracy.
Serious question: it seems to me that the primary beneficiaries of weakening Iran and/or a regime change will be Israel and Saudi. The Israelis are pulling their weight here but where are the Saudis??? They have plenty of US planes and such, no? Do they get a free pass for various “business reasons”?
Upon further reflection it is no surprise. The Saudis were not even scolded after 9/11 and they were allowed to fly in and evacuate their citizens. No other countries were afforded that privilege. Nor was there a peep about their funding of Al Quada, ISIS and IS. What great allies we have in the region!
First I’ve seen anyone pointing out this pithy fact. Finally, someone has pointed out another major flaw in our piss-poor foreign policy. Thank you, sir.
Taylor-Green and the “America First” bunch waking up to the cold, hard reality of placing a megalomaniac narcissist in power.
Going out on a limb here as I don’t know if really relevant, but I do remember that the first wave of dumb money to shore up liquidity for the crumbling US banks during the GFC, was Saudi and affiliates sovereign funds… Let’s not be Too smug.
The strategic geniuses that came up with the moniker “Operation Epic Fury” are cut from the same cloth as the guys that coined “Prestige Worldwide”
It’s funny, I almost made that same joke here, and also on Friday in the Weekly about the UK mortgage lender. “Market Financial Solutions” sounds a lot like a Huff-Doback production too.