Prior to the Invasion of Iraq in 2003, Colin Powell famously advised, “if you break it, you buy it,” meaning that nation-building inevitably had to follow any large-scale military action against a hostile routine. Did the magnificently-orchestrated Operation Midnight Hammer finally put an end to this pernicious policy?
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I have always thought the idea of nation building was a stupid one. You can’t make people who have virtually nothing in common with us want to be like us just because you like the way we are better than the way they are. They feel exactly the same with the bias on their side and it’s idiocy to think you can change that. It’s idiocy for them to think they can change us too. We’re not going to create a stable democracy in Iraq, Afghanistan or Iran by any means available to us, no more than the Ayatollahs are… Read more »
Yes, Yes and YES!
Yup. As different as Japan and Germany were from each other, they still shared the concept of a cohesive nation state that could be defeated. There were some concerns that some soldiers would fight on after the Emperor’s surrender (and some examples where they did) but when they lost, the populace recognized they lost. Afghanistan, Iraq, and several other countries don’t share that oneness. Some seem to take internecine warfare to levels the Democrats here only dream about against the Republicans (though with the calls for representatives to take a bullet, maybe our Leftists are getting there). In that case… Read more »
Exactly and what you point out is only one of the socio-political/cultural differences between we of the West and they of the elsewhere. They’re not like us, what works on us or for us does not work on them or for them. Just taking the Islamic world as an example — Have you ever read “The Haj” by Leon Uris? This quote in the voice of a young Arab Muslim is both informative and very, very accurate — “So before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and… Read more »
Midnight Hammer was not a decapitation strike, which targets top leadership (people). It was not a tactical strike, which targets ‘tactical’ assets (things) like SAM sites, tanks, ships, etc. It was a strategic strike, as it took out ‘strategic’ (long term) nuclear weapon threats. Tactical (e.g., clearing air defenses) and decapitation strikes (e.g., assasinations) are being performed by Isreal. As an ally, we lended a helping hand for one (very specific, very difficult) surgical strike (intended to minimize ‘innocent’ human loss, against a common enemy regime that calls for “death to USA” as well). QED, it’s Isreal that has been… Read more »
Excellent analysis – thank you!
“… replacing the current religious zealots & retards with a more stable and/or tollerant (sic) Iranian people led republic or democracy.” That’s not up to us or the Israelis. It’s up to the Iranian people. Their horse has been led to water but only they can make it drink. We should do everything we can politically, diplomatically and economically to induce that horse to drink but if significant numbers of people are going to die in the process it should be Iranians fighting for Iran and not Americans or Israelis. There is absolutely NO reason Americans and Israelis should care… Read more »
I recently heard an argument that the strikes against Iran were not only about making sure they don’t have the capability of creating nuclear arms, but also about disrupting China’s energy supply. China gets a lot of oil & gas from Iran, and Trump is all about disrupting China without overtly looking like we’re disrupting China. Trump didn’t completely dismantle Iran’s government, but some of the really troublesome people are gone, allowing for Iran to do some internal resets that weren’t possible under the hard liners. I’m not an Iran expert, but the theory that this was really about China… Read more »
Hadn’t thought of that angle – interesting!
Chris Plante had my favorite take on Operation: Midnight Hammer: “Don’t worry, everybody. I know what you’re all thinking, and Paul Pelosi is perfectly safe.”
potion NEEDS to be bombed into complete submission because there is NO peace until russia is completely out of Ukraine.
now if Trump just sold Ukraine everything they need to defend themselves putin
I heard that if the 3 Gorges dam was broken it would be 40 million that would die downstream.
Yeah, cuz nothing says “World Peace” like WW3.
Do you honestly think that “Bombing Poutine into complete submission” ends in any other way than ICBMs inbound on….EVERYBODY!!!??
It must be nice in your world. Are there bunnies?
I have bunnies, LOTS of bunnies. My sister won’t let me shoot ’em. (We live on adjacent property.) They mock me because of that … Damned bunnies.
Where Komrade lil’ Donny lives he has unicorns that eat cookies made by elves and fart fairy dust on tiny blue people who live in mushroom houses.
“The Mockery of Bunnies” is the name of my new band!!
Recently I posted two articles on Substack about proportionality, and was intrigued that this subject was mentioned here. My point simply is that sometimes it is better to use disproportionate force to a conflict to limit its duration and ultimate cost. The other point is that breaking something is useful at times, especially when it is in the hand of an enemy. The points all of you made seem correct, and in international affairs especially it is important to gauge results against national security and interests. We failed in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan because we lacked clarity on those two… Read more »
The title is actually not correct. We DID buy Iran’s nuclear facilities. Or, President Dog-Eater did with the pallets of cash he sent to the mullahs. Therefore, we were absolutely allowed to break it (their nuclear program).
For a ‘decapitation’ strike, it makes sense that we would want to provide some support to stability in the region. But we have a LOOOOONG history of promising to support populist uprisings and then backing out when our support was needed. The Iraqi people were ready to welcome us as liberators during operation Desert Storm. We left them feeling betrayed, and it will be a century or more before they will trust us for uprising support. The Israeli & Ukranian tactic of launching drones from within the country could easily be used by Taiwan to attack the Three Gorges dam.… Read more »
Of course if Taiwan DID launch drones or anything else that destroyed 3 Gorges Dam that would provide the PRC with an excellent reason to stomp a mudhole in Taiwan’s guts. Killing up to 40 million non-combatants would be a very hard thing to justify to the rest of the world.
I’m not saying there’s absolutely nothing that would justify something like that. I’m saying it could only be justified in the very gravest of extremes.
40 million dead human bodies floating downstream and out to see is a pretty big deal.