Take a win or double down.
Here’s Donald Trump’s dilemma as the war rages Iran.
They say there may be weeks to go, so are they serious and can the US last that long?
Ahead of the battle, one of the most unusual leaks was that Pentagon commanders warned that forces massed in the region would have enough firepower to last a week or two at most.
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President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Image: AP
The clock may be ticking for America’s allies in the region. Sources say the Gulf states are already begging US president To end this soon, not least because their stockpile of air defense missiles is depleting alarmingly fast.
This war is asymmetric. It’s said to be unbalanced, like pitting Ferraris against e-bikes. For example a multi-million dollar state-of-the-art Patriot missile will only shoot down a drone worth thousands, but doing so indefinitely is not sustainable.
Iran’s multi-directional tactic has surprised many. It shouldn’t be. He has long warned that he would take off the gloves if faced with an attempt to change his regime.
It may cost them. The Gulf states and Saudi Arabia are now considering joining their own forces in the fight against Iran.
But for now, the strategy is already working to put pressure on the US by key regional allies to end this war while forcing their aggressors to deplete their astronomically expensive weapons stockpiles.
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Mapped: What’s Hit So Far in the Iran War
The British in Doha and Dubai tell of missile attacks and evacuations
There are strangers. How quickly the US can strengthen its combat capability and what’s happening on the ground matters. is Israel Airsoft parts of the country to enable regional insurgencies armed by agents in the field?
That could take the war in a different direction – Iran’s disintegration and internal civil war.
Still no trace of that. Absent such strategies, the regime will survive weeks of airstrikes but remain ferocious.
This war is asymmetric in another way, the desired results. Regime change must be brought about to win over Israel and America because that is their mission. A regime should last only as long as it takes to declare victory.
And maintaining the pace of their attacks on Iran indefinitely is not an option for both the US and Israel.
More US pilots would be shot down, or troops killed on the ground, the impact on the global economy would be too great, regional allies and stability too punishing. Domestic support for another foreign war continues to bleed.
For whatever reason this war will have its limits and if the Iranian regime stands still when it reaches that point, then what will happen?
