- cross-posted to:
- nytimes@rss.ponder.cat
- cross-posted to:
- nytimes@rss.ponder.cat
An all-out war could entangle countries around the world and threaten the global economy.
As the number of adversaries that Israel is fighting has piled up over the past year — Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon — the most worrisome prospect has been the potential for a war with Iran.
The two nations, which do not share a border, have long been waging conflicts by proxy, subterfuge and sabotage. Each of the militant groups Israel is concurrently fighting is backed by Iran. The indirectness was always by design: Despite being regional rivals, each wanted to avoid what was sure to be a costly, existential direct confrontation.
Now, with Israel planning a retaliatory attack after Iran’s ballistic missile barrage of unprecedented scale and scope on Oct. 1, a war seems more likely, alarming the international community and countries in the region.
Here is why a war is so concerning.
Yes and that was naive of them. That’s the point. It was a very stupid miscalculation on Israel’s part.
Of course they don’t and I fully agree with the reasons you listed in your comment. But at the same time Iran also can’t afford to look weak either. Israel’s attacks preceeding the second Iranian attacks are quite a step up from the usual tit for tat these two countries typically do. Israel repeatedly ramping up their aggression and being surprised when their enemies eventually respond in kind does not tell me they are in the right mindset. Ever since the last attack if theirs Iran has made it very clear that although they don’t want a war they will no longer hold back from protecting what’s theirs. The time for diplomacy is over in their eyes. Like I said above, look at how long Israel is taking to retaliate. They haven’t been this deliberate and cautious ever in the past 12 months.
Hamas and Hezbollah have been hit hard but they’re not out of the fight. Not yet anyway. They’re both still inflicting casualties, especially Hezbollah. Despite Israel’s huge air superiority they have yet to reliably hold any town in Southern Lebanon, although that can change on a whim admittedly. Hezbollahs rockets and drones have also been hitting Israel regularly in places like Haifa and they got damn near to assassinating Netanyahu. These organizations were designed to operate in situations like this. These aren’t political parties, they’re militia groups fighting for their survival and freedom. Killing leaders doesn’t have the effect we in the West are accustomed to.