US – Israel Inch Toward Wider, More Dangerous War – Brian Berletic – video, notes, sources
Tue 8:02 pm +01:00, 15 Oct 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfY5C__A6Ao
5,728 views 15 Oct 2024
US-Israeli Aggression Across the Middle East
- Following Iran’s missile barrage in the beginning of October, initial reports of “minimal damage” have given way to admissions of much more serious damage;
- Iran may have over 3,000 missiles and is reportedly expanding production even further;
- Israel possesses air defenses capable of intercepting Iranian missiles, but do not exist in the volumes necessary to prevent saturation by large-scale attacks and may not exist in large enough quantities to outlast waves of Iranian missile strikes;
- Iran lacks significant conventional offensive military power and instead relies on asymmetrical networks across the region to keep US-Israeli aggression at a distance;
- Iran’s extensive missile forces serve as a deterrence meant to raise the cost of US-Israeli military aggression across the region, but is not capable of “destroying” Israel;
- The US and Israel lack the conventional military capabilities required to “destroy” Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, or Iran as viable nation-states, but do possess significant stockpiles of nuclear weapons;
Resources:
Guardian – ‘We’re focused on maximum damage’: ground offensive into Gaza seems imminent (October 10, 2023): https://www.theguardian.com/world/202…
CNN – Initial US intelligence suggests Iran was surprised by the Hamas attack on Israel (October 2023): https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/11/po…
Reuters – Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt (2012): https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sy…
UN Security Council – Resolution 2334 (2016): https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/ge…
Brookings Institution – Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy toward Iran (2009): https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/…
The Telegraph – How Iran may have breached the world’s best air defences (October 2, 2024): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-new…
Al Jazeera – Saudi Arabia may run out of interceptor missiles in ‘months’ (January 2022): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1….
Jerusalem Post – US deploys anti-ballistic system to Israel, Iran says ‘no red lines’ (October 12, 2024): https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/a…
Defense News – THAAD, in first operational use, destroys midrange ballistic missile in Houthi attack (2022): https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022…
WSJ – How Big Is Iran’s Missile Arsenal? (October 2024): https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/isra…
Reuters – Exclusive: Satellite photos show Iran expanding missile production (July 2024): https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-…
AP – Biden won’t support a strike on Iran nuclear sites as Israel weighs response to Iran missile attack (October 3, 2024): https://apnews.com/article/biden-isra…
NYT – U.S. STRATEGY PLAN CALLS FOR INSURING NO RIVALS DEVELOP (1992): https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/08/wo…
