Y'all are missing the point. There is a lot of random rage here. Here is a sober well reasoned analysis.
This analyst lives in Doha, Qatar and was stationed in Iraq during the Irag war. He has a well-reasoned viewpoint. He says he "worked for the US Department of State and advised defence and intelligence agencies in multiple countries. I have no interest in cheerleading for war."
Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war....
But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things. They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger.
When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.
I write this from Doha, where Iranian missiles have triggered alerts for residents to take shelter and Qatar Airways has started operating evacuation flights.
Every aspect of Iran’s ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded.