More on the Iran attack
Jordan participated in the defense against Iran’s strike on Israel, saying it did so to protect its own citizens. But was that the only reason? As I wrote in this post nearly a week ago, the government of Jordan and Hamas are not friends, not at all – and that goes for the government of Jordan and the government of Iran. The message from Jordan is: don’t mess with us. Jordan is well aware that Hamas and Iran would love to topple the Jordanian government and have its own proxies take over.
There’s been at least a slight (and perhaps temporary) uptick in sympathy for Israel on the world stage:
Even among Israel’s closest allies, pressure had been growing to end the war in the Gaza Strip. The focus shifted to suffering Gazan civilians, with the world losing sight of the need to decisively defeat Hamas on the battlefield.
Iran succeeded in rallying the US and top European powers to Israel’s side. Not only did the US, the UK, and France express their unequivocal support for Israel; they actively took part in its defense, using a network of satellite, planes, and radars on the ground and at sea.
And instead of the UN Security Council discussing the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, it will be debating the Iranian threat and Israel’s right to self-defense on Sunday, with three permanent members sure to band together to condemn Tehran and Moscow.
I just did a search, but so far I can’t find anything that indicates such a vote ever happened, although there was a lot of discussion with both Israel and Iran claiming they acted in self-defense.
Once Iran gets nuclear weapons, however, it would be whole nother ball game. The risks for Iran in using nuclear weapons would be much higher, as well. It really depends on how badly the mullahs wish to martyr their own people (I’m assuming they have bunkers for themselves that probably would provide personal safety) versus how much they want to destroy Israel. They’ve certainly been yelling that the latter is their goal ever since 1979.
Here’s an interesting idea:
An Israeli strike on Iran’s drone facilities would not only be a fitting rejoinder to Saturday’s strikes, but would also help Ukraine in the face of Russian attacks. It would also be a message to Biden and the Europeans to consider the larger regional picture as they push Israel to wind down the campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Then again, there’s the theater aspect of the present Iran/Israel conflict, which will be a topic for another post today or tomorrow.
https://twitter.com/Jerusalem_Post/status/1779865865866854733?t=4PLdUw0ogJ1aPOC9SzDP9A&s=19
Caroline Glick Show, “Iran Launches Largest Drone and Missile Assault in History” (34:58): https://youtu.be/tNQK3L-2xKw?si=YXMyBOjuPMM5I0xK
This seems very important to me.
https://m.jpost.com/middle-east/saudi-arabia-acknowledges-helping-defend-israel-against-iran-797201
Re: Saudi Arabia helping Israel
Mike Plaiss:
There are a lot of angles to Iran’s attack on Israel, but I agree this is a key insight. The Saudis and Israelis were getting too chummy and Iran/Hamas had to put a stop to it. By Any Means Necessary, i.e. October 7. From your link:
________________________________________
Israel-Saudi normalization seemed on the horizon before Oct 7
In the weeks before Hamas’s October 7 invasion, the United States had been involved in intense diplomatic activity to promote a three-way deal that would have included a strategic pact between Riyadh and Washington against Iran, a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia and Israel, and a renewed pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel scuttled those efforts but did not hinder the ability of Western powers, with armies stationed in the region to work together with Arab partners, including Saudi Arabia, to build a military alliance against Iran.
The joint defensive military maneuvers marked the first time that the five armies, with help from Saudi Arabia, had worked together as a nascent coalition to repel an Iranian attack.
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/saudi-arabia-acknowledges-helping-defend-israel-against-iran-797201
Hamas’s October 7 attack against Israel scuttled those efforts
Yes, exactly! On October 8, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, et al, couldn’t distance themselves too far from the Abraham Accords. They pretended it all never happened.
Six months later, finally, they are defending Israel, and even more impotent, acknowledging it. This strikes me as an inflection point, and it makes me hopeful.
Matti Friedman is the latest to take a stab at Orwell and succeeds, overall, magnificently….
“Homage to Orwell”—
https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/literature/16061/homage-to-orwell/#
(Includes some worthy revelations about a recent Orwell biography, some surprising ones, for me at least, regarding William Dalrymple’s responses to the latest Gaza war and some not so surprising ones regarding—sigh—Andrew Sullivan…)
H/T Powerline blog.
+ Bonuses:
From Roger L. Simon…
“Today’s Antisemitism: Liberal Jews Face Harsh Reality”
https://archive.ph/ji1LS
“Viva Diversity!”—
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2024/04/15/viva-diversity-3/
“Will The West Wait Until Iran Tries To Obliterate Israel?”
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2024/04/15/will-the-west-wait-until-iran-tries-to-obliterate-israel/
H/T Blazingcatfur blog for all three.
Who could have ever suspected that “Fundamental Transformation”—embraced so enthusiastically—actually means…suicide?
Orwell, continued:
Forgetting one of Orwell’s better known dicta, Katie Couric seems to clearly endorse MAGA….
“Katie Couric slammed as ‘out of touch’ for claiming Trump’s MAGA driven by ‘anti-intellectualism”—
https://nypost.com/2024/04/15/us-news/katie-couric-slammed-as-out-of-touch-for-claiming-trumps-maga-driven-by-anti-intellectualism/
Have read that Iran, via a third party, detailed in advance the scope, targets and timing of their actions to the Biden Administration and that information was forwarded to Israel.
Our illustrious Mr. Kirby has denied this.
Any thoughts or additional information?
Not only has the remarkable Mr. Kirby denied it.
He’s called it “nonsense”(!)
And he’s absolutely right: how could Iran possibly “warn” “Biden” of something “Biden” agreed—perhaps even suggested—that Iran do?
(Not to worry much: merely the illustrious “Biden” gang unleashing, once again, its rhetorical skills…
Related:
…some pondering (in a nutshell)…
“…STUNNING; How the US tried to make sure Iran’s set-piece missile attack against Israel protect it from an Israeli response”—
https://justthenews.com/podcasts/bauer-and-rose-podcast/bauer-and-rose-stunning-how-us-tried-make-sure-irans-set-piece
Another sterling product of charlottesville no longer fit for hollywood square
I don’t understand what Iran was up to. The attack came from Iran which is 1,000 miles away from Israel. Even with missiles that flew at 2000 mph that’s a half hour warning. Every other munition was even slower requiring an hour or more to get to their target. Was this some kind of stupid feel good statement for the mullahs?
The Israelis will not bother with some kind of long range retaliation on Iran. Instead they are going make major attacks on local Iranian partners in Lebanon, Syria, and maybe Iraq.
Barry
After reading the article about Orwell we see, even today, how useless a thing a fact may be. Like economics where spending is always portrayed as being made rationally those decisions are really made with caprice and whim.
Well, yes and no.
For the Soviets, many facts were in fact deemed , um, undesirable (but not in all cases—e.g., science and technology).
And look what happened to the USSR.
One could say something about the National Socialists.
“Interesting” and/or most curious that—and I think this is Friedman’s point—today’s “cutting edge” activists/theorists/philosophers/academics seem to have selected the above two as their templates, models, heroes…
Should be “…say something similar about…”