This article has been submitted to the Waco “Tribune-Herald”
as a possible guest column. It remains
to be seen whether they will use it. But
this article does need to be seen by folks.
I have tried to ditch all the politics,
and just look at this with plain common sense. This issue has gotten lost in the glare of
the impeachment inquiry, but it is still
very important to resolve.
-----------------------------------
There has been a missile strike upon Saudi Arabian oil
facilities that came from a northern direction.
It did considerable damage, and
missile hardware has been salvaged from the strike location. The consensus of opinion so far is that the
Iranians launched this strike from Iranian territory, despite official denials from the Iranian
government.
That consensus of opinion so far is that this strike was
literally an act of war committed upon the Saudis. That demands some form of
retribution, something that must come
from somebody! The Saudis being the
injured party, that decision about what
to do is upon them, not anyone else! I’m sorry,
but “them’s the facts” of the situation.
That consensus of opinion about the perpetrator of this act
of war needs confirmation, of
course, before any action is taken. I applaud the restraint shown by all
concerned, so far. But, I
have high confidence that this was indeed an act of war committed by the
Iranians upon the Saudis!
This is in keeping with a long history of competition
between the two, over who would dominate
the region, and with increasing Iranian
desperation driven by the economic sanctions upon them. These sanctions were in turn driven by their
behavior. The fault is no one else’s.
The Saudis, despite
their faults (which are many), are a
long-standing ally in the region. We are
obligated as their ally to support them in whatever they decide to do about
this act of war committed upon them.
But, we are NOT obligated
to lead the retaliation, or to form any
coalitions to perform this retaliation,
or to take prime control of any these actions, in any way whatsoever!
This is a Saudi problem! And unlike Kuwait in 1991, they should be most capable of taking the
lead in this, having been the beneficiaries
of hundreds of billions of dollars-worth of US defense aid over the last
several decades. That being said, maybe
they bought some of the wrong stuff.
What they so obviously needed, and lacked, was a way to send missiles back to Iran to
“blow stuff up there” in retaliation. As
for incoming missile defense, despite
some of the claims to the contrary by our giant aerospace-defense
contractors, that is, at best, an “iffy” proposition. Take it from me: I worked in that business for over 2 decades.
All of this is easily rectified, and quickly.
Give some retaliatory missiles to the Saudis, and let them do whatever they deem necessary
to retaliate for the Iranian strike. But
otherwise, STAY OUT of this conflict!
That being said,
should the Iranians succeed in subsequently striking US assets in the
region, in any way at all, then I recommend a fast unilateral US
effort, at the level of “extreme overkill”! All is fair in love and war, as the saying goes. There is NO need to “fight fair”.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has a naval base upon a
known island in the disputed Persian Gulf area.
Destroy utterly and completely all life, and facilities, upon that island! The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also has a
known headquarters location in Teheran.
Destroy it utterly! And simultaneously, before anyone can escape!
Without the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the evil mullahs who rule Iran cannot
stay in power! THAT is regime
change, conducted from a standoff
distance, and without an American boot
upon the ground!
------------------------------
The following is a list of related earlier articles concerning
threats we face from the middle east,
by date, title, and search filter keywords. (North Korea and the Somali pirates are not
included here.) To view one of these, use
the navigation tool on the left of this page.
First click on the year, then the
month, then the title.
8 April 2017, “The
Time Has Come to Deal with Iran and North Korea”, current events, Mideast threats, north Korean rocket test
12 September 2015,
“Iran Nuclear Deal Nonsense”, bad
manners, bad government, current events, idiocy in politics, Mideast threats
28 August 2013,
“Death for Hasan”, current events, Mideast threats
28 August 2013, “On
Egypt’s Troubles”, current events, Mideast threats
25 September 2012, “On
Economic Depressions and Public Policy”,
current events, Mideast
threats, idiocy in politics, bad government
17 September 2012,
“Lethally-Dangerous Riots at US Embassies”, current events, Mideast threats
18 June 2012, no
title (critical of Taliban misbehavior),
current events, Mideast threats
10 March 2012, “On
Iran and the Bomb”, current events, idiocy in politics, Mideast threats
8 March 2012, “Iran,
Oil, and Economies”, current events, idiocy in politics, Mideast threats
2 May 2011, “The
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”, current events, Mideast threats
4 February 2011, “Oil
Prices, Recessions, and the War”,
current events, Mideast threats
14 March 2010, “Drill
Here, Drill Now, Pay Less?”,
idiocy in politics, Mideast
threats
4 March 2010,
“Addiction, Monopolies, and the Oil Price Weapon”, idiocy in politics, Mideast threats
25 January 2010, “To
Fight the War on Terror, We Really Need
to Know Our Enemy”, idiocy in
politics, Mideast threats
15 June 2009, “On the
Election Unrest in Iran”, Mideast
threats
Pushing Shiite Iran into the arms of China and Russia would be a seriously bad idea! And they would probably take Shiite dominated Iraq with them.
ReplyDeleteIran may be a threat to Israel but it is definitely not a threat to the United States. Plus Iran is not foolish enough to go to war with a nuclear armed Israel.
And I would never trust a country like Saudi Arabia that claims to be our ally while this Sunni country continues to preach anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda to Muslim children around the world.
If America is really serious about dealing with oppressive regimes then it should place high tariffs on all imports from-- all nations-- that are not free and democratic!
I don't want the US to push anybody, I want the Saudis to defend themselves for change. But if the Iranians vent their spleen on us, I want no invasion, I just want to set the mullahs up for regime change from within. -- GW
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