Of course not, they're fanatics
BUT, that's kinda my point - IF Iran is that close to getting nuclear weapons, IF Iran is that much of a threat, why was this conflict pursued in such an unserious manner?
A little bombing here - then a pause, while waiting for Iran to surrender - no surrender, so more bombing - then another pause, again waiting for surrender - repeat, repeat ... Iran wanted stalling, and they got it
Iran is playing the US perfectly!
I think “unserious manner” is a difficult judgment to make from the outside.
If Iran was, and remains, a serious nuclear threat, what would have to happen for this conflict to qualify as “serious” in your estimation? More bombs? More troops? A ground invasion? Greater destruction? A faster result?
The United States and Israel have been conducting military operations against Iran since February 28. We are now roughly five and a half months into the conflict. There have been extensive strikes against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure, the loss of senior Iranian leadership, continuing Iranian retaliation, and enormous disruption across the region.
That doesn’t mean the war has been successful or that every decision should escape criticism. But “unserious” implies some identifiable alternative standard.
And what about the people actually living under the bombing? Do they regard nearly six months of airstrikes as an unserious undertaking? Curiously, that perspective seems to receive considerably less attention than the strategic analysis.
Most of us know only what governments, militaries, intelligence agencies and journalists make publicly available. We don’t know the classified intelligence, operational constraints, rejected targets or commanders’ actual objectives.
So by all means ask whether the war is working. Ask whether it was necessary. Ask whether the strategy was wise.
But declaring that it has been conducted in an “unserious manner” sounds considerably more certain than the public evidence allows.
That starts to look less like analysis and more like Monday-morning quarterbacking.
