Today the narrative among some is that Iran’s unprecedented massive attack with missiles and drones is just “symbolic” and didn’t harm much so therefore it can be shrugged off.
That was the same mentality about the rocket fire from Gaza two decades ago and also the Hezbollah rocket fire and the Houthi attacks. The always change the goal posts so hundreds or thousands of missiles are no big deal. And then when Hamas massacres 1,000 people and takes 250 hostage then they are surprised.
That was the same mentality about the rocket fire from Gaza two decades ago and also the Hezbollah rocket fire and the Houthi attacks. The always change the goal posts so hundreds or thousands of missiles are no big deal. And then when Hamas massacres 1,000 people and takes 250 hostage then they are surprised.
If you don’t take one missile being fired as a threat then it becomes two and then ten and 100 and 1,000. The fact is that systematically Iran has been allowed to spread drone and missile terror around the Middle East and also sent drones to Russia to terrorize Ukrainians. Did the same people who say it was just “symbolic” say that when missiles and drones rain down on Ukrainian civilians?
The fact is that the decision to ignore Hamas rockets and then Hezbollah rockets and then Houthi attacks and then Iraqi militia attacks and now Iran’s attacks is destroying the region. Air defenses are not a magic wand OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGY.
Countries that dismiss these attacks will find they get worse and worse. That’s what happened with Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel’s answer has been to evacuate the borders but it has no strategy to defeat them and end the threat. And these groups know this.
It always starts with self delusion and 3D chess of saying “well no one was harmed in the attack” but eventually people are harmed and then one evacuates the borders and surrenders part of the country to these attacks and then hostages are taken and people massacred. It’s a bad cycle to enter
Hamas was emboldened by a decade of wars where Israel didn’t retaliate and just “managed” the conflict or wanted to “shrink” the conflict until it blew up. Conflicts can’t be managed forever. It’s not a policy, it’s attrition and it’s a losing prospect. Israel has to find a way to break this cycle
Entering into the Hamas-Hezbollah equation with Iran and the Houthis and PIJ and the PMU in Iraq has emboldened all of them and let them dictate the time and place of attacks and surrenders initiative on all fronts under the delusion that air defenses are enough and that they alone are a strategy and policy.
The fact is that having walls is not a strategy. Athens learned this during the Pelopenssian war and so did Byzantium. Walls are just a way to postpone the inevitable defeat. Israel must rethink this absence of a clear strategy because while it looks phenomenal now to intercept 200 drones and missiles, the larger picture requires a next step.
One the one hand April 14 was important for air defenses and an unprecedented defeat of drones and ballistic missiles but that’s just a tactic, the next step is to form these various fronts into a strategy and stop letting Iran have the initiative on every front.
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