Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
Just trying to work out the difference.
USA assassinate Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Iranian Forces. All good.
Israel assassinate Iranian General Mohammad Reza Zahedi. All bad.
Explain it to me like I’m 5yrs old.
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It’s not necessarily “bad” that either took the actions they took. It certainly is a breach of the norms and customs of international diplomacy to bomb the consulate of another country.
To expect Iran to sit back and not retaliate for either is perhaps unrealistic. Nor to expect Iran, Russia, China or anyone else to abide these norms and customs going forward.
If we want to pretend to have an international rules based order Israel should at least pretend to be suitably rebuked by Iran and perhaps keep this “up their sleeve” for the next opportunistic moment to hit an Iranian target of genuine significance. Or take a pop shot at an air base.
Anything beyond that is escalation. The number of weapons fired is a red herring. Iran told everyone what they were going to do. Everyone had enough time to prepare. It’s the definition of grandstanding. I don’t doubt the bloodthirsty among the Israeli cabinet would welcome the opportunity to escalate, just as they have eviscerated Gaza, but it’s in nobody’s interests.