Subject: Re: The strategy,...is working
Why not...just let this thing play out for a while and see what happens? Why the rush to pass judgement and declare the entire thing a failure?

Partially because this is a major ongoing current event, and it's natural to talk about it? And as informed citizens, perhaps form assessments about whether or not the ongoing operations are achieving their strategic goals - so that we can exercise oversight and pressure on our elected officials to conduct those operations in a way that serves the country's interests? Of course we're going to discuss it. Of course we'll make assessments.

The Wall Street Journal, not usually thought of as a hotbed of liberal opposition to Trump, is “making assessments.” In fact, they are doing so with repeated articles (and opinion pieces) which are not terribly optimistic about doing everything “by air.”

Here’s an interesting piece today:

Israel Is Hunting Down Iranian Regime Members in Their Hideouts, One by One
The killings of top officials mark milestones in a fierce campaign to bring down the Tehran government

But decades of military experience show it is difficult if not impossible to dislodge a government from the air. And if the Iranian regime survives, it could emerge emboldened and more dangerous. “It will be a clear victory for the regime with both predictable and unforeseen circumstances,” said Farzin Nadimi, an Iran-focused senior fellow with the Washington Institute, a U.S.-based think tank.
…
Last week, while Israeli officials were openly questioning whether air power alone could bring down the regime, the military was expanding its targets.
…
https://www.wsj.com/world/midd...

Those two snippets are not representative of the article, which is mostly about the success of Israeli targeting and killing various memebers of the Iranian heirarchy, from political leaders to street level operatives. What becomes clear, however, is that a simple “decapitation” strategy is not goingt to be enough to bring about regime change given the many layers and levels of the power structure all throughout the country and society.

It’s an interesting article, but I am out of “gifts” for the month; if you can find it elsewhere I’d suggest reading it, whether you are “pro” or “con”, it fills in a lot of details which don’t cone through in the chatterheads TV version of the war.