|
Trending Topics
|
Israel's Shadow Campaign Offers Lessons for U.S. in Standoff with Iran, Report Says
(Washington Post) Missy Ryan - Israel's unacknowledged military campaign against Iranian targets in Syria could provide a model for the U.S. as it struggles to contain Tehran's network of armed proxies across the Middle East, according to a new report by the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank. The campaign Israel has conducted in Syria in recent years, consisting of more than 200 airstrikes on Iranian-affiliated targets, has limited Iran's military power without triggering a significant escalation. "This is a strategy that can push Iran back, achieve some American objectives and dramatically reduce the chance of an all-out war," said Ilan Goldenberg, one of the report's authors, who served as a Pentagon and State Department official during the Obama administration. Key to Israel's approach have been efforts to minimize Iranian casualties, part of an attempt to reduce pressure on Iranian leaders to respond with force. "What the Israelis have demonstrated is that the military tool does not need to be taken entirely off the table," the report states.