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Israel vs. Iran

(UnHerd) Edward Luttwak - Iran's defeat had to be a foregone conclusion: Israel is a very modern Western state, whereas Iran is only a superficially modernized theocracy. Everybody now understands that Israel controlled the skies over Iran for as long as it wanted, even though it did not have a single long-range combat aircraft nor adequate refueling tankers. It simply had a Western air force. That means its pilots and commanders are professionals who accept the limitations of their equipment and strive to overcome them - for example, with unique air-launched ballistic missiles used as range extenders. Ayatollah Khamenei opened his first post-combat speech by warmly congratulating the people of Iran on their "very great" victory and the brilliant successes of their armed forces. Perhaps readers of the Tehran Times, who had just seen major buildings in their own city reduced to ruins, were consoled by reading that Iran's missiles had destroyed Israel's Ministry of Defense and the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, both of which passing Israeli commuters can still see are perfectly intact. The writer is a contractual strategic consultant for the U.S. government.
2025-07-15 00:00:00
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