Years from now,
historians may look back on October 7, 2023, as the dark day that
triggered an unescapable descent to global war.
Now, as a heavily armed, Iranian-trained terror
army eyes a full-scale bombardment of the Jewish State from Lebanon,
there is an undeniable nightmare scenario looming just beyond Israel's
borders.
It's a terrible chain of
events kicking off with tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets raining
down on Israel, provoking increasingly destructive rounds of
counterattack and escalation, and pushing the small nation of 9 million
to its breaking point.
Drawn by the
prospect of realizing their dark apocalyptic vision of the complete and
utter destruction of Israel, the Islamist mullahs of Tehran activate
their terrorist proxies from Syria to Iraq and beyond.
U.S. forces across the Middle East are attacked.
Oil trade is ground to a halt by the Iranian Revolution Guard chocking off the viral Strait of Hormuz.
'Don't,' said the president. 'Don't.'
The
veiled threat was surely directed at Iran, as America deployed two
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers - the USS Gerald Ford and USS Dwight D
Eisenhower -to the eastern Mediterranean Sea along with the carriers'
supporting strike groups.
That is a lot of firepower.
The
real question is whether Biden is prepared to use it and if an
overwhelming show of American might alone will convince the Iranian
puppet masters to restrain their agents of chaos.
The alternative – as it is detailed below – is nearly unthinkable…
TERROR ARMY ON ISRAEL'S BORDER AWAITING SIGNAL TO STRIKE
Skirmishes in the mountainous terrain of Israel's northern border with Lebanon have already begun.
On
Tuesday, Israeli forces said they killed four Hezbollah gunmen
attempting to cross into Israeli territory. Later in the day, Hezbollah
fired anti-tank missiles across the border, injuring three civilians.
For
now, one cannot say whether these are preludes to full-scale assault or
relatively inexpensive displays of solidarity with Hamas, but it is
certainly all part of a plan.
For
decades, the revolutionary Islamist regime in Tehran has built a network
of terror groups determined to grind Israel out of existence.
It's called the 'ring of fire.'
Hezbollah,
an offshoot of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, formed in 1982
with direct support from Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
The
group fought Israeli forces to a draw during a brief war in 2006,
during which hundreds of Hezbollah rockets rained down on northern
Israel, killing more than 40 people.
In the years since, Hezbollah has aggressively rearmed.
The group fought Israeli forces
to a draw during a brief war in 2006, during which hundreds of Hezbollah
rockets rained down on northern Israel, killing more than 40 people.
(Above) An Israeli Arab man is rescued from the rubble of a Hezbollah
rocket attack in the northern Israel coastal town of Haifa on August 6,
2006
Skirmishes in the mountainous
terrain of Israel's northern border with Lebanon have already begun.
(Above) The Israeli Defense Forces claims it has made new missile
attacks against military targets of Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon
'Don't,' said the president.
'Don't.' The veiled threat was surely directed at Iran, as America
deployed two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers - the USS Gerald Ford and
USS Dwight D Eisenhower - to the eastern Mediterranean Sea along with
the carriers' supporting strike groups.
Israel
estimates the group has stockpiled 150,000 rockets and mortars, several
hundred of which are precision weapons that can hit within roughly 10
meters of their target.
If the Lebanese
terror army does enter the fray, Israel will be forced to contend with a
ferocious two-front war, even as the bulk of its forces are in the
country's south preparing for a possible ground invasion of Gaza.
Israel's
medium-sized air force would be stretched very thin by the strain, so
warplanes launched from the two U.S. carriers in the Mediterranean would
be extremely welcome.
American
involvement would bring with it an extraordinary array of satellite
surveillance assets. That said, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran have spent
decades learning how to hide from an enemy with advanced technology that
controls the air.
Airpower likely
won't be enough to defeat a deeply dug in Hezbollah force, which may
indicate why a 2,400-strong U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit is en route
from Kuwait to Israeli waters.
But that raises the worrying prospect of American boots on the ground – U.S. lives in harm's way.
ISLAMIST MULLAHS DANGLE BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT OVER TEL AVIV
If Hezbollah does go all in, that is the point at which the war may begin to spread like wildfire.
Iran
itself could reinforce Hezbollah's effort by striking Israel with its
own ballistic missiles, which number in the thousands and many of which
can easily reach the Mediterranean.
The
causalities would potentially be catastrophic. More than four million
Israelis live in the narrow coastal strip that extends about 25 miles to
the north and south of Tel Aviv.
Israel
may not wait for Iran to strike, sending its warplanes to hit Iranian
targets first, potentially including Tehran's nuclear program and
missile launch sites.
Iran has six
times the land mass of the UK, so it would be difficult for Israel to
strike ballistic missiles on (or under) the ground, especially since
most launchers are mobile.
Defense may
be Israel's better bet and that would rely on Arrow missiles, a
companion to Iron Dome, which protects against short-range rockets and
mortars.
However, Tehran's principal
uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow are fixed in place,
albeit well-defended. Israel could also hit targets like the missile
production facility in Khojir, east of Tehran, or the Parchin military
complex.
Airpower likely won't be enough
to defeat a deeply dug in Hezbollah force, which may indicate why a
2,400-strong U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit (above, a member of Marine
Corps unit) is en route from Kuwait to Israeli waters.
Iran itself could reinforce
Hezbollah's effort by striking Israel with its own ballistic missiles,
which number in the thousands and many of which can easily reach the
Mediterranean.
Iran has six times the land mass
of the UK, so it would be difficult for Israel to strike ballistic
missiles on (or under) the ground, especially since most launchers are
mobile. (Above) A ballistic missile is launched and tested in an
undisclosed location in Iran
Obviously,
such a nightmare scenario would draw in the United States, though one
might excuse Tehran for thinking that Biden will not allow himself to be
pulled into another Middle Eastern war.
For
two and half years, Biden has paid Iran just to stay at the negotiating
table, even as it moves closer and closer to producing weapons-grade
uranium, the essential ingredient of a nuclear weapon.
Yet if Tehran takes Biden's measure and decides to escalate, that may change the calculus in Washington.
In
addition to committing the U.S. Air Force to Israel's defense and
potentially putting Marines on the ground, Biden might use the Navy to
shut in Iran's exports, especially oil, severing critical financial
lifelines.
Strikes on Iranian military
facilities inside the country are less likely, although the White House
may signal that's how it would punish Iran for crossing certain red
lines.
SYRIA'S BLOOD-SOAKED ASSAD AND HIS ILLICIT CHEMICAL WEAPONS STOCKPILE
With Iran directly involved, an array of lesser proxies would likely join the fight.
In
addition to sending Hezbollah to fight on behalf of the Assad regime,
Tehran also raised foreign legions consisting of thousands of Pakistani
and Afghan Shiites to fight in Syria.
These militias profess their ultimate objective is to destroy the Jewish state.
Assad's
own armed forces are a hollow shell of their former selves, but he
would likely dispatch troops to the front, if only to distract attention
from the deprivation and oppression Syrians continue to experience at
home.
For Israel, Syria's entry into
the war also raises the question of whether Assad would deploy his stock
of chemical weapons or give them to other members of the Iranian-led
axis.
Assad's (above, center) own armed
forces are a hollow shell of their former selves, but he would likely
dispatch troops to the front, if only to distract attention from the
deprivation and oppression Syrians continue to experience at home.
For Israel, Syria's entry into
the war also raises the question of whether Assad would deploy his stock
of chemical weapons or give them to other members of the Iranian-led
axis. (Above) A Syrian child receives medical treatment after Assad
regime forces allegedly conducted poisonous gas attack to Duma town of
Eastern Ghouta in Damascuson April 07, 2018
Two
years ago, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
suspended Damascus because of its refusal to allow inspections of the
chemical weapons industry it claims to have dismantled.
Another
target of opportunity for Syria and Iran will be the roughly 900 U.S.
troops in northeast Syria, where they are supporting local forces
preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.
The
Syrians, along with various Iran-backed militias, have consistently
harassed these troops with mortar fire and drone attacks.
One
attack killed an American contractor in March, prompting retaliatory
strikes by the U.S. military. And now, other U.S. forces in the region
may find themselves under threat.
2,500 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State are already a target.
U.S. TROOPS UNDER ATTACK IN IRAQ MAY ONLY BE THE BEGINNING
Over
the last 24 hours, a small yet unknown number of American troops were
reportedly slightly injured in a spate of drone attacks on U.S. bases in
Iraq.
Iranian militias operating inside the country are happily claiming responsibility.
Two
armed drones reportedly hit the al Asad airbase in western Iraq,
another drone targeting al-Harir airbase in the north was intercepted
and destroyed before it could do any damage.
The
Iraqi government is nominally elected and sovereign, but Iran-backed
Shiite militias take orders from Tehran while ignoring Baghdad's
directives.
Two armed drones reportedly hit
the al Asad airbase in western Iraq, another drone targeting al-Harir
airbase in the north was intercepted and destroyed before it could do
any damage.
In fact, the
influence of Tehran and their militias are so great that the Iraqi
government pays the militia member salaries and recognizes many units as
official government forces.
These
militias are now threatening to create more chaos should Israel escalate
its offensive in Gaza. They could ramp up strikes on U.S. forces,
attempt to overthrow the Iraqi government, or both.
Iran
could also use Iraq as an additional launch site for missile strikes
against Israel, potentially provoking Israeli retaliation further
enflaming Iraqi public opinion.
SAUDIA ARABIAN OIL FIELDS GO UP IN SMOKE?
Earlier
this year, Iran and Saudi Arabia patched up relations with help from
China. That seemed to take off the table any prospect of Iran striking
Saudi oil facilities amid a crisis.
That
risk became clear in 2019, when a suspected Iranian drone strike on
Saudi processing plants temporarily took more than 5 million barrels a
day of production offline.
But with America in the war, oil facilities in multiple Gulf states would become attractive targets to Iran.
That risk became clear in 2019,
when a suspected Iranian drone strike on Saudi processing plants
temporarily took more than 5 million barrels a day of production
offline. (Above) Satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. shows thick black
smoke rising from Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing facility in
Buqyaq in September 2019
Likewise, U.S. military bases in Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain are well within range of Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles.
WORLD OIL SUPPLY STRANGLED, AS GULF BECOME BATTLEGROUND
Lastly,
there is a potential for the current war to spread to the Persian Gulf,
which is a long and narrow maritime passage whose eastern shore belongs
entirely to Iran.
From January 2021
through July 2023, Tehran's forces harassed, attacked, or seized 26
foreign vessels in the Gulf — many of them oil tankers.
Roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day, or one fifth of the world's daily supply, reaches customers via the Gulf.
Just
two days before Hamas launched its surprise attack, U.S. Navy ships
came to the aid of a pair of tankers threatened by Iranian vessels.
Just two days before Hamas
launched its surprise attack, U.S. Navy ships came to the aid of a pair
of tankers threatened by Iranian vessels. (Above) Iranian protestors set
fire to the American and Israeli flags on October 18, 2023
To
build leverage in a regional war, Tehran could block all seaborne
traffic through Gulf, creating pressure on importing nations to side
with Iran.
This kind of widespread chaos is precisely what Joe Biden wants to avoid.
With
Hamas and Israel on the brink of a decisive battle for Gaza, the
unavoidable question is whether Iran will commit all of its forces to
the war, drawing in Israel's neighbors, triggering upheavals across the
Arab world, and even roping the United States into the last thing it
wants - war in the Middle East.
One
thing that may prevent escalation is a swift and crushing Israeli
victory in Gaza. Another is a credible threat from the White House —
preferably with backing from key allies, such as the UK and France — to
severely punish those who seek to widen the war.
Yet
as the invasion of Ukraine illustrated, villains are more than capable
of persuading themselves that their plans are brilliant.
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