Originally Posted by
ThumbsUp
The assumption that there was a popular threat against the theocracy that had any chance of causing change is a fallacy. I’m not even sure if the son of the previous terrorist is actually brain active (the last I saw he was missing limbs in a coma), but any of them put in charge by the council will be the same. They do not care what the proletariat think. They have their hooks in every segment of rule and plenty of nooses and bullets to go around.
The only solution is complete destruction, which is a grand task that few would have the stomach for.
Yup I'll agree with all of that. Which is why the whole notion of "We're going to drop a few bombs, kill some mullahs and change the regime to a friendly one" was so delusional from the start.
Another massive change from "before" to "after" is that before this erupted, Iran never really saw control over the Strait as a realistic strategy for them; they were too afraid of the blowback. Now that they've seized control with nothing more than drones, mines, and speedboats, they have come to realize that control over the Strait gives them almost as much, if not more, leverage than their nuclear program ever did.
You see the location of one of the two ships struck today? Just a couple miles from the Emirati coast, clear across the Gulf from Iranian territory.