When I see a particularly pithy, on-target statement of where we are, I like to share it with you. Today's example is the title of an editorial from Issues & Insights.
Trump’s Iran Deal: Americans Wanted Something Done Short Of Ground Troops, And They Got It.
Public opinion never supported a ground invasion of Iran, and Trump heeded that limited mandate. Three and a half months is no quagmire, no forever war.
While much has been made of destroying Iran's navy and conventional air arm, seemingly no one in the region feared either much. The same is true for Iran's standing army.
The threat Iran poses is ideological subversion of other nation's citizens, plus an asymmetrical warfare threat: covert forces and missile strikes. It is unclear how much those have been degraded. Somewhat, obviously.
Given the unwillingness to absorb the casualties necessary to exterminate the ideology the IRGC represents, we may have to do this all again, some few years downstream. The Israeli term for these recurring needs is "mowing the grass."
I'd Americanize the label to "weed abatement" or "pest control." The analogy is relatively apt.
