The Iran-Israeli war

 Barry Shaw:

The battle that Israel is currently engaged in against Iran has been referred to as “the war between wars.”

This is a misnomer. Israel is currently engaged in a war against Iran and has been for several years. This war is mainly fought in Syria, sometimes in Gaza or Lebanon, and sometimes even inside Iran.  On the other side, Iran prefers to fight against Israel indirectly through their numerous proxies. They prefer that Lebanese or Palestinians die rather than Iranians.

Wars sometime are fought openly on the battlefield, military force against military force. But often they are fought with local and regional battles, or even covert operations. The current Iran-Israel war is conducted by the latter scenario. 

Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a war against Iran’s ultimate goals: to gain regional hegemony, under the threat of a nuclear umbrella, and strike out for global Islamic domination. And, the use of a nuclear device to eradicate Israel as a force persuader against the West.

From an Israeli perspective, the aims of the war are clear. To prevent Iran from obtaining their twofold goal.  

Anyone who thinks that Iran will stop at the nuclear threshold, the breakout point before possessing the bomb, is delusional. No nation would go to the measures undertaken by Iran to simply stop at the brink. One doesn’t build massive underground facilities with the most sophisticated and upgraded centrifuges, protected by powerful surface to air missile systems for a civilian project. 

They may try to persuade others that they have no intention of going the final mile, but Israel stands alone in not being deceived.  

Therefore, everything that Israel is alleged to have done so far can be construed as a string of preventative battles in order to set back the Iranian timetable and persuade or coerce a naïve world to deal with Iran with a forceful diplomatic response. 

...

Iran has genocidal intentions toward Israel and will be aided and abetted by its proxy forces in the region.  I do not believe the Iranian government is supported by the Iranian people in this objective.  Israel's response to the threat has been to focus on the Iranian nuclear facilities and the people who operate them.  

Iran's proxies tend to use civilians as human shields for their operations.  I think Israel should be prepared to target the Iranian leadership if the proxies attack.