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Air Superiority Does Not Ensure Conquest - For it is the Expensive (Therefore Limited) Option

Reader comment on item: How Much Can Air Power Achieve?

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Apr 6, 2015 at 15:38

Wars in the modern context have been 'unconventional' for quite some time, a natural progression for centuries, ostensibly since the ability to inflict mass casualties in a brief period of time, the invention of gunpowder notwithstanding. An overwhelming threat of this existed for the first time right after the detonation of American nuclear power over Japan and the subsequent existential possibility by Soviet power that lasted for nearly forty years. After waning for a while after the fall of the Soviet oligarchy, it is now rearing its ugly head again, and this time the Russians are not alone.

Troops on the ground are indeed the preferred tactical means for holding territorial parity in challenged areas, as ISIS/ISIL/IS infamoulsy demonstrates to the shame of the Western powers in spite of the 'supposed' gains in rooting the Islamist terrorists from the ill-gotten conquests. Yet the dialogue does not seem to quantify how many troops on the ground are willing to be committed (US troops especially), since no one has the slightest idea how much more treasure and blood will be required to achieve stability (let alone peace) in the region.

As the region continues to devolve into the factiousness that has been the signature status quo for decades (if not centuries), the evident fact of the matter is that when Iran gains the upper hand over Syria, nothing of peaceful intentions will be the result, for one very good reason. Iranian revolutionary leadership will not allow Israel to go unmolested. Indeed, Israel is the Iranian leadership's main target- make no mistake (like the American Administrative Chief Executive seems intent on doing).

Eventually, troops on the ground to achieve the Iranian leadership's goal will continue until others who are supporting the removal of Israel from national stature start pouring in to effect the regional change the Iranian mullahs envisioned all those decades ago. The American participation in this may appear to be slight by certain observations, but this remains to be seen. What will be seen is that there will be only one solution to stem that tide, and air delivery may be just the ticket.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (24) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Air strikes will not work [174 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PrashantJun 5, 2015 13:41223694
where is this going? [60 words]FrankzApr 9, 2015 00:21222770
1Not quite accurate [164 words]yuvalApr 8, 2015 05:11222749
1Winning is possible [83 words]BamagujeApr 10, 2015 21:09222749
Accuracy Limited in Horseshoes, Hand Grenades and Nuclear Ambitions [302 words]M. ToveyApr 17, 2015 15:24222749
Ho-hum again. [282 words]Michael SMay 1, 2015 19:58222749
The Hum of Running Silent- Running Deep [323 words]M. ToveyMay 6, 2015 13:05222749
It really is ho-hum lately. Caliphate not radical enough? [230 words]Michael SMay 7, 2015 21:45222749
Marxist Leadership of the West in Agreement With Marxist Papacy-Aire Superiority of a Different Sortie [107 words]M. ToveyMay 13, 2015 15:30222749
Mom and Apple Pie [528 words]Michael SMay 15, 2015 04:32222749
Mowing the Grass [434 words]Michael SMay 29, 2015 03:53222749
Control of Gaza is a chimera [28 words]BG DavisJun 29, 2015 14:05222749
Air war [32 words]WallyApr 6, 2015 23:33222697
What's the end-game, if survival is the issue? [166 words]JIMJFOXApr 6, 2015 22:50222693
1Dan is right but only for conventional air power [134 words]YususfApr 6, 2015 21:33222690
Israel can eliminate Iran's threat, using conventional weapons. [161 words]Michael SMay 15, 2015 12:19222690
1Also, unstable dictatorships prefer to use air forces [169 words]John in Michigan, USAApr 6, 2015 18:20222689
Wars and relativism. [76 words]steven LApr 6, 2015 17:01222687
What About Gaza? What About State-Sponsors? [178 words]AlexApr 6, 2015 16:42222686
Continuous Warfare [161 words]Michael SApr 6, 2015 16:14222685
Vietnam bombing ? [27 words]KaiserDerdenApr 6, 2015 15:49222683
Air Superiority Does Not Ensure Conquest - For it is the Expensive (Therefore Limited) Option [353 words]M. ToveyApr 6, 2015 15:38222681
settled long ago [79 words]Larry SeltzerApr 6, 2015 15:25222680
Of course [85 words]Lars NielsenApr 6, 2015 15:17222677

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