colonel macgreggor explores the history and current practice of bombing them until they stop, which they just about never do;

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that it was “an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East.” The world, Blinken said, has “not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that.”

In response to Blinken’s astute evaluation, President Biden is “virtue signaling” to Washington’s war party that he too is willing to pointlessly bomb targets in the Middle East. In Washington, to do otherwise is to appear weak, something that presidents frequently conclude the leader of the world’s superpower cannot do.

Tehran made it clear that any strike on its territory is a redline and bombing any part of Iranian territory “would be met with an appropriate response.” Make no mistake, a strategic bombing campaign directed at Iran sends a clear and unambiguous message: The United States is at war with the Iranian State, its people, and its armed forces.

At this point, whether Biden does or does not remove Iran from his target list, Americans should still beware. There is no shortage of bombing activists inside the beltway who are convinced that war with Iran is the only solution to Iran’s hostility to Israel.

Bombing is not diplomacy, but politicians like it because it conveys the impression of substantive action. Bombing is neither a strategy nor a simple exercise in virtue signaling. Bombing is an act of war. Bombing does not contain conflict, nor does bombing deter an opponent from future action. If anything, bombing escalates tension and leads to all-out war.

In June 1964, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara convened a meeting to discuss potential American military responses to the loss of two U.S. military aircraft over southern Laos, where North Vietnamese forces were running supplies into South Vietnam. McNamara insisted that Washington respond to the loss of two U.S. military aircraft by striking the air defense battery that destroyed the aircraft..........more........