U.S., Not Israel, Shot Down Most Iran Drones and Missiles
U.S., Not Israel, Shot Down Most Iran Drones and Missiles
American forces did most of the heavy lifting responding to Iran’s retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Damascus.
The United States shot down more drones and missiles than Israel did on Saturday night during Iran’s attack, The Intercept can report.
More than half of Iran’s weapons were destroyed by U.S. aircraft and missiles before they ever reached Israel. In fact, by commanding a multinational air defense operation and scrambling American fighter jets, this was a U.S. military triumph.
The extent of the U.S. military operation is unbeknownst to the American public, but the Pentagon coordinated a multination, regionwide defense extending from northern Iraq to the southern Persian Gulf on Saturday. During the operation, the U.S., U.K., France, and Jordan all shot down the majority of Iranian drones and missiles. In fact, where U.S. aircraft originated from has not been officially announced, an omission that has been repeated by the mainstream media. Additionally, the role of Saudi Arabia is unclear, both as a base for the United States and in terms of any actions by the Saudi military.
“U.S. intelligence estimates that half of the weapons fired by Iran failed upon launch or in flight due to technical issues,” a U.S. Air Force senior officer told The Intercept. Of the remaining 160 or so, the U.S. shot down the majority, the officer said. The officer was granted anonymity to speak about sensitive operational matters.
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Israel: bombs a diplomatic target without warning
Iran: bombs 2 military targets with warning
USA: shoots down most of the assets that made it even close to Israel
Biden: Biden reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “Israel really came out far ahead in this exchange”
I wonder what game they're playing.
Netanyahu is trying to stay out of prison, like Trump, so he needs conflict but not too much (losing support from his right wing coalition wounds end him) to seem strong and as a distraction and for political points. Iran doesn't want war but doesn't want to look weak and want to make a point to not let Israel think there won't be consequences, they can't just do nothing at all. Biden doesn't want war in the region and he's focused on negotiations to calm everybody down, preventing escalation. If Iran had hit something important it almost certainly would've escalated to war.