“You come at the king, you best not miss,” says Omar Little, channeling Machiavelli, in the US criminal series The Wire.
However, the same reasoning applies to Israel’s choice to strike Iran. Its war is a gamble – to pay off, it must be entirely successful. It can’t afford to miss.
That may sound weird to say at the moment. Israel appears to be striking its targets with stunning accuracy.
Live updates: Trump says Iran ‘want to talk’
Consider the amazing campaign of decapitation: According to Ronen Bergman, an Israeli intelligence journalist, Israel has achieved the ability to monitor Iran’s senior leaders “in real time”.
That terrifying power is being handled with incredible effect. Iran’s military and intelligence chiefs are being tracked down and murdered one by one – 20 in the first night alone.
The elimination of Iran’s air defences is likewise appropriate. It has left Iran’s skies exposed, allowing Israeli planes to smash target after target with precision accuracy.
The aim is to eliminate Iran’s nuclear development, but it also appears to be a method of repression and control for the dictatorship.
