- cross-posted to:
- nytimes@rss.ponder.cat
- cross-posted to:
- nytimes@rss.ponder.cat
American officials are trying to determine the source of the leak, which describes military drills and weapons placement, and how damaging it might be.
The leak of a pair of highly classified U.S. intelligence documents describing recent satellite images of Israeli military preparations for a potential strike on Iran offers a window into the intense American concerns about Israel’s plans. It also has U.S. officials working to understand the size of the improper disclosure.
The two documents were prepared in recent days by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is responsible for analyzing images and information collected by American spy satellites. They began circulating on Friday on the Telegram app and were being discussed by largely pro-Iran accounts.
The documents, which offer interpretations of satellite imagery, provide insight into a potential strike by Israel on Iran in the coming days. Such a strike has been anticipated in retaliation for an Iranian assault earlier this month, which was itself a response to an Israeli attack.
Yes, but the US’s analysts know they can’t win this type of war with Iran; a generic number required of troops thrown around for an occupation is 2%, though it’s often much higher.
The US can bomb civilians all they want, but any strategic objective like stopping Iran from sending masses of balsa wood drones to overwhelm Isreal’s defenses can’t be done with airstrikes.
Iran has 92 million people, that’s almost 2 million troops needed for occupation. Drafting a million Americans to enable an occupation would be political suicide.
Here’s a whitepaper written by some brookings institute ghouls in 2009.
Note that when it was written, Iraq’s counterinsurgency was considered a success, drones weren’t a thing, and it assumed Iran wouldn’t close down the strait of Hormuz.