Lt. Col Dan Davis: We Don’t Have Capacity to Fight a War in the Middle East

A warning for the world

In the last two weeks we have witnessed a wave of aggressive tactics from Israel that have finally expanded the war in Gaza beyond the borders of the Gaza strip and West Bank and now into neighboring Lebanon, Yemen and possibly Iran. 

We have seen Israel redefine terror tactics by simultaneously blowing up pagers connected to Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon, killing scores and injuring thousands. They have assassinated top Hezbollah leaders, including Hassan Naasrallah. They have invaded Lebanon on the ground, while pounding the country with unrelenting airstrikes, including central Beirut overnight on Thursday. Over 1400 Lebanese have been killed in the most recent strikes. Meanwhile, Israeli bombing of Gaza has not abated either, the most recent being attacks on an orphanage and shelter killing 17 on Wednesday.

In a brazen retaliatory move earlier this week, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at military targets in Israel, resulting in damage. The Israelis and their American partners have played down the impact of these strikes, but it is clear that some of the missiles had breached Israel’s vaunted missile defense systems and made direct hits.

Does this mean war with Iran? If that is the case, will the U.S. be dragged into it? Certainly there are hawks in Washington who have been salivating for that opportunity for a long time. 

We talk to Retired Lt. Col. Daniel Davis about this and more. Danny is a retired member of the U.S. Army who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, and the host of the Deep Dive podcast. 

More from Danny:

Israel's conduct in the war will consume us all

Our last chance to avoid war in the Middle East

‘Blinking red’: The risk to America’s national security greater than appears