Forget the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Caracas and those zero U.S. casualties.Iran’s not Venezuela.
The Pentagon knows it, deploying a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East along with a fleet of ships, aircraft and support to take on a weakened regime, but still a nation of 90 million that boasts a huge military with a homegrown arsenal of missiles and drones. Is the U-S prepared for all eventualities, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, passageway for more than one-fifth of the planet’s oil and gas.
More broadly, why this potential fight? Why now? How does the same Donald Trump who now chairs a Board of Peace actually view the use of force? The president who campaigned on the promise of no boots on the ground already pushed a red line last June when the U-S joined Israel’s bombing of Iranian nuclear installations. Will he pull the trigger this time?
And how does the Islamic Republic and its Supreme Leader view an ultimatum that's mainly but not only about its nuclear program? To ensure its survival, the regime mowed down protesters by the thousands back in January. Does it emerge further weakened or strengthened after what now lies ahead?
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Borzou DARAGAHI International Correspondent, The Independent
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Michael PREGENT Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
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Sarah KREPS Professor and Director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University
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Yasmina ASRARGUIS Research Associate, Princeton University; Co-founder, Atlantic Middle East Forum
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