Gordon Robinson | The art of war

So Iran schooled Benjamin (“Benny the Bully”) Netanyahu on war strategy.

But Benny continues to behave like an O’Jays song:

Your body’s here with me

but your mind is on the other side of town.

You’re messin’ me around...

The latest Napoleonic error by Benny the Blinkered Bully is like a White Rabbit in a hurry. As the saga unfolds, I can see Benny exclaiming “Oh my ears and whiskers” as his stubborn refusal to accept advice from anyone bites him in the bollocks.

In another monumental miscalculation, like Benny encouraging Qatar to fund Hamas, Israel bombed an Iranian Consulate (located beside its Embassy) in Damascus, Syria. The Tom Fools’ Day strike killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ overseas Quds Force senior commander; Brigadier General Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahim, Quds Deputy Commander; five other officers; and civilians.

Days of stony silence from Israel followed as international condemnation grew. An Israeli military spokesman finally admitted Israel’s responsibility while claiming the building was neither consulate nor embassy but a military building housing Quds forces.

Quds? What has Quds to do with the price of rice in Gaza?

Tension between Israel and Syria (a crucial Iranian ally) has been a constant since 1948. Since 2013 Iran has maintained troops in Syria; trained and funded Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militant group. Since the 2011 Syrian civil war, hundreds of Israeli airstrikes have targeted Hezbollah in Syria.

It’s this troika of enemies (Iran; Syria; Hezbollah) whose activities led Benny to encourage Qatari funding of just-a-nuisance Hamas so he could concentrate on Iran and its proxies.

Yet, while pursuing his new obsession of eradicating Hamas, Benny decides to bomb an Iranian embassy. Why? Israel has long accused Iran of being the puppeteer behind Syrian aggression and creating an axis of evil against Israel. This wasn’t 2024’s first attacks in Syria nor the first time Iranian military officials were killed.

But this strike crossed numerous red lines by targeting an embassy and killing senior Iranian military leaders there. Why? Is Benny the Bully pushing the envelope to see how far he can go before Iran retaliates directly instead of through proxies? Was this a mock exam to see what Iran would do when Israel goes into Rafah? Was this a transparent attempt to provoke direct Iranian retaliation thus forcing USA deeper into the conflict?

Well, none of the above worked.

Iran launched a massive counter-attack with 170 drones, 30 cruise and 120 ballistic missiles aimed at Israel from Iran. Israel, with a little help from its friends, intercepted most of the drones but one missile struck its military base target.

Nobody was killed. Like PNP in the recent Local Government Elections, Israel claimed a glorious victory.

Yet Benny seemed unable to take yes for an answer. He’s clearly not a student of General Sun Tzu (771–256 BC), a Chinese general, strategist, philosopher and writer credited as authoring The Art of War. One of Tzu’s best known catch phrases was “in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”

Benny wasn’t content to just draw Iran directly into his current conflict despite likely devastating long term results for Israel. He also couldn’t recognise a PR success handed to him on a platter of non-lethal drones. Joe Buddy begged him to take the win. Maybe Benny understood it was nothing of the sort.

I’m certain Iran meant to expose Israel’s defensive capabilities for future reference and Benny’s narcissistic policy making for the world to see. The drones looked like decoys to me. An Iranian missile hit the real target.

Despite Iran’s retaliation against an Israeli military base not being as homicidal as Israel’s attack on an embassy/consulate, Benny just couldn’t allow Iran the last word. So he “retaliated” against Iran’s retaliation by firing missiles into Iran thus irreversibly changing the face of Middle-East conflict.

The sight of Antony Blinken failing to make eye-contact as he slithered between media raindrops to avoid admitting ironic support for Iran was hilarious. His watchword was “de-escalation”. The fact is Iran publicly sent Israel the same message President Buddy has repeatedly shouted at deaf-ears Benny privately. USA says it won’t participate in any Israeli offensive against Iran.

However…..

USA continues to make billions selling arms to Israel to slaughter Palestinian innocents and conduct whatever “offensive” it desires. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, asked about the embassy bombing: “ I’m aware of the reports. Our team is looking into it….”

Now we know the true meaning of “Home of the Brave.”

Peace and Love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com