Iran's missile attack was a face-saving move that allowed it to “avenge” General Qassem Soleimani without being annihilated in a prolonged war with the U.S. Tellingly, the massive show-of-force assault that Iran had been trumpeting for days consisted of “tens of missiles.” Tens. That’s it.
Moreover, Iran touted a list of more than 30 potential American targets. They struck two. And one of them, al-Asad air base, is populated mainly by Iraqi, not American, forces, meaning that the chances of American casualties (President Trump’s red line) were low. In fact, there were no American or Iraqi casualties and, as Trump said, the structural "damage was minimal."
As weird as this may sound, the attack was likely Iran's way of cautiously de-escalating the situation while still being able to placate the "Death to America" crazies who have been whipped into a frenzy over Soleimani's death and are primed for a revolt against the regime over Iran's tanking economy.
Dan discusses this in-depth on Wednesday's edition of The Dan O'Donnell Show. Click on the player below to listen and click here to subscribe to the podcast so that you don't miss a single minute!