Item — HN Reader

That is also a fallacy. Iran has effectively defeated militarily the US, who threw everything at them with the exception of nuclear weapons or ground forces.

US ground forces against a country 1/3 the size of China with 90 million people is guaranteed to be a US military defeat, so Iran just realized they were actually stronger than they though. NK looked at all this, and had zero issues in deploying 10,000 combat troops in active combat in Europe, in case you have not paid attention to Ukraine...

If you use even one single nuclear weapon, either as North Korea or Iran, you can be assured of being turn to ashes in the next minutes. So they dont make sense as a weapon, they are more of a status symbol.

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> Iran has effectively defeated militarily the US, who threw everything at them ...

Let's not lose track of the truth in the hubris. The Iranian strategy to immediately target all the alliance partners of the US ("peace and prosperity for everyone or no one") in the region has lead to a stalemate in the war, with both side recognising that their goals cannot be achieved militarily without a very high cost. (And as you noted, the US has only used a quarter of its firepower yet). But, just like the Ukranians, Iran shouldn't forget that they are fighting a superpower, with a stronger economy and military than them, and neither Ukraine or Iran can defeat them in a conventional sense, if at all. Any nation can survive against a stronger enemy, as both India and Iran have proved with their civilisational heritage. However, the true test of good leadership is survival without extreme harm and suffering to the people while ensuring the unity of the nation.

> both side recognising that their goals cannot be achieved militarily without a very high cost

What are "both sides", exactly, and what are their respective goals?

To an outside observer, it would seem that the Iranian regime's goal is to stay in power, and that they are in a better position to do that now than before the bombing.

They have even unlocked a previously unheard of bonus, to put tariff on transports through Hormuz, which they never had the power to do before.

As an outsider it is hard to understand why this is happening and how it will end, unless all these concessions served to the Iranian regime were deemed worth it as distraction from domestic issues.

>> However, the true test of good leadership is survival without extreme harm and suffering to the people while ensuring the unity of the nation.

You are aware Iran fought a 8 year war with Iraq? With over 1 million casualties, and they wanted to continue that war? Do you remember all the fuss when ONE US pilot was shot down?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War

Yes, and I see the 8 year Iraq-Iran war as a sign of poor leadership on both sides. Just as I now consider Zelensky allowing the Ukraine-Russia war to drag on for 4+ years now as a foolish endeavour under his stewardship (especially as Ukraine has no real hope of winning the war). Stepping back from a conflict, even if the terms aren't ideal, shouldn't be considered a defeat (think like your enemy - the US never retreats, it only does "conflict management" when the odds are against it). Prioritise people's well-being over territory, over everything because without them you have no civilisation or culture to preserve. (India has fought many wars since independence, but never allowed any of it to drag on for years). All that said, I will concede that the current foes of Iran are irrational fanatics, and Iran has very difficult choices to make ...

> Just as I now consider Zelensky allowing the Ukraine-Russia war to drag on for 4+ years now as a foolish endeavour

What is he supposed to do? Give up and let the barbarians rape and plunder his nation? Would you want to live under Russian rule?

Zelenskyy is doing exactly the right things. His short and long range strikes inside Russia are severely damaging the Russian economy and war machine. Russia has lost Ukrainian territory in their offensive this spring/summer, and Russian frontline soldiers are being killed and injured at a far higher rate than Ukrainian soldiers who are leaning on a millions-of-drones shield. If you want your continued freedom in whatever country you live in, you better be praying Ukraine defeats Russia. Your country may be next if not.

If Ukraine surrendered now, ceding occupied territories and perhaps giving up some extra in the Donbas, all that would happen is a pause that Russia desperately wants to rebuild and rearm, and return in a couple years (as it did in Chechnya and Georgia). There's no benefit to Ukraine in doing so without real security guarantees--far more than the empty promises they had before, meaning third party forces patrolling a DMZ. Until that happens, Zelensky and Ukrainians recognize that continuing to bleed Russia on the battlefield while building their capabilities and stressing Russia's economy is the only viable strategy. No conventional victory is possible for either side, it's a race between who collapses first, and in this, Ukraine is doing well: receiving aid from, and building relationships around the world.

It was never an option for Zelensky to stop the war from dragging on. Thank God he recognized that.

Iranian here, you're missing an important point: we're a nuclear threshold state. Meaning we can build weapons in a short manner if need be.

This is the reason the security counsel refuses to give up any of its uranium.. and to be fair, I've had a change of heart regarding this. I think the only true deterrence against a nuclear power state is nuclear weapons. It assures at a minimum that your country won't be nuked.

A big reason why Israel hasn't completely destroyed Iran with nukes is the fact that it's a small country and Iran can take it out. Israel having nukes is also another reason why Iran isn't hitting them as hard, it's to avoid backing them in a corner.

I think that after the current Russia / Ukraine and Iran / US war, it's becoming very apparent to many countries that your nation is only secure if you have nuclear deterrence.

Iran has famously impenetrable geography on its side.

It's not only Iran though. The US and allies (including my own country) accomplished nothing in Afghanistan, 2 weeks after they left quite chaotically the country was back to the state of 20 years ago before the war. So many people died for nothing. So many billions wasted.

And trump can't control Israel despite them being totally dependent on US weapons. He doesn't manage to reel Putin in. The world is in a super chaotic state, pax Americana is really over.

I don't think the classification superpower really applies anymore to the US. And that's mainly because being a superpower isn't only about military power. You can't just bend the world to your will by shooting people. There's a lot of geopolitical goodwill and diplomacy involved too, and the US has thoroughly set that on fire by turning on its strongest allies. The diplomacy is what makes a superpower. The military is just the backup.

I don't think there are any true superpowers anymore, though I do think China is on the rise to become one. Which I'm not happy with but of course that's the thing about superpowers, there's nothing we can do about it.

The Taliban was actually very rapidly pushed out of Afghanistan by the US working together with the Northern Alliance. The real problem was that the US couldn't reach into Pakistan to fully end the Taliban for good. Thus the Taliban was allowed to rebuild and reconstitute its forces over the years waiting for the US to finally pull out of Afghanistan.

But if they had really been a superpower they would have had the diplomatic ties and military strength to do that. I mean Pakistan was harboring Bin Laden himself no less.

However I don't agree, the Taliban was never really eradicated within Afghanistan either. That's why they came back so quickly. In fact even in provinces far from the border they came back every night. Our forces would build a water well for the local citizens, and the same night the Taliban would come and blow it up and rape half the village. They didn't withdraw into Pakistan every night.

The US couldn't handle Vietnam either. Iran is a citadel by comparison.