War scholars frequently worry about wars “spiraling” out of control, and I find this report alarming:<\/p>\n
\nIraq\u2019s ambassador to Saudi Arabia has been summoned by the Saudi foreign ministry, it said in a post on X today, because of reported \u201cattacks and flagrant threats\u201d toward the country and its neighbors from \u201cIraqi territories.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia \u201ccondemns and denounces the attacks that were launched from Iraqi territories on the Kingdom and other Gulf nations,\u201d the post said.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Saud Al-Sati, highlighted to the Iraqi Ambassador that Baghdad should handle the attacks \u201cresponsibly,\u201d it continued. [CNN<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Taking an opportunity to extract a bit of flesh in revenge for some insult may seem wise under cover of an unrelated war, but sometimes weapons, and wars, can go side ways, mistakes made, and neutrals mistaken as allies.<\/p>\n
Followed by an overwhelming, anger-driven response.<\/p>\n
I hope we don’t see this happening here, but the Middle East is full of pride-driven leaders who must been seen as responding to attacks in such a way as to discourage future attacks.<\/p>\n
Ditto the other side.<\/p>\n
So for all those self-righteous, angry amateurs out there: don’t be. Even the professionals can screw these things up, as history shows, and when it’s an amateur coursing after glory, bad things can happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
War scholars frequently worry about wars “spiraling” out of control, and I find this report alarming: Iraq\u2019s ambassador to Saudi Arabia has been summoned by the Saudi foreign ministry, it said in a post on X today, because of reported \u201cattacks and flagrant threats\u201d toward the country and its neighbors \u2026 Continue reading