presence in the Middle East by increasing its cost, in blood and treasure, and amplifying the general U. [...] º Israel sees the Iranian attack on its ship as an extension of the “war between wars” it has been waging against Iran in Syria and, thus, seemingly unconnected to the attacks on U. [...] • Iran and its various proxies have likely made some or all of the following assumptions, each of which gives them escalation dominance over the United States: º Biden is unwilling to engage in a tit-for-tat with the Iraqi proxies or Iran and, therefore, his decision to target inconsequential infrastructure in Syria is not one he is likely to make after each rocket attack on Americans in Iraq; º E. [...] airstrikes similar to the one in Syria are tolerable; º Biden is unwilling to conduct airstrikes inside of Iraqi territory because he does not want to upset the country’s delicate domestic situation; º Biden is unwilling to directly target Iranian assets or personnel in order to avoid further escalation that he fears will endanger the prospects for negotiations to contain Iran’s nuclear program. [...] concessions or until some or all of these assumptions are disproven and the United States establishes effective deterrence by: º Breaking the pattern of commensurate tit-for-tat retaliation; º Credibly demonstrating that the United States is willing and able to inflict greater damage to Iranian interests in the region than Tehran is willing to bear; Iranian Aggression Despite U.
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- United States of America
