Airpower is a force of its own, now, and no longer just a supporting force to a ground campaign.
Sometimes the Air Force leads, sometimes not.
The Army/ground forces, are not always the lead component anymore. Sometimes airpower will be the lead, like Gulf War I, and sometimes the ground campaign leads. . .such as in the “stan” as you call it.
The facts in the article are undisputed and accurate.
The “Chinese Embassy” was a communication node that was actually being used as a hub to route enemy communications.
The selection of that target was done by the CIA, so, the USAF had no role in determining if it was placed on the Master Target List.
JWAC assessed the BDA and the attack went as planned.
Blame the CIA, but then again, if not, okay, then I blame the Army for shooting journalists that film from hotel balconies and are misidentified as holding RPGs. See? Intel in not exact.
Complicating everything in Kosovo was Gen Clark, US Army.
He demanded a specific number of targets, not targets with any value. Just numbers so he could say, “We bombed ‘X’ amount of targets today,” regardless if they actually had any effect. That is why many bombs were dropped and missiles fired. . .at targets that held no strategic value.
And we can't forget Wild Bill Cody, US Army, and his Apache fiasco in theater at that time. Apache's are airpower, you know, and he mucked up the deployment and preparation for employment so much so he (they) were pulled.
Gen Clark, US Army, was a typical tactical officer with no clue about strategic targeting and weapons effects. Gen Cody was cartoonish in his ego.
The some total of all our efforts in Kosovo/Balkans is best put by General Mackezie when he said,"We bombed the wrong side."
Don't think I'll defend Wesley Clark either, who wanted to attack the Russians at Pristina.
We're getting side-tracked here. Back to Iran...If we hit Iran we better do so with such massive force, so rapid as to really and truly "shock and awe" them. They have assets in Venezuela,Nicaragua, Europe, and just about every damned country in the world. Waiting to be unleashed.
Other than a serious nuking, I think all else fails. And we simply are unwilling, as a nation to do so...