Posted on 03/08/2026 9:41:33 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
U.S. and Israeli airstrikes alone are unlikely to result in the ouster of the Iranian government, according to an expert in air campaigns, who said that the risks are growing for a more drawn-out war that could spread beyond the Middle East.
Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who has studied air power for three decades, told CBS News 24/7 that history does not support the idea that bombing alone can unseat a regime and install a more friendly leader.
"The fact of the matter is, for over a century, states have been trying to topple regimes with air power alone and — I'm choosing my words carefully — it has never worked," Pape told CBS News 24/7 on Friday. "We are heading toward the predictable result of growing risk, growing escalation. And I'm sorry to say this could go on for quite some time."
Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other top government officials, but the country's military and senior clerics still control the levers of power.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
MORE Democrat Talking Points?
Well this isn’t “air strikes alone” is it.
Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who has studied air power for three decades... “Expert”.
An airstrike ended WWII.
As with communism, past air strikes only wars just haven’t been done correctly...
Although I suppose it could be argued that the USSR declaring its intention to invade Japan ended WWII.
There is no need for regime change, just kill all the regime, after that who cares
(An airstrike ended WWII.)
Boom!
Not “regime change”. but “adjustment of attitude”. Somewhere down in all those layers of clerics, there is a cadre that has some sense of self-preservation, and just maybe, a spark of decency in their souls.
If they have not been turned into pillars of salt.
In the end, the Iranian people themselves will have to be the boots on the ground. That’s why I think we should arm and train them, like Obama did for the Muzzie Jihadist rebels in Syria.
They already did. In January.
Everything good that we have today has never worked before it did. It just need the right ideas from the right person.
Mission creep.
But there are airstrip, naval strikes, cyberattacks, and the possibilities of foreign invasion, domestic insurgency, and mutiny amongst law enforcement and the military. Unlike the Viet Cong, which had support from the locals, the Iranian regime is despised by a lot of the locals.
If you kill them all is that not regime change?
Robert Pape was an adviser to Obama...
Revolutions happen with or without
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.