The Iranians are trying to employ new warfare tactics and strategies to evade Israel’s multi-layered missile defense system and inflict as many civilian casualties as possible with fewer missiles, according to John Huddy, senior Newsmax correspondent.
Huddy has covered most major wars in the country, both when he lived locally and in recent years as a visiting correspondent. He has also reported from Ukraine and other countries. In an interview with the ILTV Podcast, Huddy highlighted Iran’s use of illegal cluster munitions, including ones with larger bomblets in recent days, as a way to “instill as much fear as possible, which is obviously the definition of terrorism.”
He said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken about a ground component, and he speculated that this could be necessary to secure the remaining enriched uranium in Iran. Experts estimate Iran has nearly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium, enough for 11 nuclear weapons, potentially enriched within a week.
Still, according to Huddy, Israel is winning militarily by degrading Iran’s military capabilities, particularly its ballistic missile launching capacity.
“It's not eliminated, as we've seen,” Huddy noted. “But, so as far as a military objective, it looks like we are accomplishing those goals.”
However, he said he is unsure whether regime change can actually occur, and certainly not in the short time frame that Washington seems to be implying. Moreover, he said the eighth front, the propaganda war, is being lost by Israel, even in its offensive against Iran.
Huddy compared this to the war against Hamas, where he said the IDF goal was clear, to destroy Hamas, “but how do you destroy the radical Islamist ideology that has fueled Hamas, Hezbollah and, really, Iran.”
According to Huddy, “that's the harder fight. That's the tougher battle. How do you win the hearts and minds of the people so that they can enact a change and take back their country? I think that's a battle that's going to last years, even after the military campaign is done.”
He said for Americans, the end game is about the economy and their pocketbooks. While he believes most Americans are willing to endure some short-term pain for long-term gain, he said if it lasts months or into the next year, public approval ratings will drop and this could have an impact on the midterm elections.
On the other hand, he said if gas prices drop dramatically, America secures the enriched uranium, and there is peace in the Middle East, then presumably that would be good for the Republican Party.
In contrast, the battle against Iran for Israel and its prime minister is about legacy building.
“Netanyahu has been talking about this for more than 40 years,” Huddy said. “It all comes down to dealing with the head of the snake… You deal with the head of the snake, then you deal with its proxies.”
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