Israel did it
I confess that when I woke up and saw the news this morning, my very first thought was, “Thank God I fell asleep before sending yesterday’s newsletter,” in which I discounted all this talk of an imminent attack as a bluff.1
So, I seem to have been wrong.
Israel got the job done. It doesn’t seem they even tried to hit Fordow, but Natanz probably looks like the inside of a microwave. Tabriz seems to be humming with gamma particles and regret. The commander in chief of Iran’s military, Mohammad Bagheri, has departed to his reward, as have any number of senior military figures. No US or Israeli casualties reported so far. No major Israeli losses. Just the usual crowd lighting their hair on fire.
Holy sh*t.
I’ll be updating this throughout the day as I see what I can salvage from the newsletter I didn’t send. I confidently predicted there was no way Israel would telegraph its punches like this. Guess I still have some learning to do.
That would have been embarrassing beyond words. I was so close to sending it, literally, while Israel was striking Iran. And to think I castigated myself for not having finished it. “Something about this analysis just isn’t right,” I was thinking to myself. “You can’t send it yet.” “But you’ve been working on this all week. Do you ever plan to get anything done again?” “I’m just not happy with it.” “Claire, you’re just lazy. Send it.” With this debate rattling through my skull, I nodded off.
You just proved, Claire, that, even with your fertile mind, immense sense of concern about the current state of our so-called "civilization," and prolific output, you are, after all, human. Your body hates you if you push it too far and too long. You are not prescient, just highly intelligent and articulate (and that's huge!). Alas, imperfection is a burden we all carry. But you go the extra mile: you engage with reality and you DO something about it: you share insights with others who also care. That is called empowerment.
Two great American philosophers speak about being wrong:
Will Rogers: Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
Mark Twain: It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
What if you had sent it? Your follow-up correction would have helped us all --you included--to appreciate more fully the shifting sand we stand on these days. Stay light on your feet; just keep your gaze fixed on what matters.
Thank you for being you.
So far it looks like this was impeccably and precisely executed. I too have been thinking for the last 2 weeks “will they or won’t they,” and they did. And I’d guess Trump must have greenlit this somehow, despite his public warnings to Bibi. I am eager (and anxious) to see his public comments.