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Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/iran-is-fighting-a-war-of-exhaustion
Iran Is Fighting a War of Exhaustion
(National Interest) Mark Kimmitt - Weeks into the war against Iran, the offensive capabilities of the Iranian regime have been degraded to a fraction of their prewar strength, and its defensive capabilities are nonexistent. The U.S. and Israel are fighting a war of attrition. Yet, the Iranians are fighting a different war - a war of exhaustion. Their objective is to absorb U.S. and Israeli attacks, hold on, hold out, and wait for the impatient Americans to tire. It is a war of will and defiance, not capacity, and it worked in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, and repeatedly in Southern Lebanon. For the Iranians, they win by not losing. After the seemingly interminable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American people are not looking for another long "war of choice" in the Middle East. Add in the upcoming congressional elections, and the Iranians see the obvious wisdom in patience. U.S. Army Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Mark Kimmitt served as assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs and as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.