"WHAT ARE THE SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EFFECTS?"
Good intelligence officers ask this question after every event. The failure to ask this question is what led to the fiasco in Iraq.
Another question that does not seem to have fettered the minds of our leaders is, "what are Iran's OTHER options besides what we want them to do?"
Here's one I'm losing sleep over: they carry on.
What if Iran doesn't comply with US demands for regime change, makes no more aggressive moves outside of their borders, and simply replaces their leaders?
Do we just keep bombing them and killing them? Do we send in ground troops to "make them" do it? Both of those are terrible options for the United States.
