Worries that the Middle East may turn into a regional war are misplaced. The fact is that a wider war has already begun. Israel’s recent assassinations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran escalated and broadened the conflict and now Tehran and its proxies ponder retaliatory measures. America is bolstering its presence in the region, US soldiers have been attacked again in Iraq in recent days, and countries clear the decks because more confrontation is inevitable. Leaders in the US, Russia, Europe, and Arab advise their citizens in Lebanon to evacuate. Commercial flights into Israel are being canceled and rumors are that a two-pronged attack will be launched by Iran and some of its proxies soon. Since October 7, immigration to Israel has dried up and Zman, an Israeli magazine, just reported that nearly half a million Israelis have left. “We’re not dealing with conflict in Gaza or the conflict with Hezbollah and North Lebanon or a conflict with the Houthis closing the Red Sea or a conflict in Iraq with Shia militia,” said America’s former national security advisor John Bolton. “This is the Iranian ‘ring of fire strategy’ — that’s the Iranian name for it…we’ve been in a wider war since then. The real threat is the regime in Tehran.”
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