THE past two weeks have fundamentally altered the strategic landscape of the Middle East and for the United States and Israel, the war they initiated against Iran has produced a cascade of consequences that look very different from the swift victory they anticipated.

What began as a decapitation strike, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and approximately 40 other leaders, was intended to cripple Iran’s nuclear program and demonstrate overwhelming military superiority. Instead, it has triggered a conflict that is exposing the vulnerabilities of the world’s sole superpower and shifting the region’s centre of gravity.

The most immediate and glaring loss for the United States has been the erosion of its status as an invincible superpower. For decades, Washington guaranteed the security of Gulf Arab nations through a “security umbrella” of advanced bases and state-of-the-art technology. That guarantee has been shattered. Field reports indicate that installations once described as impregnable fortresses have become vulnerable targets. The AN/FPS-132 early warning radar at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base was damaged, paralyzing surveillance capabilities, while the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain has been struck by missiles, disrupting command and control. The loss of a radar for a $300 million THAAD battery in Jordan, the first such combat loss for that system, symbolizes a deeper failure of the defensive paradigm the US has sold to its partners........

© Pakistan Observer