With the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, as well as the United States, holding after their 12-day war, many questions remain regarding the broader, long-running Israel-Iran conflict. Still, influential figures in each government have projected an undue level of confidence in their supposed victory. Such proclamations go beyond mere foolishness: They reflect the dangerous and hawkish ideologies that led these states to commence a war that ultimately proved irresponsible and pointless.
The ceasefire decision reflects a desire on the part of each state to recoup some semblance of victory as the war began to drag on. That fighting included continuous exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran in what increasingly looked to be developing into a battle of attrition by modern means, namely, rockets and air strikes on largely civilian targets and senior state figures.
With hundreds dead and thousands injured on both sides, the countries were wise to call it quits as further operations were likely to yield increasingly limited gains and more death and destruction without ensuing ground operations.
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