Thomas Small

It doesn't matter because we're countering the Soviet Union in some way.

the Gulf especially, but the Middle East more generally, would be very disturbed if it was the case that this situation had been allowed to play out in this rather shambolic way in their backyard to further larger global objectives by the American people.

I'm not saying you're wrong.

It's actually it seems very reasonable that what you're saying is true.

But that is that would be very sort of nerve, you know, nervous making for America's allies in the Middle East.

Well, first on the question of how long the campaign was going to last, despite what some people were saying,

Middle Eastern allies of the United States did not think that the campaign would be quick.

They're not stupid.

They know what Iran is.

They look across the Gulf and they see that wall of mountains protecting the Iranian plateau.

I mean, Iran is not a pushover nation.

So the Arabian allies were not unaware of that.

Sadly, the realities of democratic I mean, electoral politics in the West means you have to I don't know if you notice, guys, you got to promise people all sorts of stuff that's not in any way realistic all the time.

And so, you know, so on the one hand, people are saying it'll be fast, it'll be fast.

But the Middle Eastern allies knew it wouldn't be fast.

I wondered at one point whether Donald Trump knew it wouldn't be fast.

Now, that's I think not necessarily

what I think now, I think he did think it could be quite easily achieved.

So that's one thing.

No.