Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

My wife is Iranian. The only reason she is in New Zealand, the only reason we’re together, the only reason we’re living our safe, peaceful life is her parents had the courage and good fortune to escape a terrible regime. They faced extraordinary persecution in Iran for their beliefs. They still have family back home. To say it’s been an interesting week in our household would be an understatement.   I have been buried in the news – even more than usual. But with all of the confusion and noise that comes in the immediacy of the conflict, there are three components I want to mention this morning which I think are underappreciated.   The first is the asymmetric component. My sense —at least from the US side of things— is that Donald Trump sees this as a conventional war with conventional armies. His jets are bombing their military institutions and defences. His military is targeting their military. His submarine is torpedoing their warship. He said this morning the war will only end when Iran unconditi