But just as striking was the simple math of munitions. American and Israeli forces were destroying quite a lot of Iranian targets, both military and civilian. But they were doing so with extremely expensive weaponry and depleting fragile stockpiles. Perhaps the Iranians were doing less damage, but they were doing it much more cheaply, with what seemed like a bountiful supply of low-cost drones, missiles and mines. How long had it taken Americans to realize they’d gotten stuck in quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan? In this war of choice, conducted largely by air, the fearsome U.S. military had gotten trapped in a war of attrition within the very first week.

The “flying lawn mowers” that ground down a superpower’s war machine

By David Wallace-Wells