Two weeks of war in West Asia: The five big takeaways from the widening conflict

Here are the five big takeaways from the events of the last 14 days. 1. This is not World War III, but… The geographical spread and intensity of the war is much greater than what happened last summer. Story continues below this ad The US and Israel’s airstrikes on Iran swiftly wiped out its top leadership, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Iran, rather than folding, raised the stakes. Its ballistic missiles and Shahed drones have hit as many as 11 countries — Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Cyprus. These…