WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

Frankly, the Chinese, I think, see the war serving a lot of their diplomatic interests,

not the least of which is that China is just as happy to see the United States alienated

from as many of its traditional allies as possible.

With the U.S. waging war against Iran, Chinese leaders might be taking advice from Napoleon.

Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.

Yeah. enemy when he's making a mistake. It's Wednesday, March 18th, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBR.

I'm Chris Bentley.

Today on the show, a retired Army general says the U.S. is on the edge of a strategic disaster

as it tries to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Also, can the mail survive losing its biggest customer?

Amazon reportedly plans to cut packages sent by the U.S. Postal Service

by at least two-thirds later this year. Before we get to that story, though, the decision by the

U.S. and Israel to start bombing Iran more than two weeks ago has had ripple effects far beyond

the Middle East, though it's hard to overstate just how much

havoc it's wreaked in the region, with Israel simultaneously invading and bombarding Lebanon,

and Iran retaliating with missile and drone strikes in at least nine countries.

American presidents have been promising to pivot to the Pacific, or otherwise avoid getting mired in the Middle East for decades, and yet here they go again.

While war has not come to China directly, President Trump did ask to postpone his summit in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping that had been scheduled for later this month.

So we wanted to talk with someone who would know about what this war means for U.S. China relations.

And that person is David Lampton, former director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School

of Advanced International Studies. David Lampton told Scott Tong that China is watching this

...