Trump never tested serious, sustained diplomacy to resolve the wide-ranging, conflicting issues with Iran; instead, he defaulted to the illusion that enough bombs could “end” a conflict that has spanned nearly five decades.

This war with Iran is a war of choice—and a reckless one at that.

President Trump has floated a carousel of justifications: an “imminent” threat; the need to destroy Iran’s missile stockpile and manufacturing capacity; to dismantle its nuclear program; to trigger regime change; and to spark an uprising from within. Yet, weeks into a brutal conflict, his administration has still not articulated a clear, coherent objective commensurate with the risks and costs involved. That is not a strategy; it is improvisation with live ammunition.

A war of choice that should not have started

Defenders of the war claim that Iran’s expanding missile arsenal, its accumulation of highly enriched uranium, and its network of proxies left the United States with no choice but to strike. They speak of an “imminent threat in slow motion,” arguing that the alternative to war now is a far worse war later.

But even if one accepts that Iran’s trajectory was deeply troubling, it does not follow that a maximalist air and naval campaign—decapitation strikes, broad attacks on infrastructure, and open-ended escalation—was the only or wisest option.

The miscalculation at the heart of this war is the belief that Iran would crumble quickly under shock and awe. Trump and Netanyahu appear to have badly underestimated Iran’s resilience, its capacity for asymmetric retaliation, and the depth of its preparation.

Iran has done pretty much what its own doctrine—and countless experts—said it would do: fire missiles and drones at US bases and Israel, mobilize its “axis of resistance” across the region, and move to close or heavily disrupt the Strait of Hormuz—putting global shipping and energy markets at risk.

Instead of a short, sharp “epic fury,” we now face a grinding confrontation that has driven up oil prices, rattled global markets, and forced US and Israeli air defenses into high-intensity operations with no clear end in sight.

Proponents of the war insist that Iran’s military capabilities are being “badly degraded.” Perhaps. But degraded is not defeated—and a wounded adversary with intact........

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