On many legacy networks this week, I’ve heard pundits challenge the claim of some members of the Trump administration that entering into war with Iran was crucial to preempt the “imminent threat” the regime posed to the United States. It complicated the logic a bit when one Republican senator said on air that “Iran has been an imminent threat to the United States for 47 years,” citing the decades of Iranian attacks on U.S. military personnel via its proxies.
My answer on Outnumbered today on Fox News is that there is no perfect time to decapitate a poisonous snake. Combined with the intelligence, mentioned by the secretary of state, that Iran planned to strike us first, the reality is that Iran’s economy and power apparatus have been in dire straits for months. That vulnerability presented a unique window of opportunity, and Trump took it.