The war with Iran will likely cost Republicans votes in the upcoming midterms. In part this is President Trump’s fault: his wandering explanations, excessive claims, and repeated threats to “decimate” or “annihilate” Iran or end its “whole civilization” are no way to persuade Americans that he has a sensible policy and is implementing it.
But if one puts aside the bluster and looks only at what has been accomplished, his policy deserves more support. It has been clear for decades that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon. That’s why even the Russians and Chinese supported, off and on, U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran, and why Barack Obama negotiated his 2015 Iran nuclear deal, though it only postponed Tehran’s program. Trump is the first president who looked at the advances Iran was making and, recognizing the narrow opportunity to stop them, struck. Today, Iran is no longer weeks or months away from a bomb but probably years away. Moreover, U.S. threats that we will never permit an Iranian nuke and will use force to prevent it (something even Obama threatened) will be taken far more seriously now that we’ve done it once.
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