OPINION:
President Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate a deal that would effectively end its nuclear weapons program. It refused, insisting, among other things, on continuing to enrich uranium. So on the 61st day — late Thursday night — Israel mounted major airstrikes on Iran, killing many of its military leaders and destroying some of its nuclear development sites.
Mr. Trump said he was apprised of the Israeli strikes before they happened. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said our forces weren’t involved in the war. The president is handling this crisis well-nigh perfectly. He has stood with Israel in its time of danger and isn’t backing down.
Mr. Trump realizes that Israel is fighting a war we should have fought years ago. If Israel succeeds, it will make the world a better place.
The contrast between Mr. Trump and former President Joe Biden is stark. Mr. Biden would have been fiddling and diddling and would not have given Israel the go-ahead it needed.
The usual suspects — Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have condemned the Israeli action. More are sure to follow. France and the United Nations have called on both sides to not escalate the conflict. Good luck with that.
The Israeli strikes, called “Operation Rising Lion,” reportedly dropped about 330 bombs on at least 100 targets. Israel, as it proved about a year ago with a limited strike on Iran, has no problem penetrating Iranian air defenses. But it didn’t attack the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow, which is buried more deeply than the bombs its fighters carry can reach. Our B-2 has such a weapon.
Among the deaths caused by the Israeli strikes are Gen. Salami, chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s military chief of staff and several of Iran’s nuclear scientists, as well as the chief of Iran’s nuclear agency.
Unfortunately, the ayatollahs, especially “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Khamenei, are not among the dead. There can be no peace in the Middle East — or anywhere else — while the ayatollahs rule Iran.
Israeli intelligence operations make ours look amateurish. Israel has bragged that it caused the meeting of Iran’s air force leaders, who all were killed in the air strikes. It has also, as we should have expected, located and destroyed most of Iran’s ballistic missiles.
The question is, what happens in the aftermath of the initial Israeli attacks?
Israel has not, so far, unleashed its “Unit 8200,” the cyberwar unit that proved so effective in 2007 when it sabotaged Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges so thoroughly in the “Stuxnet” cyber attack. It could probably shut down most or all of Iran’s military command and control structure. That should be coming in the next few days.
The Israelis won’t rest until the Iranian effort to develop nuclear weapons has been ended. We — and the Iranians — should expect the air war to continue at a fast pace.
The Israelis have begun a war that won’t end soon. So far, U.S. forces are not engaged, but they soon may be. We have moved at least two U.S. destroyers closer to Israel to add to Israel’s air defenses.
Iran has threatened to strike U.S. bases in the Middle East and other “U.S. interests” if war broke out. At this writing, it has not. Iran, if it is rational — which would be uncharacteristic — it won’t attack U.S. ships or bases.
The Iranians have responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel, none of which apparently has succeeded in penetrating Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense systems. Iran will certainly call on its proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, to do everything they can to strike at Israel. Unfortunately for Iran, those proxies have been significantly weakened by Israel in the Gaza war, which Hamas started in 2023 by massacring and kidnapping Israeli civilians.
Iran lacks the troop strength and the means to try to attack Israel on the ground. The Iranian navy, which includes about 19 diesel-electric submarines, will probably be ordered to attack Israeli ships and, perhaps, American ships. Iran isn’t prepared for an all-out war with the U.S., but it will try to do as much damage as it can.
The biggest question is whether the Israelis will strike Kharg Island, Iran’s principal oil export facility. It’s located only 15 miles from mainland Iran. Bombing Kharg Island would probably destroy Iran’s economy. Kharg Island is a major a source of oil for the Chinese. China imports about 90% of Iran’s oil through Kharg Island. The Israelis should bomb the island, destroying Iran’s ability to export oil, and may yet do so.
Nations such as France, sitting comfortably out of the fight, don’t understand that this is a war in which no quarter should be given or even asked for. It is a war that had brewed for years and must be a fight to the finish, meaning toppling the ayatollahs’ regime and making a lasting peace possible.
• Jed Babbin is a national security and foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Times and a contributing editor for The American Spectator.
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