Name: Trump's War in Iran. Is It Justified? And Is It Wise?
Uploaded: 2026-03-02T22:55:00Z
Duration: 6 min 42 s
Description: An Editor at Large: Gerard Baker looks at previous Republican incursions in the Middle East before making a cautiously optimistic case that 'Operation Epic Fury' will end better than most of the others.

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An Editor at Large: Gerard Baker looks at previous Republican incursions in the Middle East before making a cautiously optimistic case that 'Operation Epic Fury' will end better than most of the others. Photo: Daniel Torok/Avalon/ZUMA Press

https://m.wsj.net/video/20260302/0f18cbef-df56-4ec6-8ce3-de5bde148ba4/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

An Editor at Large: Gerard Baker looks at previous Republican incursions in the Middle East before making a cautiously optimistic case that 'Operation Epic Fury' will end better than most of the others.

Trump's War in Iran. Is It Justified? And Is It Wise?

Gerard: Watching developments unfold in Iran, we're reminded of one of President Trump's commitments ahead of his first term.

To only engage the use of military forces when it's in the vital national security interest of the United States.

10 years later, Donald Trump has become the fourth consecutive Republican president to find himself immersed in a major conflict in the Middle East.

These actions are right and they are necessary to ensure that Americans will never have to face a radical, bloodthirsty terrorist regime armed with nuclear weapons and lots of threats.

Gerard: Only George H.W. Bush's war to expel Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991 can be counted a clear success.

George H.W. Bush: Kuwait is liberated. Iraq's army is defeated.

Gerard: And then, only because its objective was tightly circumscribed. Ronald Reagan's effort to stabilize Lebanon in the early 1980s ended with the bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks.

American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations.

Gerard: George W. Bush's war with Iraq in 2003 cost intolerable loss of life, and did untold damage to America's strategic capabilities and stature.

We were very well-prepared to topple Saddam's government, but not well-prepared for what came after.

Less ambitious efforts by Democratic presidents have fared no better. Bill Clinton's standoff bombing campaign failed to arrest the rise of al Qaeda and led more or less directly to the September 11 attacks. Barack Obama led from behind.

If, in fact, there's a way to accomplish that diplomatically, that is overwhelmingly my preference.

He unleashed chaos in Libya and permitted Syria to cross his chemical weapons red line. Joe Biden's catastrophic exit from Afghanistan, part of the greater Middle East for these purposes, was a humiliation for America. But what are the prospects for Operation Epic Fury? First of all, is it justified? And perhaps more importantly, is it wise? A few days into the conflict, there's no definitive answer. But a cautiously optimistic case can be made that this Middle Eastern entanglement will end better than most of the others.

This is not a war for the sake of war. This is a strategic war in order for once and for all to stop this enormous, horrendous bloodshed of terror.

From its outset in 1979, the Islamic Republic has placed murdering Americans high on its list of priorities. From the more than 200 Marines killed by Hezbollah in the 1983 Beirut bombing, and the 600 or so American service members killed by Iran-backed militias in Iraq, to the many US citizens terrorized, captured, and killed by Hamas and other Iranian-sponsored entities in Gaza and around the world, Tehran has repeatedly bathed in American blood.

Yeah.

Gerard: Under the principle of self-defense, action taken against a regime that's killed so many of our own citizens is legitimate, not simply for retributive justice, but to prevent further killings.

For almost 50 years, these wicked extremists have been attacking the United States while chanting the slogan, "Death to America," or, "Death to Israel," or both. They are the world's number one state sponsor of terror.

Gerard: It would've been preferable if Mr. Trump had spent more time over the past few weeks-

Epic Fury.

Gerard: Explaining his reasoning to the American people, and ideally, securing a political mandate from Congress for military action.

The Constitution says, "No declaration of war without Congress."

But the failure to do so doesn't make the cause an illegitimate one. So if we're fully justified in finally bringing a measure of justice to a regime that has caused us so much harm, is it wise to do so? Here, there's less confidence, and we're all familiar with the historical record.

Iraq had essentially descended into civil war between the Sunnis and the Shia.

Achieving regime change remotely through air power alone is a very long-shot probability. But even if this new round of punishment fails to dislodge the regime, surely further damage will weaken it significantly. Iranians and Iranian Americans in Times Square certainly seem hopeful that Mr. Trump's initiative could signal the beginning of regime change in Iran.

I thought that I'm gonna die. Never see this day. So very emotional. You have to understand, we were in a big jail for 47 years, and no hope of freedom.

And few regimes have been undermined in the way Tehran's has in the past two years. It has just witnessed the awesome combination of a US-Israeli intelligence and military capability that pulverized its supreme leader of almost four decades and much of his leadership team. It's seen the countries it vowed to destroy rain down fire and destruction on its military facilities for a year. Its top military commanders taken out with breathtaking precision, its conventional and nuclear facilities badly damaged, its air defenses essentially destroyed.

We are defending ourselves, and we have every right, every legitimate right to defend ourselves. What the United States is doing is an act of aggression.

Iran's sponsors, Russia and China, seem to regard their relationship as a one-way affair. They get Iran's drones and oil, and Iran gets, well, tough diplomatic language about America and Israel's military actions.

Crowd: USA, USA.

Gerard: The Iranian people have risen up against the regime, which has survived only by killing thousands of them.

I never thought this would happen in my lifetime. And like, getting the opportunity to be here out of the Iranian American diaspora and stuff, and people who had relatives who suffered under revolution, who had people who were executed, I just cannot tell you like how much of an honor this feels like.

So if regime change doesn't come now, what kind of regime would survive? Leaderless, impoverished, isolated, besieged, largely disarmed, is Iran likely to be stronger after being on the receiving end of a campaign from the most technologically sophisticated and best-equipped militaries in the world? There are risks, and news of the first US casualties in this war are a reminder of its costs. But for an opportunistic president, there may never be a better opportunity.

WSJ Opinion: Trump's War in Iran. Is It Justified? And Is It Wise?

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