Does It Matter Whether America’s Iran Strike Was Lawful?
In the US attack on Iran so far, power has trumped legitimacy. But to resolve the conflict without major war, the president needs both.
Barely legal.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Historians will judge the massive US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities by trying to answer two questions, which ultimately become inseparable. Was the intervention wise? And was it legitimate?
It’s far too early to assess the wisdom of Operation Midnight Hammer — that is, whether it will make the world safer. Stunning as its execution was, the mission’s objective was to end Iran’s ability to make nukes. But even though President Donald Trump keeps boasting that the attacks “obliterated” the Iranian targets, leaks of early intelligence from the Pentagon suggest that the bombing only set the nuclear program back by a few months. If Tehran now hurries to make atomic bombs in secret — and if other countries in the region then build their own nukes for self-protection — the tactical triumph of Midnight Hammer will turn into a strategic disaster.