The Iran War Was Inherently Wrong and Doomed to Fail Regardless of Execution
Source: Ben Burgis. "There Was No “Right Way” to Attack Iran." March 24, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that attacking Iran was wrong from the start and bound to fail no matter how it was done. He says critics focusing on how Trump conducted the war are missing the point - the real problem is that America had no right to attack Iran in the first place, and history shows these kinds of wars always end badly.
Conclusion
There was no 'right way' to attack Iran - the war was fundamentally illegitimate and destined to be a catastrophic failure regardless of how it was conducted
Premises
- Trump and Netanyahu had no legal or moral right to launch a war of aggression against Iran
- Iran has not started a war with anyone in its entire existence as the Islamic Republic
- The United States and Israel have no right to decide who governs Iran from outside
- Historical precedent shows that regime change through bombing campaigns alone has never succeeded
- Iran has far greater defensive capacity than previous regime-change targets like Iraq and Afghanistan
- Ground invasion would result in the same bloody chaos seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya
- The war will generate hatred among Iranians and trauma among American soldiers, perpetuating cycles of violence
Assumptions
- Historical patterns of military intervention are reliable predictors of future outcomes
- Iran's theocratic government, while flawed, has legitimate sovereignty that should be respected
- Military intervention for regime change is inherently illegitimate under international law
- Public opposition to war reflects genuine moral and strategic concerns rather than partisan politics
- The costs of war (human, financial, geopolitical) outweigh any potential benefits