How Does This War End? The US Needs a Better Answer

More than a week after the US and Israel launched punishing airstrikes against Iran, neither side appears ready to pause hostilities. The Islamic Republic will surely pay the bigger price for its intransigence. But that doesn’t mean the US can ignore the long-term costs of fighting without a realistic endgame in mind.

Despite claiming to have “already won in many ways,” the president said on Monday that the US would “not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” What exactly that looks like is unclear. The Pentagon has offered four tactical goals, only some of which appear achievable through airstrikes alone: to ensure Iran can’t build a nuclear weapon, destroy its navy and ballistic missile arsenal, and cut off its support for proxy militias such as Hezbollah. If the administration has a more detailed exit strategy, congressional Democrats briefed on its plans say they haven’t heard it. Meanwhile, continued efforts to dismantle the regime’s repressive apparatus are as likely to encourage chaos as a pro-democracy uprising.