Staff ReportsOn the night of June 21, 2025, the president announced that American forces had struck three Iranian nuclear sites — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan — marking the United States’ most consequential military intervention in the region in years. That declaration, delivered amid reports of long-range bomber missions and precision strikes, shocked the world and snapped the tired foreign-policy consensus that had allowed Tehran to inch toward a bomb.
President Trump hailed the operation as a “spectacular military success,” saying the strikes “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s enrichment facilities and declaring that now is “the time for peace.” Those were bold words meant for a nation tired of paper threats and empty diplomacy, but the administration’s rhetoric must be matched with clear plans for what comes next.
Military accounts from the aftermath described the use of deep-penetration munitions and long-range platforms — including B-2 bombers and heavy bunker-buster ordnance as well as cruise missiles launched from subs — tools suitable for taking on hardened, underground sites. The operation, the first reported combat use of some of these capabilities, was surgical by design, aimed at the infrastructure that would give Iran a breakout path to a weapon.
Unsurprisingly, the left erupted in predictable outrage: progressives and some lawmakers decried the strikes as “unconstitutional” and chanted “no more war,” while other critics complained that Congress was kept on an information leash. Those outcries are politically convenient but dangerously naive — there are moments when polished legalism must bow to the hard duty of national defense, and populist handwringing doesn’t dismantle centrifuges.
Yes, legitimate questions remain about the scale of the damage and the intelligence that made this mission necessary; international watchdogs and independent analysts have warned that the long-term impact on Tehran’s program is still being assessed. Conservatives should welcome accountability and hard answers from the Pentagon, not reflexive surrender to the media’s worst instincts; transparency about results only strengthens public support for a decisive policy.
Across the broader Middle East, diplomats fear escalation and communities braced for fallout, but decisive action can also restore deterrence and save countless American lives by preventing a nuclear-armed Iran from sponsoring global chaos. Our allies must be rallied, not lectured, and adversaries should understand that American power backed by iron resolve is the best guarantee of peace.
Now is the time for Congress to do its duty: fund our troops, support clear rules of engagement, and provide the political backing that ensures our military can finish the job and bring our service members home. To the blue-state hawks who suddenly rediscover constitutional piety, remember that a nation that hesitates when the enemy prepares pays a far higher constitutional and human cost down the line — we must stand with our warriors and with peace through strength.
