Trump hat nur sich selbst die Schuld

The intention of the U.S. and Israel’s air campaign over Iran is clear, Times Opinion columnist David French writes: “to destroy the regime’s capacity to harm its neighbors while also creating the conditions for a revolution on the ground. If that’s the extent of the military mission, the military is accomplishing it with remarkable efficiency. Iran is being badly battered. Even if the war ended today, it would take years for the Iranian military to fully recover from the losses it has suffered so far.”

“So why, then, is Trump lashing out at American allies?” David asks. “Why was he ‘shocked’ that Iran struck Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in response to American attacks?” Perhaps the biggest barrier to a clean victory is the Strait of Hormuz, he writes. Through Iran’s effective closure of the strait to other nations, it “can still potentially plunge the world economy into a state of crisis.”

David continues:

>If America declares victory now, when the Iranian regime is still in power and the strait is closed, then Iran perversely can claim that it won. It took a huge punch, absorbed the blow, and still forced America to climb down. It employed its ultimate weapon — closing the strait — and America had no effective answer.

>Commit to opening the strait (and keeping it open) by force, and the U.S. may well find itself in yet another open-ended, costly conflict with at least some American soldiers on Iranian soil. This would be war on our enemy’s terms and terrain, with the potential of slowly but surely inflicting casualties and costs on the American military until we grow tired of the conflict and leave.

>The only way to cut this Gordian knot is with a military miracle — a fast campaign with minimal casualties that can quickly reopen the strait, minimize harm to the international economy and leave Iran almost entirely toothless, unable to inflict military or economic damage on its foes.

>Trump’s recklessness has left the United States with few good options. Indeed, the dilemma America now faces is a perfect illustration of why Trump should have taken his case for war to the Congress and the American people before he fired the first missile.

Read the full piece [here, for free](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/opinion/trump-iran-war.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UVA.QWFE.efEXffMtoAJO&smid=re-nytopinion), even without a Times subscription.