MORNING GLORY: What will President Donald Trump decide to do with Iran?

A large conflict with Iran appears imminent.

Ought it to beryllium called a war, a battle, oregon a strike?

That depends connected what the United States and Israel determine to bash and what President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu telephone it.

It besides depends connected whether Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, orders the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s proxy forces successful Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, arsenic good arsenic panic cells astir the world, to equine counter-attacks that termination Americans, Israelis oregon radical successful our Gulf allies.

SCOTT BESSENT SAYS IRAN UNDERSTANDS 'BRUTE FORCE' AS TRUMP WEIGHS OPTIONS AMID NUCLEAR STANDOFF

Whatever the president and the premier curate order, the ayatollah tin trigger monolithic escalation with immoderate counter-attack that results successful American oregon Israeli casualties.

In June 2025, Israelis called their attacks connected Iran and Iran’s rocket fusillades against the Jewish State "the 12-day war." Americans called their B-2s’ obliteration of Iran’s atomic weapons programme an "operation": "Operation Midnight Hammer."

Operations and strikes hap successful some battles and wars. What the United States has assembled successful and astir Iran is simply a attraction of subject forces truthful immense that everything is connected the database of possibilities awaiting President Trump’s order: a discrete one-day operation, galore strikes implicit days oregon weeks, oregon an aggravated days, weeks, oregon months-long "battle" to destruct Iran’s ballistic missiles and rocket factories arsenic good arsenic facilities important to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and possibly governmental leadership, oregon a warfare against the Islamic Republic on the lines of the wars conducted against Serbia successful 1999 and against Libya

The NATO aerial run against Yugoslavia/Serbia (Operation Allied Force) lasted for 78 days, starting connected March 24, 1999, and ending connected June 10, 1999. The run was launched to halt actions against the taste Albanian colonisation successful Kosovo and concluded with the withdrawal of Yugoslav/Serbian forces from the region. Over 1,000 Serbian subject unit were killed and astatine slightest 500 civilians.

NATO’s aerial run against Libya and its dictator, Muammar Gaddafi lasted for astir 7 months, from March 23 to October 31, 2011 and included 7,000 bombing sorties from the air. A survey of that aerial run concluded astir 8,000 combatants connected some sides died and that Human Rights Watch concluded 72 civilians died successful the bombings. Gaddafi himself was captured and killed connected October 20, 2011.

A 2nd Libyan civilian warfare began connected May 16, 2014, erstwhile Khalifa Haftar launched Operation Dignity, aboriginal escalating with the enactment of rival governments successful Tripoli and Tobruk. The struggle concluded with a ceasefire signed connected October 23, 2020.  That ceasefire is precarious and warring betwixt factions erupts periodically.

TRUMP VOWS TO 'KNOCK THE HELL OUT OF' IRAN IF NUCLEAR PROGRAM IS REBUILT AGAIN AFTER HIGH-STAKES MEETING

President Trump has laid down 4 reddish lines for Iran and Iran has violated each four: The authorities is reported to person resumed efforts to enrich uranium and scope towards a atomic weapon, to proceed to physique much and larger ballistic missiles, to money its proxy forces crossed the Middle East and, of course, to proceed to execution its citizens.

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Ayatollah Khamenei and his elder subject commanders continuously taunt and belittle President Trump and the American subject arsenic good arsenic Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel. The classical "wounded beast" lashing retired is playing retired earlier our eyes, and each the honeyed speech from Iran’s diplomats crumbles nether the value of the regime’s leadership’s poisoned rhetoric.

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There is, of course, genuine hazard to our troops and to our allies successful Israel and the Gulf States. That is wherefore erstwhile President Trump orders the American subject to attack, it should beryllium with overwhelming and sustained force. The president has fixed Iran accidental aft accidental to basal down and halt its crazed behavior. Iran is incapable of doing that. Iran’s generals person not organized enactment against the theocrats pushing them and their troops to ruin.

Fanatics don’t reason, and the United States cannot spend to let the satellite to spot it deterred by the words and shaking fists of a second- oregon third-rate subject equipped with bluster and ballistic missiles.

Hugh Hewitt is simply a Fox News contributor and big of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET connected the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast connected Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans location connected the East Coast and to luncheon connected the West Coast connected implicit 400 affiliates nationwide, and connected each the streaming platforms wherever SNC tin beryllium seen. He is simply a predominant impermanent connected the Fox News Channel’s quality roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays astatine 6pm ET. A lad of Ohio and a postgraduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law astatine Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 wherever helium teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous vigor amusement from Los Angeles successful 1990. Hewitt has often appeared connected each large nationalist quality tv network, hosted tv shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for each large American paper, has authored a twelve books and moderated a people of Republican campaigner debates, astir precocious the November 2023 Republican statesmanlike statement successful Miami and 4 Republican statesmanlike debates successful the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his vigor amusement and his file connected the Constitution, nationalist security, American authorities and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump implicit his 40 years successful broadcasting. This file previews the pb communicative that volition thrust his radio/ TV amusement today.

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