On February 28, 2026 a coalition of the United States and Israel commenced an air campaign against Iran.
The campaign was, in reality, a continuation of the war started by Iran 47 years ago, against what it called, “the Great Satin”, the United States, and “the Little Satan, Israel.
During that 47-year period, thousands of Americans and Israelis have been killed and maimed by Iran and its proxies. Thanks to Iran, the Mid-East has been a cauldron of instability.
In the first hours Iran’s political and military leadership was decapitated and US and Israeli air forces inflicted heavy damage on Iranian military targets.
Iran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israel, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and US Mideast military installations and assets.”.
The air campaign continued until April 8, when a ceasefire, mediated by Pakistan, went into effect. While a two-week truce was initially agreed upon, President Trump subsequently extended the ceasefire indefinitely.
Since that time, the President has alternatively threatened resumption of the campaign because of a perceived lack of seriousness on the part of Iran’s negotiators, or delayed resumption of the campaign because of perceived progress in the peace talks.
The back and forth, on again - off again peace negotiations have taken a toll on the President’s credibility. The delay in resumption of the campaign has, according to Iranian spokesmen, allowed Iran to refresh its war-making capability.
With each day of the “cease-fire”, other members of the, “Axis of Evil”, Russia, China and North Korea, can and are re-supplying Iran with war material. A case in point: recently, Russian optics have been discovered on Iranian drones.
With each day of the “cease-fire” Iranian forces can and are digging out the tunnels previously collapsed by air strikes. Iranian forces have successfully unblocked and regained operational access to the vast majority of their underground missile facilities.
So, much of the progress made in the air campaign has been reversed during the “cease-fire”.
On June 1st, Iran withdrew from the on-going negotiations on the pretext that the Israeli counterstrikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah were a violation of the “cease-fire”.
The withdrawal of Iran from the on-going negotiations, provides the President with an opportunity to finish the job of winning the war; of keeping the promises that have been made regarding Iran and ushering in an era of unprecedented peace and stability in the Mid-East. But first, the war must be won.
If a situation is important enough to commit our service men to fight, it’s important enough to win the fight. Any other outcome is a betrayal of those who risk their lives fighting for the United States.
So, what does “winning” look like in our present situation? “Winning” this war has been defined by the common-sense objectives the President has mentioned from time to time during the campaign:
· No nuclear weapons, no enriched uranium, and no capacity to build nuclear weapons or enrich uranium.
· Safe and free passage for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
· Ballistic missel program and capacity to manufacture, terminated.
· Cessation of aid, financial and otherwise, to Iranian proxies.
· Aid to the Iranian people in reforming their government (“Help is on the way”).
· Cessation of killing of the Iranian people peacefully protesting as well as the end of execution of political prisoner.
The Iranian withdrawal from negotiations provides the U.S. with the ability to finish what it started. Any treaty or other document that would have come out of the negotiations, would not have been worth the paper on which it was written because the Iranian government, as presently constituted, could not be trusted to keep its word.
Iran is presently under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”). It is an immensely powerful parallel military, political, and economic organization that operates independently of Iran's regular military.
It’d role is to protect the theocratic regime and enforce its edicts. No satisfactory settlement can be reached with the IRGC and the regime it now controls as well as protects. Under these circumstances, what must be done to achieve the President’s objectives?
There is only one solution. The campaign must be resumed with the goal of decimating the IRGC and the regime. Anything short of that will lead only to an unsatisfactory outcome.
There are no doubts US forces are capable of achieving victory. Victory as the goal should be presented to the Pentagon and then the President should step back and let the military do its job. Micro-managing battle plans by our political leaders didn’t work in Vietnam and it won’t work in Iran.
Mr. President, let’s finish the job!
Ray Hunkins, a Marine, is a retired country lawyer and cowman. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Wyoming and its College of Law. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 2006.
