Why Iran?

America's current action against Iran filled many people with joy and relief while it filled others with anger. Attacking a sovereign foreign nation must be rare, and it must line up with our values. Here is the president's address to the nation:

Maybe you, like me, hear the partisan opinions of your friends and your favorite media but you still have questions. I've found a few answers, so I offer them to you:

1. How many attacks injuring or killing Americans has Iran carried out or sponsored since the hostages were seized in 1979? This organization lists 44 aggressions (up to last June and not counting the Iraq war). Hundreds died, and many more were injured.
2. Is this US president uniquely belligerent or unlawful in this attack? No. The War Powers Act of 1973 gives a president the authority for a military action without congressional approval, and every president since that time has used it.
3. Is Iran's nuclear weapon development still a threat? Their program and facilities were diminished last June by US strikes but not totally destroyed.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Unlikely

Iran attacked Israel directly for the very first time nine days ago. This unprecedented full-scale military assault included hundreds of bomb-carrying drones as well as more destructive ballistic missiles. Global leaders were quick to condemn it as a possible trigger of regional war.

Israel's air defense system, the Iron Dome, is designed to defend against this type of attack and has historically been very effective. It's a complex combination of strategies. But this time, its effectiveness is being called miraculous.

A physics professor and expert on the defense industry says, "When I look at what happened on Motzai Shabbat, on a scientific level - it simply cannot happen!! Statistically." Almost all (99%) of the bombs were intercepted.

"What happened is that everyone, but everyone - the pilots, the systems operators and the technology operators - acted as one man, at one moment in total unity. If this is not an act of G-d, then I no longer know what a miracle is."

from this X (Twitter) post