Bombing Iran, Trump gambles on force over diplomacy

For nearly a half-century the United States has squabbled with Iran’s Islamic Republic but the conflict has largely been left in the shadows, with US policymakers believing, often reluctantly, that diplomacy was preferable.

With President Donald Trump’s order of strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, the United States — like Israel, which encouraged him — has brought the conflict into the open, and the consequences may not be clear for some time to come.

“We will only know if it succeeded if we…