The United States and Israel did not start a war on February 28. They ended a 47-year era of dangerous complacency. The jihadist regime in Tehran declared war on the civilized world in 1979, and for nearly half a century, the West responded with the failed architecture of appeasement. Today, that era is over.
The world finally has a leader who understands the lethal cost of waiting. US President Donald Trump understands that preventing a catastrophic global war requires confronting these dangers now, rather than passing a far more powerful and entrenched enemy on to the next generation.
The Moral Clarity of Action
History is a cruel teacher to those who value comfort over truth. In the decade leading to World War II, the “wise men” of the West dismissed the warnings of evil as hyperbole, choosing appeasement while the machinery of genocide was being built. We know the cost: 70 million dead and the systematic slaughter of six million Jews.
Seven American presidents stood by as the Islamic Republic murdered 1,000 Americans, orchestrated international terrorism, carried out countless other attacks against US interests, and raced toward developing nuclear weapons. In 2024, the US director of national intelligence confirmed Tehran was funding anti-Israel protests to destabilize American society, and the regime even deployed hitmen to assassinate Trump. For decades, the world was told this regime could be tamed. They were profoundly wrong.
At last, we are witnessing a historic break from the failures of the past. Operation Epic Fury is a testament to a leader who refuses to wait for a disaster to strike. Already, Trump’s resolve has done more to neutralize the Iranian threat than 47 years of misguided Western policy.
None of this would have been nearly as feasible without Israel’s extraordinary campaign against Iran’s regional terror empire. Over the past two and a half years, Israel dismantled much of Tehran’s proxy network across the Middle East, degrading Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah, and helping bring about the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria. By shattering this ring of proxies, Israel created the strategic opening for Operation Epic Fury and today is striking Iranian military targets alongside the United States in a shared effort to confront Tehran’s aggression.
Dismantling the Red-Green Alliance
But the vision extends far beyond the Middle East. Operation Epic Fury is a pivotal move in a broader campaign: the containment of China.
Trump recognized what the “ivory tower” elite saw but refused to confront: that Iran, Russia, and Venezuela are not isolated actors, but the functional limbs of a Chinese-led “Red-Green” alliance. While the establishment chose the comfort of managed decline, Trump understood that to defeat the Chinese Communist Party, one must first dismantle its global support structure.
Through strategic and surgical use of power, Trump is systematically severing the arteries of Beijing’s global influence:
The Western Hemisphere: The capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the blockade of the communist regime in Cuba, and reasserting US influence over the Panama Canal have severed China’s energy and intelligence lifelines while securing the most critical maritime chokepoint in the US’s own backyard.
The Arctic Front: By securing strategic interests in Greenland, Trump has countered rising Chinese and Russian aggression in the High North, fortifying a critical corridor for future Western security.
Economic Fortification: Through reciprocal tariffs and a rebuilt military, the US is systematically eroding its reliance on Chinese manufacturing and transitioning toward a more resilient, self-contained supply chain.
Revitalizing NATO Defense: By demanding a 5% GDP spending target, Trump is forcing a fundamental shift in European defense, ending decades of reliance on American taxpayers and compelling allies to take ownership of their own security.
The Tide Has Turned
China is a formidable adversary with a century-long strategy. They banked on a West that was too distracted, too divided, and too fearful to defend its own values. They did not account for a president who views the world not through the lens of political survival, but through the prism of American exceptionalism and strength.
The United States has repeatedly answered history’s call: standing against the kaiser’s empire, Nazi barbarism, and Soviet tyranny. Each era taught the same hard-won lesson: freedom survives only when defended with resolve.
For too long, the West operated under the delusion that its enemies could be managed through concessions rather than defeated by strength. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the October 7 massacre, and decades of Iranian aggression have shattered that illusion.
Operation Epic Fury marks the return of strategic clarity. The United States, in partnership with Israel, is no longer pretending that threats will fade with time. It is confronting them now, rather than leaving a far more dangerous enemy for our children to face.
The writer is a global affairs strategist and former director of the Jewish Diplomatic Corps at the World Jewish Congress, an international advocacy network of 400-plus leaders across more than 60 countries. Follow him on X: @GabRosenberg.