Military campaigns of this kind'especially those aimed not only at degrading military capability but also at creating conditions for political change'unfold in phases. The first phase of this conflict was bound to be the most important: stripping the Islamic Republic of its ability to wage war against America and its allies, threaten its neighbors, and intimidate global markets. A regime still reeling from last year's 12-day war now faces a far more punishing assault. American and Israeli aircraft are operating over Iran with near-total freedom, striking military infrastructure, command nodes, and strategic assets across the country. Iran's air-defense network has been badly degraded, and its navy reduced to a fraction of its former capacity. Its ballistic-missile program'the backbone of Tehran's ability to coerce the region'has suffered immense damage. Israeli military assessments indicate that 160 to 190 launchers have been destroyed and roughly 200 more disabled, while perhaps...
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