Of B-2s and Bunker Busters

“Trump wanted to engage in coercive diplomacy to force the Islamic Republic to make a choice: It could preserve its regime or have a nuclear program. It can’t have both,” Jason Brodsky, the policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told TMD. “The Islamic Republic, however, decided to risk a military strike rather than agree to the president’s terms, and so now it’s in a deeper hole than it was 24 hours ago.” . . . “This regime is a threat not only to the region and to the United States, but also to the Iranian people,” he said. “But it’s going to be up to the Iranian people to decide their own future. With the regime weakened, that does open up potential opportunities, but it’s not going to happen overnight.” “We’re buying time here,” he added. “There are no happy endings with the Islamic Republic.”