Opinion

Preventive or Preemptive? The Pros and Cons of a Potential US Strike on Iran

Preventive or Preemptive? The Pros and Cons of a Potential US Strike on Iran
The U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln leads its strike group during a photo exercise in the Arabian Sea, on Feb. 6, 2026. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jesse Monford
Victor Davis Hanson
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This is a lightly edited transcript of a segment of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” podcast from Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump is positioning the largest naval and air forces with submarines off the coast of Iran—in the Persian Gulf, in the Mediterranean, in the Red Sea—that we’ve seen since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And there are pros and cons about striking Iran.

Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson
Author
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and military historian. He is a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, a senior fellow in classics and military history at Stanford University, a fellow of Hillsdale College, and a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness. Mr. Hanson has written 17 books, including “The Western Way of War,” “Fields Without Dreams,” “The Case for Trump,” and “The Dying Citizen.”
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