Trump's Iran strike is a victory for the free world

Spectator

4 hours ago

Tel Aviv
To America and Israel, the free world owes a debt – for courage, for clarity, for doing what had to be done. When the moment came, they did not hesitate. They bore the weight, braved the cost, and moved with the strength history demands.
When Israel first struck inside Iran nine days ago, its government made a fateful decision: to sound the sirens and send its people into bomb shelters across the country. It was a moment of collective alertness, a signal that the threat was near and real. Last night, there were no sirens. No mass alerts. Most of Israel slept soundly as the United States acted with precision, strength, and resolve to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. That difference – between fear and confidence, between warning and control – speaks volumes about what has changed.
This was perhaps the most complex and devastating non-nuclear strike in modern history
This was a historic moment, and not because it came out of nowhere. Quite the opposite. This was the logical and necessary conclusion of a path the Islamic Republic of Iran refused to abandon. The United States and Israel did not want this war. They offered negotiations. They extended time. They warned. They gave the regime in Tehran every opportunity to reverse course, to step back from its genocidal ambitions, its nuclear obsession, and its campaign of regional subversion. But Iran did not flinch. It lied, stalled, cheated, plotted, and prepared. It never paused its pursuit of the bomb or its dream of erasing Israel.
And so, at the hour of consequence, America acted.
Twelve GBU-57 'bunker-buster' bombs, delivered by American B-2 Spirit bombers, struck Iran's fortified nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Fordow – long regarded as the crown jewel of the regime's clandestine enrichment programme – was among the primary targets. Dozens of Tomahawk missiles were launched at Natanz and Fordow from submarines. This was not symbolic. It was strategic, surgical, and overwhelming. According to President Trump, the sites were 'completely and totally obliterated.' Iran's nuclear infrastructure has suffered a decisive and unprecedented blow.
President Trump, in a nationally televised address, declared the operation a 'spectacular military success.' And he was right. But what is most telling is what he said next: that the Iranian regime must now make peace, or face far greater destruction. 'Tonight's was the most difficult of them all,' he warned, 'and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill.' No bravado. Just clarity. Just strength.
Peace is not the fruit of balance, but of victory. From Carthage to Berlin, it is the victor who dictates the terms, who defines the future, who writes the rules. So it must be again.
This clarity is what Britain and much of the West have lacked. While Israel acted, Britain and countless others criticised, threatened, and tried every diplomatic lever to tie Israel's hands and halt its response. They failed. Where others equivocated, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu planned, prepared, and executed. For over a year and a half, Israel has dismantled Iran's network of proxies – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis – with discipline and endurance. Each strike, each operation, was a message: step back. Iran refused. Now the regime is left with rubble, not leverage.
Some voices will say this is escalation. One of them, predictably, was António Guterres. The UN Secretary-General, whose career has been defined by impotence in the face of aggression, condemned the strikes and warned of catastrophe. The United Nations, once conceived as a guardian of peace, has become an echo chamber of moral equivocation, paralysed by autocrats and irrelevant in moments of actual consequence. While Iran built centrifuges, armed proxies, and threatened genocide, the UN debated terminology. Now, when action has finally been taken, it issues pleas for de-escalation, because that is all it has left.
But the catastrophe began long ago – with the regime's drive to build a bomb, to wage war through terror, to dominate its region by force and fanaticism. What the world witnessed last night was not provocation. It was justice delayed, finally delivered.
This action was not impulsive. A year ago, ABC News now confirms, the United States and Israel practised this strike in joint military exercises. Trump's much-maligned two-week 'pause' was not weakness. It was discipline. It was preparation. It was statesmanship. While the world speculated, while critics sneered with slogans like 'Trump Always Chickens Out,' the President and his team were aligning assets, coordinating allies, and positioning for impact. What followed was perhaps the most complex and devastating non-nuclear strike in modern history.
And still the Iranian regime insists it will not relent. Its Atomic Energy Organisation struck a defiant tone, denying the extent of damage and accusing the United States of violating international law. But facts are stubborn things. The sites are gone. The enrichment has stopped. And the world, quietly or openly, knows who preserved peace.
Leading Republicans, even those who have broken with Trump in the past, voiced their support. Mike Pence, his former Vice President, said Trump 'should be commended for his decisive leadership.' Mitch McConnell, ever measured, said the President made the right call. That unity matters. Because this was not an act for one country. It was for all free nations.
Israel now has operational dominance over Iranian skies. Intelligence cooperation has reached new levels. Thousands of Iranian operatives, long working quietly for the West, have proved decisive. And Israel will continue its campaign, as its own media made clear: 'Israel will continue to attack Iran.'
This is how you fight tyranny. This is how you dismantle terror. Not with platitudes, but with power. Not with moral fog, but with moral clarity. The remaking of the Middle East began on 7 October, when Israel awoke to unimaginable horror. It has continued ever since – with resilience, resolve, and ruthless strategic logic. Last night, that logic reached its inevitable conclusion.
The question for the rest of the world is simple: which side are you on?