Defense strategy expert weighs in on US strikes in Iran
The consensus among U.S. officials across administrations and party lines has remained clear.
"Where we have not had action, though, is to do something kinetically about it, and that's what's changed in the last day or so," said senior director of FDD Center on Military and Political Power Bradley Bowman.
Bowman, a U.S. defense strategy expert and former Army Black Hawk pilot, called Saturday's surprise strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities a tactical success.
"Flying from the Midwest of the United States and arriving plus or minus 30s linking up with their other aircraft, doing it without adversaries even knowing it, going into hostile territory. I mean, just incredibly impressive," he said.
Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel with the Center for Strategic International Studies who worked on nuclear weapons development at the Department of Defense, said the strikes significantly disrupted Iran's nuclear progress.
"This doesn't prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon, but it does set the program back many years," Cancian said.
One of the targeted nuclear facilities was hidden inside a mountain.
The full extent of the damage is still unclear, but experts warn retaliation is likely.
"They could do some sort of response just to save face. And then we're done. Or this could go weeks, months or years. That's the uncomfortable part," Bowman said.
The experts said Iran could target U.S. bases in the Gulf region or use proxies to carry out terror attacks.
These are all reasons why both Bowman and Cancian said the president should have consulted Congress before launching the strikes.
"I would have handled its relationship with Congress differently. As someone who worked almost nine years in the U.S. Senate, including for former Sen. Kelly Ayotte," Bowman said.
President Donald Trump did address the idea of a regime change in a Truth Social post Sunday, saying: "It's not politically correct to say regime change... but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again. why wouldn't there be a regime change?"
Trump did not clarify what this would mean for U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
