Obama Should Brace for War With Iran

There's no chance of President Obama deciding to bomb Iran, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be preparing for war, writes Anne Applebaum. Israel has decided for now that attacking Iran's nuclear program isn't worth the consequences, but that calculation is liable to change and if it does, the defining moment of Obama's presidency could be how he handles that 2am phone call, Applebaum writes in the Washington Post.

Israelis regard Iran's nuclear program as a matter of life and death, Applebaum notes, and the country hasn't hesitated to attack other countries' facilities in the past. If it bombs Iran, the inevitable retaliation will target not just Israel, but America and its forces abroad. "I do hope that this administration is ready, militarily and psychologically, not for a war of choice but for an unwanted war of necessity," Applebaum writes. (More Iran stories.)