Mar 10, 2026
3 min read
A 25-year-old girl who lives in her parents' house in Europe said that the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer criticizes the European warning and downplays the division of the Atlantic Ocean.What are we fighting for?
Ghosts and threats
Iran is a “cancer in world affairs,” says Bret Stephens.Three scenarios and a European rift
Europe is a 25-year-old who lives at home with his parents, claims the essayist and Pulitzer Prize winner, who criticizes Europe's caution and minimizes the transatlantic divide.What are we fighting for?
WashingtonNew York Times columnist, essayist and Pulitzer Prize winner Brett Stephens tells Foglio: "Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are doing the free world a favor. Iran is a cancer in global relations": "If the American president had not made the decision he did, sooner or later we would have had a reason not just for Israel or the Gulf states, but for all of us; for all European countries, for the United States, for European countries and for the United States itself. Stephens, the sponsor of terrorism and determined in his view, said: "Trump, only liberalsand what he did, despite significant political opposition not only from Democrats but also from some segments of the Republican Party, says one good thing about him: that he was prepared to act despite the potential political cost.”
Iran's theocratic government has been a source of regional instability for forty-seven years.Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Tehran has funded armed groups in the Middle East region, pursued nuclear weapons, and violently oppressed its own people.In January, Iranian security forces killed tens of thousands of protesters in the largest protests since the revolution.focused on internal repression.Critics say the logic of this war risks repeating the mistakes of previous US campaigns in the Middle East and plunging the country and the entire region into a deeper crisis.
In America, however, this war that has been going on since February 28 has met with great political opposition.The memory of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan continues to influence public opinion on military interventions.A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after the first American and Israeli invasion found that only 27 percent of Americans approve of the attacks, while 43 percent oppose and about 29 percent are still unsure.Democrats in Congress criticized the military campaign, saying the president launched the operation without formal authorization from Congress or a clearly defined end goal.Republicans are more supportive, although the divide in public opinion remains clear.The same Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that about 55 percent of Republican voters approve of the raids, compared to just 7 percent of Democrats.Most Republican lawmakers in Congress supported the operation and helped defeat a House resolution that would have forced the Administration to seek authorization. At the same time, some members of the more cautious foreign policy wing of the party made some public comments — including Vice President J.D. Vance — that reflected unresolved tension within the Republican coalition between national security hawks.and a new wave of skepticism about military interventionism abroad."This war is being fought to an unquestionable end until the war declared by Iran in 1979 - it is not really the beginning of a war. It should be understood as its conclusion. The minimum goal is to ensure that Iran does not represent, through its nuclear ambitions and its missile capabilities, a potentially lethal threat to the West and, in general,the goals of the world."
In the center of Tehran, in Engelab Square, the remnants of the Iranian regime held a mourning procession: black-clad loyalists wept for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an omnipresent figure of thirty-seven years.Still, across the capital, citizens erupted in celebration, dancing in the streets and lighting fireworks.In the diaspora, from Los Angeles to Rome, the celebrations were triumphant.Why was there applause and celebration in Shiraz, in Isfahan, in Tehran when the news came about the death?" Stephenson asked: "Isn't their opinion the most important?They are the people who are risking their lives to take to the streets to cheer." The specter of Iraq is inescapable over the debate. Stephens makes a clear distinction: There are no American ground troops in Iran, and the administration describes the campaign as limited to air strikes targeting nuclear sites, missile production and domestic deterrence equipment. Stephens says, "We are not sending a million troops to build a nation there.Faced with ongoing questions about the ultimate goal of the campaign, Stephens outlines three possible scenarios: regime change by a popular uprising, "regime change" by a disarmed local element, or a weak regime destined to collapse over time."All three are better than the situation before February 28," Stephens said: "Ideally, I think for the Iranian people I want freedom, but it depends to a large extent on them."
The war divided Europe, Stephens said, because the old continent did not understand the extent of the threat from Tehran.If I were in Europe, Stephens continued, "I think Trump and Israel are doing something that Europeans would not dare to do, a continent that has seen Iran commit systematic murders in many countries, often take European citizens for political purposes, and support terrorist groups like Hezbollah that sell drugs in Europe."That being said, you find Richard Nixon and the abolition of the gold standard, 1956 and the Suez crisis many Americans are disgusted with European behavior: the European continent, despite requests from many administrations over the years, has decided in the last thirty years that it does not want to defend itself and can leave this task to the Americans?
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been highly critical of the military move: he dismissed the attacks as "insensitive" and blocked access to the bases, prompting Trump to threaten a total trade embargo.Stephens reserves his harsh criticism of Europe's opposition and skepticism, comparing Europe to "a twenty-five-year-old boy who still lives at home with his parents."And he adds: "Of course, I am very critical of Trump - everyone knows that we are throwing our clothes and saying that Trump is terrible, what are we doing to defend the West, Western values, Western civilization? Because if they are not, no one will save them. Look at countries like Ukraine, like the United States, who have the idea that some things are really worth limiting for some things and only facing obstacles for some points."
