Avoid prolonged conflict with Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 28, 2026
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, issued the following statement in response:

“By attacking Iran, President Trump is risking the lives of U.S. servicemembers for an unnecessary war under the false notion that a country as weak and remote as Iran, which cannot strike the American homeland, posed an imminent threat to the United States.

“What is this war about? The American people do not know. President Trump never articulated clear objectives for striking Iran let alone a feasible military plan for achieving U.S. aims, whatever those may be, at acceptable cost and risk. Wars launched without clearly defined goals can expand far too easily beyond strategic sense—and as 25 years of failed U.S. policies show, it is far easier to start a war in the Middle East than to end one. The overriding imperative now is for the U.S. to avoid escalation into a prolonged conflict that wastes American power rather than enhances it.”

Author

Rosemary
Kelanic

Director, Middle East Program

Defense Priorities