In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

Once started, wars take a dynamic of their own, surprising everyone involved, no matter how certain the outcome seemed at the outset. The Iranian mullahs thought they could withstand any attack and bring “death to America,” and the Trump administration thought it could eliminate Iran’s capabilities and perhaps even change the regime by bombing. So far, the former have been proven wrong, and many of them are dead by now, but the latter has not yet been proven right.