President Trump’s decision to call off military strikes against Iran in response to the downing of an unmanned aerial vehicle is drawing both criticism and support. Was it a case of blinking? Or was it the right call to back away from something that could have triggered a cycle of retaliation?

It’s really debatable. On the one hand, Iran has been waging a low-grade war on the United States for decades. They’ve backed terrorist attacks like the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. They provided improvised explosive device parts that killed American servicemen. This is a regime that has openly declared that they want to wipe Israel off the map. Downing the MQ-4 Triton unmanned aerial vehicle operating in international airspace so soon after being caught placing limpet mines on oil tankers is just the latest in the list of reasons.