On July 17, an Iranian missile strike killed three U.S. servicemembers at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, a stark reminder of the cost of President Donald Trump’s war of choice in the Middle East. Their deaths were avoidable, just as the strategy that put them in harm’s way was and remains reversible. Such forward deployments are always a “safe” option until missiles and drones rain down, highlighting the importance of withdrawing American troops from the region and ending this disastrous war.

The Islamic Republic’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles is not a bargaining chip. It is an ideological imperative. The theocratic system that has ruled Iran since 1979 treats the acquisition of these capabilities as a religious and revolutionary duty, not a negotiable national interest. U.S. sanctions, diplomacy, and limited strikes have repeatedly demonstrated the same pattern: temporary Iranian setbacks followed by reconstitution. As long as the regime’s core ideology and coercive apparatus remain intact, the nuclear and missile programs will continue. Regime change is therefore not optional theater. It is the only durable way to remove the ideological driver itself.

The debate over U.S. autonomous weapons policy is dominated by concerns over moving too fast. Detractors warn that we may risk losing control of the systems themselves or the escalation dynamics they will impact. But, as we argue in a recent report, the reality is that the Pentagon is moving too slow owing to funding, procurement, organizational, and oversight systems that are poorly suited to fielding and continuously updating the most decisive capability on the modern battlefield. While increasingly autonomous systems are not preferable in an ideal world, they are being developed in the real one. If the U.S. neglects to develop them proactively, it risks having to develop them reactively in a crisis, with far less time to conform with our ethical standards.

Enable action by removing barriers. Phase five of John Kotter’s famous change model proves the most stubborn as Secretary Hegseth continues to reform and reimagine the Department of War from the ground up. The Department of War is no Augean Stables, but an underlying filth still hinders the ideal environment for molding America’s warriors. This rot is of the most insidious kind: legacy.