‘No clear goal’: lack of Iran war plan has unleashed chaos and could stymie US military for decades, say critics

<p>White House contends with reality of shoddy preparations for war and unclear conditions for victory</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/13/iran-war-news-live-updates-us-israel-middle-east-crisis-latest">Middle East crisis – live updates</a></p></li></ul><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/feb/17/sign-up-for-the-breaking-news-us-email-to-get-newsletter-alerts-direct-to-your-inbox?utm_medium=ACQUISITIONS_STANDFIRST&amp;utm_campaign=BN22326&amp;utm_content=signup&amp;utm_term=standfirst&amp;utm_source=GUARDIAN_WEB">Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email</a></p></li></ul><p>As US and Israeli jets descended to deliver the opening salvos of the war in Iran, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump">Donald Trump</a>’s back-of-the-envelope plan for regime change in Tehran was about to run into the reality of the largest US intervention in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/middleeast">Middle East</a> since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.</p><p>That reality came quickly.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/13/goal-plan-iran-war-military">Continue reading...</a>

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