Readers respond to Question of the Week: Was Iran bombing right U.S. strategy?

I applaud him for his move

It may turn out that Trump bombing around nuke sites was a brilliant plan or one that didn’t get the job done. This remains to be seen. I am sick and tired of the second-guessing and 20-20 hindsight from the news pundits. If it was successful, Trump will be a hero and will probably in contention for the Nobel Peace Prize especially with his mediation of the Pakistan and India altercation. If the bombing did not destroy the enriched uranium, he will be considered a failure in this military adventure to the delight of his opponents. I applaud him for his decisive move in this matter as he probably (hopefully) had much more detailed intelligence data than we did pointing him to his decision, as much as I hate seeing him in charge of our military forces because he is a man who cannot be trusted.

— Henry Nowakowski, Orange

It was the correct decision

President Trump’s Iran bombing did not violate the War Powers Act of 1973. The act gives the president up to 48 hours after a preemptive attack to advise Congress that our armed forces have engaged the enemy. He wrote that letter the next day. No successful leader has ever disclosed his tactical plans. Can you imagine General Eisenhower advising Congress of the time and place of D-Day? After years of futile talking, our new U.S. strategy may be working. Iran and others surely see that our global military reach can obliterate their nuclear dream in a few days or weeks with minimum loss of life. Both Russia and China have been diplomatically silent.

— Richard Stegemeier, Anaheim

No, it wasn’t right

President Trump needed to first seek congressional authorization before creating something with such potential dangerous consequences. In a democracy he should have first sought approval before bombing three of Iran’s nuclear sites. Yet Trump claims success by eliminating three of Iran’s nuclear facilities and causing a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Still, many Americans have criticized his actions and disapproved of these airstrikes as it increases the Iranian threat to the U.S. Hopefully this will not be the case, and that Israel and Iran will continue this ceasefire and even reconcile the lingering war in Gaza.

— Isadora Johnson, Seal Beach