US-Israeli failure to bomb Iran into submission was preordained

Winston Churchill famously praised the resilience of the British people during the Blitz, describing the nightly bombings of London as a “cruel, wanton, indiscriminate” attempt by Adolf Hitler to break the spirit of a tough “island race”.

He was not wrong about the toughness and courage of his fellow citizens.

But as one of the United Kingdom’s greatest leaders and historical writers, he created a false impression of the uniqueness of the British wartime experience. Strategic bombing alone,...