India, Aug. 9 -- What planners missed is something political scientists have documented again and again: when a country is attacked from outside, its people tend to rally behind the state.

When President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greenlit a campaign aimed at Iran's nuclear programme, its military leadership and its command structure, the goal was obvious: hurt the regime badly enough that its own citizens might finish the job. He actually said so in a televised address on 28 February this year: "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for a generation." In other words, the plan was to weaken the Islamic Republic from the outside, an...