Montana's Chief Justice, Iraq War Vet on Trump's Necessary Call

Cory Swanson is the Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court. He's also an Iraq war veteran with several deployments under his belt.

Following the successful strikes on the Iranian nuclear sites, he composed a powerful guest opinion that you can read in full below.

President Trump’s Necessary Air Strike on Iran

By Chief Justice Cory Swanson

On March 21, 2011, I was on duty as the night operations officer at the 1-163rd Infantry headquarters in southern Iraq. I received a satellite radio call from my Battalion Commander, who was leading a night security patrol with one of our units. The lead truck had been hit by an IED and the gunner had been killed. This brave young American was on his final patrol before going home to his wife and young son, when he volunteered to take the gunner’s seat to give another soldier a rest. We subsequently learned he was hit by a copper-plate explosively-shaped penetrator, which was the most sophisticated IED in the theater. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force was the manufacturer and supplier of that IED. The IRGC permanently destroyed that family.The Middle East is a dangerous neighborhood, and the greatest threat hanging over the region is Iran. The Sunni Muslim states don’t fear an invasion from Israel; they fear bullying, proxy attacks, and missile or drone launches courtesy of Iran. And the entire region becomes more dangerous when it’s not clear whether America will stand with its allies or allow the neighborhood bully to dominate. It was all the more unfortunate when the Biden administration signaled American weakness with its disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

President Biden’s confusion convinced Iran that its time had finally come. Iran approved the Hamas and Hezbollah attacks on Israel in October 2023. But Israel executed a brilliant and stunningly-effective military and intelligence campaign against both terrorist organizations, which has largely defanged these brutal Iranian proxies. Then when Bashar Al-Assad fled Syria, Israel took that opportunity to destroy the majority of Syrian military equipment. Those steps left Iran weaker and more isolated than arguably any time since the early 1980’s. Perhaps this desperation is what prompted Iran to disregard all pretense of peaceful nuclear development, and attempt to speed toward a nuclear weapon.

Israel and the U.S. recognized that Iran’s moment of opportunism produced our moment of necessity. If we allowed Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, then every problem in the Middle East would suddenly evolve from difficult to intractable for two reasons. First, it would likely spur a regional arms race where Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey would develop their own nuclear arsenals. Second, it’s unclear whether the current Ayatollah or his successor would merely use their nukes for blackmail, or actually detonate them on Israel, Saudi Arabia, or America to usher in the end-of-the-world scenario that accompanies their radical beliefs.

The conditions were therefore set: Iranian desperation combined with Israeli and American will and capability to destroy perhaps the single biggest threat to our national security. For over twenty years, our leaders have been warning us about the existential danger posed by Iran’s nuclear program. The danger was clear, but only President Trump had the resolve to do something about it.

President Trump made the right call—he attacked the Iranian nuclear weapons program with the bombing capability that only America possesses. In the days following the strikes, the action has been called many things: dangerous, illegal, reckless. I have another word to describe it: NECESSARY.

It was necessary to act now, to act decisively. It’s not necessary to invade Iran, to topple the regime, or to get sucked into another desert quagmire. That’s why the strategic context and achievable goals of this strike were so clear, and were so clearly communicated in advance to Iran. But the Ayatollah chose not to give up his nukes, and he left America with no other option. Those who fear this necessarily means another decade of boots on the ground need to recognize the President understands that is not in America’s interest.

Clear objectives don’t mean easy solutions. We may have to continue to strike the facilities or force inspections as part of a cease-fire to ensure they are completely destroyed. There will be difficult days and decisions ahead. But they will be much less difficult and dangerous than if we fecklessly stood by with wringing hands and allowed Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. This was the right action at the right time.

Cory Swanson is Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and an Iraq War veteran.