Trump may have won a strategic pause in Iran. Now comes the hard part

More than two decades ago, as a Pentagon strategist during the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, I found myself asking a question that received far less attention than troop movements, air strikes or invasion plans: What happens after the initial victory?

Military planners focused on defeating Saddam Hussein's regime. I remained concerned about what would follow. Even with access to senior-level planning discussions and classified assessments, I believed too many assumptions were being made...