Preemption is ugly, but sometimes necessary. Reuters quoted Israel calling it a pre-emptive attack on Feb. 28, 2026, and that phrasing matters. If the aim is to blunt missiles and air defenses, you strike launchers and radar first, not shopping streets. The incentive for Tehran is to restore deterrence by retaliation; the incentive for Washington and Jerusalem is to show escalation fails. That is why target selection and public limits matter more than chest-thumping. Do you want a slower war later, after the arsenal grows, or a sharp shock now with clear off-ramps? The hawkish wager is that degrading capability buys bargaining space, and bargaining space is the only exit.