Why do so many Americans oppose the war against Iran?

The biggest reason is that they do not believe Iran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. If Iran was nowhere near a bomb, President Donald Trump's decision to use military force looks unnecessary, even reckless. But if Iran was close, as Trump claims, the debate changes dramatically.

That is why NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's recent assessment should have been a major news story.

During his June 24 Oval Office meeting with Trump, Rutte said: "This is, first of all, about the nuclear capability Iran was basically getting its hands on — and that would have been a threat to the region. It would've been a threat to the whole world." The next day, Rutte was even more direct. "We know they were close," he said, while commending the United States "for making sure that the world stays safe from Iran with a nuclear capability."

Rutte's statement does not, of course, establish as a matter of fact that Iran was close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, let alone how close. But it is unquestionably newsworthy that the secretary general of NATO assessed Iran's nuclear progress substantially the same way Trump did.

Rutte's statement did not merely express the view that Iran........

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