War is over. Not.

Four weeks or less.

Those are the words of President Donald Trump, two days after Israel and the United States started bombing Iran on February 28. That’s how long he said the war would last.

“Four weeks or less.” As of today, 24 days - three weeks and a bit - have passed since Israel and the U.S. launched what they called a “decapitation strike.”

On the very first day of the war, Israel and America scored an impressive victory: they eliminated the monstrous Iranian dictator, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with high-ranking figures in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), security chief Ali Larijani, and intelligence minister Ismail Khatib.  It was a masterful military manoeuvre. Could the war be over before it started?

"PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Trump declared at the time on social media. It was time for Iranians to “take back” their country, he said.

Except, they didn’t. They haven’t. Instead, Iranians are (understandably) sheltering from the bombs that are raining down from above. And, as we edge closer to the four-week mark, it is evident that the war is not over. If anything, it has been escalating.

Iranian attacks on U.S. military bases and Arab states - along with Israel - have caused hundreds of millions in damage and scores of civilian deaths. Iran’s drones and missiles, too, have taken out energy infrastructure in places like Qatar, and effectively shut down the vital Strait of Hormuz to marine traffic.

Over the weekend, The New York Times ran a fascinating four-byline piece about how the war happened.  Essentially, then Time’s investigation found, two things persuaded Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act when they did: bad intelligence, and widespread hubris.

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