President Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities may well be seen as one of the boldest moves by a president since Ronald Reagan’s challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Berlin Wall. It was a long overdue response to a rogue regime apparently intent on building and using a nuclear weapon against Israel and potentially against this country and others.

For decades, U.S. presidents have denounced Iran and its proxies in the region and declared that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Most tried but all failed to rein in this malevolent theocracy that has oppressed its people and destabilized the entire Middle East for 46 long years. 

Operation Midnight Hammer changed the trajectory of endless war toward the possibility of a more lasting peace from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. 

The operation was not just a positive for Israel and the region. It delivered a positive outcome for the United States and the rest of the world. Had Iran been allowed to continue on its deadly path, the security of the entire world would remain at risk with the scale of potential deaths in the millions, a truly frightening prospect. 

Midnight Hammer wasn’t an act of war. It was a defensive response by the United States to Iran’s growing threat. 

The president and his military advisers understood that Iran’s intransigence did not require defeating a country in the field with boots on the ground. But it did require military force. 

The operation was a success, the scale of which will be determined in the next couple of weeks and months as post-operation assessments are completed. The one thing we do know is that this is a significant setback to any plan by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to develop a nuclear weapon in the immediate future.

Going to war is not the stuff of celebration. Ending war, or at least lessening its possibility, is.

This should be a moment of national pride. A time when all Americans can come together to salute the men and women of the U.S. military, the airmen and sailors, who did their duty and did their country proud — and maybe give a nod to President Trump, who made a tough call.

But here at home, some offered only negative responses, complaining that the president needed approval by Congress. This was predominantly from the Democratic Party, and several in the party went so far as to call it an impeachable offense. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a social post widely disseminated by the media, called it “absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” she wrote.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer weighed in by saying, “No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy.” 

On Tuesday, when Rep. Al Green tried to fast-track an impeachment resolution, 38 percent of House Democrats present voted against tabling it. Although House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was among the other 62 percent who joined Republicans in tabling the impeachment effort, he also called this “a dangerous moment,” demanding the Trump administration come to Congress and “justify actions for which we’ve seen no evidence to justify its offensive strength in Iran.”

Perhaps they are all forgetting the 26,172 bombs President Obama dropped on a variety of countries in 2016, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Or the bombing campaign in Kosovo in 1999 under President Bill Clinton. Or President Biden’s 2021 bombing attacks in Iraq and Syria. Where were the calls for their impeachment?

So as Democrats and a handful of recalcitrant Republicans engage on whether Trump’s actions are impeachable or unconstitutional or a violation of the War Powers Act, perhaps a better response might be some gratitude for the remarkable efforts made by the U.S. military. 

Sadly, the Democrats’ negative response to Trump’s decision is emblematic of a party, leaderless and lost in its reactive posture to oppose all things Trump regardless of merit or outcome. Rather than focusing on what looks to be a huge setback to the Iranian nuclear threat, most saw it as just another opportunity to attack Trump. 

This is exactly why the Democratic Party continues to struggle. Issues aren’t issues. They are openings to condemn Trump and feed their increasingly voracious base hungry for their leaders to fight harder against Trump. Democratic strategy has devolved into reaction not action, insults not ideas, and opposition to whatever Donald Trump does, proposes or says, even in dangerous national security situations. 

This isn’t the Democratic Party; it is simply the anti-Trump party. That strategy didn’t work in 2016 or 2024. And Biden’s attempt to appease the hard-left beast didn’t work either. 

But it appears that the Democratic base is now clamoring for more of the same red meat that has cost them two elections, and Hill Democrats, given their comments over the past few days, seem more than willing to deliver it, even at the expense of American unity during a national security crisis. 

After the White House said Jeffries could not be reached ahead of the strikes, Fox anchor Dana Perino commented, “Hakeem Jeffries not answering the phone is the perfect metaphor for his leadership of the Democratic Party in the House.” 

It could also be the perfect metaphor for today’s Democratic Party. 

Whether the ceasefire holds and peace can be achieved in the next few weeks remains a question, but whatever comes, Operation Midnight Hammer was brilliantly planned and executed at a scale that is truly remarkable. The number of moving pieces in this operation is difficult to fathom. The country can take away much from this operation, but none more important than a renewed appreciation for our military might and pride in our military forces. 

The world is safer today because of them.

David Winston is the president of The Winston Group and a longtime adviser to congressional Republicans. He previously served as the director of planning for Speaker Newt Gingrich. He advises Fortune 100 companies, foundations and nonprofit organizations on strategic planning and public policy issues, as well as serving as an election analyst for CBS News.