People want clean hands and safe borders, and they rarely get both. Reports say the U.S. defense department called it Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, 2026, and the targets were missile sites, air defenses, and command nodes. That is the machinery that makes intimidation possible. When you leave that machinery intact, you invite more risk-taking because the cost of aggression looks low. Degrading it raises the cost and can push the other side back toward bargaining. Yes, retaliation follows, but the choice was not between violence and silence, it was between now and later with bigger arsenals. If deterrence is unpopular, fine; it still keeps wars smaller than wishful thinking does.