In 1940, Hermann Göring told boss and friend Adolf Hitler that his Luftwaffe would bring England to its knees in a matter of weeks. His bombers were too swift and his bombs too big to resist. Instead, an underdog RAF and a resilient population, personified by bulldog Winston Churchill, vexed the prediction. In the end, Hitler’s refusal to dispatch an invasion force while the bombing continued cost him dearly. In Iran, American and Israeli air power are facing similar resistance. By refusing to send troops to back up its aerial bombardment, the two righteous powers are giving Iran’s ferociously committed Revolutionary Guard reason to hope. Even Iranians who despise their regime can applaud the grit of their own flesh and blood. Nazi Germany sought both capitulation and humiliation. But arrogance produced a miscalculation. A miscalculation may also be in the offing among those who foresaw an Iran cakewalk. All this because neither Washington nor Jerusalem is willing to let troops die in the name of what they insist is a noble cause — a cowardly outlook. In war, gain sometimes requires pain.