In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

President Donald Trump seems to want two incompatible things: unequivocal victory over Iran and avoiding even a marginal number of combat deaths. As regrettable as that choice is, he will need to soon face up to the fact that to achieve the former, he must incur the latter.