A gunman opened fire outside Buford’s bar in Austin, Texas, on March 1, 2026, killing four people and wounding 13. The shooter, Ndiaga Diagne, wore a shirt displaying an Iranian flag and the phrase “Property of Allah.” The attack unfolded 26 hours after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran commenced under Operation Epic Fury. Diagne never appeared on FBI radar. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared that Iranian sleeper cells or lone wolves must be taken seriously. Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker put it bluntly: if Hezbollah or similar groups intend to strike violently inside the United States, the window has opened.
Federal investigators disrupted 17 Iran-linked plots across the country in the past five years alone. Hezbollah operatives ran surveillance in New York City and Texas. Others acquired explosive precursors including ammonium nitrate. Thousands of Iranian nationals entered the United States illegally during previous administrations, leaving gaps that intelligence officials describe as operational unknowns. The Austin incident shows the danger extends beyond those already tracked. Partial measures, from border releases to limited monitoring, fail to contain the network. They stir it.
Under the Biden administration, catch-and-release policies at the southern border allowed suspects from disrupted plots to walk free. A 2023 federal case in New York saw an Iranian operative charged with surveillance released on bond by a judge appointed during the Obama years. Europe followed a similar path for too long. Germany now faces high-risk alerts for Iranian sleeper cells activated after a fatwa issued following Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in the recent strikes. British intelligence monitors spies being repurposed for domestic attacks. Proxy assassinations and surveillance operations on European soil went unchallenged until the current escalation forced action.
Iran’s retaliation widened the conflict. Missiles and drones struck U.S. bases and civilian sites in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha took direct hits. Airspace shut down across the Gulf. Thousands of commercial flights vanished from schedules. Arab nations that once stayed on the sidelines now press to join the coalition. Direct attacks on their territory ended any illusion of distance from the fight.
President Trump chose a different path from the one taken in 2016, when the Obama administration delivered $1.7 billion in cash pallets to Iran as part of the nuclear deal settlement. Operation Epic Fury destroyed Iran’s air force, navy, and top leadership. Trump stated on Truth Social that the strikes removed the regime’s capacity to threaten Americans. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reminded the public of Iran’s proxy record: car bombs in Beirut, roadside explosives in Iraq and Afghanistan, all claiming American lives. Since January 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained more than 200 Iranian nationals, including individuals with confirmed Hezbollah connections. Acting Director Tom Homan emphasized that national security cases now receive strict, prolonged custody.
Why do half-measures against such enemies not merely fail, but actively multiply the danger? The Bible answers with unmistakable clarity. “But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell” (Numbers 33:55). The Hebrew terms l’tz’nen (pricks) and l’sik’im (thorns) convey sharp, constant pain from anything left in place. The Sages read this verse as a direct command: threats to survival demand complete removal. Anything less invites perpetual affliction.
Leaving roots intact guarantees they will regrow stronger. Mowing the lawn scatters weed seeds farther. Cash payments and lenient policies fertilized Iran’s reach. Trump’s strikes and domestic arrests pull those roots out entirely. America and its allies will find real security only when the job is finished without hesitation or retreat.
