Power plants are legitimate targets in war. They’re “dual purpose” infrastructure in that they serve a civilian purpose but also a military one. (The same was true of the large bridge in Tehran that we took out last week.)

That’s one reason that terrorists like Hamas position their military commands in hospitals, not power plants. It is recognized that hospitals are not legitimate targets (unless a military use is made of them) while power plants are.

America is therefore justified in disabling Iran’s power plants, as President Trump has threatened to do. It will be much tougher for Iran to launch drones and missiles without electric power.

But let me offer a fine point on this strategy. Once you carry out a threat, then you can no longer threaten it. A threat that has been carried out has no further utility in negotiations.

And so, don’t disable all the power plants at once. Let’s instead disable, say, one power plant per day. Call it the One-A-Day treatment. AI tells me that Iran as a country of 90-some million people has a few hundred power plants. At one a day, we have a year’s worth of targets.

By proceeding this way, the mullahs will experience ever-increasing pain and ever-decreasing lights, air conditioning and electricity. Moreover, the mullahs themselves will endure this, not just their people.

Let’s make good on our threat, while still keeping the threat alive.