The 'armada' sent by Donald Trump to the Middle East, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, is long overdue. Striking the Mullahs does not automatically mean regime change; and regime change does not automatically mean freedom or even stability. The Mullahs were shaken, the military hardware severely degraded, but they didn't surrender and they set about rebuilding their missile stocks. And in the background, cyber attacks would scramble the Islamic Republic's military infrastructure, allowing it to be smashed by American power. If the armada is to be more than a photograph and a headline, it must provide the people of Iran with the tools to finish the job – and end the rule of the Mullahs themselves.