It’s not preemptive. It’s a long mess in the making.
But, contrary to popular opinion, it really didn’t start in 1979.
It’s not something to necessarily be proud of but our government has been intervening in Persia/Iran for a long time. It’s always been about the oil. We’ve instigated coups and other manipulations. We even propped up Sadam Hussein to fight them.
The US isn’t exactly an innocent victim.
But, I still believe this is mostly about China. Trump is trying to control the energy supply. Control the oil…control the world.