AMHERST, Massachusetts — Many commentators, including those on the right, have dubbed United States President Donald Trump’s “Operation Epic Fury” against Iran “Operation Epic Fail”: an extravagant waste of money, military hardware, and lives in the service of an ill-conceived war with ever-changing objectives. Meanwhile, most legal observers consider the operation an illegal act that violates the United Nations Charter’s prohibition on the use of military force except for self-defense or in armed interventions authorized by the UN Security Council.