Iran got the regime change it wanted, Democrats soon in control.
Never Too Late to Prove You’re Stupid
Republican efforts to turn rotten fish into edible Shushi continue nonstop.
The latest effort at defending a senseless war is by Montana Senator Time Sheehy in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed If You Think War Is Unpopular, Wait Till You See Defeat
That’s a free link if you care to read the entire article. Here are some excerpts.
Some blamed the war for Republicans’ midterm losses, and although exit polling is imperfect, I agree that the conflict and its effect contributed.
[Contributed? Well OK, how about 100 percent of the excess carnage. That’s about 30 extra House seats and a few Senate seats, minimum.]
Donald Trump isn’t the first president to suffer politically from an unpopular war. Ask George W. Bush about Iraq, LBJ about Vietnam, or Harry S. Truman about Korea. That final example is the most salient.
[Mish: Salient? All three wars should never have been fought. And somehow Sheehy missed Afghanistan. Literally trillion of dollars we wasted in Afghanistan could have been spent on US infrastructure. But OK, Korea ended in stalemate.]
History often vindicates difficult decisions that were deeply unpopular in their time. Our fight against Iran will prove no different. This isn’t a fight for Israel or Saudi Arabia. It is a fight for Western civilization and the security of American families.
[Mish: Warmongers and neocons said the same thing about Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, all total disasters.]
For 47 years, Iran’s leaders have bet that they can hold America hostage to its demands, making any attempt to confront the regime so costly that Washington eventually backs down. They misjudged President Trump.
[Mish: That’s more warmonger horses**t. Trump trashed a deal that Obama made that was working. Trump’s own Secretary of Defense and top general in his first administration testified under oath that Iran was honoring the deal.]
From eliminating an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps senior officer in 2020 to targeting Iran’s nuclear program in 2025 and confronting the regime militarily in 2026, Mr. Trump has made tough calls to defend American security. His instincts are correct. The Iranian people will take down this regime as long as we set the conditions for their liberation. Success could end nearly half a century of Iranian aggression that has destabilized the Middle East and cost innocent lives. If we fail, the regime will survive and be stronger than ever—once a Democratic administration and rattled neighbors pivot back to appeasement.
The war is unpopular, but defeat would be far less popular. Three generations of soldiers have fought these barbarians. We owe it to our country and the West not to make it a fourth. It is time to finish the job.
Neocon Nation Building
These fools with their nation building efforts have never succeeded. And they never will.
“If we fail, the regime will survive and be stronger than ever,” said Sheehy.
He is right about one thing, almost. Change that from if we fail, to we already failed, and Sheehy is correct.
Ahead of this blatantly stupid war, Iran agreed to a deal, nearly the same deal as Obama delivered.
Instead, Trump chose war. And here we are, with neocons defending it.
Lesson of the Day
When public support dies, and people have had enough of the stupid wars, they end.
And they nearly always end the same way. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq are the salient examples to use Sheehy’s own words.
Sheehy points to Korea, but look at Vietnam. We don’t know what would have happened in Korea had we not gotten involved.
We do know that Vietnam did not go to Communist hell after we lost the war.
The Domino Theory and the stupidity of the logic “fight them over their so we don’t fight them here” are now obvious. We lost the Vietnam war.
Sheehy is stating as fact, something that is unknowable about Korea. There is no way of knowing what would have happened.
But we do know what did happen in Vietnam, Libya, Afghanistan, and Iraq, all foreign policy and monetary disasters.
Regime Change Irony
- In Iran, we have the stupidest regime change in history. By blowing up Iran’s relatively moderate leaders, Trump put a much more hardline regime in place.
- We also have a regime change in the US.
- Iran’s goal at the start of the war was to inflict as much pain on Trump as possible. And they did.
Let’s see what I said regarding point number three.
Mish Flashback March 26, 2026: Trump “Not Sure He’s Willing to Make a Deal with Iran”
“They are begging to make a deal, not me. They’re begging to make a deal.”
Trump Does Not Negotiate
Trump does not negotiate, he demands. And his demands are usually so ridiculous the other side cannot agree to them.
And that’s where we are in this pathetic effort to achieve a deal by demand, when we already had a working deal.
What Are Trump’s Goals?
That’s an interesting question. Trump’s goals change every day if not every minute.
What Are Iran’s Goals?
This one is easy.
Iran’s overriding goal at the moment is “inflict as much pain on Trump as possible”.
Once you understand that simple fact, you understand why Trump is in a very tough spot.
Yet, Trump is sticking with the notion he can end this war in 4-6 weeks. MAGA cheers. And they cheered when Trump said “no more wars.”
They cheered when he said he would release the Epstein files. And they cheered when he refused to do so.
They cheered when Trump said he would cut energy prices in half. And they cheer now when Trump says higher inflation is a “small price to pay”.
Meanwhile, let me remind you Iran’s overriding goal at the moment is “inflict as much pain on Trump as possible”.
Core MAGA can clearly take lots of pain and lies. But the rest of the county won’t.
Mish: March 26, 2026
- Iran’s overriding goal at the moment is “inflict as much pain on Trump as possible”.
- Core MAGA can clearly take lots of pain and lies. But the rest of the county won’t.
Iran succeeded.
Liberation Irony
Here’s Sheehy’s most delusional statement: “The Iranian people will take down this regime as long as we set the conditions for their liberation.“
What a hoot. The absurdity of that statement is obvious to the world. There has never been a regime change in history by force other than complete military victory, except in reverse.
The magnificent irony is US Congress has now been liberated from MAGA Control.
What If Iran Just Honored Obama’s Nuclear Deal?
Please recall my March 25, 2026 post What If Iran Just Honored Obama’s Nuclear Deal? Would We Be at War?
Think carefully before answering. Details below.
Trump’s First Term Flashback
- Trump’s US State Department: Iran honoring the terms.
- Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Iran honoring the terms.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): Iran honoring the terms.
- Arms Control Association: Iran honoring the terms.
- All US European allies: Iran honoring the terms.
- Every other signee of the accord: Iran honoring the terms.
- Trump’s top general Gen. Joseph Dunford: Iran honoring the terms.
- Trump’s Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis: Iran was complying with the terms of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
During his first term, President Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, stated that Iran was complying with the terms of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), despite President Trump’s strong opposition to it.
Key Details on Mattis’ Statement and Context:
- Testimony (October 2017): Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mattis said, “I believe that [Iran] fundamentally [are] in compliance with its nuclear deal”.
- Contradicting Trump: Mattis, a career hawk, advised that staying in the deal was in the U.S. national security interest, putting him at odds with President Trump’s public criticism of the agreement as an “embarrassment”.
Iran only began stepping back from JCPOA limits (e.g., higher uranium enrichment levels, reduced IAEA access) after Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed sanctions—not before.
This sequence is well-documented in IAEA reports and international statements that include Trump’s top general and Secretary of Defense.
Mattis Contradicts Trump
NYT Dateline October 3, 2017: Mattis Contradicts Trump on Iran Deal Ahead of Crucial Deadline
Days before President Trump has to make a critical decision on whether to hold up the Iran nuclear deal, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis openly split with him on abandoning the agreement, the second senior member of the president’s national security team to recently contradict him.
Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine, asked whether the defense secretary thought holding onto the nuclear pact is in the interest of the national security of the United States. Mr. Mattis, a retired Marine general, paused before replying: “Yes, senator, I do.”
And at his confirmation hearing in January, Mr. Mattis described the Iran deal as flawed but said the United States should remain committed to it, and to working with the other nations that negotiated it: Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. “I think it is an imperfect arms control agreement — it’s not a friendship treaty,” Mr. Mattis said at the time. “But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.”
General Dunford testified at the same hearing alongside Mr. Mattis, and while he did not take a position on the Iran deal, his description about whether Tehran is violating the accord was at odds with the administration’s talking points. He said Iran “is not in material breach” of the agreement and that it had “delayed the development of a nuclear capability by Iran.”
Lesson of the Day, Year, Month, and Century
- The obvious lesson is don’t start stupid wars.
- The second lesson is cut losses if you do start them. Think Afghanistan and Vietnam.
- The third lesson is honor your own deals.
The Iranian leaders were the problem, not the average citizen of Iran. Unquestionably, Trump made matters worse.
We need to rid the country of all the neoncons. The best start would be to impeach Hegseth and vote everyone who still supports this war out of office, starting with Sheehy.
It’s going to happen. May as well get it over with and move on.
Related Posts
November 11, 2026: Hegseth Survives Impeachment Effort in House, for Now Anyway
Hegseth is a war criminal, but this is a good outcome.
March 2, 2026: Hegseth Says the Goal in Iran Isn’t Nation Building, It’s a Peaceful Deal
Please note Hegseth Doesn’t Rule Out U.S. Troops on the Ground.
Amusingly, we still don’t have a goal. If we do, what is it?
Article posted with permission from Mish Shedlock
