Stanley McChrystal: How to Lose a War

Retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal was summoned to the set of CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday to talk about his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, not Israel’s war against Iran’s terrorist proxies. He should have stuck to that plan.

“I spent a long time in counterterrorism,” McChrystal replied when asked if Israel should continue to “take Hezbollah to the mat” or take the opportunity presented by the organization’s decapitation to de-escalate. “We killed a lot of people, and what I learned was, unless you have an outcome, a political outcome that is durable, that all of those kinds of activities don’t last,” he said.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Retired U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal was summoned to the set of CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday to talk about his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, not Israel’s war against Iran’s terrorist proxies. He should have stuck to that plan.

“I spent a long time in counterterrorism,” McChrystal replied when asked if Israel should continue to “take Hezbollah to the mat” or take the opportunity presented by the organization’s decapitation to de-escalate. “We killed a lot of people, and what I learned was, unless you have an outcome, a political outcome that is durable, that all of those kinds of activities don’t last,” he said.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.