The Iran War Without a Clear Endgame

Nobody in the Trump administration seems to have planned for the Iran war, which started in late February, to still be ongoing into August. But here we are. Militarily, as has typically been the case with modern American wars, we have gone from one victory to the next. But Clausewitz’s dictum that war is politics by other means remains undefeated. We have not accomplished our political goals because it’s not clear that we have any.

This war was launched without a clear sense of its political objectives — and certainly, without communicating those goals to the American people or obtaining the approval of those goals from Congress. Without a clearly defined and realistic objective, that’s how you win and win and win and find yourself still not having won. The political, economic, and diplomatic costs of this have been obvious enough. We should think harder about the moral costs.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Nobody in the Trump administration seems to have planned for the Iran war, which started in late February, to still be ongoing into August. But here we are. Militarily, as has typically been the case with modern American wars, we have gone from one victory to the next. But Clausewitz’s dictum that war is politics by other means remains undefeated. We have not accomplished our political goals because it’s not clear that we have any.

This war was launched without a clear sense of its political objectives — and certainly, without communicating those goals to the American people or obtaining the approval of those goals from Congress. Without a clearly defined and realistic objective, that’s how you win and win and win and find yourself still not having won. The political, economic, and diplomatic costs of this have been obvious enough. We should think harder about the moral costs.