In a strange way, ’s second-term foreign policy has managed not to please hawks or doves, precisely because it tried to please both of them at once.

Trump’s favorite mode of engagement is the spectacular display. The assassination of General Solemaini. Or the raid to capture . The operation of bombing was drawn up to be like this. And so too his bombing attack on the Iranian regime leaders at the end of February this year.

The operations were not meant to be major, drawn-out commitments, but at the same time, they were supposed to realize the upside of intervention that more hawkish advisers and commentators wanted.

The Iran war is stuck in between and has become a trap, and I think the Iranian regime understands it to be one. America cannot escalate without far outrunning the public’s appetite for war, which was limited to begin with. But America will have trouble moving back without effectively “taking the L” — looking like it is retreating, and possibly acknowledging Iranian control of the Strait.