Trump Won The Battle, But Will He Take Iran? | Victor Davis Hanson

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🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

By all traditional methodology and criteria, Iran is now inert: naval and air forces eviscerated, missile defenses offline, and an army rendered largely useless, as no one is fighting on the ground. However, tactical success is not necessarily equivalent to strategic victory. It is hard to think of a single battle lost in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet the United States lacked a plan for strategic resolution in either theater. With this in mind, Iran’s current strategy is as follows: The mullahs can afford to lose their military because, ultimately, without U.S. troops on the ground, the regime will remain intact. This, and many other factors, begs the question: Where does Trump go from here? asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “In other words, they're saying as long as we have oil, Kharg Island, and as long as we have these huge oil fields, when you get tired of pounding us into rubble, you're going go back to the United States. Israel's going go back and be quiet, and we're going get all of our oil revenues and we're going have them. “And we are going to buy from Russia, North Korea and China missiles, drones, recreate our own drone industry, and we probably have enough fissile material that you didn't get, and nobody could get. It's hidden deep in the mountains, that we will make bombs. And this time we're going to use them because we understand what you will do next time.” (00:00) Standoff And Attrition (02:08) Remaining Threats And Civilians (03:09) Tactical Wins Strategic Traps (04:30) Iran Strategy: Outlast Trump (06:49) Trump Agenda Endgame Risks 👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Springs blooming at Starbucks.
0:03.0	A new season calls for new discoveries,
0:06.0	like our iced Ube-Vinilla Machilate.
0:09.0	Smooth, creamy and nutty, balanced with notes of vanilla.
0:13.0	It's a treat for the ice too,
0:15.0	with vibrant lilac hues to brighten your spring mood.
0:18.0	Hot or iced, there are so many ways to love this stunning salve.
0:23.8	Ube vanilla, pouring now at Starbucks.
0:27.4	Subject to availability while stocks last.
0:30.1	We're concluding the third week of the Israeli United States' effort to amasculate Iran,
0:36.9	and we're sort of in a standoff period.
0:39.1	The Navy is non-existent.
0:41.0	There is no air force.
0:42.2	There are no missile defenses that can interrupt allied planes going over the country.
0:46.9	The army is useless because nobody is fighting on the ground.
0:50.3	The thing to remember, I think, historically, is that tactical success is not necessarily
0:55.5	equivalent to strategic victory or resolution. By that, I mean, you can argue that when
1:00.1	Napoleon invaded Russia, he won almost every battle and he captured Moscow, but he did not
1:05.1	have a plan to force Alexander. He had no plan to force him out. We had impressive tactical victories in Iraq and
1:12.8	Afghanistan. It's hard to think we lost a single battle in Iraq, but we did not have a plan of
1:17.8	strategic resolution. So what is the third week of the Israeli United States
1:38.7	effort to emasculate Iran. And we're sort of in a standoff period. I think people have compared
	...

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