(PBS) Robert Kagan on why he believes U.S. faces likely defeat in Iran

[nitpicked]

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/robert-kagan-on-why-he-believes-u-s-faces-likely-defeat-in-iran

(snip)

Amna Nawaz:
(snip)

But I want to point people to what you wrote in "The Atlantic" in your latest piece about Iran. You said: "This conflict has revealed in America that is unreliable and incapable of finishing what it started. Defeat for the United States, therefore, is not only possible, but likely." Why are you so sure of that defeat?

Robert Kagan:

Well, I just don't see what options Donald Trump has or is willing to undertake in order to open up the strait.
(snip)

If Iran can charge tolls, if Iran determines who gets in and out of the strait and when, that's just enormous power. And, in fact, I think it's even more power than they would have if they were able to develop a nuclear weapon. And I don't see what option Trump has to solve this problem, because they bombed Iran very effectively for 37 days.

They took out the entire leadership, and yet Iran has never made a concession, and the administration has never been able to do anything to open the strait. So I think the option that would be necessary would be a full-scale invasion of Iran if you really wanted to remove the regime and open the strait. I don't think Donald Trump or the American people want to do that.
(snip)

[BootinUp]

1. simple arithmetic. nt

[Midnight Writer]

2. The bit of it is that anyone with sense saw this coming all along.

Unfortunately, the reality TV stars running the country purged everyone who was more competent than they are.

They laugh at reason.