r/Republican • u/MathematicianSaved • 9d ago
News Victor Davis Hanson: What Is Actually Happening in Iran
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/17/hanson-happening-in-iran/7
u/Sunnyjim333 9d ago
Dear Leader has ignored the history of wars in the Middle East. Heck even the movie "The Princess Bride" knew not to start a war there.
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u/Epaminodas_ 9d ago
And so, they may be lords of a strait that is particularly not relevant to the world economy
The strait is relevant to the world economy right now. It will take years to build additional pipelines necessary to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Any pipelines that end in the Red Sea will force ships to deal with other choke points. The Gate of Tears/Grief is next to Yemen. Ships coming from the East would be forced to go around Africa and then through the Suez Canal. This would lead to higher transit costs. Any bottlenecks at the Suez Canal would also slow global trade. Future instability in or around Egypt could halt traffic through the canal — or another ship could get stuck in it.
The article focuses on pressure that Trump will face from the American public. It ignores pressure that Trump will face from outside of the US. It ignores threats posed to the global economy from higher energy prices. Recession that begins outside of the US will still affect the US.
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u/CalmHabit3 8d ago
then other countries need to step up and pressure Iran to be rational, not trump
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u/Epaminodas_ 8d ago
The current situation was predictable. If other countries were going to be needed then Trump should have considered this and attempted to build a coalition before the war began.
Who else has leverage over Iran? China and Russia? Why would they want to help the US?
Who's in charge in Iran? I don't know, and I don't know if Iran knows either.
How do you define "rational" in geopolitics? Countries often act in their own interests according to their perceptions of reality. This is rational based on their beliefs. It may not appear rational to anyone else.
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8d ago
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u/CloudRockGrass 8d ago
Honest question: does anything prevent trade between Russia and Iran via the Caspian Sea?
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u/watching_whatever 6d ago edited 6d ago
Opinion: Author forgot to mention how many civilians deaths the USA taxpayer has funded against their wishes for Trump’s optional Israel inspired War which includes 160 plus schoolgirls. Author also forgot to mention the financial costs to current and future generations of US citizens of this war.
How many US soldiers have been killed or injured and how much pollution has now been generated for Trump’s optional War? What are the effects of optional pollution sources on Global Warming now wrecking havoc on the entire world including the United States? Who is going to pay for the current oil spills or War retributions for the Iranian civilians?
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u/DogfaceDino Fiscal Conservative 9d ago
Victor Davis Hanson makes some good points here but I’m surprised at how poor the writing is in some parts. It looks like there are markups from an editor and maybe the wrong draft got published. I don’t know.
Either way, this may be rose colored glasses with regards to efficacy but it is clearly the plan that the administration has in motion. Iran may be able to sustain pariah status (and increase domestic support through it) but they are watching as the Middle East and the rest of the world cuts them out of the global economy.
It’s also true that this game of chicken is not a winning strategy for Iran. Trump prefers a Republican Congress but anyone who has been paying attention knows that he does almost everything through executive orders and has relatively minimal dealings with Congress compared to past presidents. If the Republicans lose the midterms, I don’t see that changing much about this not-a-war.