The Daily Signal - The Left’s ‘Politically Advantageous' Iran War Narrative | Victor Davis Hanson
Episode Date: March 16, 2026It’s the second week of the so-called Iran war, and we’re told that it’s dragging on, we’re losing, and the Trump administration has no real success plan, or clear end in sight. How is ...it then that Iran has no military, navy or leaders left, asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words.” “When you look at Iran… it has no military left… All of these special contingents are under enormous assault: The command and control is destroyed, the missile defense is destroyed. And yet people say that it's unconquerable. It doesn't make any sense... So what's going on?” (00:00) Surreal Iran War Setup (02:17) Why Coverage Feels Missing (03:52) War Unity Then vs Now (05:06) Partisan Narratives and Protests (07:24) Outcomes and Alternate Reality 👉 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
Discussion (0)
We're in the second week of the so-called Iran War.
There's a very surreal war.
I don't think any of us have seen anything like it.
It's only been two weeks, and we're told that it's dragging on, that it's a forever war,
that we're losing, that the Pentagon and the Trump administration had no plans.
And yet, when you look at Iran, this huge country, much, much bigger, much more populous than Iraq or Afghanistan,
and it has no military left.
And yet people say that it's unconquerable.
It doesn't make any sense.
Its output of missiles and drones at the Gulf petrol states, and Israel has dropped by 90%.
So what's going on?
Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal.
We're in the second week just completing it of the so-called Iran War, this effort of the United
States to bomb theocracy into submission, so they will cancel their missile.
and nuclear programs and to champion the popular protest on the streets that have some potential
to get rid of the regime itself.
But it's a very surreal war.
I haven't seen, I don't think any of us have seen anything like it.
It's only been two weeks, and we're told that it's dragging on, that it's a forever war,
that we're losing, that the Pentagon and the Trump administration had no plans.
And yet, when you look at Iran, this huge country,
country much, much bigger, much more popular, populous than Iraq or Afghanistan, and it has no
military left. The Navy is dismantled. The Air Force is dismantled. The Republican Guard,
all of these special contingents are under enormous assault. The command and control is
destroyed. The missile defense is destroyed. And yet people say that it's unconquerable. It
doesn't make any sense. It's output of missiles and drones at the Gulf Petrol states, and Israel has
dropped by 90%. So what's going on? And I think part of the problem is that there's no media coverage.
There are no embedded reporters because we are not on the ground. When you don't have a ground fight
in enemy territory, you don't have American embedded journalists traveling with the troops that can give
diverse opinions, accurate accounts. All we have are the journalists who are allowed into Iran,
and that happens to be, guess who, CNN, and they report the party line that comes out of the Iranian
theocracy. Again, an air war is very hard to cover because planes, pilots can't talk to anybody.
They're at bases that are secluded and secure. They get in the planes, they fly their mission,
and they go home. And there's no way a journalist can really get to.
to them or talk to them. So all of our information comes from three sources. The Iranian propaganda
machine, which is completely not credible. It's about as credible as the Amos body count that we
saw two years ago. Or CNN and a few other Western but very biased news outlets that only Iran will
let in based on the conditions which they impose on them and the Israelis. And the only thing you can
find out about this war that's official comes from the Israeli government and some Israeli newspapers.
The Israeli Times or Israel Times are the Jerusalem Post. So there's a lot of misinformation about
the actual damage that we're inflicting. And then there's the attitude toward the war,
the attitude. In World War II, everybody was behind the United States. We did a lot of things that we regretted, the Japanese internment. We made a lot of mistakes strategically. Okinawa, Tarawa were disasters. The B-17 bombing program cost $40,000. But everybody basically said we don't have to be perfect to be good. We're going to win our war because our cause is better than the alternative. That's gone now. It's gone. It's going to.
Even in the first Gulf War of 1990-91, people were united.
But the Democratic Party is not the Democratic Party of Bill Clinton.
It's a socialist party.
That's a euphemism.
It really does not believe in traditional America.
And it believes that if it can convey a sense that America is losing,
then two things follow it.
For some, it means that the November midterms might give power back,
to the Democrats, and therefore it's in their self-interest to magnify the debacle, so to speak,
or the tragedy, or that we're losing.
And then there's others that actually in the Democratic Party, and I'm talking about the squad
or alien, they actually are sympathizing with the enemy.
If you think I'm crazy, there was a protest out in New York where we had resident aliens,
students here on student visa, naturalized citizens, and what were they, what were they
screaming, shame on the United States, why we're at war, and who were they protesting on behalf of,
Iran, the Hezbollah terrorists, and the Hamas terrorists. And so this is a very bizarre thing.
In addition to that, we've got the element of anti-Semitism where we have the Democratic Party now,
its base is just unavoidly anti-Semitic. And I'll just make a casual observation.
I will predict that you will not have a Jewish-American president-candidate or vice-presidential candidate for the foreseeable future.
It is impossible to nominate anybody with a Jewish background on a national ticket in the Democratic Party.
And you can see that as the Democrats look at this war.
They have bought hook, blind, and sinker the idea that Benjamin Netanyahu is pulling the strings of the Donald Trump puppet.
and tiny Israel is getting into this war, despite the fact that all seven prior presidents
Trump himself said on the record that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon on its watch
and that they would take measures to ensure that it didn't and didn't for the future.
None of them did that.
None of them did that.
And so when you look at the first Gulf War, it was 42.
days, but only four days were on the ground. It was a magnificent victory, but 300 people were
killed. We've lost about, what, 14, 13 casualty fatalities. 300. That was considered amazing at the time.
And they overran the country, but it took 42 days to disable it. And they left Saddam Hussein
in power, and they had to go back. And so that was considered a
a stellar success. But this is a much more dramatic victory. I mean, we've only been here two weeks,
and the much more formidable enemy is in shambles. And we're left with just three alternatives.
Either the regime is going to be replaced now or in the next few weeks as the people come out of
their homes and see what their country is like and what theocracy caused and what it did to them.
Or there's going to be some Venezuelan solution with a strong man will come forward. Or maybe that
won't happen at all, and the United States under political pressure will stop. But if it stops,
they have destroyed the Iranian military and its nuclear and missile program for years. So this was
all preferable to the situation pre-war in which Iran still was working on the bomb, still had
3,000 missiles and more drones and was boasting that it was going to, any time it wanted,
close the Straits of Hermos. And they've tried it, and they will not be successful.
put it all together.
This is a surreal war.
What is actually happening is not being reported,
and there's an alternate reality
that's been constructed by the left
that sees this war as politically advantageous
to its agenda to recapture power in the United States.
If it convince us the American people
that, A, we're losing,
B, we may deserve to lose.
C, it's all Donald Trump's fault,
and this war will be beneficial
and denying him the Republican majorities in Congress
in about eight months.
Thank you very much.
This is Victor Davis-Hanson for The Daily Signal.
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