APRIL 15, 2026 – Though I’m not a veteran of the armed services, I have empathy for those who currently serve in the United States Army, Navy, Marines or Air Force, especially those who are among the 50,000 service members stationed in the Middle East. That empathy, however, is overshadowed by my support for a foreign policy that favors diplomatic and economic strategy (including “soft power”) over military might. This sentiment arises from more than my abhorrence of violence and cruelty suffered by civilians. It stems from exactly what’s on display in Trump’s war against Iran: “tactical brilliance vs. strategic failure,” a common feature of America’s wars since WW II.
The Founders probably had it right to structure government in a way that subordinates military power to civilian control conferred to Congress under Article I, Section 8 (war powers and appropriations (not to exceed two years) and to the President under Article II, Section 2 (commander in chief of army and navy). But imagine if civilian control winds up in the hands of (a) a president who is a mercurial junkyard dog with appallingly bad judgment, no understanding of history, diplomacy, economics or military matters, no desire to acquire any such understanding, and no aptitude for anything constructive; and (b) a Congress that has wholly abdicated from its constitutional role as a check and balance against said president.
Except . . . we needn’t “imagine.” The reality is that by putting Trump in the White House and compliant Republicans in Congress, we put our military personnel in an untenable position. The ramifications will be materially adverse and long enduring. Before the war against Iran, by all empirical and qualitative measures we had the best and biggest military on earth and in history. It was assembled at a staggering cost—more than the military budgets of all other countries combined—and at the expense of addressing so many other vital needs of our people. But then the fool-hardy order was issued and in the constitutional scheme of things . . . obeyed.
Now, by any reasonably objective standard, the strategic mission of “the best and biggest military on earth and in history” has failed. Why? Because the order was never accompanied by a consistent, credible, definitive statement of a plausible objective. It was based on nothing more than the “on switch” to a video game, selection of a background color (red, white and blue), player icon (a Crusader Cross), and battlefield (Iran). The video game was powered by the relentless pressure campaign of Netanyahu, who, ironically, knew how to con his mark—having failed with each of Trump’s predecessors (and adults who’d been allowed into the room during Trump I).
One day we will learn more about what occurred inside and among the minds of our military leaders, strategists, tacticians; what they thought of “Operation Video Crusader Cross,” and what advice and input they gave and just how and why their influence failed to head off the disastrous war. My impression is that they are not a roster of fools, but a large band of well-trained, well-educated, well-informed, and well-intentioned public servants with our nation’s best interests—long- and short-term—first and foremost in mind. I can’t imagine they harbor respect for their clueless commander in chief or for his Secretary of [Yet Another Endless] War, “Pistol Pete” with his video-game icon stitched indelibly into his hubris.
By all appearances this group of military leaders, their people and the terrifying apparatus belli at their collective disposal worked exactly as trained and intended, albeit at a cost of 13 lives and heaps of treasure at a daily burn rate of $2 billion. But as the smoke clears and the dust settles, the commotion has thus far left us in a markedly worse position vis-à-vis Iran and left the world choked off from the flow of oil and fertilizer through the conduit of Hormuz. The best that we can expect is a return to the status quo ante, but at what additional risk and cost to reach the line we never should have crossed in the first place? The war has wreaked untold damage to trust and respect for America, but it seems axiomatic that the bombs and missiles have taken as big a toll on the morale of our service people.
While all too many Americans are fixated on the price of gas, many more need to examine the role of the “best and biggest military in the world, in history.” In the hands of amateurs and charlatans, that military power has been wasted and abused. Rather than make us safer or more secure, its irresponsible deployment has done just the opposite. Moreover, its use against Iran has lowered our standing in the world and raised our costs and risk of recession at home. The bottom line: If we have true concern for our country and empathy for our military personnel, come November we must vote not on the basis of the price of gas (or anything else) but on an informed assessment of judgment and character.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
2 Comments
Eric, you failed to mention that one reason for the disaster which is the Iran war was caused by Hegseth firing all the best professional soldiers at the Pentagon, starting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Now we are trying to get by with Team B or Team C, many of whom seem unable to act out of sync with the Trumpist vision, whatever it is. So far, it seems to me that Trump’s strategy is (1) make a big commotion by killing as many people as possible with the highest tech weapons, and (2) wash our hands of the result. I certainly hope that every veteran in the United States has figured out that Trump does not care at all about the many soldiers killed or wounded in this campaign, of which we as yet have no accounting. You are right that the prestige of the United States seems to be largely gone, and this loss to the Iranians likely has emboldened our enemies, not to mention forcing even more of our wealth to go into replacing the weapons and materiel wasted in this fiasco. How do we get people to think beyond their own pocketbooks? I have no idea, although it seemed like we were able to do it before.
Extremely well put. My biggest concern regarding the coming election is that “our commander-in-chief” will either gin up another ICE war in some Blue state and declare the nation can’t safely hold a “free and fair” election or the election will be held, he’ll lose, called it rigged, call it null and void and declare martial law! I am no longer the optimist of my younger days.