Category: Expert Analysis

Israeli tanks positioned along the northern Israel–Lebanon border, deployed in a defensive posture amid ongoing cross-border fighting with Hezbollah.

McRaven can lecture the country about honor all he wants, but those of us who saw what festered under his command know the difference between polished words and the weight of what was left buried.

The Iran war didn’t start at $1 billion a day, it opened closer to $1.88 billion, and as the Pentagon burns through weapons and budgets alike, the real question is what is the American taxpayer getting for the price?

Iran escalates by threatening global energy and shipping systems, while Ukraine grinds through attrition and Cuba absorbs economic pressure. Across regions, instability is rising faster than any path to resolution.

A-10 Warthogs are back over the Strait of Hormuz, hunting IRGC speedboats and striking drones with deadly precision.

Iran conflict spreads across military, maritime, cyber, and economic domains—intense, expanding, but not yet full-scale regional war.

Hope is not a plan. Our troops are ready, but Washington must lay out clear objectives and a real strategy on Iran.

Twenty-three years after Iraq, the United States is back in the Middle East, fighting a war while the character of the conflict shifts in real time. In its first weeks, the Iran war has exposed vulnerabilities in air defense, strained regional infrastructure, and pushed the fight into the information space and global energy markets.

Air power may rattle Iran and win headlines, but without disciplined diplomacy, allied unity, and congressional accountability, it risks trading short-term disruption for long-term instability in a region that punishes strategic impatience.

Support for Israel on the American right is no longer politically frictionless. As the war with Iran sharpens divisions, a growing gap is emerging between institutional positions and segments of the conservative base—one that is already reshaping how politicians speak, align, and manage the alliance in public.

“No new wars” carried weight when it constrained someone else. Under current conditions, it has receded. The standard changed. The consequences remain.

Washington went to war in Iran and then asked its allies for help. The response was cautious and, in many cases, negative. The alliance still stands, but the margin for cooperation has narrowed—and that carries consequences.