Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
It is hard even to digest the incredible train of events of the last few days in the Middle East.
Iran had been reduced to an anemic, performance-art missile attack on our base in Qatar—the last Parthian shot from a terrified regime, desperate for an out—and a ceasefire.
Iran would have been better off not launching such a ceremonial but ultimately humiliating proof of impotence.
Even worse for the theocracy, Iran’s temporary reprieve came from the now magnanimous but still hated Donald Trump.
So ends the creepy mystique of the supposedly indomitable terror state of Iran, the bane of the last seven American presidents over half a century.
For Supreme Leader Khamenei, it was hard to swallow that U.S. bombers got their permission to fly into Iranian airspace from the Israeli air force.
A good simile is that Trump put a pot of water on the stove, told Iran to jump in, put the lid over them, then smiled, turned up the heat—and will now let them stew.
As postbellum realities now simmer in Iran, the theocracy is left explaining the inexplicable to its humiliated military and shocked but soon-to-be-furious populace. All the regime’s blood-curdling rhetoric, apocalyptic threats against Israel, goose-stepping thugs, and shiny new missiles ended in less than nothing.
A trillion dollars and five decades’ worth of missiles and centrifuges are now up in smoke. That money might have otherwise saved Iranians from the impoverishment of the last fifty years.
How about the little Satan Israel, to which Iran for nearly 50 years promised extinction?
Israel had destroyed Iran’s expeditionary terrorists, Iran’s defenses, its nuclear viability, and the absurd mythology of Iranian military competence. And worse, Israel showed it could repeat all that destruction when and if it is necessary.
So, the most hated regime in the world crawled into the boiling pot because it looked around in vain for someone to void Trump’s ultimatum for a cease and desist.
But there were no last-minute saviors to rescue them.
The dreaded decades-long Iranian nuclear threat?
It is either gone for now, or if it resurfaces, it will be again far easier to vaporize at will than to rebuild a lost trillion-dollar investment.
Russia? Its former Obama-Kerry re-invitation back into the Middle East lasted only a decade.
It will now cut its losses like it did with the vanished Assad kleptocracy in Syria. Putin exits the Middle East not entirely displeased that his lunatic Iranian client did not get a bomb—but did get its just desserts. A tense Middle East tends to prop up Russian export oil prices.
Did China come to the mullahs’ aid?
No, they were not shy about ordering their Iranian lackey to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, through which 50 percent of Chinese-purchased oil passes.
For President Xi, the Iranians are treated as little more than Uyghurs with oil.
The world decided that it was tired of a half-century of crybully terrorism, empty nuke threats, mindless mobs screaming scripted banalities, cowardly murdering, and medieval theocrats threatening the general peace.
So, the world turned its back on Iran. And with a wink and nod, it let Israel and the U.S. do what they must.
As for Iran’s terrorist appendages, Hezbollah’s commanders are either dead, maimed, or in hiding.
Hamas has fled into a subterranean labyrinth.
The last Assad thug fled to Russia.
The crazy Houthis? They are reconsidering the idea of launching their last missile at the cost of their last port or power grid.
The anti-Trump Democrats and loony left?
Their talk of impeaching Trump for the supposedly “illegal” 35-minute, one-off strike will fade.
The Trump mission equaled less than one day of Obama’s predator drone strikes, targeted killings, or his five-year chaotic bombing in Libya.
Is the incoherent left furious that there is no more Iranian nuclear threat?
Mad that no Americans were killed last Saturday night?
Furious America likely killed few if any Iranians.
Or is it raging because Trump ignored Iran’s last-gasp attack and instead orchestrated a cease-fire?
Of course, in the Middle East, there is never a real end to anything.
We may see freelancing terrorists try to fill the vacuum of Iran’s decline. Or Iran itself may try to let loose a terrorist cell. It may later boast it has hidden away some enriched uranium.
But no matter.
The dimensions of this new Middle East will persist.
The new reality is that either Israel or the U.S.—if they keep their earned confidence within proper limits—can now ensure a non-nuclear Iran by easily blowing up its costly nuclear program as often as it is rebuilt.
Some say the Israelis were, and will be, unscathed by the Iranians. No missiles got through, etc. Others claim Israel has been severely damaged, up to half a trillion in physical damage. The carefully concealed casualties numbers are likely to be in the thousands. In time this could be tens of thousands then hundreds of thousands. Israeli citizens are permanently abandoning Israel in huge numbers.
It might be a bad idea to attack a nation with ten times your population. Iran is not a primitive nation. If they didn’t have nuclear weapons before they will soon.
Better than the best, V.D.H. !
The Naysayers will continue the usual tripe “America the bully,” and claim the Israeli/US war machine will continue as before. It’s up to patriot Iranians now to clear the deck and bring republican form of governance back into the once proud Persian nation. Is there a possibility that the U.S. will revisit the Iranian nuclear landscape? Maybe. I’m OK with that, you? Whatever it takes to bring that region of the world into ‘temporary’ global peace, I’m for that. And, I have skin in the game as a MILVET. Put me in coach! Better to sacrifice my life if that is what it takes to bring peace to lives of many. Three cheers for our Commander-in-Chief!
The rath of Jerry lends an appropriate whiff of comic-relief to what is clearly a step back from the nuclear precipice Iran represented. While I doubt the Middle East will ever ‘function peacefully’, I feel relief at the situation now as compared to before the beginning of the Twelve Day War. Write on, sir… I read every word you put down.
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As many countries wake up and begin to dismiss the left from their lofts, we an hope for a more sane world in the near future.
I suggest we discontinue our tolerance of the left with it’s insane policies that has cost us dearly. They must not be elected back into power. Until they shed their lunatics they have nothing to offer anyone.
Can we get a bit more real about pushing back on these Orcs … They are our true enemies and they live among us.
Glad we no don’t have to really worry about Iran for the foreseeable future.
Now, New York on the other hand…
What Iran has taught me is that Trump dispensed with the notion that courage is a gamble. For fifty years I have watched this blow hard Iranian regime act as though Allah had actually made them omnipotent to reprisals due to the craven tendencies of Presidents to look the other way as our people were slaughtered.
Reagan blew it the most when Iran had no revenge extracted against it for the Beirut bombing. I guess every President after that figured that if we could stomach that, we would put up with anything and that is how foreign policy on Iran has gone until President Trump took office.
It is rather odd that Iran could not figure out that something had changed until it was too late. They pulled off a grand slaughter of over 2000 innocent people at a festival and must have calculated that no real response would be forthcoming—AS USUAL. Now THAT is what you call a grand miscalculation. What they failed to recognize that as soon as they pulled off this stunt it would unleash a planned series of events that has left them shocked.
What Iran and their proxies in the Democrat party fail to understand is they have been body slammed not by a series of successful random event but rather a carefully scripted response that characterized just that; to look lie a reactionary, uncoordinated series of incidents against a bloviating, rotten regime. Anyone who thinks Trump made decisions on the fly that led to the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities is delusional.
Hey William Domb. I listen to Col. MacGregor regularly, belong to OCOC. I check in on Ritter too. A third angle or P.O.V. to check out is Promethean Updates. Because Scott Ritter was affiliated with the Diane Sare campaign for Congress, he would know about the Prometheus Updates people.
Will always support Victor based on his keen observations and thoughts, and more importantly his life experience. We elected Trump three times because we understood that we have been awry since at least Ronaldus and it all could have been fixed. It wasn’t and we knew the ‘system’ is the problem. Still.
So we had i-ran on its knees.
And instead of finishing them off, we stop.
And they may still have enough material for more than one bomb.
Was that intelligent?
Doesn’t look like it.
Remember that bit (was it the Afghans?) “you have the watches . . . we have the time”?
We are giving the mullahs the time.
They might use it wisely enough.
And Israel IS . . . a one bomb country.
Curious how Israelis seem to forget that.
Israel may never again find another Trump.
And Holocaust 2.0 is one single bomb away.
Do the Iranian people know the extent and scale of the regime’s utter humiliation? If they do then they will bring regime change themselves; no need for American troop as in Afghanistan. They will likely put in A government led by a constitutional crown prince—an infinitely better result than the pack of mad mullahs running the place now.
Human Nature does not change, yet human intelligence is declining with each generation despite having all the world’s knowledge at one’s fingertips via a cell phone. It’s time that education emphasizes learning the wisdom in the classics. There is nothing new under the sun. Thank you, Dr. Hanson, for your wit, wisdom, and voice of reason. I learn more from your written articles and podcasts than from four years of college. You are the teacher we all wish we could have had in school.
Well, reading all the responses here I can see that everybody has an opinion, but we all know opinions are like assholes. We’ve all got one but not everybody has a B2 bomber and bunker busters drop your mic. Trump turn out the lights. Good job.
Dr. Hanson,
What was the animating new information/development that prompted the US strike at this particular time? The two arguments proffered – the mullahs want us dead, and they are weeks away from having the bomb – are nothing new. The US determined to strike now, not 6 months ago or hence. Why?
The only new development I see is the preceding Israeli attack. Either that was a US led decision, in which case my government was not transparent with me, or, worse, Israel went rogue and their strike somehow forced our hand. This one-two punch cannot have been perfectly mutual in its conceit – there had to be a prime mover.
The who matters.
Thank you for your insights.
William,
“Dropping bombs on empty tunnels in the Iranian mountains ”
Huh??
So, did President Truman get Congressional approval before he nuked Japan?
I am a 74 y o student at online Hillsdale, just completing courses on Capitalism and WWII. Our system conjured up 2 kinds of fission bombs in short order. My uncle D R Berlin submitted a patent from Curtiss Wright inAugust 1940 for a tailless aircraft. A forunner of the flying wing and the B2 no doubt. Like Calculus, the jet engine was independently developed in 2 places. He also designed P36 and P40 at CW in the 30’s. The mullahs don’t seem to be able to foster much innovation even with all the petro dollars. Things have to change there in Iran, they are not idiots, save for the current theocrats-good riddance!
Jerry Rath, you say you want an apology for someone “misreading” your bad wording:
“As for the lefties, and all the previous stupid decision makers of past administrations, your snarky, condescending criticisms these days ring quite hollow. You reveal just who you are.”
How about you apologize for the bad wording? Sentences formed like that are demanding outright to be “misread.”
Yo, Jerry,
Obvious bad misread by David.
It happens when people get passionate about a subject.
Mr. Khamenei and his predecessor have had quite a psychotic gig going on for well over 4-decades.
They rule by force, torture, beheadings, butchery. Worse, if even possible, are the sophomoric useful idiots in America who violently demonstrate on the campuses of our “institutions of ‘higher’ learning” and on public streets in support of the Khamenei’s tools of butchery.
Hi, Victor-Had a chance to listen to Col. McGreggor or Scott Ritter on Iran, NATO and Ukraine… for instance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHbJ7Rhy8hE or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Y0d_jnqFw
Maybe time for a wider perspective.
regards
bill domb
After the horror of October 7th I could not help to think of David’s words to Goliath: This day the lord hath delivered thee into my hand and I shall smite thee and I shall take thine head from thee. This day the host of the Philistines shall be carrion for the fowls of the air and the wild beasts and all shall know there is a God in Israel. I hope you are feeling better Professor. Like a renaissance man, In addition to your extensive historical knowledge of the ancient and modern world, you mirror the likes of Rich Little with your imitations. If you are inclined to take requests, I would like to hear the German War-Bride yell at you again about your shoes.
Dr. Hansen,
I remember a video clip of you years ago discussing the importance of deterrence. You stated that deterrence is essential to maintaining peace and that once it is lost, it is very difficult to regain.
Well, thanks to President Trump, the U.S. has regained the power of deterrence and Iran has lost whatever deterrent threat it ever had.
There is much Monday morning quarterbacking going on about the United States B-2 bomber hits on the three nuclear sites in Iran. It will be history that speaks the truth, and it will be time that will test how successful the US was in stopping Iran from enriching and making an atomic bomb. I hope that it was a permanent fix that won’t need periodic band-aids. The United States is not adept at maintaining its iron hand beyond four years due to changes in administrations and a new direction. The one immediate benefit that cannot be argued is the United States’ ability to fly 8,000 miles and wreak havoc in another country’s backyard. What a great time to be an American. It was a Jimmy Doolittle moment
Accurate assessment of Iranian circumstances. My Iranian neighbors with relatives in Iran are somewhat relieved. They know Religious Fanatic Mullahs will continue their terror campaign against Iranian population, in efforts to regain some control. Much damage has been done to Nuclear and Missile Programs, Republican Guards are somewhat weakened. Mullahs still have a lot of Religious Fanatic thugs indoctrinated for a generation. Israelis will continue their masterful penetration of Iranian State and encourage majority of Patriotic Iranians to fight the terrorist regime. Hopeful for regime change, however that most likely will require continued direct Israeli action with US support.
“For President Xi, the Iranians are treated as little more than Uyghurs with oil.” The Chinese look down their noses at just about every free country in the world. Brilliant assessment.
David Kentsmith,
Please re-read my comment! My “snarky and condescending” reference was about the lefties, NOT VDH! An apology from you in the comments section would be appreciated.
Professor Hanson: Amazing how an extraordinary and brilliant President like Trump quite simply ended the death cult regime of a lunatic radial Muslim extremist after multiple American Presidential administrations could not. How many of our soldiers have we lost to this Armageddon seeking group of lunatics? Israel has always been there to work with us and we have had the weapons systems to achieve the goal. What is it however about America’s so called intellectual class that has been so unable to get to a solution (no nuclear bombs) and implement it? These are people who have had wise and thoughtful voices like yours trying to offer insight but ignored the logical solutions. With the absurd Obama strategy of a fully nuclear Iran to balance the mid-east and restrain Israel! And then the outrage and anger seen in the above weird comment by Rath about you being “snarky and condescending”. The level of dishonesty and illogical rage against a very wise and clear thinking person like you is disappointing for our future and our ongoing need to work together to insure a bright future. Trump has surely revealed the many points of breakdown of our constitutional republic from Congress failing to do its job to the corrupt swamp of a bureaucracy that had become a 4th branch of our government. He has set us on a good road to recovery if we can get our political factions to work together.
Here’s a **Bob-style, 1500-character response** to VDH’s commentary:
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VDH nails the facts but understates the humiliation. This wasn’t just a strategic setback for Iran—it was a public stripping of decades of bluster, bought with oil money and sold with martyr posters. The regime got pantsed on the world stage… by Trump and Israel in tag-team mode.
Iran’s “final warning shot” turned into a limp fireworks show over Qatar. Their trillion-dollar nuke program now sits in the dustbin next to their credibility. The mullahs didn’t just lose infrastructure—they lost the only leverage they’ve had since 1979: fear.
And the Democrats? Their designated liars couldn’t even muster a unified talking point. No Schiff monologues. No Brennan deep-breath moralizing. Just limp process complaints and a few weak warnings about “escalation.”
Even China stayed silent—treating Iran like a noisy intern who missed the memo.
This was pattern-breaking at scale. Not just military dominance—but narrative dominance. The bullies were called. The bluff was smashed. And the world shrugged as the smoke cleared.
Next time Iran rattles a saber, nobody’s flinching.
Read more at http://www.reynolds.com
It was not so much that everyone hated Iran more that Iran had limited usefulness to China and Russia as a source of drones and oil. Apart from three mysterious Chinese Boeing 747 transports that may or may not have been carrying military supplies into Iran or fissile material out of Iran, support from Russia and China has been negligible. The peace dividend will be less Iranian refugees into Europe and the US. Hopefully the Iranian government uses their time wisely to rebuild their country and integrate into the global system beyond BRICS instead of developing a nuclear weapons program that they are never going to be allowed to keep.
Professor Hanson,
I appreciate your insight and how you respectfully share it. Could you touch on a few areas I’m struggling with in my understanding?
1. Why did Iran allow October 7th to go forward when they are close to completing a nuclear warhead?
2. Regarding the Iranian people’s lack of support for the Iranian leadership. How widespread is this, and how much confidence can Americans have in this assessment?
3. About NR Andy McCarthy’s June 22nd Opinion piece, “What about Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Reactor?”.
Will Israel depend on IAEA inspections to deal with the Bushehr Reactor?
4. Regarding the argument of WMD in Iraq and intelligence. At the time, do you recall any conflicting intelligence on WMDs in Iraq?
Thanks for your insight.
One of the things I truly appreciate about you, Sir, is that your writings do to the progressive leftist Marxists here at home what our B-2s and MOPs did to the Thugs in Iran. You simply, precisely, and elegantly obliterate them!
Excellent assessment, VDH. We are literally watching history made right before our eyes. I’m hoping that Abraham Accords 2.0 is achieved in the near future and the Middle East begins to function peacefully.
As for the lefties, and all the previous stupid decision makers of past administrations, your snarky, condescending criticisms these days ring quite hollow. You reveal just who you are.