Nicholas Kristof

The last year's campaign against Iran went over 11 days.

And I think that may have built a certain complacency in the U.S.

and in the public about how this one will go.

It's, you know...

We should remember that Afghanistan is a lesson in just how difficult military campaigns can be.

And I think we may also have forgotten that the U.S.

spent $7 billion bombing the Houthis in Yemen between the Biden administration and the Trump administration.

And last May, we...

you know, pretty much gave up and stopped the campaign without really getting anything substantial from it.

And look, it would be great if there were a nuclear deal.

It would be great if Iran just announced that it was going to stop supporting its proxies.

And it would be great if it dismantled its ballistic missile system, which are the U.S.

demands.

But

I don't really see that Iran is likely to accept any of those in full.

And the U.S.

isn't really prepared to offer Iran any additional Swedeners like relaxation of sanctions.

So it's hard to see a deal being reached.

And meanwhile, President Trump, I think, has, by positioning all these forces there, he's kind of put himself in a position where it's very likely these forces will be used.

I think everybody remembers that in January, he's told the Iranians that help is on the way, that he was encouraging the protesters.