Conservative French historian and philosopher Raymond Aaron once (~1984-1985) told an audience at Syracuse University that the US has "lost its will to power". That may be true, but not because it lacks the will; rather, it seems that the world of the 21st century can no longer morally accept raw, crude colonialism. Gigantic superpowers can no longer as freely as before the mid-20th century invade, conquer, occupy and colonize other countries, with the traditional bedrock of capitalistic colonialism: The ability to dispatch millions of soldiers on a whim to someone else's land and just take it. The world has changed.
In former times, the US would have launched a massive expedition against Iran by land, sea and air, dropping millions of its soldiers who would march onto Tehran and take control of the country. It used to be easy prior to 1945. But it didn't work in Korea (1950s), didn't work in Vietnam (1960s), didn't work in Afghanistan (2001 or Iraq (2003).... The loss of human life (by both the invader and the conquered) that accompanied all former conquests and invasions is no longer acceptable. The idea of replacing humans with war machines is feasible science fiction but it does not lead to victory. The mistreatment of other humans used to be tolerated and even encouraged for its "civilizing" objective during the period of the empires, but now it is simply unacceptable.
Wars used to stir up nationalistic sentiment, but now they provoke disgust and revulsion. Which is why America's continuous stirring up instability in the Middle East, just for the control of the region's oil, has become deeply unpopular and why the US lost the wars it conducted there. Which is why Israel's conquest of Palestine has now metamorphosed in the global public's mind from a so-called "war of independence" during colonial times to a war of genocide and ethnic cleansing in our post-colonial time. Which is why nostalgic adolescent morons with brains nestled in the 1950s, like Pete Hegseth, are trying to revive the silly "warrior" culture he only "experienced" in Hollywood movies with imaginary superheroes.
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James Carville on Trump’s Iran MOU: ‘Happy 250th, America. You just lost a war’
Ian Swanson
Fri, June 19, 2026
Democratic strategist James Carville mocked the memorandum of understanding reached by the Trump administration with Iran, arguing it effectively shows that the U.S. lost the war just as the country readies for its 250th birthday.
Carville called the deal an "instrument of surrender" during an interview Thursday night with Chris Cuomo, the host of NewsNation's "Cuomo."
The longtime Democratic strategist actually credited President Trump for getting out of the Iran war, arguing that it is better to remove the country from the fighting than continue, given the experience the United States had in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
"And let's give Trump credit where credit's due," Carville said. "He did what Lyndon Johnson did not do in Vietnam. Just get out. He didn't do what Bush and even Obama did in Afghanistan. Just get out. You understand?"
Carville said the best thing former President Biden ever did was to leave Afghanistan.
"And I'll give Trump credit. He thought his thing was going the wrong way, and he just quit and got out, and sometimes you got to do that," he said.
Carville said it was less embarrassing to sign a memorandum of understanding with Iran than to have to evacuate, as Biden did from Afghanistan.
"Well, we had troops. So it's harder when you have to have actual visual of soldiers, of Marines, of airmen being evacuated," he said. "That's more humiliating than just signing an instrument with the regime."
But he argued the actual preliminary agreement with Tehran, which opens the Strait of Hormuz and ends fighting but sets up new talks on Iran's nuclear program, betrays the opposition within Iran while driving a wedge between the U.S. and Israel.
Iran has "always wanted to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States," he said. "Mission accomplished. The regime cares about one thing and holding domestic power in Iran. They did that. We really, the people that really lost were the opposition in Iran. There were actually a lot of people that were opposed to this government. I don't know if they could have succeeded or not, but they're done now, and they're even saying that."
Carville said the deal "really stabbed the Iranian opposition."
"They're very smart people. They're very talented people, and we didn't treat them with any respect, and we hurt the opposition in Iran by this. It's not even as stupid as it was, no it doesn't do justice to just how stupid it was," he continued. "We lost. Happy 250th, America. You just lost a war."
The Trump administration has pushed back hard at critics of the deal.
Trump has argued it was necessary to end the fighting to prevent an economic depression, while Vice President Vance has said those criticizing the deal seemingly want an endless war.
They have also argued the war leaves Iran weaker than before it started, given the killings of much of Iran's former leadership and the heavy blows the country's military and economy took.
A number of voices in Israel have criticized the agreement, and fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah could threaten the agreement.
Trump has also pointed to a rising stock market and falling oil prices in hailing the agreement reached by his team.
Carville told Cuomo he believed Iran had won leverage by learning it could choke off the global economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's supply of oil flows.
"There's going to be a risk premium in a barrel of oil for the foreseeable future," he told Cuomo. "I mean, I can't, I'm not smart enough to tell you what it is, but I don't think anybody could deny that. These oil traders are going to demand a premium because now they know, and Iran knows, they got a choke point, and they can bring it out anytime they want to."
James Carville on Trump’s Iran MOU: ‘Happy 250th, America. You just lost a war’
Ian Swanson
Fri, June 19, 2026
Democratic strategist James Carville mocked the memorandum of understanding reached by the Trump administration with Iran, arguing it effectively shows that the U.S. lost the war just as the country readies for its 250th birthday.
Carville called the deal an "instrument of surrender" during an interview Thursday night with Chris Cuomo, the host of NewsNation's "Cuomo."
The longtime Democratic strategist actually credited President Trump for getting out of the Iran war, arguing that it is better to remove the country from the fighting than continue, given the experience the United States had in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
"And let's give Trump credit where credit's due," Carville said. "He did what Lyndon Johnson did not do in Vietnam. Just get out. He didn't do what Bush and even Obama did in Afghanistan. Just get out. You understand?"
Carville said the best thing former President Biden ever did was to leave Afghanistan.
"And I'll give Trump credit. He thought his thing was going the wrong way, and he just quit and got out, and sometimes you got to do that," he said.
Carville said it was less embarrassing to sign a memorandum of understanding with Iran than to have to evacuate, as Biden did from Afghanistan.
"Well, we had troops. So it's harder when you have to have actual visual of soldiers, of Marines, of airmen being evacuated," he said. "That's more humiliating than just signing an instrument with the regime."
But he argued the actual preliminary agreement with Tehran, which opens the Strait of Hormuz and ends fighting but sets up new talks on Iran's nuclear program, betrays the opposition within Iran while driving a wedge between the U.S. and Israel.
Iran has "always wanted to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States," he said. "Mission accomplished. The regime cares about one thing and holding domestic power in Iran. They did that. We really, the people that really lost were the opposition in Iran. There were actually a lot of people that were opposed to this government. I don't know if they could have succeeded or not, but they're done now, and they're even saying that."
Carville said the deal "really stabbed the Iranian opposition."
"They're very smart people. They're very talented people, and we didn't treat them with any respect, and we hurt the opposition in Iran by this. It's not even as stupid as it was, no it doesn't do justice to just how stupid it was," he continued. "We lost. Happy 250th, America. You just lost a war."
The Trump administration has pushed back hard at critics of the deal.
Trump has argued it was necessary to end the fighting to prevent an economic depression, while Vice President Vance has said those criticizing the deal seemingly want an endless war.
They have also argued the war leaves Iran weaker than before it started, given the killings of much of Iran's former leadership and the heavy blows the country's military and economy took.
A number of voices in Israel have criticized the agreement, and fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia group Hezbollah could threaten the agreement.
Trump has also pointed to a rising stock market and falling oil prices in hailing the agreement reached by his team.
Carville told Cuomo he believed Iran had won leverage by learning it could choke off the global economy by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's supply of oil flows.
"There's going to be a risk premium in a barrel of oil for the foreseeable future," he told Cuomo. "I mean, I can't, I'm not smart enough to tell you what it is, but I don't think anybody could deny that. These oil traders are going to demand a premium because now they know, and Iran knows, they got a choke point, and they can bring it out anytime they want to."
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