I can vividly recall the lead-up to the Gulf War in 1991. Iraq's unprovoked aggression against Kuwait resulted in President George Bush forming a coalition of 35 nations in the largest such grouping since World War II.
As U.S. troops assembled in Saudi Arabia, preparing to expel the Iraqi invaders, warnings came (mainly from the left) that Bush was making a huge mistake. The president was going to get the U.S. bogged down in another "Vietnam," a "quagmire" that, like Br'er rabbit stuck to the tar baby, would keep America at war for years.
That scenario didn't play out for another decade. But it's interesting that the Vietnam analogy was used time and again in the 1980s and 90s whenever the U.S. sent troops or, as was the case with sending arms to rebels in Nicaragua, any aggressive move by America brought out the Southeast Asia doves.
Thankfully, we've moved past that simple-minded analogy. Every conflict is different, and the U.S. engages for different reasons.
But the doom merchants are still with us. Tucker Carlson was extremely vocal in the lead-up to the bombing of Iran's nuclear sites, opposing any U.S. action. Carlson had a lot of personal cred invested in the "Forever War" narrative and was in high dudgeon the night of the U.S bombing.
"Ugh, this is just sad on every level,” he said, as he placed his hand on his heart.
“I hope that people who have audiences will be responsible, will remember that, like, life is short, you’re going to have to give an account.”
Carslon actually believed we were close to World War III.
Mark Levin was at the White House today, lobbying for war with Iran. To be clear, Levin has no plans to fight in this or any other war. He’s demanding that American troops do it. We need to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, he and likeminded ideologues in Washington are…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 5, 2025
“A war with Iran would amount to a profound betrayal of [Trump’s] supporters. It would end his presidency,” Carlson assured his 16 million followers on X. That was just for starters. He got more hysterical.
“The first week of a war with Iran could easily kill thousands of Americans. It could also collapse our economy, as surging oil prices trigger unmanageable inflation. Consider the effects of $30 gasoline,” he predicted.
Cats and dogs! Living together! Mass hysteria!
After solemnly reminding his viewers that Iran is allied with China, Carlson came to the exaggerated conclusion that, "An attack on Iran could very easily become a world war. We’d lose.”
Not even close, as Eli Lake of The Free Press points out.
The Islamic Republic of Iran folded like a cheap suit after the U.S. joined Israel’s war on Saturday. In 12 days, Iran has lost the heart of its nuclear program along with the top commanders of its fearsome revolutionary guard and regular military. Meanwhile, none of Tehran’s vaunted allies came to its aid. The regime is now left vulnerable. Israel established air supremacy over the country in fewer than 48 hours.
Once upon a time, if a journalist was so spectacularly wrong about so many things in so short a time, they would be told to update their resume and take some time off.
Related: In Iran, Mass Arrests, Executions, and Everyone Is Wondering: Where Is Supreme Leader Khamenei?
The Iranian "attack" on our air base in Qatar was for Iranian domestic political purposes. Trump even thanked Iran for the advance warning. Carlson was warning about World War III after the Iranians had already surrendered.
A few hours after Carlson's wrong-way war warning, Trump announced a ceasefire.
Carlson was by no means alone in predicting an intractable war with Iran. Senator Rand Paul posted on X earlier this month that the war that appears to have just ended would “destabilize the region, cost countless lives, and drain our resources for generations.”
None of those things happened. But the restrainers didn’t just get the results of the war all wrong. They also misunderstood the president and his MAGA movement to whom they have aligned. Consider this June 12 X post from Breaking Points co-host Saagar Enjeti. “Israel has now made a mockery of the United States,” Enjeti wrote. “President Trump today said he did not want strikes ahead of negotiations scheduled for tomorrow and they did it anyways.”
That’s news to Trump. On Saturday evening, in his brief statement confirming the U.S. bombing of facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, the president said, “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before.”
A large majority of MAGA supporters stayed with Trump and were rewarded with the underground nuclear sites being severely damaged, if not destroyed. But some MAGA supporters wanted to take credit for scaring Trump enough to prevent a wider war.
Not every MAGA influencer who opposed the 12-day war is lashing out. Having been wrong at every juncture in this conflict and ignored by the president, some restrainers are now claiming credit for the war’s conclusion. Jason Whitlock, a podcaster on the Blaze Network, mused that Carlson and others “put enough pressure on President Trump and Israel to make a ceasefire (for now) the only option. Our political leaders need well-intentioned pushback.”
Tablet Editor Park McDougald didn't need much effort to smite that idiotic analysis.
This is like believing the sun rose because you killed a goat https://t.co/QJzCq2JqWC
— Park MacDougald (@hpmcd1) June 24, 2025
The MAGA naysayers tried to make Trump out to be a tool of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They weren't even close.
