Victor Davis Hanson: Trump Plans to Use the Midterms Against Iran

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Welcome to the Daily Signal Podcast, where we provide intelligence for the intelligent. Now, without further ado, here's today's take.

Victor Davis Hanson (0:08)

The traditional view among Americans is that the Iran War, I think they feel, was a mistake. But is that general consensus accurate? The midterms are actually in the interest of Donald Trump and the Iranian dissidents. Far from making him let up, or far from him worried that the Democrats will cut off funding after the midterms. He feels that this midterm coming up, this deadline will accelerate his efforts to get rid of that regime. And I think now there's a good chance that that could happen.

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for the Daily Signal. The traditional view among Americans is that the Iran War, I think they feel was a mistake.

Some of the supporters of Iran, I have been critical. I thought we should have continued the kinetic action longer than the initial 38 days and adopted something similar to Scott Besant's Anaconda squeeze earlier, but that happens in all war. But is that general consensus that it was either a political or a military mistake or both accurate?

Well, there's a lot of things going on right now. First of all, why would the Iranian government suddenly say, we are complaining that you hit a civilian target? They didn't really distinguish which. But this is a government that sent hundreds, thousands of drones and missiles into Israel for the express purpose of hitting civilian targets. That's what they do. They always hit civilian targets. So why would they think the world would be sympathetic to this complaint if it were true that the United States finally is hitting dual-use targets? Dual-use means they can be used for either civilian or military purposes. A bridge, a power grid, an airport, TV studio, et cetera. So that shows you that there is an element of desperation on the part of the Iranians. For them, of all people, to say it's not fair that you are hitting civilian targets. Second of all, they said this is not fair that you don't meet us in battle. If you were really strong, you would meet us in battle. Translated, that means, well, we really liked it when you were in Iraq, and we could give shape charges to the bathist, and then later the radical Islamists to kill you Americans. We really liked it when you fought our type of war in the streets of Fallujah. But you're not fighting our type of war. You're fighting an air war where your superior technology and firepower is killing us. This is not fair. So again, a second symptom that they seem to be very angry. How about a third one? Donald Trump said, and he says this a lot, but he said that they have never been calling for talks more eagerly, more eagerly. They're desperate for talks, he says.

What is going on? We have some other indications. There are indications coming out of Israel and coming out of our own government that finally, finally, our intelligence agencies have ignored what the Turks have been telling. Please, please, please do not arm the Kurds. Do not do it. We forbid that. But maybe Turkey's rivalry with Iran is greater than their fear of Iranian Kurds. I don't know, but these rumors are increasing and increasing. And they dovetail with a report that in September, early September, the Iranian Kurds are having a national day of strike and protest in the street. Who knows what that will happen in a situation as dire as what's going on in Iran for millions of people to go on strike and get out into the streets. Kurdish are not.

Another indication is that Iran now is trying desperately to open up another front. They have failed with Hamas. Hamas is basically inert. The Israelis every single day continue to kill Hamas leadership. Hezbollah is anemic. The Israelis have decimated their leadership, and the Lebanese government is getting more confident that with Western help, they can rid themselves of Hezbollah. The only wild card is the Houthis in Yemen, and they now are threatening to close down the Red Sea, and they are supposedly getting help from the Iranian. That can be stopped very easily. You can stop all air flights to Yemen from Iran if they even continue. So they have a finite supply. But what I'm getting at is all of a sudden, seven weeks before the midterms, things are heating up in Iran. And that's a result that they cannot buy any material goods, any imported goods, they cannot sell any oil, they are losing $500 million a day in economic activity, they cannot be resupplied easily, only by perhaps the Chinese and Russians through a train or something, and those bridges have been hit.