by Wayne Besen • June 15, 2026 • Opinion, Politics, Weekly Column • Comments (0) • 103

The Iran Debacle Ended America’s Superpower Status

The U.S was Humiliated and Few War Aims Were Achieved

It appears that President Donald J. Trump’s copiously embarrassingly and utterly disastrous war with Iran is limping towards an inglorious conclusion. I say “appears” because nobody outside the negotiating room has seen a copy of the shaky agreement, while every intractable issue, that was cited by the United States and Israel for commencing this war, remains unresolved.

Yet, the vainglorious Trump is celebrating this monstrosity as a victory—because he reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which had been completely open to global shipping prior to the war.

The results of this misadventure were entirely predictable. Although there were legitimate reasons to seek regime change in Iran, it was a forgone conclusion that the Trump regime would botch the job. On February 23, five days before the war, I outlined why the war was a bad idea:

Whether Iran must ultimately be left alone or held fully accountable is no longer the question. We must factor in that this war would be directed by an irrational crackpot, cheered on by incompetent sycophants and religious extremists, initiated with no genuine national debate, and carried out with no coherent strategy for the day after the bombing stops.

For these reasons, virtually any war with Trump as Commander in Chief—including this one–must be opposed.

It did not take Nostradamus to make this prediction—just the simple observation that whatever Trump touches ends up as Atlantic City. He habitually wrecks everything in his wake, while narrowly absconding on a Trump-branded golden parachute. His modus operandi is a robust fifty-year pattern, so, other than wishful thinking, why did any sane person think the outcome in Iran would end differently?