One month into a war the White House says is going well, this Viewpoint from Van Abbott argues the opposite — that the U.S.-Iran conflict is quietly eroding American economic strength, weakening global alliances, and repeating the strategic mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Guest Commentator
The war is not won. It is not even close. President Trump says otherwise. That claim is not a mistake. It is a necessity. Acknowledging failure would expose the truth this administration cannot afford to admit: one month into the conflict that began February 28 with Iran, the United States is poorer, weaker, and less secure than when it began. The costs are already staggering. Tens of billions of dollars have been consumed with little to show beyond destruction. Fuel prices have surged, driving up transportation costs across the economy. Supply disruptions from the Gulf are beginning to ripple through American manufacturing. These are not abstract figures. They are the early signs of a war that is eroding economic strength at home while delivering no measurable gain abroad.
A declaration of victory is required to sustain support, even when conditions on the ground contradict it.
Strategically, the damage is deeper. American positions across the Middle East have contracted, not expanded. Analysts suggest U.S. military bases have been damaged, evacuated, or destroyed. Intelligence relationships have frayed as allies question Washington’s reliability after erratic decisions and unilateral strikes. Adversaries are not retreating; they are adapting. Russia benefits from higher energy prices that help finance its war in Ukraine. China is moving quickly to secure alternative trade routes and deepen its regional influence. While the White House speaks of dominance, the global balance of power is quietly shifting away from the United States. At home, the consequences will not remain distant for long. War-inflation moves quickly and unevenly. Energy costs rise first, followed by food and housing. Wages lag behind. The administration describes these effects as temporary, but markets tend to recognize instability before governments admit it. Prolonged conflict will bring neither stability in the Middle East nor relief for American households. It will deliver sustained pressure on both. History offers a warning the country has ignored before. Iraq was presented as liberation and ended in strategic exhaustion. Afghanistan became a twenty-year effort that concluded with the return of the very forces it sought to remove. These were failures not of courage or capability, but of purpose and judgment. Iran now risks becoming the next chapter in a pattern the United States has yet to break. The deeper problem is political. This war cannot be easily concluded because it cannot be honestly assessed. A declaration of victory is required to sustain support, even when conditions on the ground contradict it. Information narrows. Public updates diminish. Official statements grow more confident as underlying realities become less certain. In that environment, the war becomes less a national undertaking than a controlled narrative. It is worth asking who benefits from that narrative. Defense contractors secure long-term demand, energy producers profit from volatility, and political allies avoid difficult votes. The burdens fall elsewhere, on service members, on taxpayers, and on households adjusting to rising costs. The longer the conflict continues, the wider the gap grows between those who bear its costs and those who shape its direction.
War tests more than military strength. It tests whether a government can tell the truth about what it is doing and why.
President Trump once promised to end “endless wars.” Instead, this conflict risks becoming one. It is sustained not by clear objectives but by the political cost of reversal. A war without defined success can always be extended. A war without accountability can always be justified. There is still time to limit the damage. Congress retains the constitutional authority to define and constrain the use of force. It can require transparency, set boundaries, and insist on measurable objectives. A free press can challenge official claims rather than repeat them. Citizens can demand clarity about costs, risks, and outcomes before accepting assurances of progress. War tests more than military strength. It tests whether a government can tell the truth about what it is doing and why. When that capacity erodes, the outcome is determined long before the fighting ends. Without accountability, the cycle will continue, draining national strength, distorting priorities, weakening alliances, and turning permanent conflict into a substitute for strategy and democratic consent. This war was never winnable under the terms on which it was sold. That truth will not come from those who began it, but from the public that is paying for it and will continue to bear its cost. Its consequences will outlast the last shot, echo beyond the last speech, and endure long after the final excuse has faded. The judgment they refuse to render will fall to the country they have led into war. Vote in November.
About the author ~
Van Abbott is a long time resident of Alaska and California. He has held financial management positions in government and private organizations in California, Kansas, and Alaska. He is retired and writes Op-Eds as a hobby. He served in the Peace Corps in the late sixties. You can find more of his commentaries and comments on life in America on Substack.
Van Abbott is a long time resident of Alaska and California. He has held financial management positions in government and private organizations in California, Kansas, and Alaska. He is retired and writes Op-Eds as a hobby. He served in the Peace Corps in the late sixties. You can find more of his commentaries and comments on life in America on Substack.
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Whether you agree, disagree, or want to build on the ideas in this piece, we’d love to hear your voice. If you have an opinion you’d like to share — on this topic or any other — you can find our submission guidelines here: Sentinel submission guideline. We welcome a wide range of viewpoints and would be glad to consider your perspective for publication on OurSentinel.com. . Send your letter or commentary to editor@oursentinel.com and help keep the community conversation moving forward.
A keen observer of political results and a lifelong Republican until an individual face to face discussion with my congressman clearly revealed the party had become merely a shill for the Fourth Reich to only promote talking points for the 1%’s benefit. Reading The Rise and Fall of Adolph Hitler by William L. Shirer in jr. high school enabled recognition of the Fourth Reich checking off every subversive step of Joseph Goebbels propaganda playbook refined to a high art for over 40 years. Witness we ignored history and are repeating it as our condemnation.
Throughout history hundreds of thousands of the greatest Americans ever have been willing to fight and die to secure and preserve the freedoms, rights, and privileges they bestowed upon our succeeding generations in this country. Now, we are witnessing thousands of Fourth Reich disciples who are willing to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans to destroy that inheritance and our country in the worship of someone who emulates Adolph Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Jim Jones.
It has always been and will always be harder and take longer to create and build a civilized unified society though a shared belief in mankind’s highest ideals and potential, than to internally subvert those goals through destruction and death through division, merely to usurp power from the good citizens who have failed to defeat those who employ propaganda, misinformation, and lies, the foundations of the traitors in their treason to destroy any power great enough to oppose the subjugation of everyone to their evil plot.
Through the masterful use of the power of projection, the Fourth Reich misleads their followers by accusing their opponents of what they themselves are actually doing to magically distract their followers from realizing the truth. ABTT! (Anything But The Truth!) is the gospel to which they must adhere religiously to prevent the end of their masquerade and reign of terror.
Failure to recognize the Fourth Reich masquerading behind the once proud and honorable Republican Party name will soon lead to our country’s inevitable end as is their ultimate goal.
WE MUST DECIDE, IF THE FOURTH REICH ALLOWS IT!
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