We asked readers, Did President Trump lose his war against Iran?
Big time
Yes, Trump lost this war. Big time. He failed to think this thing through, he acted out rashly, thinking just because he has a huge military he can push around weaker countries at will. He figured Iran would surrender after being bombed, but they managed to turn the tables on him, and now it’s Trump who is trying desperately to surrender. But he can’t even pull that off! Him and his big mouth and empty threats have only made us and our allies significantly weaker, and gifted Iran total and complete control over the Strait of Hormuz. Sickening!
— William Stremel, Jurupa Valley
Of course he won
As a 62-year-old American I have spent my entire life wondering if a nuclear Iran would end up starting a nuclear war that could take out humanity as we know it, a country that openly wishes death to all Americans. Anyone with the courage displayed by President Trump to go and set this regime back decades and hopefully forever shows his commitment to democracy and freedom for the world. Of course he won the war with Iran.
— John Boland, Huntington Beach
It’s not over
The war is still ongoing, so we don’t really know, but it won’t be over until Iran says it’s over and it is well past the two-week mark that Trump promised us. Trump has mismanaged this situation from the start but that is to be expected considering his history of failures.
— Wayne Stickle, Long Beach
We can’t protect allies
Having a superior navy and air force had the same outcome as wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather than assert power in the region, we demonstrated to our allies that we can’t protect either them or our own bases. It’s hard to sell that outcome as any kind of win since our actions have now led to Iran rising to a dominant power in the region with an incentive to control the Strait of Hormuz and build a nuclear bomb, which wasn’t the case prior to the war.
— Charles Bogner, Corona del Mar