In early March 1965 the US shipped 3,500 Marines to Vietnam to eradicate communism and avoid political humiliation.
By April 1969 there were 540,000 US soldiers in the country, slowly but clearly losing a grinding war of attrition against the “gooks”.
In early 1965 an attack on a US airbase had killed a dozen American servicemen, triggering a carpet-bombing exercise called Operation Rolling Thunder meant to strategically intimidate the VC into submission — a result which manpower had failed to achieve.
But the carpet-bombing also failed.
By the time the last American soldier fled the county like a whipped dog, the US had sustained more than 58,000 casualties and participated in the unaliving of more than two million Vietnamese, at least half of which were non-combatant civilians.
America lost that war because it achieved none of its objectives.
More accurately, American hubris lost that war, because when Charlie failed to meekly surrender and instead engaged the US in asymmetric warfare, a succession of US Presidents shat their political dacks.
In 2026 we have #DiaperDon underestimating the staying-power of Iran — ‘sand niggers’ as the thousands of marines en-route to the Middle East have probably already dubbed them — still expecting crowds of happy Iranians to greet them, pulling down statues of the Ayatollah, showering them with flowers and candy.
American hubris, right, but also American imperialism. Lets not forget the oil (or the fact China gets 90% of its crude from Iran)!
Instead, Trump’s war grinds on even as the tide of international sentiment turns against him. Admittedly, the orange fool has become visibly desperate to announce that he’s “won the war” and retreat, just as they did in Vietnam.
But he has fooled nobody: it’s only Day 40 and America has already lost this war, and Trump doesn’t have an off-ramp.
Hubris.
I wittily wrote about it in January 2022 (a post inexplicably still waiting for its first like), in that instance about the stupidity of “COVID parties” whereas today it’s about Bibi and Donny’s latest epic fail.
They ignored the fact Iran has been planning for “Operation Epic Failure” for fifty years. Only a physical invasion by the US can remove Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Which explains the marines still inbound for Kharg.
Folks, it’s gonna be yuge. But in all honesty I think Donny’s gonna need a bigger boat.
And a good supply of body bags.