What you'll learn

• 1 (00:06) **Opening & Framing the War as a Failed Neocon Project** - Dave and Rob introduce the episode by mocking neoconservative pundits who supported the Iran war and are now scrambling to distance themselves from its failure.
• 2 (03:04) **The "Cope" Clip: Podhoretz Blames Losing, Not the War Itself** - Dave plays a clip of John Podhoretz lamenting that the war is failing, but only because Trump didn't fight it properly, not because the war was a bad idea.
• 3 (08:33) **The Fantasy of a "Good War" in a Post-Iraq World** - Dave and Rob dismantle the notion that a successful Iran war would have been a net positive, given the track record of Middle Eastern interventions.
• 4 (12:14) **The "What If We Won" Cop-Out** - Dave and Rob analyze the logical fallacy of neocons defending the war by saying "if only we had won."
• 5 (15:23) **The High-Stakes Gamble: Risking the Country on a Coin Flip** - Dave and Rob argue that the neocons' own logic reveals they gambled the nation's future on a war they couldn't guarantee.
• 6 (18:52) **The "We Didn't Want This" Excuse Debunked** - Dave and Rob play a clip where Podhoretz's guest says "none of us wanted this war" in its current failed form, which they call a blatant lie.
• 7 (24:21) **The Insurmountable Problem: Insurgency and Unwinnable Goals** - Dave explains why even a "successful" regime change in Iran would have led to a quagmire, as the neocons' own definitions of victory are impossible.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app