Victor Davis Hanson: Iran War Update, Mexico’s Cartel Problem, and the Tyler Robinson Case

In the middle of a discussion about Iran, Victor Davis Hanson makes a blunt observation about the Trump administration’s early negotiating strategy: “I think everybody knew it all along.” The “it” was the Iranian regime’s two-faced approach—presenting moderates for diplomacy while the Revolutionary Guard Corps kept the pressure on. Hanson argues this was never a genuine split within Iran but a coordinated bad-cop/good-cop routine designed to run out the clock until the midterms, raise gas prices, and turn global opinion against Washington. Now that the diplomatic track has collapsed, Hanson says the only remaining option is military: hit the rail bridge that carries Chinese weaponry, destroy the Caspian dockworks that bring in Russian supplies, and systematically eliminate Iran’s “mosquito fleet” of small attack boats. He notes that bombing these cheap vessels with expensive missiles is inefficient but necessary. The broader goal, he suggests, is to neuter Iran’s military-nuclear-industrial complex within the next few weeks, then hold the line until after the election. “They don’t understand Trump,” Hanson says. “He’s fluid, he’s transitional, he’s calm. But if you push him long and hard enough, he will do something.”

Mexico’s Cartel Problem and the Diplomatic Double Standard