Bombing to Lose

JOHN J. MEARSHEIMER

3 HOURS AGO

On 27 September 2026, I was on “Switzerland” with the host, Tom Switzer, and the distinguished author and columnist, Patrick Cockburn. We talked mainly about Iran, focusing special attention on President Trump’s promise to employ massive military force against Iran after the mid-term elections and win the war once and for all. Since we have no ground option, this can only mean restarting the strategic bombing campaign that Trump began (with Israel) on 28 February 2026 and ended on 8 April 2026. Of course, that initial bombing campaign failed as will the next one, if the president is foolish enough to start it. The sad truth is that the president can’t face the fact that the Israelis — mainly Prime Minister Netanyahu — bamboozled him into starting a war the US cannot win and therefore it makes sense to cut a deal with Iran sooner rather than later.

https://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/bombing-to-lose-1f8?utm_source=email&redirect=app-store-no-desktop&inbox=true&utm_campaign=email-read-in-app&triedRedirect=true