July 27, 2026
Failure was in the seeds of Trump’s avoidable Iran adventure. That’s not unusual or surprising.
Wars of choice, like Vietnam or Iraq, tend to go bad. U.S. military interventions have a poor track record on a few different grading scales.
Instead of learning, many of the proponents of these wars commonly do one of two things…
- Ignore their failure, refuse to discuss it, and move on to their next escapade.
- Suggest that they had a plan that would’ve worked, but that the administration was too dumb or corrupt do it.
This episode is for that second group.
To this day, there are people who errantly believe that the failure in Vietnam was because the U.S. Government wasn’t really committed to winning.
And now, the Iran “I Can’t Believe You Call It A” War (Pete Hegseth doesn’t!) is an obvious failure. What should be done about this Iran adventure?
Well, there are serious calls, by (allegedly) thoughtful observers, for boots on the ground and using nukes. But…
The graceful way to argue your case is to counter the best opposing ideas. The term for that is steelmanning, which is the opposite of strawmanning.
And the best idea I’ve heard is that the U.S. military should’ve dropped weapons to the people, who could then rise up and overthrow the regime.
Sounds good. But that strategy was also doomed. And that’s why this episode of Gracearchy with Jim Babka is titled, “Iran War, Why Failure Was Inevitable.”
OR…
It’s Like Two Episodes In One
This episode is just under an hour long because we covered a lot of ground. In the show notes, there’s a list of “chapters.” If you tune-in to this episode, you will learn things that you can use, and with the chapters, you’ll be able to reference them, later, when you need them.
First, we cover why the bombing campaign strategy was never going to work in this Iran adventure.
Second, we go over three reasons why arms weren’t dropped (and it’s still not being proposed by anyone in power).
Third, we discuss why no set of current “facts,” about the need for a foreign regime change, are ever sufficient to justify U.S. military interventions.
Fourth, we explain why government doesn’t work. We turn to Friedrich Hayek, Richard Maybury, and Harry Browne for insights.
Plus, I introduce the Tax-Funded Midas Curse, which includes two reasons why even the best laid government plans will fail. That’s why…
We finish by exploring the questions,
- Is there a mechanism for doing regime change without the State?
- Does the label “Great Satan” reveal the Achilles heel of tyrants?
- What’s preventing voluntaryist regime change?
We’re on these audio podcasting platforms: Spotify * Pandora * iHeart * Apple, and several others.
We’re featuring today’s episode on…
Impact Actions
These small actions “speed up the algorithm” so that new people discover the program.
- Reacting (thumbs up) and subscribing, while you’re listening (the later you do this, the better).
- On Rumble or YouTube, leave a comment (we often respond).
These simple actions are like contributions. Thank you!
ZAP The State and have a nice day,
Jim Babka
Host, Gracearchy with Jim Babka
Co-creator, Zero Aggression Project
Jim Babka is the co-creator of the Zero Aggression Project. However, the views expressed in the show do not necessarily reflect those of the board, staff, or supporters of the Zero Aggression Project (Downsize DC Foundation).