The Iran War Repeats Iraq War Mistakes with Even Less Justification
Source: Jill Filipovic. "For millennials like me, the Iran war feels horribly familiar.." March 11, 2026. slate.com
The Gist
The author argues that America is repeating the same mistakes from the Iraq war with Iran, but this time with even weaker reasons for going to war. She believes the Iraq war was a complete disaster that destabilized the Middle East, and now we're doing the exact same thing again with Iran despite having learned nothing from our past failures.
Conclusion
The current Iran war is a repetition of the disastrous Iraq war pattern, but with even weaker justifications and worse leadership
Premises
- The Iraq war was based on false pretenses (WMDs that didn't exist) and resulted in regional destabilization, expanded terrorism, and massive costs with no positive outcomes
- The Iran war justifications are constantly shifting and contradictory, ranging from nuclear threats to regime change to self-defense, none of which are credible
- Unlike Iraq, there is no recent mass killing of Americans to allegedly avenge, making the war even less justified than Iraq
- The current administration admires autocrats and has no coherent plan for democratic transition in Iran
- Public opinion shows Americans have learned from Iraq's mistakes, with 56% opposing military action in Iran
- The structural elements are identical to Iraq: authoritarian regime, deceitful government, spineless Congress, private contractors profiting, and claims about freedom and self-defense
Assumptions
- Past military interventions predict future outcomes
- Public opposition to war should influence policy decisions
- American-led regime change cannot produce genuine democracy
- The Iraq war was definitively a mistake with no positive outcomes
- Trump's motivations are primarily personal rather than strategic