SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: Mearsheimer: Trump Can Start a War, but He Can't Control the End

https://x.com/OopsGuess/status/2032292310088892451

Mearsheimer: Trump Can Start a War, but He Can't Control the End The U.S. airstrike on Iran has already gone beyond a single "incident." It's becoming a long war. Mearsheimer warned: “The U.S. will inflict enormous pain on Iran, but it won't win in the long term.” Under the excuse of a “targeting error,” the U.S. used Tomahawk missiles to bomb a girls’ elementary school in the city of Mina, killing 168 girls aged 8–10. At the outset of the war, they assassinated Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Religious Leader and bombed multiple civilian areas. Over 1,000 Iranians died. These attacks silenced all domestic opposition in Iran. The same citizens who once protested the government now stand united. When American missiles slaughter your children, no one cares about politics anymore—only justice and vengeance. Trump miscalculated. He thought Iran would collapse like Venezuela. But Iran has lived through 8 years of brutal war and decades of sanctions. Surrender is not in their vocabulary. Iran’s new strategy: no talks, no compromise. Instead, they target global choke points like the Strait of Hormuz—disrupting oil flows, raising prices, and hitting U.S. voters directly in the wallet. U.S. polling shows most Americans oppose the war. CNN and AP-NORC found over half say military action makes the U.S. less safe. 56% have “little to no trust” in Trump’s use of force abroad. In just 13 days, 7 U.S. soldiers were killed, 140+ wounded. The more this drags on, the higher the political cost—especially in an election year. Iran’s new Supreme Leader has vowed revenge for *every* death. If compensation is denied, they’ll seize enemy assets. This is no longer tit-for-tat. It’s a protracted, strategic war. So Mearsheimer was right. Trump may start a war, but he cannot dictate its ending. And Iran? They’ve already decided—they will not back down.

2:06 PM · Mar 13, 2026