Monday, June 22, 2026

Becket Adams: CNN was right about the war, and I was wrong

Conservative media often direct a lot of ire at the “mainstream press” for getting it wrong — and they are often right. But it is only fair to acknowledge that conservative media get it wrong, too.

And when it comes to President Trump’s disastrous attempt this year at playing war chief, a whole lot of conservatives got it wrong, this author included.

Following the president’s signing last week of his “Memorandum of Understanding” with Iran — an agreement good for 60 days until Washington and Tehran strike a “final deal” — there’s nothing left except to concede that the U.S. was done in by a few mines. Iran actually forced a desperate White House to the negotiating table simply by flexing what muscles it has left over the Strait of Hormuz.

The largest, most powerful, and best-funded military in the history of the world, despite inflicting massive destruction and suffering minimal casualties, was somehow defeated by a shipping channel. Our British cousins must be having flashbacks to the Suez Canal.

The most astonishing thing about the White House’s capitulation in Iran, beyond the Islamic Republic’s victory in the face of a clear power disparity, is that the White House obviously jumped into the war with no real consideration or plan for the possibility that Iran might block the Strait of Hormuz. This despite U.S. military strategists warning for decades about this exact scenario.

Read the rest here.

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