President Trump today convened a “war cabinet” meeting in the White House to consider what happens next week when the current cease-fire expires next Wednesday morning. What he should conclude is that this “excursion“ was a dramatic mistake, and recognize that the objective of defeating Iran militarily is not possible with the troops we have allocated and the time we have available, and instead of proving that by trying to restart the war, he should admit the plan didn’t work, and seek to extricate the US as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost. It is crucial to understand where we are at this point and how we got here: Prior to choosing to start this war w Iran, there was no threat to the United States, imminent or otherwise. They were not two weeks from a nuclear bomb, and they had made no move to build one. The Strait of Hormuz was open and free and unfettered, and about 19 million barrels of oil and all other commodities were flowing freely and without encumbrance, every day. All American troops in the region were alive and well. All of our bases were fully operational and unscathed. 24 MQ9 reaper drones were still in our possession, and 13 combat aircraft were still fully functional, and no planes had been shot out of the sky. The price of oil was a little over $60 a barrel, and every reason to think that it would remain stable at that price. Our regional allies we’re still whole and protected. Now none of those things are true now. The cost has been profound for a war that should never have been started, and it was clear to anyone willing to see the reality that we would end up in a place like this. And now, it is equally clear that to restart this war by choice, will only deepen all of the costs that we’ve already had imposed upon us, likely more death and destruction for America and its allies, and an even graver interruption of global oil supplies. And we still will not have control of the Strait, and will be facing a strategic and then military defeat at the hands of someone smaller and much weaker than us. The only way we could ever lose a war to Iran is if we started one. And now here we are staring defeating the face bc of that bad choice. The only question now, how much deeper with the cost be to America and our allies if we refuse to learn the previous lessons, and arrogantly go forth, trying to win again with the military. How many more Americans will have to die to prove what is already self evident?