Trump's Iran Campaign Echoes Post-9/11 'Forever Wars'

In the lead-up to his second term, Donald Trump promised to be a "president of peace" and vowed to stop foreign wars. However, a quarter-century after the 9/11 attacks that sparked America's "war on terror," he is now involved in an unpopular conflict of his own making that some analysts fear could become another "forever war." With the 9/11 anniversary approaching, Trump's war against Iran is drawing comparisons to the long and divisive conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Experts argue that Trump has broken a crucial post-Iraq and Afghanistan constraint by launching another major, open-ended war in the Middle East, potentially leaving his successor with an entrenched US-Iran confrontation to handle.

Administration officials maintain that the war against Iran is different from the protracted post-9/11 engagements, as the US is primarily relying on air and naval power, causing damage but not defeating Iran or prompting Iranians to overthrow their rulers. However, after six months, the US is entangled in a battle of attrition, with frequent bursts of hostilities and Trump attempting to tighten the economic noose around Tehran.

Analysts warn that this conflict is likely to continue well beyond the US midterm elections in November, when opposition to the war could threaten Trump's Republican Party's chances of maintaining control of Congress. Furthermore, the economic costs of the war are weighing on US consumers.

The war against Iran has also shown that the US lacks allies in the region, similar to the Iraq invasion. Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian notes a sense of limitation and helplessness among Iran's neighbors, who never wanted the conflict in the first place. This mirrors the regional spillover effect seen in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where Washington found itself caught off-guard by the unexpected consequences of its actions.

While the Iraq and Afghan wars started with solid domestic support, Trump's war has faced widespread public opposition from the outset, with many Americans criticizing him from the beginning.