The Struggle for the Soul of America: Is the Iran War Becoming Trump’s Vietnam Quagmire?

Posted on March 26, 2026 by Author: Bruce Berlin

The Making of a Quamire by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam tells how the United States created a major foreign policy disaster for itself in Vietnam in the 1960s.[1] The book recounts the blunders and misconceptions of American military and political leaders which resulted in the prolonged Vietnam War that the United States eventually lost after approximately $1 trillion spent in today’s dollars, two decades of fighting and over 58,000 American fatalities.[2]

In February 1965, President Lyndon Johnson “authorized Rolling Thunder, the sustained bombing of North Vietnam.”[3] Similarly, in February 2026, President Trump unleashed Operation Epic Fury, a very extensive air attack on Iran.[4] Five months after Rolling Thunder began pummeling North Vietnam, Johnson made a pivotal decision to significantly escalate US involvement in the Vietnam War. Distorted evidence regarding American ships being attacked in the Tonkin Gulf,[5] withholding important information from the public and the Congress about the state of the war, and false projections propelled our nation into full-scale warfare in Vietnam for another eight years.[6]

Now, over sixty years later, Trump also “has lied about the reasons for the war and about its progress…”[7] Having misled the American people, he faces the same perilous choice Johnson did of whether to greatly escalate his war against Iran. On the one hand, Trump claims “we are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East.”[8] On the other hand, the president is sending several thousand “new U.S. ground forces near the region and continuing to strike Iranian targets.” At the same time, Trump is also threatening to obliterate Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz.[9]

Then, last Monday, Trump postponed strikes against Iran’s power plants for five days claiming that “very strong talks” to end the war were occurring. But a top Iranian official quickly denied such talks were being held.[10] That raised the distinct possibility that Trump is just buying time to get the U.S.’s next offensive, which would most likely include ground troops, ready to strike. Once again, the great con artist is trying to pull one over on the American people. By now, however, a strong majority of Americans get Trump’s self-serving doublespeak and don’t trust anything he says.

If Trump does choose to go down the road of increasing American attacks on Iran, we are likely to see a continuing military buildup similar to that which occurred during the Vietnam War. With no clear objectives or end game in sight, the president could very well be thrusting our nation into an Iranian quagmire for who knows how long. And for what? Not being a student of history, Trump fails to recognize he is taking the country down the same dead-end road that left the Taliban running Afghanistan after 20 years of our fighting to remove them from power.[11] Believing he’s invincible, Trump overlooks the fact that the Iraq War proved to be a failed, costly endeavor for the United States as well[12]

With a protracted war in Iran, the best Trump could hope for is an agreement that would, in all probability, be no better than the one Obama made with Iran in 2015.[13] Being an extreme narcissist who always thinks his way is best, Trump tore up Obama’s accord after he became president. Our con artist-in-chief has since tried to make Americans believe that he would make a deal with Iran that was better than Obama’s. And even if he did — the chances of that being extremely slim – would it be worth the hundreds of billions of dollars and the loss of thousands of lives such an outcome would require? Not to mention all the critical domestic needs our America First president would have to ignore in the process.

Clearly, the GOP does not have the chutzpah to deter Trump from this Vietnam-like tragedy in the making. Nor do the minority Democrats. But the American people can stop him. We must do everything in our power to prevent Trump from taking our country over this foreseeable cliff.

Call or write your Congresspeople. Write letters to the editor. Join the No Kings protest on March 28^th. Get involved in the mid-term elections. Make your voice heard. The stakes are too high to sit this one out.

Bruce Berlin, JD

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), and his new memoir, From Camden to Kathmandu. (See bruceberlinauthor.com) He is the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at bruceberlin45@gmail.com. Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/

[1] https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Making_of_a_Quagmire.html?id=H77nHlw3qs8C

[2] https://www.warcosts.org/conflicts/vietnam-war

[3] https://millercenter.org/president/lbjohnson/foreign-affairs

[4] https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/03/peace-through-strength-president-trump-launches-operation-epic-fury-to-crush-iranian-regime-end-nuclear-threat/

[5] https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/february/truth-about-tonkin

[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/29/opinion/lying-about-vietnam.html

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/opinion/iran-war-trump-lying.html#:~:text=From%20his%20first%20announcement%20of,crimes%20can%20become%20more%20common.

[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/us/politics/trump-iran-offramp.html

[9] https://www.npr.org/2026/03/22/nx-s1-5756308/trump-threatens-obliterate-irans-power-plants-iran-strikes-2-israeli-cities

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/23/world/iran-war-oil-trump

[11] https://laurajedeed.medium.com/afghanistan-meant-nothing-9e3f099b00e5

[12] https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/shock-and-awe-life-in-iraq-twenty-years-after-the-us-led-invasion/#:~:text=ultimately%20fruitless%20enterprise.-,The%20invasion%20of%20Iraq%20is%20widely%20recognized%20as%20a%20costly,veterans%2C%20have%20been%20widely%20discussed.

[13] https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/328996

The Struggle for the Soul of America: It’s Never Too Late for the Democrats to Do the Right Thing

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not run for re-election that fall. In his short time as president, Johnson achieved great advancements for the American people, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Still, in 1968, the Democratic Party and the country as a whole were very divided by race, class, ideology, and, of course, the Vietnam War.[1]

Despite his noteworthy accomplishments, Johnson’s public approval rating sat at only 36%. He was being challenged by members of his own party as well as a strong Republican candidate, Richard Nixon. Johnson realized the odds of his re-election were poor. As political historian Matthew Dallek explained, “LBJ had become the face of America’s divisions.”[2]

Fifty-six years later, President Biden’s situation is not much different than Johnson’s was. In his one term in the White House, Biden has achieved many good things, including rebuilding our infrastructure, significant gun violence prevention legislation, and combating the climate crisis.[3] Yet, his public approval rating stands at just 37%.[4] Like Johnson, many Democrats don’t want him to run for re-election and he is being challenged by a strong Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Biden has now become the face of America’s divisions as well.

Unlike Johnson, however, President Biden has failed to come to grips with the reality of his situation and the catastrophic consequences facing our country if his Republican opponent wins the presidency. But Thursday evening’s presidential debate was a stark wakeup call for the rest of the Democratic Party. The question is how will the Party respond.

For a hopeful answer, let’s turn to 1974 and the Republican Party’s response to Nixon’s failing presidency. Due to Nixon’s alleged involvement in the Watergate scandal involving a criminal break-in and subsequent cover-up, Nixon lost the support of many in the Republican Party as well as American voters in general. He was about to be impeached by Congress.

On Aug. 7, 1974, the leaders of the Republican Party, U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., U.S. House Minority Leader John Rhodes, R-Ariz., and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott, R-Pa., went to the White House and made it clear to Nixon that his presidency was “doomed.”[5] Two days later, Nixon resigned the presidency.

Granted Biden’s situation is quite different. But what is similar is that Biden has lost the support of a great many members of his party.[6] Biden’s presidency may not be “doomed,” but his chances of re-election could be after his awful performance at Thursday’s debate.[7]

The leaders of the Democratic Party need to do what those Republican leaders did in 1974. Barak Obama, Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries with the support of First Lady Jill Biden must go to the White House and tell President Biden that his re-election is very much in peril, and he needs to withdraw from the race. Nixon said it best when he resigned, “…as President, I must put the interests of America first.”[8]

Unfortunately, two days after Biden’s terrible debate, none of the above-mentioned Democratic leaders are preparing to deliver that message to Biden. In fact just the opposite, they are all rallying around the president despite the fact that “59 percent of independent voters and 47 percent of Democratic voters said Biden should be replaced as the party’s presidential candidate. “[9]

The Democrats are rolling the dice by sticking with Biden. Though it’s an uphill battle, he may still be able to rejuvenate his campaign and beat Trump. And, honestly, they would also be gambling if they chose another candidate to lead the ticket. But selecting a new standard bearer at their convention would energize Democrats and give them a huge opportunity to win over those undecided voters in the swing states that will decide this election.

Yet, the truth is that it’s all up to Biden. He has enough delegates committed to him to secure the nomination if he wants it. What he decides will undoubtedly impact the election, but ultimately the fate of our democracy is in the hands of the American people.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.history.com/news/lbj-exit-1968-presidential-race

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

[4] https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-BIDEN/POLL/nmopagnqapa/

[5] https://www.azcentral.com/story/azdc/2014/08/03/goldwater-rhodes-nixon-resignation/13497493/

[6] https://www.npr.org/2024/06/05/nx-s1-4987296/young-voters-biden-gaza-inflation-abortion-trump-genforward-poll

[7] https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/biden-trump-threat-to-democracy

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon%27s_resignation_speech

[9] https://www.newsweek.com/biden-poll-democrats-debate-trump-1919143

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Israeli-Hamas War Is Biden’s Vietnam

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

As a college student in the 1960s, I became so appalled at our government’s prosecution of the Vietnam War that I joined the protests against the war. On April 15, 1967, hundreds of thousands of us marched from New York’s Central Park to the United Nations on the East River in the biggest anti-war rally up until then.[1] But as the war grew, so did the protests. On November 15, 1969, the Moratorium to End the War staged an even larger demonstration in Washington.[2] I was among the protesters at the Pentagon that the police teargassed that day.

Today, as then, college students are spearheading the protest movement against America’s involvement in a costly war. And, similar to President Johnson back then, President Biden is now the primary target of the students’ wrath.

True, there are very significant differences between the two conflicts. Most importantly, no Americans are fighting and dying in Gaza today. Over 58,000 American service people lost their lives in Vietnam.[3]

On the other hand, the Administration’s unconditional support for one side is very similar in both wars. Then the United States was all in with the South Vietnamese. Today, our government fully backs Israel. At the same time, a large segment of the American Jewish community as well as Muslim Americans oppose Biden’s position, making his re-election campaign that much more difficult.

In both cases, however, resistance to our government’s handling of the war grew. By March 31, 1968, the opposition was so great that President Johnson announced he would not run for re-election that fall.[4] While President Biden does not appear to be considering withdrawing his candidacy in this year’s election, the protests on college campuses and beyond have increased, though not to the extent of the Vietnam-era demonstrations; at least, not yet.[5]

The Democrats will hold their National Convention in Chicago this coming August. Ironically, that’s the same city where the Democrats gathered in 1968 to nominate their presidential candidate, and it didn’t go well. Anti-war protesters clashed with the police on national television reminding the voters of the Dems’ responsibility for the quagmire in Vietnam.[6] The Democrats ended up losing the election to Richard Nixon. We could very well see a repeat of that tragic scenario later this year if Biden fails to take decisive action soon to stop the slaughter in Gaza.

Despite the growing protests, as well as the increasing death toll in Gaza, Biden just signed a bill providing another $26 billion for Israel’s war effort. Included in that Israeli figure is over $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza.[7]

At the same time, 55% of Americans now disapprove of Israel’s military actions and only 27% approve of Biden’s handling of the Middle East conflict, according to a March Gallup poll.[8]

While the war is not one of the top concerns of the electorate, in a close election as this year’s is likely to be, Biden could lose critical swing states due to his continued support for Israel’s military aggression. Given this distinct possibility, it’s puzzling that Biden hasn’t done more to stop the slaughter of thousands of innocent Gazans, mostly women and children, and the destruction of their homeland.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently offered this path forward for Biden: stop sending Israel offensive weapons. Kristof noted, “…that would get the attention of the Israel Defense Forces very quickly.” He argued for suspending “the transfer of offensive arms to Israel, pending food actually being delivered to Gaza to end this starvation, and some indication of dialing back the more reckless side of the bombing in Gaza and then push immediately for some kind of a cease-fire and hostage release and, likewise, then try to use that for some kind of an arrangement for a Palestinian state.”[9]

Kristof explained that Biden was right to call out Hamas’s October 7^th attack on Israel as “barbaric and intolerable. But if you only care about human rights for one side in a conflict, then you don’t actually care about human rights. And if you regard the deaths of children on one side of a conflict as a tragedy, as unacceptable, but deaths of children on the other side of the conflict as regrettable, then there is something profoundly wrong not just with your geopolitics but with your moral compass.”[10] While it remains to be seen whether Biden actually gets that, we can only hope that he changes course soon before it’s too late.

However, there is something you can do here at home to try to advance peace between Israel and the Palestinians. At 11:15 a.m. on May 12, a live-streamed Joint Memorial Ceremony will be viewed at the Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe as part of an international event in support of efforts to end the violence and bring freedom and justice to all in the Middle East. I hope to see you there. For more information about the Memorial, go to https://www.afcf.org/2024-joint-memorial-day-ceremony.

Bruce Berlin

[1] https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/massive-anti-war-demonstrations/

[2] https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/nov-15-1969-anti-vietnam-war-demonstration-held/#:~:text=all%20Historic%20Headlines%20%C2%BB-,On%20Nov.,and%20towns%20across%20the%20country.

[3] https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics#:~:text=April%2029%2C%202008.-,The%20Vietnam%20Conflict%20Extract%20Data%20File%20of%20the%20Defense%20Casualty,casualties%20of%20the%20Vietnam%20War.

[4] https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/lyndon-b-johnsons-decision-not-to-run-in-1968

[5] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-palestinian-seders-planned-new-york-other-cities-college-campuses-simmer-2024-04-23/; https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/the-mounting-antiwar-protests-on-college-campuses/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=wp_post_reports

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention_protests

[7] https://apnews.com/article/congress-ukraine-israel-pacific-glance-0af96be97c47496f88506a21ebe1ddab#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20About%20%2426%20billion%20for%20supporting,amid%20the%20Israel%2DHamas%20war.

[8] https://news.gallup.com/poll/642695/majority-disapprove-israeli-action-gaza.aspx

[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/biden-morality-gaza-israel.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar&region=header&pgtype=Article

[10] Ibid.