Iran can’t be treated as a rational actor, commentator says

We're here with our friend Josh Hammer, really one of the great podcasters in my. opinion. If you like substance. and you like thoughtful opinion, the Josh Hammer Show, also Newsweek. senior editor at large. Josh Hammer, let's dig into Iran a. little bit here. Um, despite the heavy military attacks. and despite multiple efforts of. negotiation, uh, they don't seem prepared to. surrender. They don't seem to be begging.

for anything. What do you make of this? >> So, Mark, great to join you as always. I. I think the fundamental misconception, which at times borders on on hubris, I. might say, is this notion that we can. treat Iran as a rational calculating. actor. I think a lot of folks are trying. to treat this similarly to the way that. the United States dealt with the Soviet. Union at the height of the Cold War, where we had the doctrine of MAD, mutually assured destruction. And the problem, Mark, as this. well-informed audience undoubtedly.

knows, is that. this premise of treating people as. rational calculating actors, where you. can kind of strategically play out what. their move will be in response on a. chessboard and game theory setup, that. doesn't hold. You're dealing with apocalyptic. Islamists who are trying to immanentize. the coming of the 12th Imam, the Mahdi, and therefore to to hegemonically impose. Shiite supremacy over all of the masses. So, that whole paradigm just just. totally goes out the window.

And we're learning this very much the. hard way in in real time. I I I would. say my my single biggest frustration as. to where we are at right now when it. comes to stand up with Iran is the. following. Mark, I'm a very logical. person. To me, when you are engaged in. in wartime conduct, what you should do. is you articulate goals and then you. work backwards from there and you. calibrate the means. You tailor the. means to then accomplish those goals and. to achieve those ends. But from my. perspective, I'm not sure we've gotten a. clean, clear articulation as to what.

exactly we are trying to accomplish. since the very first day of the. conflict, literally the very first day. Comment he taken out on February 28th, President Trump gives a briefing in Palm. Beach at Mar-a-Lago and announces what. we're trying to do. Since then, Mark, it's been a bit of a guessing game, to. be candid with you. So, I'm a little. confused. I presume you're a little. confused because no one really knows. exactly what we're doing here at this. point. And this moment, I think, calls. for clarity. And as you said in your. opening monologue, it it calls for.

for establishing goals and then. achieving those goals expeditiously. The. The irony of this is that a lot of the. folks, the isolationists and so forth, say, "Oh, this is dragging on way too. long." Guess what? I agree. I think you. agree, too. It didn't have to be this. way. We could have set goals and. achieved them ASAP. And I think at this. point it actually still can happen. I. hope it does.