On the Art of the Surrender
Columnist Nicholas Kristof↱ suggests:
It's been a while since Clive Barker wrote:
It's not a matter of life imitating art; rather, the art spoke of something real: "Thus the pagan will be sanctified, the tragic become laughable; great lovers will stoop to sentiment, and demons dwindle to clockwork toys."
Kristof offered a longer take↱, as well:
"At this stage, Trump was right to retreat," Kristof continues, "for he had no good options … The unpalatable truth is that Iran won the war".
And he does the Homer thing:
And a prediction we can check as time reveals the answers:
And there are platitudes, such as, "Those whom we have betrayed the most are ordinary Iranians"; and there is also the obvious point, that "the lesson of history is that when you see a cast of overconfident hawks promising painless victory, beware". But the reason why that advice fails, over and over again, that temptation to learn anew, is so well known it is not just the stuff, but also the discussion of legend.
And maybe, in a generational context, it's simply a brain chemistry thing, that the possibility of success where all of history has failed is an inevitable temptation which, like sin itself, must be resisted without being understood. It's one thing to not know unless we try, but this is war. And what history tells is that we still don't learn. It's not just that each generation must learn anew, but also that their predecessors did not necessarily figure it out last time. People are, after all, human.
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Notes:
Barker, Clive. Weaveworld. New York: Poseidon, 1987.
Kristof, Nicholas. "Trump Was Right. The War Ended With a Surrender." The New York Times. 20 June 2026. NYTimes.com. 20 June 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/opinion/trump-iran-republicans-hormuz.html
Columnist Nicholas Kristof↱ suggests:
The Iran war ended, as Trump had predicted in March, with a surrender. Unfortunately, it was a US surrender. But too many people seem to be learning the wrong lesson. The problem was not getting out of the war, but getting in.
Ever since Homer, we've stupidly rushed into wars; Achilles called the Trojan war "insane." But each generation seems to need to learn anew the importance of distrusting hawks who promise painless victories.
Ever since Homer, we've stupidly rushed into wars; Achilles called the Trojan war "insane." But each generation seems to need to learn anew the importance of distrusting hawks who promise painless victories.
It's been a while since Clive Barker wrote:
Nothing ever begins.
There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs.
The threads can always be traced back to some earlier tale, and to the tales that preceded that; though as the narrator's voice recedes the connections will seem to grow more tenuous, for each age will want the tale told as if it were of its own making.
There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs.
The threads can always be traced back to some earlier tale, and to the tales that preceded that; though as the narrator's voice recedes the connections will seem to grow more tenuous, for each age will want the tale told as if it were of its own making.
It's not a matter of life imitating art; rather, the art spoke of something real: "Thus the pagan will be sanctified, the tragic become laughable; great lovers will stoop to sentiment, and demons dwindle to clockwork toys."
Kristof offered a longer take↱, as well:
President Trump declared in March that a deal to end his war with Iran would require "unconditional surrender," but that wasn't quite right. The preliminary agreement he just reached with the Iranian regime was more like a conditional surrender — by the United States.
In the past few days, various Republicans and war hawks have emerged, seemingly bewildered, to criticize the deal. "Trump has surrendered to Iran," wrote Erick Erickson, a conservative commentator. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas warned, "Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea."
The criticisms are correct: The Iran deal is a major setback. It gives immediate relief to Iran, including the prompt unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets and later a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran. And it appears to open the door to Iran gaining at least partial control over the Strait of Hormuz, with the ability, 60 days hence, to charge fees of ships transiting the strait.
"This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades," lamented Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Yet these denunciations miss the most important point. Trump's fundamental mistake was not ending the war but getting into it in the first place.
In the past few days, various Republicans and war hawks have emerged, seemingly bewildered, to criticize the deal. "Trump has surrendered to Iran," wrote Erick Erickson, a conservative commentator. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas warned, "Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea."
The criticisms are correct: The Iran deal is a major setback. It gives immediate relief to Iran, including the prompt unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets and later a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran. And it appears to open the door to Iran gaining at least partial control over the Strait of Hormuz, with the ability, 60 days hence, to charge fees of ships transiting the strait.
"This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades," lamented Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Yet these denunciations miss the most important point. Trump's fundamental mistake was not ending the war but getting into it in the first place.
"At this stage, Trump was right to retreat," Kristof continues, "for he had no good options … The unpalatable truth is that Iran won the war".
And he does the Homer thing:
This lesson about avoiding needless wars is not a new one but apparently must be learned afresh by every generation. In the "Iliad," Achilles lamented "this insane voyage" to wage the Trojan War, "fighting other soldiers to win their wives as prizes."
Indeed, ever since Homer wrote of the Greeks' attempted regime change in Troy, we've seen that the grander the military ambition, the more wary we should be.
Indeed, ever since Homer wrote of the Greeks' attempted regime change in Troy, we've seen that the grander the military ambition, the more wary we should be.
And a prediction we can check as time reveals the answers:
I fear one result of this war is that Iran will be more likely to pursue nuclear weapons. My guess is that the 60-day negotiating period will be extended, that Iran will slow-walk nuclear negotiations and that Trump will be reluctant to accept anything that looks like the Obama accord. Then Trump will lose interest in the same way he seems to have forgotten about Gaza. There will be almost no appetite in America for another Iran war, and the newly empowered Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps will weigh whether to adopt North Korea's strategy and try to build a nuclear arsenal to seal its regional primacy.
And there are platitudes, such as, "Those whom we have betrayed the most are ordinary Iranians"; and there is also the obvious point, that "the lesson of history is that when you see a cast of overconfident hawks promising painless victory, beware". But the reason why that advice fails, over and over again, that temptation to learn anew, is so well known it is not just the stuff, but also the discussion of legend.
And maybe, in a generational context, it's simply a brain chemistry thing, that the possibility of success where all of history has failed is an inevitable temptation which, like sin itself, must be resisted without being understood. It's one thing to not know unless we try, but this is war. And what history tells is that we still don't learn. It's not just that each generation must learn anew, but also that their predecessors did not necessarily figure it out last time. People are, after all, human.
____________________
Notes:
Barker, Clive. Weaveworld. New York: Poseidon, 1987.
Kristof, Nicholas. "Trump Was Right. The War Ended With a Surrender." The New York Times. 20 June 2026. NYTimes.com. 20 June 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/opinion/trump-iran-republicans-hormuz.html
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