A pause in the war on Iran?
Donald Trump blew his wad
It very much appears that Donald Trump has blown his wad on Iran. There are persistent reports that the U.S. has depleted its supply of munitions in Trump’s unpopular, utterly stupid, utterly failed war.[1] The U.S. has also failed to cover up the greater damage to its bases and higher casualties than it initially admitted.[2]
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime has proven willing to suffer much more pain that the U.S. anticipated and shows no sign of compromising, let alone capitulating, on its demands.[3]
Of course, toxically masculine Trump can admit none of this, even to himself. Failure is weakness. Weakness is intolerably shameful. So, like Vladimir Putin, who shares these deficiencies, in his war on Ukraine, the U.S. war on Iran shows no sign of resolution.
If indeed the pause (for two days) in strikes and counterstrikes is due to an exhaustion of munitions,[4] this may be the best we can hope for—and it might last only as long as it takes for the U.S. to rearm.[5]
[1] Michael Froman, “How Does the Iran War End?” Council on Foreign Relations, July 24, 2026, https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-does-the-iran-war-end; Darius Radzius, “Pentagon Rushes to Buy 10,000 Missiles as Iran Has Depleted Stockpiles,” Military.com, May 13, 2026, https://www.military.com/pentagon-rushes-to-buy-10000-cheap-missiles-due-to-iran-war; Yashraj Sharma, “Why has the US halted its bombing of Iran?” Al Jazeera, July 27, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/27/why-has-the-us-halted-its-bombing-of-iran; Patrick Tucker, “Hegseth’s conflicting statements, evasions drain lawmakers’ patience, support,” Defense One, July 22, 2026, https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/07/hegseths-conflicting-statements-evasions-drain-lawmakers-patience-support/414955/
[2] Nick Turse, “‘Cover-Up’ Unravels as Pentagon Admits Nearly 100 Injured in Iran Strikes,” Intercept, July 21, 2026, https://theintercept.com/2026/07/21/iran-war-pentagon-casualties-injuries/
[3] Michael Froman, “How Does the Iran War End?” Council on Foreign Relations, July 24, 2026, https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-does-the-iran-war-end
[4] Yashraj Sharma, “Why has the US halted its bombing of Iran?” Al Jazeera, July 27, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/27/why-has-the-us-halted-its-bombing-of-iran
[5] Darius Radzius, “Pentagon Rushes to Buy 10,000 Missiles as Iran Has Depleted Stockpiles,” Military.com, May 13, 2026, https://www.military.com/pentagon-rushes-to-buy-10000-cheap-missiles-due-to-iran-war