This Could Be the Real Decisive Factor in the War With Iran-and Hegseth Seems Oblivious to It

"Rather, it means that the two sides are, in a way, fighting different wars-that the two sides have different strengths and that the militarily weaker side is mustering its own type of strength to exploit the militarily stronger side's vulnerabilities. In this case, the U.S. (along with Israel) is blowing up a lot of Iranian structures with great power and precision. Meanwhile, Iran is blocking traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's oil passes, thus hurling much of the globe's economy and markets into panic."

"The war's outcome may be decided not in terms of which side unleashes the most firepower but rather which side outwaits the other in its tolerance of pain (as defined in the several ways pain is being inflicted, the most decisive of which we don't yet know)."

"Trump had thought there would be no need to wait for victory, much less outwait Iran's challenge. He hoped, and said so publicly, that Iran would be Venezuela redux-knock off the top leader and the regime would fall, to be replaced either by more pragmatic underlings or by throngs of 'the Iranian people' taking over the seats of power."

The U.S.-Iran conflict is characterized as asymmetric warfare, meaning the two sides employ fundamentally different strategies rather than simply possessing unequal military capabilities. The United States and Israel leverage superior military power and precision strikes against Iranian infrastructure, while Iran counters by disrupting global commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of world oil passes. This economic disruption creates global panic and market instability. The war's ultimate outcome depends not on firepower superiority but on which side can endure prolonged pain and pressure. Trump initially expected rapid regime collapse through leadership decapitation, anticipating either pragmatic successors or popular uprising would follow. However, the Iranian regime proved more resilient than anticipated, surviving longer than expected despite U.S. military operations.

Read at Slate Magazine