Military expert appalled by Trump's 'capitulation' to Iran: 'Worse than gaining nothing'

A military expert shredded President Donald Trump's agreement to end his war with Iran as nothing short of capitulation.The 80-year-old president claims to have reached an agreement confirmed by Iranian officials, but retired U.S. Naval War College professor Tom Nichols published an article for The Atlantic analyzing the details that have been reported so far.The details of the agreement remain unconfirmed, but the president, of course, is eager to spin the outcome as a victory, Nichols wrote. Trump was in a hurry to sign the deal on his birthday; the Iranians, who now seem to be in charge of this whole business, instead said they will send someone to a meeting in Switzerland on Friday. But even before we have the details, it is clear that Trump has failed to achieve every one of the goals he put forward for this war of choice, and now he is determined to sign, seal, and deliver America’s capitulation as quickly as possible.Nichols wasn't so sure the war had ended in defeat for the U.S., saying Iran had taken significant damage from the military operation, but he said the regime remained intact and in control of the Strait of Hormuz – which he said were Tehran's key strategic aims.Indeed, the United States has perhaps done worse than gaining nothing, Nichols wrote. Iran, while temporarily weakened, is now an even more powerful political actor: The regime in Tehran stood up to a massive U.S. onslaught, survived, and then inflicted pain on various states in the Gulf as punishment for going along with Trump’s war.The Strait of Hormuz will reopen when the agreement is signed, but Nichols said Iran held a stronger hold over the crucial waterway than before Trump launched the attack, and he said the president had agreed to give the regime 24 billion over the next two months and another 300 billion for reconstruction.The war leaves Iran battered, but more powerful and with more cash at its disposal, while it leaves America weaker, with important stocks of weapons depleted, and with its consumers paying the price for the war at the gas pump, Nichols wrote.Trump began this war by promising the Iranian people that they would be able to seize their government from the theocratic tyrants who oppress them, and he repeatedly said he would settle for nothing less than 'unconditional surrender,' Nichols concluded. Had Trump toppled the regime in Tehran, he would have had the thanks of most of the world — and congratulations from even his most dedicated critics. Instead, the United States has been defeated.