‘Everything After This Will Be Harder’: General Stanley McChrystal on Iran
3/23/202640 min
Did President Trump fall for the myth of surgical warfare? Gen. Stanley McChrystal joins the columnist David French, both veterans of the Iraq War, to discuss what may have been overlooked in the planning of Operation Epic Fury. McChrystal, who retired from the Army in 2010, argues that the United States often overestimates the decisive power of aerial bombing while underestimating the weight of historical grievance. And the general weighs in on the current culture of bravado coming from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
This conversation was recorded on Friday, March 20.
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This episode of “The Opinions” was produced by Derek Arthur and Victoria Chamberlin. It was edited by Kaari Pitkin and Alison Bruzek. Mixing by Isaac Jones and Pat McCusker. Fact-checking by Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Michelle Harris. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. The deputy director of Opinion Shows is Alison Bruzek. The director of Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Speaker 10:30
[upbeat music] This is The Opinions, a show that brings you a mix of voices from New York Times Opinion. You've heard the news. Here's what to make of it.
David French· Host0:40
[calm music] I'm David French. I'm a columnist at The New York Times, and I'm also a veteran. When I was thinking about who I could talk to about Trump's strategy in the world, with an emphasis on the current conflict in Iran, there's just a list of two or three people in the entire United States who I think would be most interesting on this topic, and one of them is General Stan McChrystal. General McChrystal is the former commander of US forces in Afghanistan. He's the former head of Joint Special Operations Command. He served in Iraq when I was in Iraq. He has been called by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat