Why doesn't America learn from history?

According to news reports in the American media, U.S. President Donald Trump is looking for ways to exit the war he entered after falling for the "easy victory" lure in Netanyahu's plan to take down Iran. It has once again been understood that plans and strategies built on assumptions have a habit of blowing up when they come into contact with realities on the ground.

In Trump's camp, there are many people—Tucker Carlson foremost among them—who argue that this war should never have started. Carlson met with Trump multiple times but was unable to convince him. It is also said that U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance is not favorable toward this war. Vance, who is known to be very close to Carlson, of course prefers to express this opinion behind closed doors.

According to a report in Time magazine by Eric Cortellessa titled "Inside Trump's Search for a Way Out of the Iran War," White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is worried that Trump's advisers are telling him what he wants to hear rather than what he needs to hear. The report noted that a rosy picture of how the war is perceived domestically has been painted for Trump, and it highlighted that Wiles has asked those close to Trump's ear to be more candid about the political and economic risks.

The anti-Zionist Jewish writer Peter Beinart, in his podcast titled "Why Does America Never Learn?", emphasized that no one is held accountable for America's endless wars. Beinart drew attention to a recently published survey. According to a regular survey of academics who study the Middle East, political scientists, historians, and experts from other fields, only 5% of this group support the war.

The experts at think tanks funded by major arms companies and the "Israel Lobby," meanwhile, dance to the tune of those who pay them. It is already clear that hawkish politicians to whom the "Israel Lobby" makes donations are working on all fronts to get Trump to attack Iran.

American historian Barbara Tuchman, in her book The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam, describes the destructive wars that rulers start by turning a deaf ear to warnings. In a few of my previous articles, I shared some details about the expedition launched by the Athenian Empire in 415 BCE to conquer Sicily, eight hundred miles from Athens. This invasion attempt, undertaken with the expectation of "quick and decisive victory," lasted more than two years.

It was General Nicias who objected in the Athenian assembly to the naval expedition launched against the city of Syracuse in Sicily. The ambitious leader of the neocon faction, Alcibiades, had persuaded the Athenians to conquer Sicily. The Sicilian expedition ended with the destruction of the Athenian navy.

Poor Nicias became the victim of this expedition he could not prevent. Even though Nicias surrendered, he was killed by the Syracusans. The Athenian historian and general Thucydides said: "Nicias was the least deserving of such a misfortune of all the Greeks of my time."

Alcibiades was the most prized student of the famous philosopher Socrates, who doted on him. Yet Socrates' wisdom could not restrain his student's ambitions. According to the historian Plutarch, Socrates sensed that the Sicilian expedition would bring no benefit to Athens. Plutarch notes that because the Sicilian expedition ended in disaster, the Athenians came to understand that Nicias had spoken the truth to them throughout his life.

The Italian politician Niccolò Machiavelli, who lived in the 16th century and wrote The Prince, one of the most famous books of all time, mentions Nicias twice in his Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy. In the section titled "The Deceived People Often Make Decisions That Ruin Them, And Great Hopes And Strong Promises Easily Move Them," Machiavelli speaks of Nicias as "a Greek example" as follows:

"In the city of Athens in Greece, Nicias, a powerful and prudent man, could never persuade the people that it would not be wise to attack Sicily. When this decision, opposed by the wise, was carried out, it led to the complete ruin of Athens."

Machiavelli also says that Alcibiades and his followers advocated for the Sicilian expedition not for the public good but for their own personal interests and ambitions. He notes that Nicias, though it was against his own personal interest, acted virtuously and advised against the expedition. In short, from ancient times to the present, the folly of those who govern marches on.