Military professionals always learn from wars and other armed conflicts. (In my view, Iran is an armed conflict but not, at least so far, a war.) Ukraine taught lessons about drones, both offensive and defensive. What can we learn from Iran?
For one thing, we can evaluate the effectiveness of several nations’ armed forces. The U.S. and Israeli militaries have both performed brilliantly, and in close harmony. Some liberals question whether Israel is a valuable ally. I am not sure why; I think a case could be made that Israel is our only valuable ally. What other nation, besides us, performs with their effectiveness?
I think the U.K. actually wanted to participate in the conflict. Iran attacked their base in Cyprus, and the Brits wanted to get naval forces, initially including an aircraft carrier, into the Mediterranean. But they apparently couldn’t do it. Their level of preparedness is such that so far, they have not actually been able to get a ship to the eastern Mediterranean. This has led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth in Britain: the Royal Navy is not what it once was, to put it mildly.
The French are doing better. They are at least getting some vessels into position, although whether any French forces will fight remains unknown.
Then there is China. Chinese technology has failed spectacularly, to the point where it has become a meme:
— The_Chief_Mad_Dog (@thechiefmaddog) March 16, 2026
Given how our forces have performed compared to Chinese weaponry, my guess is that the likelihood of an invasion of Taiwan in the foreseeable future has declined significantly.
Few militaries in the world are actually prepared to fight at a high level. Happily, ours is first on that list. Liberals hate it. They view the military as one more social welfare program. Thus, to cite just one data point out of thousands, the New York Times email last Thursday was headed, “Pete Hegseth’s rhetoric of violence.” Imagine that–violent rhetoric from the Secretary of War! Fortunately, when it comes to violence and the U.S. military, it’s not just rhetoric. Same for Israel.
