A recent book by William and Philip Taubman on Robert McNamara brought home two truths for me that have parallels with America today: Beware the smartest man in the room. And, war never goes as planned.
McNamara, the former head of Ford Motor Co. and secretary of defense under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War, was one of the so-called "Whiz Kids" from World War II. He helped propel Ford into the modern era, then turned his statistical focus to reforming another fossilized bureaucracy, the Pentagon.
In every meeting, McNamara had to prove he was the smartest person in the room, attacking anyone who disagreed with him with a blizzard of facts, figures and statistics. President Donald Trump goes about it differently – he goes with his gut – but the outcome is the same. Trump, as a new MAGA baseball cap says, is "right about everything."
Which leads us to Trump's war of choice against Iran. No one disputes that the regime in Iran is awful. The government massacres its own people. Iran is a major state sponsor of terror and has been for decades. But the reality is that Trump is ad-libbing the war with Iran from day to day.
The first week, after launching his attack against Iran, Trump told an audience "the war is won." Yet here we are, eight weeks later, with the Strait of Hormuz closed, the regime still in power, the price of gas nearing more than $5 a gallon, and jet fuel, airline ticket prices and baggage fees on the rise.
Military superiority doesn't guarantee victory
That leads to my second truth: War never goes as planned. Vietnam is a case study. America had more men, more planes, more bombs, more everything. Yet it was Americans scrambling aboard a Marine CH-46 helicopter on the morning of April 30, 1975, as the North Vietnamese overran Saigon and won the war.
Or ask Russia about the one-week plan for victory in the war against Ukraine, now entering its fourth year. Apparently, the Ukrainians didn't get that memo. As America learned about the Vietnamese, Ukrainians have a greater will to defend their homeland than was originally anticipated. And what they lack in technology against a more powerful foe, they make up for in resilience and asymmetrical warfare.
Iran's ruling regime may not have the love of its people. But even though the U.S. has used its tremendous firepower to obliterate the Iranian naval and air forces, the government in Iran has figured out that it can use drones, mines and small ships to harass shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, Iran's allies are capable of much the same thing in the Red Sea, in spite of American technological superiority.
The danger of leaders who can't admit a war is failing
With a stalemate in the strait, Trump has opened up a second front in the war against … the Vatican? Trump is upset that Pope Leo XIV is calling for peace, quoting Jesus and urging diplomacy. So Trump has launched a war of words on social media, calling Pope Leo "weak on crime" and "terrible on foreign policy." While Vice President JD Vance struggles in his negotiations with Iran, perhaps Trump could dispatch Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to meet with the Vicar of the Prince of Peace.
According to the new biography of McNamara, by 1965, even he concluded the Vietnam War could not be won. Yet McNamara, the so-called smartest man in the room, continued to prosecute the war for two more years. More bombing. More killing. More deaths of U.S. soldiers and sailors and Marines. He could not bring himself to admit his policies were not working. In fact, it took McNamara 30 years before he publicly admitted he was wrong.
Americans should not have to wait 30 years to get answers about what the Trump administration is doing in Iran. Congress must not sit idly by. Republicans and Democrats must exert their constitutional prerogative and vote on whether to declare war.
Moreover, at least one brave member of Congress needs to follow the example of Arkansas Sen. William Fulbright. In the 1960s, Sen. Fulbright held televised congressional hearings on the war in Vietnam. He opened the proceedings with this statement: "Under our system Congress, and especially the Senate, shares responsibility with the president for making our Nation's foreign policy. This war, however, started and continues as a presidential war in which the Congress … has not played a significant role. The purpose of these hearings is to develop the best advice and greater public understanding of the policy alternatives available and positive congressional action to end American participation in the war."
Those very same words could be used today with America's war against Iran.
Congress must do its job
The Trump administration must be forced to explain its justification for starting this war of choice, as well as its plan to end the war. What is the end game? Unconditional surrender by the head of Iran? A popular uprising that overthrows the Iranian Revolutionary Guard? The opening of the Strait of Hormuz? The capture of all enriched uranium in Iran?
More than one dozen brave men and women have already died in the war with Iran. Hundreds more have been injured. Thousands more have been deployed to the Middle East and placed in harm's way. How many Americans are worth losing in this struggle? Is there a clear-eyed strategy behind all of this? If so, what is it?
Congress has abdicated its constitutional duty regarding tariffs, the impoundment of funds, the power of the purse and so much more. But now, with the lives of America's young soldiers, sailors and Marines on the line, Congress must meet the moment, find its spine, and hold President Trump's administration accountable.
Or else go home and don't come back.
Originally published in the Detroit Free Press on May 4, 2026.
