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The geopolitical realist position held by Mearsheimer and Pape is that Trump set America down the path to defeat the moment he chose to start a war with Iran. There is no "positive outcome" available, just bad and worse outcomes. Cutting a deal with Iran or leaving them in control of the strait is bad, fighting an inconclusive war for months if not years that leaves all of the Middle East.
LBJ refused to accept a small embarrassment in Vietnam and in escalating he turned it into generational disaster. Had he taken the L at the beginning America would have been immeasurably better off.
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