‘Everything After This Will Be Harder’: General Stanley McChrystal on Iran
From The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion
March 23, 2026 · 40 min
About this episode
General Stanley McChrystal discusses the implications of aerial warfare and historical grievances in U.S. military strategy with David French.
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.
People in this episode
Host: David French
Guest: General Stanley McChrystal
Topics covered
- military strategy
- U.S. foreign policy
- Iraq War
- aerial bombing
- historical grievance
- defense culture
Keywords
- Stanley McChrystal
- David French
- Operation Epic Fury
- aerial bombing
- historical grievance
- Iraq War
- Trump
- Pete Hegseth
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: United States
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