Skip to main content

← A Long Pattern

Isolationists relitigate Iraq War to let Iran go nuclear

On June 26, 2025, the Cleveland Jewish News published Isolationists relitigate Iraq War to let Iran go nuclear, an opinion column by Jonathan S. Tobin. The page says he is editor in chief of JNS, the Jewish News Syndicate. The Cleveland Jewish News is a Jewish community newspaper in Cleveland, and this piece is labeled Opinion. Tobin argues that a limited American bombing campaign against Iran is not a repeat of the Iraq War. He writes that President Donald Trump is not planning to build a new government in Iran and is not contemplating a ground invasion. A ground invasion would mean American soldiers fighting on Iranian land. An American family should care because this is a clear public claim that they will not be sent to do that.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The rating covers Jonathan S. Tobin's signed opinion column, which states that Trump was not "contemplating a ground war invasion" of Iran. Tobin is the editor in chief of JNS, and the newspaper labels the piece as his view.

What the article says​

Tobin writes that people arguing about Iran are refighting the last war. He says opponents of action against Iran's nuclear program treat any strike as a repeat of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He calls the Iraq War a real mistake, not a lie, and he says nation-building and democracy promotion became toxic after it. His point is that avoiding the last mistake can produce a new one. He then argues that Iran's nuclear program is a different problem, and that a limited bombing campaign is not another Iraq War.

The sentences that matter for American soldiers are these:

Unlike Bush, Trump has no interest in making Iran democratic or in nation-building there. Nor is he contemplating a ground war invasion.

Jonathan S. Tobin, Cleveland Jewish News, June 26, 2025. In the next sentence he writes that an Iranian attack on Americans in the region could be met with air and drone strikes, "not a 'boots on the ground' strategy." Boots on the ground means soldiers fighting on land. He says things could still go wrong, but that those risks do not resemble Iraq or Afghanistan. He also writes that Trump declared the only way out for Iran is an "unconditional surrender," and that settling for nothing less does not mean a forever war or nation-building. That account of what Trump declared is Tobin's, in this column.

The column is an argument for joining Israel in stopping an Iranian bomb, including the possibility of American bombers against the Fordow enrichment site. He names Tucker Carlson as the leading voice, in his view, against any action, and he accuses Carlson and commentator Candace Owens of antisemitism. That is Tobin's charge. This page does not adopt it. He also says Trump called Carlson "kooky," and that Carlson apologized. Those details are outside the troop question. They show the column is a brief for bombing.

The page prints a disclaimer. It says letters, commentaries, and opinions in the Cleveland Jewish News reflect the writer, not the newspaper, unless explicitly stated.

What other reporting and posts add​

The administration said the same thing that weekend. Vice President JD Vance told NBC on 22 June 2025, as NOTUS reported: "We have no interest in a protracted conflict. We have no interest in boots on the ground." Fortune noted that when asked if he could rule out ground troops eventually being deployed, he said the US had no interest in a protracted conflict. NOTUS, 22 June 2025; Fortune, 22 June 2025. (captures: twitter/t52__v617.md, twitter/t52__v621.md)

A critic read the same week the opposite way. A widely followed anti-war account wrote on 22 June 2025 that Trump "did NOT say this was a 'one and done' strike on Iran. Nor, did he say that there would be no American 'boots on the ground.'" That is his reading of a press conference he did not quote. @TPV_John, 22 June 2025. (capture: twitter/t13__v147.md)

An Israeli push, reported three days before the column. An account relaying Axios wrote on 19 June 2025 that, per an unnamed senior US official, "Israelis are effectively encouraging the US to engage in a ground war with Iran if an air war doesn't immobilize Iranian nuclear sites." The Axios story was not opened; treat this as a lead. @MonitorX99800, 19 June 2025. (capture: twitter/t13__v145.md)

Eight months later. In the 2026 war, Trump told the New York Post on 2 March that he did not have "the yips with respect to boots on the ground," and by late March the Pentagon was preparing weeks of ground operations. See Trump pushes back on Iran war plan and Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations.

What it shows​

In June 2025 a leading pro-Israel editor told American readers that joining Israel's war meant bombing only: "Nor is he contemplating a ground war invasion." The same week, according to Axios as relayed on X, a senior US official said Israelis were "effectively encouraging the US to engage in a ground war with Iran if an air war doesn't immobilize Iranian nuclear sites." Eight months later the President said he had no "yips" about boots on the ground, and by late March 2026 the Pentagon was preparing weeks of ground operations in Iran. The argument ran in a familiar order: first the reassurance that it will only be air strikes, then the plans for American soldiers. See A Long Pattern and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Background for a new reader: this column was written in the week the United States first bombed Iran. Israel began striking Iran on 13 June 2025, and on the night of 21 to 22 June US B-2 bombers hit the nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, an operation named Midnight Hammer. JNS (Jewish News Syndicate) is a pro-Israel news service; its editor's columns are carried by Jewish community papers like this one. Tobin's promise that Trump was "not contemplating a ground war" is worth holding up against what happened after the larger war began on 28 February 2026.

Research captures: twitter/t52__v617.md, twitter/t52__v621.md, twitter/t13__v147.md, twitter/t13__v145.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

Last updated on