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Iran Thinks Time Is Its Best Weapon Against America. Trump Needs to Take That off the Table
On 4 June 2026, the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, posted Iran Thinks Time Is Its Best Weapon Against America. Trump Needs to Take That off the Table by Michael Rubin, a senior fellow there. The page says the column first ran in National Security Journal. Rubin argues that Iran's plan is to outlast American patience, and that this war is not a repeat of the 2003 occupation of Iraq. An American family should care because his distinction is specific. He writes that the United States has not sent ground troops to occupy Iran, and the "surge" he wants would keep it that way.
Evidence rating: MODERATE. This rates a named American Enterprise Institute fellow's description of the war as of 4 June 2026, that the United States "has not sent ground troops to occupy Iran," and his proposal for a "surge" without them. The US government's own later account of the April rescue, below, is the record to set it against.
What the article says
Rubin writes that many Americans remember the 2003 Iraq war as a quagmire that began with an expectation of a quick win. He answers the comparison himself. Iran in 2026, he writes, is not Iraq in 2003.
Most obviously, the United States has not sent ground troops to occupy Iran.
Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute, 4 June 2026.
He writes that the similarity is the hope for a fast result. He writes that, from a military standpoint, the operation called Epic Fury has been a success. He writes that US strikes targeted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and removed the top layers of Iran's military command. That is his account of the air campaign.
He writes that none of those blows matter if Iran's real aim is to outlast the United States and show it can resist until American voters lose patience. He recalls President George W. Bush's Iraq "surge," when Bush, as Rubin tells it, refused to set an end date and so undercut enemies who planned only to wait America out. Then he draws the contrast.
He writes that an Iran surge would be different, first because it would not involve ground troops. It would mean demanding peace and continuing to target Iranian leaders until they defect or agree to a deal. He writes that Trump should treat the lack of another election as freedom to keep going, rather than let the price of gasoline push Washington to stop. Those are Rubin's proposals, not a policy the page shows the government has adopted.
He also writes that Israel is a sovereign country, not a puppet of the United States. He writes that if Tehran wants Israeli attacks to stop, including direct Israeli attacks on Iran, it should negotiate with Israel, and that Trump should not pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop them on Iran's behalf. He writes that a halfway bargain that lets the Islamic Republic rebuild would be as bad as a loss.
What other reporting and posts add
One qualification to "no ground troops." Rubin is right that no occupying force had been sent. But the US government later acknowledged that American troops did operate on Iranian ground once before he wrote: in an April rescue of a downed F-15E crew member. The head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, told CBS's 60 Minutes, as RT summarized it, that "More than 90 US service members were ultimately deployed on the ground," calling them "the first acknowledged US 'boots on the ground' in Iran in 46 years." @rbg4lif quoting RT, 14 September 2026. (capture: twitter/t49__v577.md) See How a perilous US rescue mission in Iran nearly went off course.
What happened after this column. About a week later, CNN reported the US military had rushed to prepare a ground mission to seize Iran's enriched uranium, which Trump paused (a243). Four days after this column, independent reporter Ken Klippenstein reported a leaked order sending a company of the 82nd Airborne to Israel tied, per an X summary, to "joint contingency planning" "for seizing Iranian-controlled Kharg Island." X news summary, 8 June 2026. (capture: twitter/t07__v083.md)
Rubin's point about Israel, in Israel's own words. Rubin writes that Israel is not a US puppet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a clip posted in June 2026: "I did not ask for permission. I simply informed him of our plans." YouTube, 25 June 2026. (capture: twitter/t13__v145.md)
What it shows
Rubin's "has not sent ground troops to occupy Iran" is precise, and the precision is the lesson. By the day he wrote it, more than 90 Americans had already fought on the ground inside Iran in the April rescue. A week later CNN reported a prepared ground mission to seize the uranium, paused by the President. Four days after the column, Klippenstein reported 82nd Airborne soldiers sent to Israel tied to joint planning for seizing Kharg Island. And Netanyahu said of his own decisions: "I did not ask for permission. I simply informed him of our plans." "No occupation" was true; "no American soldiers on Iranian soil" was not, and the plans kept moving (see Americans on Iranian Soil and Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid).
Check it yourself
No second source was opened for this page. The National Security Journal page linked from the AEI post was not opened.
Status: Donald Trump is alive. Benjamin Netanyahu is alive. Michael Rubin is alive. George W. Bush is alive.
Why this column matters to a newcomer: the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on 28 February 2026, and by June many Americans were comparing it to the Iraq war that began in 2003 and became an eight-year occupation. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a conservative Washington think tank. Michael Rubin worked in the Pentagon before the Iraq invasion; in a 2004 National Review article he wrote that he served there then, "as did approximately 23,000 others." He argues that the key difference this time is no American occupying army, and that Washington should keep up the air pressure rather than stop.
Research captures: twitter/t49__v577.md, twitter/t07__v083.md, twitter/t13__v145.md, twitter/t03__v026.md
Last Updated: 2026-09-26