← Boots on the Ground: TV Clips
Hanson: Goals Require Ground Troops or Regime Change
Victor Davis Hanson, military historian, Hoover Institution. The Spectator, Americano with Freddy Gray, June 24, 2026.
The Spectator · posted 2026-06-24 · 1:08
Added to this site: September 27, 2026 · Transcribed: September 27, 2026
Original: youtube.com/watch?v=gTuFAOn4aAA · IPFS QmRnrqDSocd9sB4EByDxGp6xBwwEDgWjSSvdRFXpRecact
Also posted as: youtube.com/shorts/gTuFAOn4aAA · x.com/spectator/status/2069704786505515365 · x.com/SpecCoffeeHouse/status/2069719894224970109
What this video shows
Victor Davis Hanson is a military historian and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, and a frequent guest on conservative media. In this 68-second clip from The Spectator's Americano podcast with Freddy Gray, Hanson goes through the goals being set for Iran: no money to terror groups, all missiles surrendered, no drone factories. Guaranteeing all of that, he says, "is regime change."
He then points to what regime change cost last time: some 7,000 American dead and 53,000 wounded over 20 years in Afghanistan and 10 in Iraq, with results that "were not lasting," and "a complete humiliation in Afghanistan." "We're not a colonial power," he says, and "Iran is not a protectorate." His conclusion:
"They're either going to have to put ground troops or they're going to have to take out the regime and there's no public support for any of that."
Hanson is not calling for troops here; he is warning about where the war's stated goals lead. That is the point: a well-known historian says out loud that the demands being made of Iran can only be enforced with American ground troops or regime change — the very thing the public was told would not happen, and which, he says, the public does not support.
Where this fits: this clip is one of the TV clips calling for American boots on the ground in Iran. For the full story, what the public was told next to what was happening, see American Soldiers on the Ground in Iran — Videos.
Transcript
Machine transcription (apple-speechanalyzer · Source duration: 00:01:08 · Transcript covers: 00:01:08 ✓ full) made with Large File Bridge on September 27, 2026. It can mishear names and words, so check exact wording against the video before quoting it.
Well, we have to make sure they don't give any money to any of the Arab terror. That fine. We have to make sure that all our missiles are surrendered. That's fine.
We have to make sure they have no drone factory. That's fine. But what you're talking about is regime changed to ensure that. And we were collectively 30 years, 20 in Afghanistan, 10 in Iraq, 7000 American dead, 53,000 wounded, $200000000, and we achieved regime shames for a while.
And we did micromanage the Afghan economy and military and society. And we did, Michael Manage, and affected all those things we wanted, and they were not lasting. They had some effect positive maybe in Iraq, but nothing at all. In fact, it was a complete humiliation in Afghanistan.
In 2022. So they don't want, we're not a colonial power and a lot, Iran is not a protectorate. And when people keep talking about, well, we're going to do all these things to them, they're either going to have to put ground troops or they're going to have to take out the regime and there's no public support for any of that.
Last Updated: 2026-09-27