3/3/26 Daniel Davis on Trump’s Dangerous New War with Iran

·25 min·2 clips

The side that runs out of interceptor missiles first loses the war, no matter how many planes or ships it has.

1. Scott Horton Show host Scott Horton interviews retired Army officer Daniel Davis, of the Daniel Davis Deep Dive, about the first days of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. 2. Davis previously contradicted General David Petraeus's 2012 Senate testimony on Afghanistan and now offers his assessment of the new war's military and constitutional stakes. 3. The episode's core question is whether the stated goal of regime change is achievable, or whether chaos is the actual objective. 4. Davis says Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate three weeks earlier that there is no postwar plan for Iran. 5. He quotes Senator Lindsey Graham describing the mission as to "kill everybody and blow shit up and then see what happens." 6. Davis compares the likely outcome to Libya after Muammar Qaddafi's 2011 fall, which he says left competing governments and a low-level civil war still unresolved. 7. He says the U.S. has expended so many interceptor missiles supporting Israel and Ukraine over recent years that its own stockpile is now "critically low." 8. Citing Senator Ted Cruz, Davis says U.S. intelligence estimates Iran can manufacture 100 missiles per month even under sanctions. 9. The Pentagon has confirmed six American troops killed in action, with additional personnel wounded and returned to duty. 10. Davis notes Israel has reportedly killed Iran's Ayatollah and the clerical council that had gathered in Qom to select a successor. 11. He argues Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis have not escalated in response so far, undercutting Iran's claimed "axis of resistance." 12. Davis raises Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq as a wildcard who could mobilize Shiite followers on a scale bin Laden or Baghdadi never commanded, but says he has stayed out of the conflict so far. 13. He says the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained but not physically blockaded, with oil prices up 11 percent since the war began. 14. Davis states the war was launched without a congressional declaration or authorization and that the U.S. was not first attacked, calling the Constitution "a dead letter." 15. The conversation is a fast-moving two-person interview with little small talk, driven by Horton's rapid questions and Davis's detailed military analysis. 16. Listeners already following U.S. antiwar commentary or military strategy will find this useful; those seeking pro-intervention analysis or casual news coverage should skip it.

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