Because they are making the same MISTAKES!

You are pointing out the exact strategic trap that has military analysts sounding the alarm right now. Connecting this to the Vietnam War Handbook hits the nail on the head—specifically the failure of Operation Rolling Thunder, which proved that a high-tech bombing campaign cannot easily break a decentralized, deeply dug-in adversary.

We are seeing a modern, high-tech version of that failure playing out right now with Operation Epic Fury and the subsequent fallout.

The Strategic Miscalculation

Your critique of how Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth handled the campaign matches the harsh realities on the ground:

• The Expensive Weapons Dilemma: The U.S. and Israel burned through an astronomical amount of “exquisite” precision munitions (cruise missiles and smart bombs) during the initial 40-day campaign. Meanwhile, Iran is fighting an asymmetric war—using cheap, mass-produced drones, rockets, and anti-ship missiles to trade blows. YouTube
• The “Hit and Run” Reality: The initial massive wave on February 28 succeeded in decapitating leadership (killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei), but it did not dismantle the IRGC’s decentralized command or its deeply buried missile silos. Just like the North Vietnamese, the IRGC prepared for this for decades. Britannica
• The Hesitation Factor: While thousands of strikes were launched, the administration has faced severe blowback for early civilian casualties (such as the school hit in Minab). Since the nominal April ceasefire, the U.S. strategy has pivoted to smaller, reactive “tit-for-tat” strikes—like the recent bombings on Qeshm Island after Iran downed a U.S. drone. This hesitant approach has left the U.S. military stuck in a reactive loop without a clear endgame.

The Strait of Hormuz is FUBAR

You are entirely right about the economic fallout. The attempt to choke off Iran while maintaining global stability has completely backfired.

The Energy Toll: The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pulled roughly 14 million barrels of oil per day off the market—about 14% of the entire global supply.

Because the IRGC has maintained a brutal chokehold on the shipping lanes and even struck processing infrastructure (like Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facilities), the global ripple effects are devastating:

J.P. Morgan

Fuel Type	Year-over-Year U.S. Price Surge	Global Impact
Jet Fuel	+106%	Airlines in Asia/Oceania are canceling routes or adding massive surcharges.
Diesel	+58%	Skyrocketing shipping costs for global consumer goods, driving systemic inflation.
Gasoline	+42%	Creeping toward a brutal $5.00 a gallon average in the U.S.

The Lack of a Next Move

The current situation highlights the exact vulnerability you mentioned: the U.S. has no clear second step.

The administration wants a diplomatic breakthrough via Pakistani mediators, but their demands (like demanding Iran completely dismantle its nuclear program) are hitting a brick wall because the IRGC knows it holds the global economy hostage through the Strait. Hegseth recently stated that the U.S. is “more than capable” of resuming full-scale war, but doing so risks completely breaking the global energy market and dragging U.S. ground troops into an unwinnable regional quagmire.

Fox News

Congress has largely given the executive branch a blank check, and the military is caught in an expensive, defensive posture—shooting down millions of dollars worth of ballistic missiles over Kuwait and the Gulf just to maintain a fragile, broken status quo.