PBD Podcast panelist on war in Iran: “I think we're at the front door of quagmire”
Tom Ellsworth: If Trump backs out of Iran, this could be like the “failed retreat from, extraction from Afghanistan” or even “like Carter backing out”
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From the March 11, 2026, edition of PBD Podcast, streamed on YouTube
TOM ELLSWORTH (PANELIST): People talk about quagmire, and maybe this is pessimistic, but I think we're there. I think we're at the front door of quagmire. And now, we got to figure out a way to get out, and there's no good way to get out. And if you back out, think about it, I never thought I'd be saying this. But if he backs out, this could be like a, like a failed retreat from, extraction from Afghanistan. This could be like Carter backing out.
This is the one country, Cheney said it's all about Iran. It's not Iraq. It's going to be about Iran. Even Cheney said that when he was getting the president to look for weapons of mass destructions that were not there in Iraq. Everybody has looked at Iran and said, this is the guy. It's like for twenty years, this is Muhammad Ali, and everybody, everybody wanted to get to him. And it wasn't until age got to Ali that he ever lost. And so, this is, just drives me a little nuts. I think we're at the, I mean maybe this is pessimistic, Pat, but I think we're at the front door of quagmire.