Former President Barack Obama said the United States appears to have gained little or lost ground after years of military conflict with Iran, questioning whether the enormous cost in treasure and lives produced any meaningful strategic gains.
"We've now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we're back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off," Obama told NBC's Craig Melvin in an interview that aired Friday.
The remarks came as Obama reflected on the recent ceasefire agreement and a memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump during a dinner at the Palace of Versailles. While expressing cautious optimism about the truce, Obama zeroed in on what he saw as the deeper policy failure.
Obama pointed to his administration's 2015 nuclear deal as evidence of a different approach. Under that agreement, Iran had committed to forgoing nuclear weapons development. When the Trump administration withdrew from the accord in 2018, Iran responded by expanding its nuclear capacity, Obama noted.
"This administration, or a prior version of this administration, pulled out of it, which caused then Iran to develop more nuclear capacity," he said. The original deal had required Tehran to take detailed steps over 25 years designed to prevent it from obtaining or building a nuclear weapon.
The new memorandum, however, leaves the nuclear question largely unresolved. It establishes a 60-day window for negotiators to forge a more comprehensive settlement ending the conflict, but does not fully address Iran's nuclear program.
Obama expressed relief at the ceasefire itself. "I am very happy to see a ceasefire. And I'm hopeful that it holds," he said, though his broader assessment suggested deep skepticism about whether the war achieved its aims.
The former president used the occasion of his presidential center's public opening to broaden his critique beyond Iran policy. He described the country as locked in a cycle of "disruption, polarization," and said Americans increasingly fear their democratic institutions and shared civic values are collapsing.
"There's no doubt that we are going through a period right now of disruption, polarization," Obama said. He argued that his center and museum serve as a counterweight to this erosion, reminding visitors not of past glory but of the capacity citizens possess to strengthen democracy.
"We all have the capacity to feel a civic responsibility to make sure our government works," Obama said. "We all play a part in assuring that our elected officials are accountable. And that's not something that I think we can afford to suggest is behind us."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Obama's critique cuts deeper than the headline suggests, turning a war assessment into a broader warning about democratic health when leaders make costly bets without clear returns."
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