Iran's Winning Strategy: Avoid Losing

“To the Editor:

 

In ''The New Physics of Power'' (column, Aug. 21), Thomas L. Friedman examines recent events in the Middle East.

 

He writes, ''These new weapons amplify another advantage the small have over the big: They don't have to win. They just have to avoid losing.''

 

That is well said, but it should not be necessary to remind Americans of the events we have been celebrating this year commemorating the conflict that founded our republic. That is precisely the strategy an upstart, ill-equipped army used to defeat the overwhelming force of the British.

 

After his crushing defeat at Brooklyn in 1776, when George Washington confronted the English head-on and lost, he was forced to retreat for most of the rest of the war, engaging in only the occasional skirmish.

 

To paraphrase Mr. Friedman, Washington did not have to win; he just had to avoid losing, much like Iranians. Has there ever been a time when a nation has faced more peril by disregarding awareness of its own history?

 

Thomas Sites

Dumont, N.J.

 

To the Editor:

 

Thomas L. Friedman wrote about how the physics of war is changing, explaining how the advances that blend A.I. with drone technology create ways for small defenders as well as nefarious actors to threaten bigger adversaries.

 

Alas, Mr. Friedman omitted discussion of the coming avalanche of threats to Western infrastructure -- the vulnerabilities of banking systems, utilities, water systems and other entities that can be hacked or invaded by millions of disenfranchised young Houthis, Iranians and Palestinians armed with inexpensive drones and laptop computers.

 

Raphael Nevins

Albuquerque

 

To the Editor:

 

As Thomas L. Friedman explains it, we've come to understand that superpowers no longer hold a decisive edge on the battlefield. For all of President Trump's confidence about United States military superiority, he may have done the country a favor by exposing that fallacy.

 

We could have gained insight by observing the events in Ukraine, but Americans are loath to admit that their vast expenditures on weapons don't ensure that they are prepared for future warfare. And the military-industrial complex in our country is anything but nimble.

 

Shame on us if we don't use this experience as a teachable moment.

 

Eric Greene

Annapolis, Md.

 

To the Editor:

 

Concerning the current war with Iran, Thomas L. Friedman says that ''the small can now act really big, really accurately and really inexpensively.''

 

But wasn't that true of the Vietnam quagmire, almost 60 years in our past?

 

Ellen Tremper

Bronx

 

This article appeared in print on page A19.” [1]

 

1. Iran's Winning Strategy: Avoid Losing: [Letter]. New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast); New York, N.Y.. 25 Aug 2026: A.19.