Spin Cycle: Media, Dems Dub Iran ‘Forever War’ As Conflict Expands To Second Week

American military action in Iran has entered its second week — and the political war at home is in full swing. Democrats and legacy media are racing to brand President Donald Trump the architect of yet another “forever war,” accusing him of violating the Constitution and demanding he seek congressional approval if he wants to continue bombing Iran.

For those who don’t spend their weekends glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.

In addition to complaining about Trump taking action without first getting the support of Congress, the key note struck by legacy media outlets was the notion that war with Iran — which has thus far lasted just over a week — will necessarily snowball into the same kind of long, drawn-out affair the United States saw in Iraq and Afghanistan: a “forever war.”

To kick off the weekend, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) sat down with HBO host and comedian Bill Maher, where he repeated the same refrain being sung by most Democrats: Trump must first go to Congress.

Maher quickly laid a rhetorical trap for the lawmaker: “This statement from the administration: ‘The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.’ That’s too vague for you?”

“Totally vague,” Schiff agreed.

Maher dropped the other shoe then, saying, “OK. Because that’s from Obama about Libya.”

Schiff scrambled, saying that then-President Barack Obama had taken the issue to Congress when he wanted to take action in Syria in 2013. He ignored Obama’s 2011 actions in Libya entirely, largely because the Obama administration continued those actions for months without ever getting congressional approval.

By Sunday morning, the narrative had shifted to focus on whether or not Iran would be another “forever war.”

On ABC’s “This Week,” anchor Martha Raddatz spoke with correspondent Ian Pannell about the objectives — which they said were thus far unclear — and suggested that it would be difficult to evaluate whether the U.S. and Israeli coalition had “won,” and if so, when.

“The president tells us we’re winning. How do we know that we’re winning, and if we don’t know that, how do we know when it ends?”

ABC News’ Ian Pannell joins Martha Raddatz in Jerusalem as the UAE joins the U.S. and Israel in firing shots into Iran: “The president tells us we’re winning. How do we know that we’re winning, and if we don’t know that, how do we know when it ends?” https://t.co/zjSQAcbPh6 pic.twitter.com/1XV7irvDGi

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz pushed back on Raddatz later in the show, explaining that the objectives in Iran were fairly straightforward. The Trump administration, he says, is “focused on an Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Americans, in an American-first foreign policy, but also no longer pose a threat to our allies in the region.”

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz tells Martha Raddatz that President Trump “is focused on an Iran that can no longer pose a threat to Americans, in an American-first foreign policy, but also no longer pose a threat to our allies in the region.” https://t.co/FIig18PSLv pic.twitter.com/wHxMAznCAY

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

Admiral (Ret.) Mike Mullen, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the end of former President George W. Bush’s last term and the beginning of former President Barack Obama’s first, warned that wars can start small and grow quickly, especially if the declared objectives change in any way.

“Wars expand, objectives change, circumstances come up that you didn’t expect,” he said.

Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that he worries the current war with Iran could drag on for years: “Wars expand, objectives change, circumstances come up that you didn’t expect.” https://t.co/6dNhTiUoMP pic.twitter.com/UG2pVmwtjy

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

“Yes, the [Iranian] supreme leader is dead, but I don’t think the regime change that we’re talking about is represented just by that,” Mullen added, saying that “the regime is embedded, deep, dedicated, and sees this war as a war of survival for Iran.”

“Yes, the [Iranian] supreme leader is dead, but I don’t think the regime change that we’re talking about is represented just by that.” Ret. Admiral Mike Mullen says that he thinks “the regime is embedded, deep, dedicated, and sees this war as a war of survival for Iran.” pic.twitter.com/F5yMWOLhcf

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 8, 2026

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” anchor Jake Tapper pressed Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on his vow to vote against funding for any military action in Iran.

“You have said you’re a ‘hell no’ on funding the war. We have seen this movie before. We know that vote will be cast as — especially if you run for higher office — you voting against the troops,” Tapper prompted.

“Oh come on I mean, the American people don’t want this war,” Murphy scoffed. “They don’t want this war. They have seen what happens when American troops go into places like Iraq, places like Afghanistan. Ultimately we get a lot of people killed, we waste a lot of dollars, the one thing the American people are clear about is they do not want the United States dragged into another long term war in the Middle East.”

TAPPER: “You have said you’re a ‘hell no’ on funding the war. We have seen this movie before. We know that vote will be cast as – especially if you run for higher office – you voting against the troops.”

MURPHY: “Oh come on I mean, the American people don’t want this war.” pic.twitter.com/lTB5isM8I7

— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 8, 2026

Although President Trump has said that he is willing to continue military action in Iran as long as it takes to achieve his objectives, his initial assessment was that the entire thing could be handled in a matter of weeks.