Psychic Scarborough Predicts Iran War ‘Disaster’—Analysis, or Wishful Thinking?

On Monday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough predicted that the U.S. conflict with Iran would end in “disaster,” repeatedly warning that American intervention abroad “always leads to disaster” before concluding ominously: “This won’t end well either.”

Scarborough was reacting to comments on Fox by Senator Lindsey Graham, who enthusiastically praised President Trump’s foreign policy and suggested the administration was reshaping the world order.

Graham said that Trump was “resetting the world in a way nobody could have dreamed of a year ago,” even comparing him to “Ronald Reagan plus.”

Co-host Mika Brzezinski responded with a sarcastic aside. Noting Graham’s “Free Cuba” hat, she said she felt like there was another hat missing: a “FAFO” hat. The acronym stands for “F*** Around and Find Out.” Mika's implication was unmistakable: by confronting Iran, the United States is the one that will “find out.”

Moments later, as the conversation turned more serious, Brzezinski interjected: “This isn’t a game.”

Scarborough agreed with that premise, but used the moment to launch a sweeping critique of what he portrayed as reckless American foreign policy.

“The thing is, Mika, this isn’t Ronald Reagan plus,” Scarborough said. “This is Wilsonian adventurism at its very worst.”

According to Scarborough, attempts to confront hostile regimes or promote democracy abroad inevitably end badly.

“That is a recipe for disaster. That is a recipe for American weakness,” he warned.

Scarborough then broadened his argument, claiming that whenever the United States embraces muscular foreign policy, catastrophe follows.

“This sort of drunk on power, this sort of drunk on militarism, always leads to disaster,” he insisted.

To make his case, Scarborough invoked past conflicts.

“Ask LBJ in 1965. Ask George W. Bush in 2003, 2004. Ask Barack Obama about Libya, how that ended up going,” Scarborough said. “It never ends well. This won’t end well either.”

Scarborough also referred to America’s position after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “We were powerful,” he said, referring to the period after the Soviet Union collapsed. “Well, then we went into Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Scarborough spoke of the Soviet collapse almost as if it were an accident—something that simply happened, leaving the United States temporarily dominant. Missing from that telling is Ronald Reagan’s massive military buildup, which placed enormous pressure on the Soviet system and helped accelerate its collapse.

Reagan confronted the Soviet Union—the world’s only other superpower at the time—and famously challenged it with the words: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Scarborough’s broader argument also rests on a familiar premise: because some previous wars turned out badly, future conflicts must inevitably do the same. Military historians often warn that generals are prone to “fighting the last war,” assuming future conflicts will resemble the ones that came before. Scarborough seemed to apply the same logic to American foreign policy.

For Joe Scarborough, the outcome of America’s war with Iran seems settled: “disaster.”

But is Scarborough predicting that disaster—or rooting for it?

MS NOW
Morning Joe
3/9/26
7:00 am EDT

LINDSEY GRAHAM: I'm not looking a fair fight. If we get in a fight, I want to win it. I want to win it quick. I'm in Miami. You see this hat? Free Cuba. Stay tuned. The liberation of Cuba is upon us. It's just a matter of time now. 

You see this hat? Make Iran Great. President Trump said the only way to make Iran great is for the people to take over. 

We're marching through the world. We're cleaning out the bad guys. We're going to have relationships with new people that will make us prosperous and safe. 

I've never seen anybody like it. This is Ronald Reagan plus. Donald Trump is resetting the world in a way nobody could have dreamed of a year ago. 

He is the greatest Commander-in-Chief of all time. Our military is the best of all time. Iran is going down and Cuba is next. 

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I feel like there's a FAFO hat there, missing. 

JOE SCARBOROUGH: The thing is, Mika, this isn't Ronald Reagan plus. 

MIKA: This isn't a game. 

SCARBOROUGH: This is Wilsonian adventurism at its very worst. Something that conservatives, real conservatives like me, have long feared and loathed. Sort of this Wilsonian idea, this George W. Bush idea in his second inauguration, that we're going to export democracy to all four corners of the globe. 

Let me tell you something. That is a recipe for disaster. That is a recipe for American weakness. I have been saying for years now, because I got sick and tired of hearing people tear down the United States of America because a Democrat was in power or because a Republican was in power. 

I've said for years, America is the most powerful country militarily, economically, culturally, when you look at soft power, technologically, in just about every measure. 

Just like we were at the turn of the century, in 2000, with a collapsed Soviet Union. We were powerful. Well, then we went into Afghanistan and Iraq. A lot of people, you know, we understand Afghanistan, but then we had this sort of talk that you hear from Lindsey Graham about, you know, this military adventurism. We're on the march. We're going across the world. 

No, no, that didn't work for George W. Bush. It's not going to work for this president. And this sort of American adventurism, this sort of jingoism, where you're saying, Let's invade Venezuela. Let's invade Cuba. Let's invade Iran. Let's march through the world and invade all the bad guys. 

Time and time again, it has proven to be a trap. America is strong when America is restrained. 

There are times we have to send our troops to war. I completely understand that. But this sort of drunk on power, this sort of drunk on militarism, always leads to disaster. 

Ask LBJ in 1965. Ask George W. Bush in 2003, 2004. Ask Barack Obama about Libya, how that ended up going. It never ends well. This won't end well either.