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The political fallout from America's war with Iran is reshaping Washington in real time. Democrats swept the midterms in what analysts are calling a historic rebuke, flipping multiple seats as voters signaled deep frustration with the conflict's costs and consequences. Republicans are now openly debating where it all went wrong.
Vice President JD Vance has been unusually candid about that question, posting publicly that the Iran war drove Republican losses at the ballot box. President Trump agreed with that read, while defending the decision to act, saying he could not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. It's a rare moment of internal reckoning for the party in power.
Meanwhile, the ripple effects are spreading well beyond American shores. South Korea announced it will deploy maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team near the Strait of Hormuz to help keep commercial shipping lanes open. Seoul was careful to frame the mission as protective rather than interventionist, drawing a clear line between safeguarding energy supplies and entering the conflict itself.
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