There are a lot of myths about George Washington.

The famous “I cannot tell a lie”Cherry tree story is complete fiction. It comes from a biography published shortly after he died in which the author wanted Washington to serve as a “moral example” for young Americans. So he created the cherry tree story out of whole cloth to serve his purpose.

He didn’t have wooden teeth. His dentures were made of ivory, human and animal teeth, and metal springs. They stained easily, which probably helped give credence to the myth.

He was not America’s first president. That title belongs to John Hanson, who served as the presiding officer—president—of the country under the Articles of Confederation. Washington was the first president under our current Constitution.

Another myth is that Washington was a perfect military leader. He was not. During the Battle of Long Island he allowed the British general William Howe to outflank him, which could have ended the War of Independence before it had truly begun.

None of this is to say that George Washington was not an honorable man. He was the only slave-holding founder to free his slaves upon his death.

Nor does it deny his military brilliance. His strategy during the Revolutionary War—one he likely absorbed from Native American warfare during the French and Indian War—was brilliant. He understood that fighting the Redcoats head-to-head was a fool’s game. They were better equipped and better trained than the ragtag army the Continental Congress had assembled.

Washington realized the best way to win the war was simply not to lose it.

He understood that keeping British troops on American soil was expensive and that the King and Parliament would not tolerate the outlay forever. He also knew British soldiers were not made of stone. They had families and homes they missed. Extend the war long enough and their desire to fight would fade until our untrained, undisciplined army could defeat them—which it did at the Siege of Yorktown.

This became one of the founding strategic doctrines of the Republic.

Yet we forget it from time to time. What is it they say? “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

We should have relearned that lesson in the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese fought the same type of war George Washington did against the British, and it cost the United States nearly 60,000 American lives, over 300,000 wounded, and roughly $1.2 trillion in today’s money.

We forgot that lesson again in the War in Afghanistan—even after Vizzini warned us in The Princess Bride: “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.” That was a $2.6 trillion, 175,000-lives error born of historical amnesia.

Which brings us to our current journey of historical dementia, perpetrated by a president who is no doubt psychologically altered, a secretary of defense who is more concerned about bringing on the rapture than the consequences of war, and a Congress that is vertabraically challenged. These are the men who not only forgot history but are now rediscovering it at a cost to the American taxpayer of roughly $1 billion a day.

Here is the irony: the Iranians understand history better than these men. They understand what George Washington understood—that to defeat us, all they need to do is not lose. They can be pounded by every weapon in the U.S. and Israeli arsenals and, as long as the regime is still intact when the smoke clears, they win.

Before going further, let me be clear. The Iranian government was and is a bad actor. It has sponsored terrorism against the United States, Israel, and others. It cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, let alone delivery systems capable of threatening the world.

That said, we had an agreement to halt their development of nuclear weapons, and Donald Trump ripped it up. The current mess we are in large part due to his recklessness in moving away from that treaty. Was it perfect? No. Should it have been renegotiated? Maybe. Tearing up an agreement may work in real estate, where the consequences are hurt feelings and money, but not with nuclear weapons.

So this mess—largely on Trump and those who wear his Florsheim shoes.

And what has forgetting George Washington’s strategy gotten us? Oil at record levels. Inflation driven by that spike. The loss of respect from many of our allies and, of course, aid and comfort to our enemies. When you take restrictions off Russia selling its oil worldwide, you are giving them more money to pound Ukraine with Iranian-made drones.

All because Donald Trump trusts his gut more than he trusts George Washington’s lesson in history.

And folks, we are not done with the fallout from this unmitigatedly stupid unforced error.

Our allies no longer trust us. They no longer look to us for leadership. They are now trying to school us. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said:

“My message to the United States, Israel, and Iran is simple: the world is tired of your conflicts. Diplomacy is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of wisdom. The path of war only produces destruction, hunger, refugees, and instability that affects all nations. The world needs dialogue, negotiation, and respect for international law.”

If there is any bit of good news in all of this, it is that Trump has really stepped on his own dick with this war. (Metaphorically, of course. He has famously small hands.) Nearly 60 percent of U.S. voters think this war is a bad idea. And with every day we spend a billion dollars, lose more American lives, and watch inflation tick upward, his support wanes.

Which should translate, with any luck at all, into a blue November and an impeachment January.

Which brings me back to George Washington’s strategic brilliance.

All we need to do is not lose.

Washington beat the British Empire by outlasting it. Surely the American republic can outlast one loud man who thinks history began the day he walked into a room