Cyrus Norcross is a former Army Ranger, podcaster, and Native American civil rights advocate. He's also a traveling journalist, avid dancer, and someone who has spent the years since Afghanistan trying to make sense of what American military intervention actually accomplishes — and what it doesn't.
We sat down for a conversation before the invasion into Iran that covered a potential Iran conflict, the lessons of Afghanistan, and whether young men today should consider joining the military. What follows is an edited account of that conversation.
On Afghanistan, and the Question Veterans Keep Asking Themselves
Cyrus was direct about the reckoning that many veterans have gone through since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
"When we went to Afghanistan, the Taliban was in control. When we left,
the Taliban was back in control."
That's an honest accounting of a recurring problem in American foreign policy: the assumption that Western values can be transferred by military force into cultures that have organized themselves around different principles for thousands of years.
Russia tried it. England tried it.Neither succeeded.
The cultural substrate doesn't change because the flag on the embassy does.
On Iran — and Why It's More Complicated Than It Looks
The conversation turned to Iran, and Cyrus brought a perspective that most television commentary misses entirely.
He pointed out that Saddam Hussein, for all his brutality, served as a practical buffer against Iranian influence in the region. When the U.S. removed him in 2003, that buffer disappeared, and Iranian reach expanded into the vacuum, helping fuel the conditions that produced ISIS and a generation of destabilized governments.
"You look at Saddam Hussein and realize he was actually containing Iran's
ideology. And then you take him out, and Iranian influence starts leaking through."
The Iranian Revolution itself, Cyrus explained, didn't start as a theocratic project. It began in the 1970s as a broadly socialist uprising against the Shah — who was seen as importing too much Western influence.
The jihadists co-opted the movement after the fact and eliminated the leftists who had helped them get there.
His conclusion on military action against Iran today: "The best thing is to approach it diplomatically, understand the culture well — which America is not known for — and try to find some sort of solution. Everything else will just lead to continued war."
With 90 million people and a revolutionary government that believes its purpose is cosmically ordained, Iran is not a country that responds to the same playbook as Iraq.
On Why Young Men Should Still Consider Serving
This is where the conversation got interesting, because Cyrus didn't give the recruitment-poster answer.
He acknowledged veterans' frustrations. He understood why people question what the sacrifices were for. And then he made a point that cuts past all of it: you don't have to be in combat to benefit from the military.
"There are so many jobs in there that people don't know about. Journalism. Graphic design. There's actually a job called 'Laundry and Shower Specialist.' You don't have to join a combat MOS."
But beyond the job listings, his argument was about something harder to quantify: the kind of person the military forces you to become.
"At a young age — 19, 20, 21 — you start taking on leadership responsibilities. You apply that to other 19, 21-year-olds. You rise in rank. That's management. And correct management is something a lot of people seriously lack today."
His broader vision was even more ambitious. He floated the idea of a universal coming-of-age program for all young Americans.
"Something that connects everybody together. A transition to adulthood
where you learn what to expect, what's going to happen, how to move forward. That's what's really needed."
On Staying Optimistic
The conversation ended where it needed to: not with despair, but with a choice.
"I am going to remain optimistic about where we're going. You have to be.
When you think about countries that really want to bring us down — we
need to remain as strong as possible.
We've been the economic powerhouse. We can't afford to stop now."
Cyrus Norcross has seen what happens when American institutions fail to match their rhetoric. He's also seen what happens when individuals choose to rise past it. That combination of clear-eyed criticism and stubborn optimism is exactly the kind of voice worth listening to in 2026.
