There are certain 'world leaders' (most of whom happen to be Iranian) who would have you believe that the past three months in the Middle East have witnessed the downfall of the America economy, the destruction of the U.S. military, and the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a power that can rival the United States. That the failure to reach any sort of progress toward peace is purely the fault of "The Great Satan" and that Iran has made nothing short of good faith efforts.
If such were true, then why hasn't the Iranian regime allowed its people to access the internet, after months of digital darkness, to celebrate such supremacy and glory. Instead, the regime has become only more paranoid as the Iranians return to the web and broadcast the genuine, devastated state of conditions in Tehran and across the country. Now that Iranian citizens can be heard, Tehran's manufactured facade of stealth and resilience crumbles like a stale cookie.
Reality is; the Iranian economy is spiraling in a downward freefall, its military has been decimated, and its attacks against international shipping and energy in the Gulf are pathetic acts of desperation. Many Americans question whether this war was necessary in the first place. There are various perspectives that can be taken in answering this question, but there is one inarguable truth. Through its missile and drone production, Iran was rapidly approaching a lethal conventional deterrence that could have protected the regime in resurrecting its nuclear program had it been left untouched.
The broader perspective is this was has been ongoing for 47 years. During that time, the Islamic Republic has killed thousands of Americans, and U.S. presidents of both parties have responded with policies of appeasement, weakness, and fear.
America stood silent and still while our enemies killed scores of our soldiers. We allowed the Iranian regime and its proxies of terror to build massive arsenals of advanced weapons. Presidents of both parties took little to no action as Iran took our diplomats hostage, bombed our Marines in Beirut, encircled Israel, blew up our soldiers in Iraq, and plotted assassinations against American officials on American soil. Barack Obama and Joe Biden even rewarded Iran's hostage-taking with billion dollar ransom payments and responded to their nuclear extortion with pathetic deals that accomplished no more than kicking the can down the road.
President Trump's approach is not a policy of appeasement or fear. It is a policy of courage. After last year's decisive strikes, it would have been easy to declare victory and leave the remainder of Iran's threats to his successors. Iran's defiant posturing at the negotiating table is seen by some as leverage. Such smoke and mirror pathetic posturing goes to the core of Islamic ideology. Dying a martyr is revered in their culture. The jihad shall not die.
For years, Iran stalled nuclear talks and issued maximalist demands not from a position of power but to buy time and obscure the depth of their vulnerability. Today, with their military shattered, their economy probably in the worst shape of any on earth, and their terrorist network starved of weapons and cash, the chutzpah at the table is pellucid blunder. There is no real threat.
The hard part is fighting back against the empty threat of the Iranians has real human costs. 13 brave U.S. servicemembers have already given their lives in this war. Their sacrifice has the potential of ending Iran's decades of war against the United States, our troops and citizens, and our way of life.
Courage alone can bring us to a place of stealth and security, and a step closer to a future where the brave people of Iran and the Middle East and the world will be free from the scourge of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
