A New Deal or Regime Change - Not Appeasement

When I listen to their talking points I keep hearing the same thing: We should have kept the nuclear deal. And that all the trouble in the world is Trump’s fault.  

I have no other explanation why the media and Democrats (most of whom are well to the left of center) went from at first describing Qasem Soleimani as a terrorist worthy of extermination - to now referring to him as Iran’s top general. I guess referring to him that way makes Soleimani’s assasination sound more questionable.  Calling him a terrorist does not serve that purpose well.

That Iran, the media, and Democrats hate Trump is not even a question. The only question is who hates him more. Nor is it a question that they all agree that the canceling the deal and reinstating US sanctions was a bad idea. They also all say that Trump has seriously seriously ramped up the chances for war between the two countries.  

How sad it is that the media and Democrats are saying the same thing one of America’s most dangerous enemies is saying. A country known to be the single biggest exporter of terror; and who has sworn time and again to wipe America’s closest ally in the Middle East off the map.

Democrats in the Senate (and couple of Republicans, one of whom is libertarian with an isolationist foreign policy) keep saying that Trump’s explanation for killing General Soleimani is a big lie – which in no way justifies what he did.

Are they kidding?! Does it really matter that Trump misstated the facts about being an imminent danger to the US? Soleimani more than deserved what he got. And they know it. And yet all the media and Democrats care about is that what Trump stated was misleading.

Persosally I wish Trump would stop making stuff up to justify what he did. Because he didn’t really have to do that. But then again Trump wouldn’t be Trump if hadn’t exaggerated or lied. I don’t like that about him either. Which is one of the many reasons I did not vote for him. But in this case he did the right thing for the right reasons. He should be congratulated. Not relentlessly attacked.

Let us examine the facts. As it turns out the fear about what Iran might do in response Soleimani’s assassination petered out. They responded. No one was hurt. And Soleimani’ is still dead. That is a good thing.

What about the constant refrain from Iran, the media, and Democrats that we should have not backed out of the ‘deal’? And that because of that we are a lot worse off now and closer to war that we were before we backed out?

Really? How exactly does a deal that released billions of their dollars to fund their ballistic missile program - and to fund their spread of terror by proxy make us any better off than we were when sanctions were in place and they did not have those funds?

We are not closer to war. They feel the same way about Trump that Democrats and the media do.  They are afraid of him because he is erratic, reckless, unstable, and unpredictable. Iran might sound belligerent. They can scream ‘American blood will flow in the streets’’ all day long as a means of scaring us back into that deal. But they have no intention of taking a chance with Trump and getting into a war they cannot possibly win.

And then there are the current protests going on in that country right now. Mostly by courageous students and young people yearning to be free. The ‘official’ reason given is  that they are upset by their government firing missiles at a Ukrainian passenger plane killing all aboard. But this is really more of a continuation of recent protests against government corruption and the tyranny they suffer under them. Protests begun long before Soleimani was killed. 

And another thing.These protesters do NOT hate America nor do they hate Israel. That was demonstrated by the protesters sidestepping an American and Israeli flags painted on their streets.

I for one am quite happy with how the President is handling Iran. They are hoping a Democrat will win the next election. The US will then go back to that deal.  And Iran can then also go back to their ballistic missile program and continue spreading terror with their new ‘Soleimani’. As long as this President remains in office, they will either be starved into submission - or be overthrown by their own people. 

I realize their Revolutionary Guard is brutal.They are not beneath killing their own people in order to protect their power. But I don’t think those protesters are going away.  Especially if life gets even harder as the US increases their pain with more sanctions.

There will come a point in time that their own people will have nothing to lose and will ‘storm the Bastille’. That will hopefully result in regime change. 

For that to happen quickly - the rest of our allies need to unite and reinstate their sanctions against Iran too. And even increase them. That will surely bring Iran to their knees causing them to either agree to our terms - or cause a revolution resulting in regime change. Either way works or me. But I prefer the latter. If Iranian protesters do what the current regime did over 40 years ago we can return to a time where Iran was a friendly American ally in the region. Our embassy will be restored. As will Israel’s embassy.  

But this can only happen if there is a political will to stay the course and our allies join us. Short of that, all bets are off.  Unfortunately I’m skeptical about our allies. Which is too bad. If only they had the will, we would get our way. And the entire world would be better off.