World leaders either become known for quickly learning life’s lessons–or not. The latter category is largely a product of one’s personal lust for power intertwined with an ideology allowing it to flourish. But membership is at times encouraged by the former’s failure to appropriately discourage the latter’s aggressive behavior early on.
Falling into the latter category is Iran’s mullahs. It has taken them nearly a half century to learn an important lesson, coming after testing two U.S. presidents—one weak, one strong—who served in two different centuries. That lesson employs a simple rule of thumb concerning who has a foreign policy backbone: Weak president, no; strong president, yes.
The mullahs’ journey to power began in 1979, after the Iranian people rose up in defiance of their Shah. Despite the Shah being the second biggest supporter of America in the Middle East, behind Israel, President Jimmy Carter encouraged him to step down and allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, exiled to France in 1964 for anti-Shah activism, to return. Iranians embraced Khomenei as the spiritual and political leader of their revolution.
A former peanut farmer and Georgia governor, Carter completely lacked the foreign policy skills a president needed. He campaigned and took office as president in 1977 making naive promises, like removing all U.S. ground forces from South Korea.
Although Carter immediately initiated this process after taking office, he ultimately abandoned it in July 1979 after intense domestic and international opposition. But the weak cut of Carter’s jib did not go unnoticed by Khomeini. By the time Khomeini would finish playing Carter, the mullahs would no longer be riding on donkeys for transportation but in limousines.
Only released years later was a letter from Khomeini to Carter making a personal appeal to pave the way for the religious leader’s return to Iran. Khomeini promised to stabilize the country and remain America’s friend. Once in power, however, he wasted no time violating his promises to Carter, as well as those made to his own people of a more democratic Iran.
In 1988 Khomeini signed a secret order allowing extrajudicial executions for hundreds of thousands of Iranian opposition members. Among those serving on the “death commission” responsible for carrying out the executions was Iran’s recent president, Ebrahim Raisi—Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash last year.
Sadly, a weak President Carter, with little understanding of the extreme brand of Islam the mullahs promoted, naively started them on a journey that would put them in power, leaving hundreds of thousands of victims in their path.
The mullahs’ respect for strength became evident with the release of 52 U.S. hostages, held for 444 days, occurring only within minutes of Carter leaving office. But they remained committed to the belief the world exists in two parts: “Dar al-Islam” (the abode of Islam) and the remaining part yet to be subjected to Islam known as “Dar al-Harb” (the abode of war)!
Iran was further encouraged by a weak President Barack Obama. He negotiated a nuclear deal that included secret side deals hidden from Congress and beneficial to Iran.
Global nuclear watchdog group International Atomic Energy Agency recently reported Iran had achieved uranium enrichment of 60%—far beyond the 3.67% authorized by the deal and unnecessary for peaceful purposes. It is estimated Iran now has enough uranium for several nuclear bombs.
While Iran has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, why then was the Fordow enrichment facility built secretly (construction began in the early 2000s but went undiscovered by the West until 2009), and deep underground (an estimated 300 feet) at enormous additional cost)?
Endeavoring over the decades to establish a regional caliphate, ripping a peaceful Lebanon apart and arming proxy groups Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, Iran was rarely challenged by the West, only emboldening it further. Thus, June 21, 2025 became its wake-up call.
Failing to see a U.S. president with the backbone to directly challenge them, the mullahs ignored President Donald Trump’s warnings to negotiate a treaty ending its nuclear weapons program.
On the day of the U.S. attack on three Iranian nuclear sites, I experienced a personal “electronic self-confirmation” of a belief I had long held—a love for my country.
I found myself hospitalized that day for the seventh time in less than 18 months due to a range of cardio-vascular and pulmonary issues. A pulmonologist had delivered the news to me that my x-rays revealed signs of Bronchiolitis Obliterans—a serious lung condition linked, in my case, to chemical exposure on the Persian Gulf War battlefields. He said the good news was the condition should not get any worse but the bad news was no cure exists–i.e., the affected lungs will never improve.
I can honestly say the emotional impact upon me was one of no emotion. I simply grasped the reality that this was yet one more of life’s battles to fight. Less than an hour later I learned of our air attack. My heart monitor immediately reflected a significant increase in rate. The cause was obvious to me. It was my concern for a new generation of our warriors going into harm’s way—although that concern was quickly allayed as news of their safe exit from Iranian airspace followed.
Then came an immense wave of pride. It was pride for the bravery of the pilots flying the B-2s; it was pride for the courage of a president showing America’s firm stance in not allowing a maniacal government—committed to a goal of subjecting as much of the world as possible to Islamic domination with the nuclear means by which to achieve it; and pride for Israel’s prior actions in taking out Iran’s anti-air defenses, making Trump’s decision and the attack mission a bit easier.
In the days ahead, we can expect to hear from a chorus of anti-Trump critics with no understanding of how Iran threatens to make the “adobe of war” a reality. These critics, like the mad mullahs themselves, are propagandists spouting the lies necessary to paint Trump as a madman.
Most of these critics will undoubtedly be Democrats who, ironically, share some common values with the mullahs. Both are Trump haters willing to set aside the best interests of their countries as they try to destroy him.
As a student of history, listening to such critics reminds me of England’s Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In 1938, he proudly announced to the world that signing an agreement with German dictator Adolf Hitler had secured “peace in our time.” World War II erupted the next year with history now remembering Chamberlain as being so naive about Hitler’s intentions he sought to appease the Devil.
Knowing retaliatory action by the mullahs is a potential consequence of our air attack, we obviously need to be on heightened alert. Domestically, we simply don’t know how many terrorist sleeper cells have slipped into our country during Joe Biden’s open border “Welcome to America” policy.
The lyrics to Lee Greenwood’s 1984 song says it best, but with the June 21 attack on Iran, a unified America should be singing, “God Bless the USA”—and its president!
Image: Public domain.