Jewish author and N.Y. Times columnist Thomas Friedman tells a Mid-East story about an old man whose turkey was stolen. The man ran to his sons and said, “We’re in great danger because someone stole the turkey.” His sons thought he was crazy and disregarded him. The next day, the sons were alarmed because a goat was stolen, then a sheep, followed by a horse and camel.
Each day, the old man told them to find the person who stole the turkey. They didn’t care about the stupid turkey.
Finally, the man’s daughter, their sister, was raped. The old man told them, “When they found out they could steal the turkey without consequences, they realized they could take everything we have.”
Such is the case in the Middle East. Any transgression, even stealing a turkey, must be met with an immediate, strong response. If not, it’s a sign of weakness, and the transgressions multiply. In that neighborhood, strength is understood and respected; weakness is loathed and exploited. Israel’s prime ministers understand their neighborhood; Clinton, Obama, and Biden don’t.
Thank God President Trump recognizes evil, isn’t afraid to confront evil, and responds to transgressions. Last Saturday, he acted decisively and boldly. He ordered the U.S. military to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.
Yair Lapid, former Israeli prime minister and opposition leader, recognizes that this is a “great day for the free world. All of us are much safer” because one of the world’s biggest bullies has been defanged of its most dangerous weapons. He said, “Today, everybody in their right mind should be overjoyed.”
I joined the Army’s delayed entry program, mid-September 1979. Six weeks later, radical Muslims seized our Iranian embassy and held 52 hostages for 444 days. By the time I entered the Army, January 1980, it was a given that we’d soon be at war. Turns out, we were at war, but most Americans didn’t realize it.
Islamic extremists fought battles as best they could. A Muslim suicide bomber blew up our Beirut embassy (April 1983), killing 63. A suicide bomber blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut (October 1983), killing 241 U.S. service members. The World Trade Center bombing (February 1993) killed 6 and injured 1,042. The Riyadh car bombing (November 1995) killed 6 Americans. The Khobar Towers bombing (Saudi Arabi, June 1996) killed 19 and wounded 498. U.S. embassies bombed (Kenya and Tanzania, August 1998) killed 224 and wounded 4,000-plus. The attack on the USS Cole (Yemen, October 2000) killed 17 and injured 37. The 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon (September 11, 2001) killed 2,977 and injured thousands. Thousands were killed and maimed in IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And 1,200-plus Israelis were killed, with hundreds injured and captured, including American victims as well, by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
These are some of the attacks carried out by Iran and its proxies. For my entire 32-year military career, radical Islam was at war with America, with the West, and with civilized society. It still is today.
It’s only after a horrible event (such as WWII or 9-11) that we look back and ask, “How did this happen?” Oftentimes, the event occurred because signs were missed and/or a leader refused to act. European leaders refused to confront Hitler before WWII. Bill Clinton could have destroyed North Korea’s nuclear program in 1994. He refused. Now North Korea has 50-plus nukes. In a speech on September 10, 2001, the day before the 9-11 attacks, Clinton admitted that he had had the opportunity to take out Osama bin Laden but refused. We know the result of having allowed bin Laden to live.
President Obama knew the dangers of a nuclear Iran. He said, “Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism” and that a nuclear Iran is “unacceptable” and a “threat to our national security and to Israel’s.” Yet Obama refused to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, he removed sanctions, which unlocked billions of dollars of frozen assets, giving Iran money to fund terrorism.
Biden did the same. He too removed sanctions, which allowed Iran to sell oil, giving that country billions of dollars to finance its nuke program. Iran was getting closer to its goal of nuclear weapons.
A nuclear Iran has always been President Trump’s line in the sand. Trump acted, and Iran’s program is gone, or crippled.
If history has taught us nothing else, when a madman or a tyrant promises to kill you, believe him. Muslims have been promising to kill the Jews for over a century and the United States for decades. Over the past five decades, Islamic extremists have killed tens of thousands around the world. The number killed would be in the hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, if a single Islamic terrorist had used even one nuclear bomb. For decades, the Iranian regime has called Israel “little Satan” and America the “great Satan,” and its fanatics regularly chant “death to America.” Believe them when they make such statements and chants. President Trump believed them and kept his promise never to allow Iran to produce nuclear weapons.
Most of the time, we try to understand the thinking of our enemies. Iran’s and radical Islam’s thought process is to “hate America.” They despise everything about America, Israel, and the West — from our Christian or Jewish beliefs to our music and entertainment to the freedoms our women enjoy to the gays in our society, there’s little about Western culture that Islam doesn’t hate. Given that, I don’t care to understand Muslims. I’m more interested that America ensures that their thinking is never acted upon. By destroying Iran’s nuclear program, President Trump eliminated their ability to act on their hatred.
Democrats know that Iran’s theocracy is an evil regime, know Iran can never be allowed to acquire nukes, but they’re against the attack solely because Trump ordered it. As predicted, Dems such as Ilhan Omar, AOC, and Hakeem Jeffries condemned Trump’s decision calling it “unconstitutional” and a “threat to world peace.” Dems are against the “use of force” when Trump uses it to destroy an evil terrorist regime but refused to condemn Iran for making IEDs that killed U.S. troops in Iraq, said nothing when Hamas attacked Israel (Oct. 2023), and said nothing when Hezb’allah launched hundreds of rockets at Israel.
Final Thought: Dems, spare us your diatribe about an “unconstitutional attack.” Dems said nothing when Bill Clinton bombed Serbia (1999) and defended Obama spending seven months bombing Libya (2011). Trump just protected civilians around the world. Instead of condemning him, Dems should be thanking him.
Image via Pixabay.