The United States, Israel, and the world stand at a turning point in history. The genocidal Iranian regime is reeling from Israel’s Rising Lion military campaign. Decisive action now can ensure that the regime never again rises, averting a future nuclear attack on the U.S., Israel, and other allies.
President Trump is making the most consequential decision of his presidency — and likely in U.S. history. He has stated unequivocally and consistently that Iran must never obtain nuclear weapons. It is unacceptable for a regime that leads chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” to possess nuclear weapons under any circumstance. This regime is responsible for killing and injuring thousands of American military personnel and civilians — including, but not limited to, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack, and throughout the Iraq War, as extensively documented by United Against Nuclear Iran.
On June 19, Iran fired a Sejjil nuclear-capable ballistic missile at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba and fired a cluster bomb missile over residential areas in central Israel, injuring many and causing extensive damage — both clear violations of international law and war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. If the Iranian regime assembles a nuclear arsenal, the risk of a nuclear holocaust of mass murder and starting WWIII is particularly high. The parallel to history is all too real.
Had Germany been stopped before WWII, many tens of millions of lives could have been saved and the Holocaust averted. Burned out from the trauma of WWI, the U.S. embraced isolationism. The idea was that, unless the U.S. were directly attacked, whatever happens in Europe or elsewhere is “not our problem.” It took the United States over two years to enter WWII with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, waking it in a moment from the lie of isolationism.
Had the United States experienced just a few more years of quiet, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan would have had the opportunity to invade and dominate virtually the rest of the world.
With access to vast amounts of natural resources globally, a battle-tested military, and advanced arms production, the Nazis would have had a decisive advantage over the United States. Barring a major miracle, the U.S. would have been invaded by Germany and Japan.
Perhaps worse yet, the Nazis could have beaten the United States to develop nuclear weapons. The Nazis would have used those weapons without hesitation. A nuclear attack on New York City or Washington, D.C. could have brought about America’s downfall.
Thank God the world stopped it in time. Had the world gone down the other way, the Nazi killing machine likely would have murdered hundreds of millions more people worldwide, including in America, and would have expanded the Holocaust globally. Their goal was world domination and the annihilation of every last Jew.
Had a vastly outmatched America waited to confront the Nazis, that could have meant that the murderous Nazi regime would have killed tens of millions of Americans.
Some isolationists seek to discredit those warnings about the great dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran as “warmongers” or “neocons.” Yet history proves the opposite: Isolationism allowed Nazi Germany to arm and vastly expand its war machine, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
In reality, isolationists are the most dangerous war-mongers. Their intent to keep the U.S. out of military conflict (short of a direct attack on the U.S. homeland), virtually ensures a catastrophic war.
One can concede that the isolationist grasp on governments around the world perhaps delayed a regional military conflict in Germany a few years before the onset of WWII in September 1939. However, it bought the world an illusory and short-lived “peace” at the cost of the most destructive war in human history, claiming an estimated 62 to 78 million lives in war, including an estimated six million Jews brutally murdered by the Nazi regime.
President Trump must not allow the current Iranian regime — a modern-day Nazi regime — to remain in power. This is a golden opportunity for the United States to eliminate the Iranian regime once and for all. This would prevent the regime from recuperating from Israel’s heroic attacks on the IRGC, its leadership, its military infrastructure, and Iran’s nuclear program. The window of opportunity is still open. Timely military action could prevent Iran’s nuclear rise, avert a nuclear WWIII, and prevent catastrophic attacks on the U.S., on Israel, and far beyond.
Removing the Iranian regime does not require boots on the ground. To support a pro-Western Iran, the administration should consult Reza Pahlavi and assemble a rigorously vetted coalition of reliably pro-Western military and civil groups inside Iran. This coalition must exclude elements that could pose a threat to the U.S. or allies and support America’s true allies in Iran.
This includes millions of Iranians who have long opposed the regime in the streets, elements of the conventional Iranian military — excluding the IRGC — who can be counted on to support regime change, other Iranian groups inside and outside of Iran, and various militias such as the Kurdish PDKI and pro-Western elements of the Balochi civil resistance.
These groups can be supplied with enhanced offensive and defensive military capabilities, other supplies, real-time U.S. intelligence, and air and naval support to help deliver a swift and decisive victory. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, together with Kurdish allies, was instrumental in quickly dismantling ISIS in Operation Inherent Resolve in President Trump’s first term.
The recent lightning fall of the Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria — partly enabled by Israel’s decapitation war against Hezb’allah — also shows how quickly even entrenched regimes can fall.
President Trump’s decision could benefit humanity for generations and save hundreds of millions — even billions — of lives, averting nuclear war. The golden opportunity to topple the most dangerous regime since WWII beckons. The lessons of WWII are instructive for the future. By applying those lessons, President Trump will go a long way toward ensuring a peaceful future for the world.
Such leadership could make President Trump the most consequential American leader in modern history, save America from disaster, and reject the dangerous and insidious ideology of isolationism. This is President Trump’s America First ideology at its finest.
Strength now prevents greater bloodshed later. This is not about starting a war; it’s about preserving peace through strength and preventing catastrophe. Defeating Iran’s regime will prevent history’s darkest chapter from returning. The stakes are high. The time to act is now. If not now, when?
Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.