The Patriot Post® · Mr. President, Can You Get Iran Right?
“There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.” —George Washington (1793)
In a military text thread this week, the issue of Iran came up. I dared mention my travels with Jimmy Carter in the 1980s, saying that he was “personable but totally ineffective as a president, and enabled a war Trump is trying to finish 47 years later, after years of U.S. presidents either contained or appeased Iran.” That prompted the ranking general officer in that thread to respond about my association with Carter, “A blight on you I was unaware of!” But he quickly affirmed the origins of the Iran threat and the monumental threat now.
Containment of a rogue terrorist state with access to conventional weapons is one thing. But there is no containment strategy for an Islamist regime attempting to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic delivery platforms for its holy war with Israel and the West.
The sacrifice associated with that threat is a hard sell to most Americans who can’t contextualize the risk and danger but who are acutely aware of increased fuel prices. Those high gas prices, by the way, tend to overshadow other very favorable economic conditions under President Donald Trump.
Of course, when you have leftist Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) feeding the consumer angst about gas prices, that is what the Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes run with 24/7. The Demos know the danger posed by Iran, but they are more interested in politicizing the economic impact rather than acknowledging that threat.
The endless loop of churn being spun on Iran by Democrats and their Leftmedia is much more consequential than just political disingenuity. It’s deadly.
Aware of the domestic political implications ahead of the midterm elections in 10 weeks, Vice President JD Vance is driving home this line: “Goal No. 1 — keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country. Obviously goal No. 2 is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
But the fact is, terminating the Iranian nuclear threat is Goal No. 1. Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran is, and should be, our highest priority.
As we approach the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 Islamist attack on our nation, let me reiterate that the very real threat of a nuclear “Islamic Bomb” detonation in the U.S. would be FAR more devastating.
That notwithstanding, typical of the unhinged Trump-deranged Demos posturing ahead of the midterms was this from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) this week: “President Trump is increasingly deranged in his one-man campaign to threaten and initiate wars all over the globe.”
Fact is, Trump is trying to clean up the Iranian threat after years of national security and foreign policy neglect and malfeasance by the feckless administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Unfortunately, that cleanup was, and remains, messy.
No national security strategist with an IQ higher than a cold beer believed that a deal to end hostilities with a bunch of mullahs and military tyrants running a rogue Islamist state was going to be squeaky clean. As I noted eight weeks ago: “Any ‘peace deal’ with Iran will include shots fired back and forth indefinitely. That is modus operandi for Islamist regimes — these are not civilized leaders; these are 6th century barbarians.”
These are zealots in a religious cult who believe they have been in a religious war for 50 years, and they will ride out this latest chapter of kinetic action. They don’t care about the economic impact on the Iranian people.
A big part of the cleanup involves economic consequences, and the Demos have successfully politicized that. And it’s paying off. Majority voter sentiment about the economy remains negative, and Demos are leading Republicans on who will best make things better.
Apparently, a lot of voters have already forgotten that it was Biden who “inflation-bombed” their family budgets.
However, Trump was already having trouble eight months ago moving the public sentiment on “affordability” in his favor, despite considerable improvement in the economy and reduction in “Bidenflation.”
The failure to do so was because of both ineffective Republican messaging and very effective Democrat messaging — and, of course, a dutiful Leftmedia parroting the latter. The optics have been terrible, but both the national security and political implications are dire.
So, what now?
That question requires a quick consideration of how we got here.
In June 2025, as Israel endeavored to contain the threat from Iran’s terrorist proxy Hamas and was confident of America’s support under Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched Operation Rising Lion, a 12-day war against Iran to protect the civilized world from that rogue nation’s imminent development of nuclear weapons. Eleven days later, President Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer, destroying Iran’s deep-underground processed uranium and enrichment facilities to further incapacitate its construction of nuclear weapons.
In the eight months that followed Rising Lion and Midnight Hammer, Israel and the U.S. attempted to negotiate a peace settlement with Iran’s Ali Khamenei, but to no avail. What Khamenei and his brutal regime did do on January 8 and 9 was murder more than 35,000 mostly young protesters threatening their theocratic dictatorship.
On 28 February, the U.S., in collaboration with Israel, launched Operation Epic Fury. I labeled it “Operation Epic Decapitation” because among the targeting objectives were Ali Khamenei and almost 50 of his key regime leaders.
Then, after another month of hammering Iranian military and strategic targets, on 7 April, Trump declared an ill-conceived ceasefire and put a White House leash around the necks of his warfighters. In retrospect, that began a strategic shift from military objectives to domestic political and economic objectives.
That was followed by Trump’s 17 June 60-day “Memorandum of Understanding” with Iran, yet another chance for Iran to play Trump.
If the title question of this column sounds familiar, that is because GEN B.B. Bell (USA Ret.) warned Trump six weeks ago to “Get Iran Right,” sensing Trump had wavered from his strategic compass.
Bell noted: “Sir, the last time I checked, we are the United States of America. We are the world’s largest economy, and, as you note, we have the most powerful military on the planet. … Iran is a nation led by radical Shia Islamic extremists who have repeatedly pledged, articulated, and boasted that the Great Satan is the United States of America and that their mission on earth from Allah is to destroy us. … Iran’s deeply radicalized and ill-conceived form of Islam hates us and will never — never — agree that we are anything other than the Great Satan, which they assert Allah has commanded them to destroy. … The constant and declaratory chant ‘Death to America’ is essentially Iran’s national motto… They’re not kidding!”
B.B. asserted, “Sir, it seems you have inexplicably lost your way.”
To that end, as military analyst GEN Jack Keane noted this week: “If we go back to April the 7th, the objective was to go into negotiations at the Iranians’ invitation, to open up the Strait of Hormuz, which they had blocked since March the 2nd. … It was a shift, in terms of [Trump’s] priorities, which at the time were military objectives, and economic and political objectives became paramount.”
Now, the meaningless MOU exercise with Iran has expired. Trump’s rope-a-dope dealmaking strategy has produced no lasting results.
Trump says he will not extend it, and he says there is a backchannel to continue negotiations.
I am sure that is true, but to what end?
Trump insists, “I have no time schedule, I’m not in a hurry.” He added, “They’re good poker players, but they’re dying.”
I can assure you that the Iranians are in no hurry, knowing they can keep playing their Hormuz card to keep pump prices high and to keep voters supporting Democrats in the midterms.
Complicating matters, there was consternation this week about Israel’s rejection of a Trump-proposed 15-point peace plan for Gaza (read: the home base for Iran’s surrogate terrorist organization Hamas), negotiated by Middle East envoy Jared Kushner. Kushner insists that his talks with Netanyahu have been “very good” and that progress could be made in “as little as 30 days.”
The latest agreement with Hamas was that they would surrender their arms, and they have yet to give up anything.
Sound familiar?
As Wall Street Journal political analyst Jason Riley notes: “If Donald Trump wants Israel to stop attacking Gaza, then he needs to finish the job in Iran. Without Hamas, Gaza is not a threat to Israel. Without Iran there is no Hamas. Finish the job in Iran, cut off the serpent’s head and everything else will take care of itself. It’s Iran and its proxies that are the problem.”
Now, Iran is declaring that Hormuz will remain closed (it isn’t) until the U.S. meets Iran’s terms.
On that development, GEN Keane says: “My gut feel is that they’re likely going to get more aggressive because they don’t believe the president will do much prior to the midterms. … But [Trump] is totally capable of shutting them down once and for all and crushing them with the ability that he has literally at his fingertips. … If they push in that direction, the president will come down very hard on them, once and for all.”
Keane reiterates: “[Iran doesn’t] care about the suffering of their own people. What they care about is surviving and having a level of control coming out of there so they can rebuild and recover their regime. In their minds, they think they are on that path, and they can recover this and outlast the U.S. in terms of will.”
The risk that Trump’s national security imperative — preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons — would be compromised by political and economic imperatives is now playing out. Domestic politics and economics inevitably influence public opinion in any national security strategy, but that should not take precedence over such strategy when the alternative is the very real threat of a nuclear attack on our nation.
The hard reality is this: Trump’s effort to seek a permanent solution with Iran’s Islamist madmen is tantamount to Israel’s effort to seek a permanent solution with Hamas. There is no clean resolution when dealing with a crazy cult, and there likely will never be, necessitating perpetual surges of kinetic action to keep them in check.
For that reason, Trump needs to cease and desist from making claims about the next “deal” and asserting “Hormuz will be open soon,” ad nauseam. He has undermined his credibility in regard to ending hostilities and now looks like he is getting played by the Islamist regime.
We need to neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat for all the reasons outlined above, and if that means pulverizing what is left of their regime, do it.
In the meantime, the Schumer/Jeffries clown show will dominate the messaging ahead of the midterms, and at great peril to the national security of our nation.
Oh, and one more thing: Iran may launch an October surprise … or be on the receiving end of one…
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
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