Facing a hard deadline and strong warnings from President Trump, the Islamic Republic of Iran blinked Tuesday. They accepted a two-week ceasefire proposal from Pakistan. Crucially, the ceasefire deal called on Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
 
Over the course of the next 14 days, Pakistan will mediate negotiations between Iran and the United States for a final peace agreement. Vice President Vance is going to Pakistan this weekend to speak for the United States.
 
President Trump is hopeful that such an agreement can be reached. Wednesday morning, he declared that “many of the 15 points” in his previous peace offer “have already been agreed to.”
 
 
 
Fiction vs. Reality
 
This is a good time to take a look at the reality of the situation in Iran. We have dealt the Islamic supremacists of Iran a massive military defeat.
 
This has been a terrible blow to their economy, as well as the regime’s ability to fund terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. We have destroyed many military assets, including much of Iran’s navy. Most importantly, we seriously damaged the mullahs’ nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
 
That said, Iran’s radical Islamists still have “allies,” many of them right here in the United States.
 
For six weeks, our leftist media have been reporting the lie that we were losing the battle. This is defeatist nonsense. It’s a complete lie.
 
At a Pentagon press conference Wednesday morning, Gen. Dan Caine explained the reality of what our incredible military has accomplished during the past 38 days. 

• 13,000 enemy targets were hit.
• 80% of Iran’s air defense systems were knocked out.
• More than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities were hit.
• 800 one-way attack drone storage facilities were destroyed.
• More than 2,000 command and control nodes were obliterated.
• More than 90% of Iran’s regular navy (150 ships) was sunk.
• 90% of Iran’s weapons factories were hit, including every factory that produced Shahid suicide drones.
• 80% of Iran’s missile production facilities are gone.
• Nearly 80% of the regime’s nuclear weapons facilities were hit and hit hard. 

And yet Democrats say Trump and America lost. They desperately wanted a defeat because a clear win would hurt them politically.
 
 
 
More Fiction
 
The greatest danger to America is our foreign enemies—Communist China, Russia and Iran. Many on the Left are claiming that Vladimir Putin is the “biggest winner” in this conflict. That’s absurd.
 
China, Russia and Iran are working together to take America down. Iran was supplying Russia with drones. China buys almost all of Iran’s oil. Russia sold weapons to Iran and is providing intelligence now.
 
Donald Trump just crippled one-third of that axis of evil. Several weeks ago, he removed another of their allies, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, from power.
 
 
 
The Fifth Column
 
Democrat leaders are so alienated from our country that I believe many of them want us to fail. Before they became the crazy party, they would have said something like this:
 
“We think the president made a mistake. He should have come to Congress for authorization of military action. But it has been a goal of every American president, Republican and Democrat, for over 35 years to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get nuclear weapons. Their support for terrorists must end. They will not be allowed to shut off vital shipping lanes. And so, we urge Tehran to take this deal.”
 
If Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries had said that, their poll numbers wouldn’t be in the toilet. But they didn’t say that.
 
On the very day that Iran was facing a hard deadline, Democrat leaders were attacking our government, not Iran’s. Jeffries actually attacked the ceasefire agreement.
 
This week, Democrats asserted the president was insane. They demanded that the cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.
 
Democrats accused President Trump of committing war crimes. But it is Iran that has regularly engaged in such crimes.
 
They have used children as human shields around potential targets. They used schools as military command posts. They have funded terrorism. They slaughtered tens of thousands of Iranians in the streets. They seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran 47 years ago. They sent assassins to the United States to kill President Trump. All of these and more were war crimes.
 
The Democrat Party is behaving like a fifth column—enemy sympathizers who undermine their own country. And their radical left-wing base is full of enemy sympathizers. (Here and here.)
 
They claim the solution for dealing with the Islamic supremacists who control Iran is “more robust diplomacy.” But we have had 12 years of Democrat rule interrupted by two Trump terms, and their “robust diplomacy” failed.
 
During Barack Obama’s eight years in office, “diplomacy” gave us a terrible nuclear deal that ended up funding more terrorism. Four years of Joe Biden negotiating with Iran gave us more of the same. They accomplished nothing.
 
Imagine that President Trump did nothing about Iran. It wouldn’t be long before there was another morning like December 7, 1941, or September 11, 2001. Only instead of thousands of dead Americans, it would be hundreds of thousands of dead Americans. And millions of Americans would be furious that our leaders did nothing.
 
 
 
Iran’s Demands
 
In response to President Trump’s 15-point peace plan, the Iranian regime issued 10 demands. Those demands are non-starters.
 
While some sanctions relief is possible, Iran is not getting reparations. They will not control the Strait of Hormuz. They will not be allowed to have a nuclear program. We are not going to completely abandon the Middle East. We will not give a free pass to Iran’s terrorist proxies.
 
The only reason Iran’s radical regime is making those kinds of demands is because the U.S. media and seditious Democrats have undermined the morale of the American people. If the Iranian leadership is watching our defeatist media, and they are, why wouldn’t they make outrageous demands?
 
Tuesday, Democrats accused Trump of war crimes. Wednesday, some Democrats are saying he “chickened out.” They call it TACO—Trump Always Chickens Out. One day, he’s a madman about to start World War III. The next day, he’s a chicken.
 
Well, if Trump always chickens out, why are Democrats so worried and getting hysterical over imaginary war crimes? They don’t even bother to be logically consistent, and neither does the media.
 
Sadly, there are many Americans who can’t seem to think about it logically. “Am I supposed to be afraid because he always chickens out, or am I supposed to be afraid that he never chickens out?”
 
Here’s an idea: Don’t be afraid!
 
 
 
A Striking Contrast
 
In a press briefing Wednesday morning, Secretary of War Hegseth and General Caine praised our men and women in uniform and the Americans who back them up every day. It was the kind of acclaim we almost never got from recent Democrat administrations.
 
Joe Biden would wax eloquent about the courage of a man who showed up at his Pentagon job in a dress. This administration honors our warriors, not tokens of radical ideology.
 
Hegseth and Caine also again acknowledged the 13 American heroes who died in the conflict and promised to never forget them and their families. But Democrats and their media allies have tried to exploit those 13 tragic deaths to undermine America’s resolve.
 
For perspective, 18 U.S. soldiers were killed during the two-day Battle of Mogadishu in 1993. During the six-week invasion of Panama in 1989, 23 U.S. soldiers were killed. More than 400,000 American military personnel lost their lives to secure our victory in World War II.
 
Freedom isn’t free. But like most of Europe, we are rapidly becoming very risk-averse in an increasingly dangerous world.
 
Communist China sees itself as a rising superpower. It sees America as a nation in decline. It is very likely that there will be a day of reckoning during the lives of our children and grandchildren.
 
Many analysts believe that in any conflict with communist China, we would almost immediately lose at least one aircraft carrier. That’s 5,000 lives lost just at the beginning of the conflict.
 
If that happens, God forbid, will we immediately run up the white flag? Or, even worse, will fear make us give communist China whatever it wants?
 
I believe we still have a nation that is capable of great sacrifice. Just look at the record recruitment numbers once Biden left office and Trump and Hegseth came in. And look at the number of Democrats and left-wing groups wetting their pants every day because Donald Trump is making America great again.
 
 
 
A Great Awakening
 
You may know about Sight & Sound. It is an incredible company founded by Glenn and Shirley Eshelman. I had the privilege of interviewing them for the James Dobson Family Institute last year.
 
Based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sight & Sound is one of the top three live theater destinations in the country. The company employs 800 people who passionately bring the Gospel to life through live theater, television, and film.
 
They just released a new film called “A Great Awakening” about the religious “revolution” that occurred before the American Revolution against the British. That spiritual revival, which swept the country, was central to the cause of liberty and the founding of the United States as a nation based on the principle that our rights come from God, not a king or any government.
 
“A Great Awakening” focuses on the ministry of George Whitefield and his friendship with Benjamin Franklin, who considered himself an “enlightened man of reason.”
 
Go to AGreatAwakening.com to watch the trailers and find theater locations in your area. Please share this with others and encourage them to see “A Great Awakening.” It is the right movie for America’s 250th birthday!