May 31, 2018

Forging a Better Strategy on Iran

To hear many in the media tell it, President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal was the worst thing to happen since he was elected.

To hear many in the media tell it, President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal was the worst thing to happen since he was elected.

“Trump withdraws from Iran nuclear deal, isolating him further from world,” a CNN headline read. A New York Times reporter said the president is “isolating the United States from its Western allies.”

The BBC, meanwhile, said: “He has put U.S. diplomacy on a collision course with some of Washington’s closest allies. And some fear that he may have brought a new and catastrophic regional war in the Middle East that much closer.”

Notice a pattern? Almost all of the criticism I’ve cited here (and I could cite many more examples) focused on how Mr. Trump is breaking with the rest of the world — as if that, in and of itself, is irrefutable evidence of error.

News flash: There is no inherent value to swimming with the tide. Yes, we should pay attention to what our allies are doing, but to suggest that following a different course of action is proof that we’re doing something wrong is ridiculous.

Real leadership is standing up for what’s right, regardless of what others are doing. Indeed, it takes genuine strength to buck the trend.

And the trend on the Iran deal is something that definitely called for some serious recalibrating — something that our big-thinking president excels at.

Mr. Trump knew that the Iran deal, far from ensuring peace, has been posing a threat to it. So it followed that having a huge player such as the U.S. pull out of it wasn’t dangerous. On the contrary, getting rid of a bad agreement is a key first step to avoiding the real danger: a nuclear-armed Iran.

“This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” the president said. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”

Our allies know this. For political reasons, though, they can’t say so publicly, so they have to leave the U.S. to take the flak.

That’s fine. Mr. Trump is up to it. So is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who went before an audience at The Heritage Foundation recently to clarify the administration’s rationale.

Mr. Pompeo first explained why the deal had to go. Iran has continued — under an agreement that so many claim is the key to peace — to be “the world’s largest sponsor of terror.” Since the agreement went into effect, he said, Iran has funded terrorism in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, among other areas.

Not anymore. It’s about to get hit with some serious sanctions.

“Iran will be forced to make a choice: Either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad. It won’t have the resources to do both,” Mr. Pompeo said.

The secretary also focused on something else we’ve heard precious little of from the media: the Iranian people.

“Iranians are angry at a regime elite that commits hundreds of millions to military operations and terrorist groups abroad, while the Iranian people cry out for jobs, opportunity and liberty,” Mr. Pompeo said. “The Iranian regime’s response to the protests has only exposed that the country’s leadership is running scared. Thousands have been jailed arbitrarily, and at least dozens have been killed.”

Yet the same leftists who at other times flaunt their concern for human rights are more concerned about upsetting the leaders in Tehran than the people they treat so atrociously.

Iran can forge a new deal with the U.S., Mr. Pompeo said. But it will have to comply with specific demands that, unlike the old Iran deal, actually stop its march to a nuclear weapon and bring its reign of terror in the Middle East to a halt.

In short, establish real peace. Hard to imagine a better reason to break with one’s allies and withstand slings and arrows from the media.


Republished from The Heritage Foundation.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.