How many times have we heard some maniacal 12th-Imam-worshipping Iranian official threaten destruction of America? That has been their rhetoric since 1979, and the only change has been in volume. We knocked off their premier terrorist enabler and butcher, so they ramp up the captive crowds for a few days of protests and the burning of American and Israeli flags. But their actions will not change, because they have been at war with us for 40 years; we just haven’t admitted it until recently.
And what has changed?
‘Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!’ Trump tweeted on Saturday from Mar-a-Lago, after spending the day at his nearby golf course.’Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters,’ Trump said.
‘He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,’ he continued.
Trump’s threat referenced the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981, in which 52 US diplomats and citizens were held hostage by student revolutionaries in Iran.
His threat to target sites important to ‘Iranian culture’ drew many accusations from critics that he was threatening to commit ‘war crimes’.
What’s the phrase? “The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.” Well, the President of The United States has admitted that we have a problem, and he is telling the world how we are going to handle it.
This is not escalation. This is not a neo-con’s wet dream, and it certainly isn’t a warmongering maniac trying to start a war, as the Democrats are claiming. This is a forceful response to a terrorist state’s behavior. Is it Churchillian? Well…no. But turning a blind eye, or even worse a State Department sanctioned diplomatic eye to Iranian aggression has gotten us a lot of dead Americans over the last 40 years, so why not try something different?
Iran can bloviate all it wants, but the reality is that their military is incapable of inflicting significant damage to ours, absent stupidity or ridiculous rule of engagement. And because of the sanctions that President Trump has placed on Iran, their war-making capacity is diminished. Why, it’s as if there is a plan!
Most of what the Democrats are saying is nothing more than their ongoing predictions of disaster if Trump is President. Of course, this rhetoric grows weaker as Trump accomplishes success after success and shreds all their crybaby rantings.
So, what will Iran do now? Attack an embassy? Fire rockets randomly into neighborhoods? Promote terrorism? Hit or capture some vessels? What else is new?
They’ve demonstrated their power by firing some rockets into an installation and hacking some minor government agencies with a screen-saver. They will find someone somewhere unguarded and unaware and commit some act of violence, but their have been rendered largely impotent by Trump’s sanctions.