LIZ PEEK: Iran war could become the achievement that ensures Trump’s legacy
Democrats and their media enablers are doing everything possible to turn the American people against the war in Iran. They deny the rationale for attacking Tehran, they pretend that President Barack Obama’s nuke deal was anything but appeasement of a bloodthirsty anti-U.S. regime, and they have alarmed Americans that we face a devastating "energy crisis" because of President Donald Trump’s "war of choice."
None of it is true.
Over the weekend, Democrat Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said on Fox News that Trump had failed to make the case that Iran posed an "imminent threat" to the U.S., implying that he saw no such threat. He also said Trump had picked "the wrong time" to carry out the mission.
The Virginia senator made those remarks the very same week that a Pakistani assassin paid by the mullahs in Tehran was convicted of attempting to murder Trump. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, who hired the would-be killer, had apparently targeted not only Trump, but other U.S. officials, including former President Joe Biden and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. For those potential victims, Iran posed an imminent threat.
It isn’t the first time the mullahs have sent spies to the U.S. to arrange the murder of Trump and others, like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Thankfully, those attempts have been foiled. Were we supposed to simply wait until Tehran took down a leading U.S. politician before hitting back? These were not rogue agents; they were hired by Iranian officials, making the country a legitimate target.
Warner expressed concern about Iran’s store of ballistic missiles, which he contended would be difficult to eradicate. Does the senator imagine those weapons would be easier to eliminate as the stockpiles grew? Would it be safer to wait until Tehran developed intercontinental missiles which could strike the U.S.?
As Iran has fomented terror and attacks against the U.S. and Israel over the past 47 years, taking Americans hostage, arranging the murder of hundreds of G.I.s, what would have been the perfect time to fight back? For Democrats, including Biden and Obama, that time would never come.
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They prefer appeasement or, worse, imagine that a bloodthirsty regime that is content to slaughter its own citizens and routinely chants "Death to America" is only kidding. Obama and Biden seemed to believe that, given the proper incentives, Iran would forsake its terror mission and become a neutral partner. That’s like imagining a rattlesnake could become cuddly, if only fed enough Puppy Chow.
Obama, acting on his naïveté in 2015, famously oversaw the creation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multi-nation agreement that was supposed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Few saw the pact as a serious deterrent, given the loose verification requirements and permissions to continue enriching uranium for "peaceful" purposes. (For a major oil producer!)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress at the time, urging members to reject the agreement, noting that as part of the deal the U.S. and others would lift sanctions and funnel funds to Iran, which would go to building a nuclear stockpile and spreading terror.
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Trump extricated the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018. At the time, former Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman correctly summed up the deal, writing it "gave Iran a clear path to a nuclear weapon in 2025; no inspection of military sites and free rein for its nefarious deeds in the region — with over $100 billion to pay for it all!"
Some Democrats continue to assert, like former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes, that there was no need to confront Iran, because the JCPOA prevented the mullahs from building a nuclear weapon. This is straight-up baloney. Even the U.N. atomic watchdog, the IAEA, charged with ensuring Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA, finally admitted last year what everyone suspected — that Iran had cheated for years and not met the deal’s requirements.
That body passed a resolution declaring that Iran was "not complying with its obligations regarding nuclear non-proliferation." The IAEA said they could not guarantee that Iran’s program was "exclusively peaceful" and confessed that Tehran had hidden evidence of its enrichment program.
In addition to arguing the merits of the war with Iran, Democrats are screaming that the conflict is bringing on an "energy crisis." That is false. While tankers are piling up at the Strait of Hormuz, the world is enduring a temporary oil price surge.
Iran’s blockage of the strait has caused Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar to shut in some production, since they have no place to store the oil. Given the supremacy of U.S. and allied airpower, it is unlikely this situation will endure. Once tankers start to pass through the Strait, oil prices will quickly plummet.
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Democrats’ opposition and criticism are falling flat. A new Rasmussen poll shows a majority of the country supports the attack on Iran. Democrats are hopeful that Trump’s "war of choice," will hang like an albatross around GOP necks as we approach the midterm elections this fall. What will prove them wrong? Success, and common sense.
Warner and many of his colleagues deny the solemn intonations of former presidents, including Obama and Biden, that Iran could not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. Americans understand there was realistically only one way to stop them, and Trump had the guts to take that path.
Democrats are afraid that the U.S. will win this war, that Iran will be forced to repudiate its reign of terror, and that President Trump’s legacy will include a remarkable transformation of the world’s most troublesome region — which began with the Abraham Accords during his first term. Imagine a prosperous, growing Middle East; imagine Gaza being rebuilt without the oppression of its people by Iran-backed Hamas.
Americans should cheer for success, for the Iranian people, for the world and for the U.S.