Like any good New Yorker, Trump knows that bullies prey on the weak. In NYC the meek do not inherit the earth – they get mugged. You stop thugs like Iran by confronting, not appeasing them.
Anyone who has graduated high school over the last 70 years can tell you the reasons that led to World War II and can recall the lesson that aggression cannot be stopped with appeasement.
“You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.” These immortal words of Winston Churchill, after the signing of the infamous Munich Agreement echo throughout time. Even Churchill, with his prophetic wisdom, could not have imagined the horrors that would befall Europe.
When Britain and France, the representatives of western “civilization,” sacrificed a peaceful and democratic Czechoslovakia to the claws of the Nazi beast, it was hailed by media and intellectuals as a wonderful achievement, coined by Neville Chamberlain himself as “Peace in our time.” In less than one year, evil was unleashed and the world was at war.
The similarities, as far as the circumstances go, with the Iran deal are frightening. Iran is a homicidal regime dedicated to spreading supremacist Islamic ideology throughout the world. It is in the process of conquest in the Middle East and has openly and repeatedly threatened a UN member country with annihilation. This is a regime whose first international act was the ransacking of a foreign embassy, violating its immunity, taking embassy staff hostage and ignoring international law and acceptable norms. That, in and of itself, should have made Iran a pariah nation.
However, the international community, especially the Europeans, had other ideas. They cultivated the relationship and coddled Iran. Money was to be made there, after all.
As for the way the Iranians treat their own people, why should Europe really care? They simply replaced a colonial presence with business entrepreneurship, making the same profit off of foreign countries, but without getting their hands dirty with oppressing the locals. All this with the added bonus of now being able to prance around in self-righteous moral superiority because they are “Post-colonialists”!
Obama and his Liberal/Marxist fantasies were a perfect fit for the European view of how to run world affairs. He ultimately left the Middle East to the wolves. All the turmoil of the last decade was of his making. His crown achievement – the disgraceful Iran agreement, which his negotiators and supporters now admit they knew was being violated.
Like the Munich Agreement, left wing intellectuals hailed it and the media supported it. They admit that all the agreement really does is delay Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear capabilities and that there are issues it fails to “cover”.
Even worse is the fact that the supporters of the agreement are apologists for Iran’s evils and defenders of Iran’s supposed integrity. They constantly claim that Iran was keeping with the agreement, explaining how they were honest brokers. The veil of this astonishing nonsense and self-deception was lifted by the irrefutable evidence provided by Israel.
In this Munich Agreement makeover, Israel was to fill the role of Czechoslovakia as the sacrificial offering to the deities of “world peace”. The only thing the Mullahs of Iran have been honest about is their desire to see Israel wiped off the map. Ironically, it is this distasteful desire of the Iranians that we are told should not be taken seriously, by the very people who profess to how serious the Iranians are in their commitment to everything else.
To this effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was constantly berated and ridiculed by opponents and media supportive of the agreement. He had warned of the true intentions and goals of the Iranians for 20 years. He was even vilified for his continuous reminder of the lessons we must learn from the Second World War.
US President Trump is the only western leader who understands the lessons of World War II: you stop aggression and evil with determination and conviction, not appeasement. Like any good New Yorker, he knows that bullies and thugs prey on the weak. In New York City, the meek do not inherit the earth – they get mugged.
He may not be a great intellectual. He may be crass and boorish, but he seems to have something many of his opponents in politics, academia and the media lack and to which I have referred in a previous article – common sense.
Yes, you support and empower allies and those who share your principles; you punish those who violate trust, defy agreements and peddle in violence. Yet, there is more — a simple evaluation of the circumstances that the self-proclaimed experts missed: Iran won’t survive sanctions and cannot afford war.
Nearly 40 years after the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian people have had enough of the tyranny. They have twice attempted to revolt against the Ayatollahs and were disappointed by a western world that engages more in virtue signalling than in the actual care for human rights. An economic crisis will leave the Iranian People nothing to lose. The Iranian regime is concerned with self-preservation and must give up its nuclear ambitions in order to survive.
It is for this reason that they also cannot afford war. Military strikes by American and other not so “anonymous” sources that they have suffered in recent years, have taught Iran and their Russian allies that they are not in the same league as Israel. Israel’s aggressive stance combined with its combative statements and demeanor have convinced Iran and its proxies that Israel will not only not back off from a fight but may in fact be itching for one. If Israel and its abilities are not enough, it is quite clear the US, under Trump, will engage as well.
As Trump proved in the case of North Korea, brinkmanship tends to benefit the stronger side. The United States is by far the superior side, aided by its ally Israel, which has, once again, proven its value. Iran, under the Ayatollahs, is evil, not mad. They will back off.
Now, the only danger is that the European appeasers will break ranks and violate the sanctions. Britain, Germany, France and the EU will try to undercut Trump. The US has to be more concerned with that and be tougher with them than with Iran, itself. Their disdain for Trump will receive support from his political opponents and the mass media, which will betray the interests of the American people before they see him succeed.
The era of appeasement is over. Once again the United States has come to the defense of Europe. The sad thing is they are too caught up in self-deception to realize it.
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Daniel Seaman is the editor of the English edition of Mida.org Online magazine
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