Cal Thomas
If you wanted to look at it this way, President Trump is keeping his promise to end wars by taking out an Iranian regime that has made war on us and underwritten terrorism throughout the Middle East and the world since its 1979 revolution.
In killing Iran’s top leadership, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and 40 others, President Trump has done what no other American president would do. People with Iranian heritage took to the streets across America to celebrate and praise U.S. and Israeli forces. Isn’t it nice to see pro-American demonstrators for a change?
The usual suspects, including the New York Times and virtually all Democrats – save Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania – are again on the wrong side. They apparently are OK with the slaughter of an estimated 30,000 Iranian civilians who were demanding a change in their totalitarian government. Some of the most ardent critics of what Israel did in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 murder of Israeli civilians, have been mostly silent about the massive slaughter of unarmed Iranian civilians by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Left, which loves to resurrect the Nazis and compare them to President Trump, should consider what Ben Caspit wrote in the Jerusalem Post: “Iran has been caught with its pants down. Its proxies are frozen with fear or responding weakly just to say they did something. Senior figures are being taken out in bulk. Missiles are being fired sparingly. True, it doesn’t end until it ends, and the ending is still ahead of us, but the turnaround is one of the most astonishing in history. Compare it to Nazi Germany, which went from an empire that nearly took over the world to a heap of ruins in six years. Iran was on the way to controlling the entire Middle East. Now it’s being pounded by the two best air forces in the world and fighting for its life. These are historic days, no less.”
In a statement following the first wave of attacks, President Trump said: “This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. … This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country…”
Stories are now appearing online of Iranian sleeper cells that could attack and kill Americans here. If they do, the blame should go to President Biden and other administrations which let them in because of lax border and immigration policies. Better stay out of crowded places, including shopping malls and other target- rich environments. The State Department issued a “travel warning” for Americans.
The operation will curtail oil shipments from Iran to China, which gets 90 percent of its oil from Tehran. China might also be pushing back any plans to invade Taiwan. Russian President Vladimir Putin must also be concerned about the technological and military triumph of Israel and the U.S. Might he re-think his war against Ukraine? One can only hope.
Some European leaders, who have been reluctant to act when it comes to Iran (but always criticize Israel for defending itself), are now backing the U.S. and Israel when they don’t have to do the fighting. Most Arab and Muslim states, which have been hit with Iranian missiles, are for the moment expressing opposition to the regime and supporting the attack.
If – and war always contains a lot of ifs – if the end of this operation is the turnover of Iran’s government to leaders who will no longer promote terrorism, fully restore women’s rights and a free press, honest voting and repair relations with the U.S. and the West, President Trump will have become the most consequential president in decades. If that happens, he might even win the Nobel Peace Prize he has long sought.
Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
