In his news conference on Jan. 8 of this year to the Iranians and the Muslim world, President Donald Trump’s address regarding the preemptive strike on Qasem Soleimani was absolutely genius. Here is why:
First, in the Middle East, humiliation is worse than death. Iran has been thoroughly embarrassed. That country was mortified when the president of the United States ordered a drone strike on its top military leader, and did so right under the nose of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
Secondly, Iran was embarrassed because it showed all its proxies and the entire Muslim world how fearful it is of the United States by notifying Iraq in advance of the attacks on its bases, essentially alerting America through the Iraqis so that there would be no personnel in the paths of the missiles. If Iran’s desire was to embolden its proxies, this is the absolute worst thing it could have done.
Thirdly, the hit on Soleimani also sent an enormous message to the bazaars, where political plotting is as contagious as the influenza. It says that Iran is feeble and fearful. It is not the image of a mighty Persian empire that Iran wishes to project. In the Middle East, perception, not truth, is the reality.
Fourth, President Trump has done exactly the same thing with his courageous stand against Iran as Ronald Reagan did in Berlin when he demanded of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” The number of American lives that will be spared because of Mr. Trump’s brilliant action cannot be calculated.
As the president pointed out in his news conference, Iran has been a thorn in the flesh since 1979 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini forced the shah out of that country. Since that time, nations worldwide have faced terrorist incursions and the slaughter of their citizens. Iran’s influence and support of terrorist activities has spread globally since Khomeini first set foot on Iranian soil, bent and kissed the ground. It seems as if the very soil of Iran had been infected by the spittle of the grand ayatollah.
As President Trump reiterated:
“Peace and stability cannot prevail in the Middle East as long as Iran continues to foment violence, unrest, hatred and war. The civilized world must send a clear and unified message to the Iranian regime: Your campaign of terror, murder, mayhem will not be tolerated any longer. It will not be allowed to go forward.”
The father of our country, George Washington, said, “There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.” Are we prepared?
In the words of President Ronald Reagan:
“We must make it clear to any country that is tempted to use violence to undermine democratic governments, destabilize our friends, thwart efforts to promote democratic governments or disrupt our lives that it has nothing to gain and much to lose.”
Sadly, the Western world has apparently not yet made that clear to Iran.
Mike Evans is a No. 1 New York Times’ bestselling author with 96 published books. He is the founder of Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, of which the late President Shimon Peres, Israel’s ninth president, was the chair. He also serves as a founding member on the Trump Evangelical Faith Initiative and has 66 million Facebook followers on the Jerusalem Prayer Team.
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