Twice in the last 100 years, the free world had a choice as to when to enter a war against a maniacal dictator who was massacring its own people and intent on taking over the world.
The first was England under Neville Chamberlain before the start of World War II and the German Nazi campaign to commit a genocide against its own Jewish citizens, as well as against those in nations it conquered on its quest to rule the world. Adolf Hitler broke five major agreements through the rebuilding of his military; most notoriously, the Munich Agreement, which he signed with Chamberlain to stop pursuing other territories after receiving the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in 1939, as well as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Stalin.
Four days after Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on the United States. He thought he could defeat America as at that time, due to both an isolationist mentality and the idea that the U.S. military was considered only the 14th strongest in the world.
Iran signed agreements like the 2015 nuclear deal that it routinely violated by not allowing inspectors and secretly pursued their nuclear-weapon program. People cite that U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018, but England, France and Germany stayed in the agreement; therefore, Iran was obligated to keep it. The fact that Iran bragged in negotiations that it had 460 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium—enough for 11 nuclear bombs—and would not give this up in negotiations made it abundantly clear that it was an imminent threat to the world.
During this time, Iran became emboldened and, in essence, by supplying arms to Hezbollah, it took effective control of Lebanon and Syria, as well as Hamas in Gaza. They also supplied the Houthis in Yemen with ballistic missiles that disrupted international shipping, and they pursued their own massive ballistic-missile program, producing 100 a month and using them twice to attack Israel.
Iran has been the dominant political, security and economic power broker in the Mideast, and the main state sponsor of terrorism. Its leaders have repeatedly made it clear in their desire to destroy Israel, financing the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, in addition to the Hezbollah missile attacks that followed starting on Oct. 8. Its leaders also tried to assassinate Trump and other previous Trump administration officials, like former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Hitler and the ayatollah had the same fanatical vision to rule the world. Both similarly went after the Jews as well. Unlike his presidential predecessors, who thought appeasement was the right policy against these evil leaders, Trump understood that there was no diplomatic solution with Iran, just as there was no diplomatic solution with Hitler. Trump also understood that Iran was at a weakened state from Israel’s prior attacks on it, and that now was the time to attack and not wait any longer, as the problem would only get worse.
The result has been one of the greatest military accomplishments in history. Iran’s leadership has been wiped out by joint U.S.-Israeli operations, with few people killed so far of either nationality. Iran has lost thousands of soldiers. This is likely the most successful war in terms of a casualty ratio in history, especially considering the fact that Iran was considered a top 20 world military power before the war. Iran’s navy and air forces have been destroyed, as well as its ability to make more ballistic missiles.
The billion-dollar-a-day cost of the war will be quickly made up by the sales of U.S. military equipment once it ends. It has also shown that U.S. systems are far more advanced then Russia and Chinese equipment. The war should further deter Russia and China in the future.
Estimates have it that Iran murdered around 32,000 demonstrators and injured around 200,000 others. The isolationists and leftists have shown that they would stand idly by and do nothing against such barbarism, just like their counterparts stood idly by in the 1940s as Jews were being murdered and Hitler was gobbling up countries in Europe.
Trump gave his word to these Iranian families whose loved ones were butchered by the evil Iranian regime that he would take action—and he did.
The war is still going on, but the courageous and moral decisions of Trump need to be appreciated and admired. Many talked about stopping a nuclear Iran, but only now has this happened, under his leadership and that of Netanyahu. That decision to act has already made the whole world safer.
