Ray DiLorenzo
One of many Iran anti-government protests in Los Angeles and other international cities you have not heard about.
Reading the news lately has become tedious. To listen to people on the outside who think they know what is happening on the inside is a waste of time. The Iran operation has just begun, and we’re reading stupid headlines like ‘Support for Israel in the US Has Collapsed,’ ‘Is Trump Done?,’ ‘Will We Survive a War With Iran?,’ and ‘Is Trump a Liability?’ It’s like Democrats complaining about high prices (that they engineered) less than a month into President Trump’s 2nd term.
We are just over a week into the Iran operation, and the media, political analysts, social media pundits, and Democrats are all desperate to amass an audience by selling national tragedy.
In the meantime, the world is celebrating the end of a cruel regime and praying for better days.
It’s astonishing how quickly we forget who we are dealing with. Iran has plagued the world for nearly half a century. Their intolerance of anyone outside their version of Islam is mythical, as it has led to widespread persecution of religious minorities and dissenters within and outside their borders. Include the support of Muslim groups in Africa who kill Christians at will. Their fundamental interpretation of Islam has rendered any peace in the Middle East nearly impossible.
I am aware that the 1973 War Powers Resolution dictates that any threat must be imminent. One may question the imminence of an attack by Iran, but given their spread of terrorism throughout the world, are we to die of a thousand cuts?
Many who negotiate with radical Islamists would be well served by understanding that to the radical Muslim, lying, cheating, and the killing of infidels are allowed and even encouraged. To them, ‘peace’ is merely the absence of war while they rearm. Their appetite for nuclear weapons has been well illustrated in recent years.
Make no mistake, should they ever attain a nuclear bomb, they will use it. To the radical Muslim, death, or being a martyr, is victory over the infidel. That is their strength.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, world terrorism has increased exponentially. Terrorism in Iran is state-sponsored. They have been linked to massive amounts of terrorism targeting Western interests and allies, including attacks on military bases, embassies, and civilian populations in various countries.
They utilize proxies across the Middle East to extend their influence and conduct attacks against perceived enemies such as the United States, including groups that have carried out high-profile attacks in countries like Iraq and Syria.
To Iran, their perceived enemies are Satanic, giving them a license to kill. They have turned the region into a mass of instability, contributing to ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises that affect millions of people.
For peace in the region and much of the world, they are the bug in the soup, the wrench in the works. Unfortunately, China and Russia do not help.
Iran constantly reminds other Islamic countries seeking peace that the West is evil and deserving of death.
Israel holds a special place in their hatred, having rejected Islam very early in their history.
Their vision of Islam is such that peace is unattainable. For radical Muslims, it is either their way or death, with no alternative. Since 1979, Iranians have transitioned from a modern Western-style culture to an autocratic theocracy that imposes specific limits on their people, especially on women and women’s education.
Iran maintains that women can attend college and are encouraged to do so. The reality is different. Women often attend colleges and universities but are restricted as to what they can study, compulsory hijab rules, and quotas. De facto barriers to education are many. Drop-out rates and unemployment for women are high. Economic hardship and child marriage reduce opportunities substantially, leading to limited access to education and employment for women in Iran.
Iran, like much of Islam, imposes a 6th-century culture on its people. Leaving Islam in many countries is punishable by death. Except for weaponry, strict Islamic culture is uncomfortable with modernity and seeks a basic, simple, often violent life. They will use a shoulder-fired rocket on an enemy and then go back to their tent or mud hut. They fight other Muslims with as much aggression as they fight the West. Differences in Koran interpretation are often the cause of war.
We are going to need some patience at this time. Making outlandish statements at this juncture is both inappropriate and juvenile, as it speaks to being divisive as it undermines our efforts. Trump supporters are still Trump supporters. His numbers are firm. I speak to the rank-and-file Democrat and Independent who entrusts spurious writers and speakers with a nefarious political agenda.
The Iranian people need us. Trump sees an opportunity to provide the entire Middle East and much of the anxious world a chance at the peace they so fervently want, and Trump is doing it.
