Changing The Face Of The Middle East

The Lebanese civil war began in 1975 and ended in 1990. Up until that civil war, Lebanon was the garden spot of the Middle East and was a major tourist destination. After a clash between Jordan and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1970’s, many of the PLO members moved to Lebanon. The PLO and other organizations like them did not exist peacefully in Lebanon. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, Hezbollah began aligning itself with Iran and was responsible for terrorist attacks and car bombings in Lebanon. In 1983, Hezbollah carried out a terrorist attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut. Today, Hezbollah operates a terrorist stronghold in southern Lebanon which sends rockets into Israel on a regular basis. The major part of the funding of Hezbollah comes from Iran. Hezbollah does not represent the Lebanese government, but they have a lot of influence. They essentially hold parts of Lebanon hostage.

On Thursday, The New York Post reported:

Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day cease-fire beginning at 5 p.m. ET, President Trump announced Thursday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had settled on the pause “in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries.”

“On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio,” he added on Truth Social.

However, there are a few obstacles:

A Hezbollah official previously told NBC News that “if Israel is fully committed to a complete cessation of hostilities … then this matter would be subject to consideration” by the terror group. Trump insisted to reporters as he left the White House Thursday “they’re going to be having a ceasefire, and that will include Hezbollah.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the pact in a social media post, noting that the pause in fighting “is a central Lebanese demand we have pursued since the first day of the war.”

Netanyahu confirmed in a video statement that Israel had agreed to the cease-fire but isn’t withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon yet. 

“We are remaining in Lebanon in an expanded security zone,” Netanyahu said, citing the “danger of an invasion.”

During trilateral cease-fire talks between Rubio, Lebanon’s ambassador, and Israel’s ambassador, Beruit acknowledged that Hezbollah is a mutual problem for both nations, a White House official said.

How much funding has Hezbollah lost because of the current situation in Iran?

Whatever happens with this ceasefire, I think we are watching some major power shifts in the Middle East. I am sure the Lebanese would like to see Hezbollah either destroyed or removed from their country.

It’s Really All About Perspective

Over the past few years, the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association has hosted a number of critical thinking classes. It is always a good idea to brush up on critical thinking, particularly if you watch the mainstream media. At one of those classes we were shown the video below:

Sometimes we are so focused on one thing that we can’t see the whole picture. That is my feeling about recent statements by Pope Leo.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines just war theory:

The four most important conditions are: (1) the war must be declared openly by a proper sovereign authority (e.g., the governing authority of the political community in question); (2) the war must have a just cause (e.g., defense of the common good or a response to grave injustice); (3) the warring state must have just intentions (i.e., it must wage the war for justice rather than for self-interest); and (4) the aim of the war must be the establishment of a just peace. Since the end of World War II it has become customary to add three other conditions: (1) there must be a reasonable chance of success; (2) force must be used as a last resort; and (3) the expected benefits of war must outweigh its anticipated costs.

I believe that the previous actions of the Iranian government combined with their quest for a nuclear weapon resulting an an attack by America and Israel meet the criteria for a just war. The Iranian government’s slaughter of their own people should also be considered. Evidently Pope Leo does not share this belief.

There are many things that Pope Leo could be commenting on at this moment–the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria, abortion in America, and the killing of Christians by Islamists. Somehow he is quiet on these things.

There are some other aspects of the Pope’s recent comments. Is he aware the God definitely answered the prayers of David in the Old Testament? Is he meddling in the American midterm elections? If so, why? The Democrat party stands for many things that are contrary to Catholic teaching. According to one of my sources, there is a money component to this related to the petrodollar and audits that may occur if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Keep your eyes open, and don’t forget how the Iranian people feel about the war–they want their country back!

(Past) Time To Leave The United Nations

On Saturday, U.N. Watch posted an article about some of the members recently appointed to various United Nations human rights groups.

The article reports:

On Wednesday, the UN’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination, which meets next month to shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention. ECOSOC’s nomination is effectively decisive, as the UN General Assembly customarily rubber-stamps such nominations without a vote.

In addition, ECOSOC by acclamation elected China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to the influential Committee on NGOs, which oversees the work, accreditation and UN access of thousands of human rights and civil society groups that enjoy consulative status at the world body.

The United States was the only ECOSOC member to object, saying that Iran, Cuba and Nicaragua were “unfit.”

UN Watch today called on all democratic ECOSOC member states — Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland — to explain why they joined in the election of serial abusers of human rights to key UN bodies that oversee human rights.

“Appointing China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia to oversee the work of human rights activists is like putting Al Capone in charge of fighting organized crime,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s truly indefensible, and puts lives at risk.”

“As an organization accredited with special NGO consultative status at the United Nations, and which regularly gives a platform to dissidents from China, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Nicaragua, we are gravely concerned that brutal dictatorships were elected to oversee our work and credentials — and it is scandalous that Western democracies put them there.”

“This means dictatorships will have a majority on the committee in order to deny United Nations accreditation to independent organizations that call out their human rights violations, and to accredit more fake front groups created by the regimes,” Neuer said.

This makes about as much sense as asking a fox to design a security system for a chicken coop. Remember, many of the men involved in the October 7th massacre in Israel were United Nations employees. I think it’s time to disband the organization.

Avoiding Ground Troops

On Tuesday, Breitbart posted an article about a recent bombing attack on Iran.

The article reports:

The recent massive U.S. strike near Iran’s central city of Isfahan likely sought to render Tehran’s remaining highly enriched uranium stockpile inaccessible by burying it deep underground — a strategy that would negate the need for a prolonged and risky U.S. ground operation to extract the material, according to an Israeli military analyst writing Tuesday.

Writing in Ynet on Tuesday, Israeli military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai — a veteran Yediot Ahronot correspondent and Israel Prize recipient — assessed that the strike reflects a deliberate U.S. effort to neutralize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile by entombing it beneath rock, soil, and collapsed tunnel infrastructure rather than attempting to remove it by force.

The article notes:

Ben-Yishai said recent discussions had centered on two possible ways of addressing the stockpile: a ground operation to extract it from Iran or a negotiated arrangement under which Tehran would transfer it abroad.

He suggested the first option would be extraordinarily difficult.

A ground operation, he wrote, would likely require more than 1,000 troops, the establishment of airstrips at sites such as Natanz and Isfahan to sustain the force, and heavy engineering equipment capable of opening sealed tunnels — all while exposing U.S. personnel to casualties and requiring a sustained American military presence inside Iran.

The alternative, he argued, is to neutralize the uranium by burying it so thoroughly that Iran would need at least a year to locate and recover it, buying the United States and Israel time to detect and disrupt any such effort.

In Ben-Yishai’s telling, that appears to be the course Washington chose.

“It can be assessed with reasonable confidence,” he wrote, that the United States opted to bury the material rather than attempt a ground extraction or rely on Iranian cooperation. He said U.S. forces struck the area surrounding the uranium storage site at Natanz in March and likely carried out a similar operation overnight in Isfahan.

The article concludes:

Most importantly, Ben-Yishai wrote, U.S. operational activity points to a decision to bury the enriched material rather than undertake the kind of prolonged ground mission that would have required a sustained American military presence on Iranian soil.

That, he suggested, may be precisely why Trump chose to publicize the footage.

Trump has also suggested the broader campaign may be nearing its conclusion, saying Tuesday the United States is “ahead of schedule” and has largely eliminated Iran’s military capabilities, adding in separate remarks that “we won’t have to be there much longer” as U.S. forces continue targeting what remains of Tehran’s offensive infrastructure.

I don’t want to see  American ground troops in Iran. Hopefully we can destroy enough of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and police force to allow the Iranians to take back their country. I have no idea who the next leader of Iran should be, but it needs to be someone who promotes freedom for everyone.

The Negotiators Lied

It isn’t really a surprise that the Iranians trying to get President Trump to agree to letting them have a nuclear program lied, but now we have further proof.

On Saturday, The Jerusalem Post reported:

Iran fired two ballistic missiles at a joint US-UK military base, Diego Garcia, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday night, citing multiple US officials. 

One of the missiles failed in flight, and a US warship fired an interception at the other. At this time, it has not been determined if an interception was made, but neither missile hit the base, officials told WSJ

Diego Garcia is located about 4,000 kilometers from Iran, double the 2,000-kilometer range that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s ballistic missiles had last month. 

According to a report published by Israel’s Alma Research and Education Center at the start of the war, Iran’s missile inventory primarily consists of short-range ballistic missiles, which reach up to 1,000 kilometers, and medium-range ballistic missiles, which can reach as far as 3,000 kilometers.

However, the Center added that “according to various reports, long-range ballistic missiles are currently in advanced stages of development.”

Note that during the negotiations with Iran, the Iranian Foreign Minister claimed that Iran only had missiles with a 2,000 kilometer range. What else was he lying about?

If we had waited to attack Iran until after they had developed long-range missiles, the world would have been blackmailed by Iran. A country constantly yelling “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” would have been a worldwide threat if they had nuclear missiles and the capability to deliver them. Thank God for a President with the courage to attack them when he did–time was running out.

Seems A Little Ungrateful

It is very disheartening to some Americans that when the members of the  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) were asked to help secure the Strait of Hormuz they seemed disinterested. America has been the main funder and defender of NATO since it was formed, and the lack of support for America in ending Iranian terrorism was disappointing. However, things happen, and NATO members seem to be changing their tune.

On Wednesday, Red State reported:

As we reported, President Donald Trump asked our NATO allies and others to help contribute to a coalition of escort ships to help ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz.

But he was rebuffed by some of the NATO allies, like Germany, who said that they didn’t start the military action, so why should they be involved? These are some of the same folks who thought the United States should pay endlessly for Ukraine, despite that not being “our war.’

They had a bit of a karmic wake-up call when the hotel where their European Union Advisory Mission is housed was hit by an Iran-backed drone in Baghdad.

But now Trump is also calling their bluff, because the bottom line is that the U.S. ships very little through the Strait — it’s far more important to others. So Trump posted on Truth Social that if allies want to play the weak-kneed weasel game, maybe the U.S. should just not provide any escorts, and just let the countries that use it be responsible for it.

The article notes:

“I have been in contact with many allies,” Rutte (NATO SecGen Mark Rutte) said during a NATO exercise in Norway.

“We all agree, of course, that Strait has to open up again. And what I know is that allies are working together, discussing how to do that, what is the best way to do it. They’re working on that collectively to find a way forward.”

Rutte also explained the ballistic missile and nuclear capability had been “severely degraded.”

Gee, what happened to “We didn’t start it”? Sounds like Trump shamed them into movement. Rutte gets Trump, so he knows they have to pony up.

Others are showing up some of our European allies. As we reported, India is providing warships to protect their own ships; it is one of the biggest shippers through the Strait, along with China.

…The United Arab Emirates may join a U.S.-led effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran all but shut the vital waterway to ships as Tehran wages war with Israel and ‌the United States, a senior Emirati official said on Tuesday.

Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said talks were ongoing and no formal plan had been agreed, but that “big countries” in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe bore responsibility for ensuring the flow of trade and energy.

Iran has made a number of strategic mistakes during this war. One of those mistakes was attacking their neighbors who were attempting to remain neutral. I see good things in the future for the people of Iran, but not so good things in the future for the current leaders of Iran.

The Long Road To War

On March 10th, Victor David Hanson posted an article at American Greatness detailing how we got involved in a war with Iran.

The article reports:

Until last year, for some 46 years, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: always unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, inevitably to be nuclear, self-destructive, and nihilistic.

All that said, was it really ever all that formidable?

The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and, subsequently, the interim secular socialists. They did so by taking American hostages, murdering opponents, executing former supporters, and transforming the most secular and modern of the Middle East Muslim nations into the most medieval that routinely hung homosexuals, adulterers, and almost anyone who questioned the authority of the ayatollahs. In other words, these were gruesome people, but they didn’t necessarily have a competent military.

The theocracy’s only constant with the prior monarchical Iran was that it inherited near limitless oil and natural gas reserves, sophisticated arms, and the Shah’s modernized cities. It controlled the key strategic chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz and enjoyed a geostrategically critical location between Asia and the Middle East. It fueled Iran’s historical chauvinism and pique that the millennia-long historical preeminence of Middle Eastern Persia was not fully appreciated by its Arab neighbors. So there were lots of natural advantages—and all for the most part squandered.

The article concludes with what the author suspects is the strategy of the people who currently control Iran:

The remnants of the theocracy intend to ride out the bombings and, at some point in extremis, expect an armistice from “negotiations.” Their ultimate strategy is to wait out the tenures of both Trump and Netanyahu and hope for another sympathetic president like Obama, or a non compos mentis Biden, or someone ideologically akin to Mamdani or AOC.

When Trump and Netanyahu are out of office, they dream of using their oil to rearm and resume their role as Chinese and Russian proxies, eventually getting the bomb, and the second time around, perhaps using it.

Theocratic Iran, in its fantasies, still believes that if it ever destroyed Israel with a bomb or two, the world, especially given the recrudescence of Western antisemitism, would be appalled—for a day or two.

Then it would resume business with it. And with a dozen or so deterrent nuclear-tipped missiles, the Iranian ritual boilerplate of crazed pronouncements would follow of supposedly welcoming a nuclear pathway to an eternal virginal Paradise.

And thus, we would go full circle back again to a “crazy” Iran, its murderous clients, and its unhinged—but effective—threats.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. The war started 47 years ago. We need to finish it.

When Someone Doesn’t Follow The Script

One of the rules for trial lawyers is never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. Generally, the left-wing media also follows that rule, but sometimes they get answers they are not prepared for.

On March 6th, Townhall reported on one example of a very quick ‘cut to commercial’:

Kian Tajbakhsh appeared on CNN last night to discuss the Iranian operation. It wasn’t confrontational like Scott Jennings, Kevin O’Leary, or Ben Ferguson; he simply presented facts. He should know, as a former political prisoner. We discussed how liberals are trying to frame Operation Epic Fury as a new endless war, but it’s not new: Iran has considered itself at war with the United States since the Iranian Revolution. Tajbakhsh was present when officials stated this—we’ve been at war with the Islamic Republic since 1979.

This is the quote that caused a very quick cut to commercial:

TAJBAKHSH: “What happened with President Obama, I’ll just say this very quickly.”

“And I was in the State Department in the 2000s when we implored the Bush administration not to restrict the engagement with Iran simply to the nuclear file.”

“What happened with president Obama is that, for better or worse — and I’m not going to litigate that here — he decided that given the four big problems that have always been on American objectives with Iran, that is enrichment, ballistic missiles, proxies and democracy inside Iran, that he would put all the last three aside and focus only on the nuclear deal.”

“Now, I’m not going to say that was good or bad. I don’t think it was a great idea, but what we have seen and this is also maybe controversial and I think a lot of my liberal friends are going to hate me for this…”

“Is that unfortunately you can draw a straight line from the 2015 nuclear deal to October 7th.”

“I think that what the Trump administration is—”

PHILLIP: “We…we…we do have to go to a break here.”

TAJBAKHSH: “Okay.”

Thank you, President Trump, for putting an end to a terrorist state that unfortunately had the money to export its terrorism.

I Didn’t Pay To Be An Ally Of Iran

On March 5th, Hot Air posted an article about the changing alliances in the Middle East. There are a lot of reasons for those changes–economic, political, and reading the writing on the wall. In an effort to expand the war and apply pressure against Israel, Iran has attacked Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, and Iraq. Those attacks have not had the desired effect–in fact in many cases those countries have now quietly or openly aligned with Israel. I wonder if these countries are grateful that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.

The article reports:

Donald Trump is breaking the post-Cold War assumptions in foreign policy and rewriting the strategic rules. Campus radicals in America, and antisemitic professors and transnational elites are much more hostile to Israel than Saudi Arabia or even Qatar.

The international establishment can’t wrap its head around the new reality, nor the opportunities that the changes in strategic alliances promise.

Winning the Iran war, or whatever you want to call it, has the potential to reshape the Middle East for decades to come. Especially if the new Iranian regime is relatively moderate, as we can hope, if not expect, yet.

In the1970s the Middle East was divided between Arab states hostile to Israel and an alliance of Israel, Iran, and the United States. Since the Iranian revolution, the Arab states remained enemies with Iran, had reasonable relations with the US, and a mostly hostile peace with Israel.

Could we soon see a new alignment, with Israel, the Arab states, and even Iran coexisting well together?

We can hope.

The Abraham Accords were the beginning of this process. We could be looking at a peaceful Middle East. It has been a long time since that happened.

Out Of Touch Again

The  Democrats are clutching their pearls over President Trump’s being part of the Israeli attack on Iran. When Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House, she defended President Obama’s attack on Libya as constitutional. Now she is singing a different tune. Meanwhile, there are an awful lot of people in the world rejoicing at the death of a very evil leader.

On Tuesday, Behind the Black reported:

Without doubt there remain great risks and real constitutional issues involved the present military campaign by both the United States and Israel to destroy the Islamic leadership in Iran. First, it is almost impossible to force a change in power solely by air power. This has been tried numerous times, with little success. Killing the leaders of this terrorist Iranian government is a positive step, but it remains entirely unclear whether this war can produce a better government there.

Second, as much as there might be legal precedents that allow President Trump to initiate this action without direct congressional approval, it continues a dangerous trend ceding power away from Congress and to the presidency, in direct opposition to the intentions of the Founding Fathers in their writing of the Constitution. They very much were opposed to giving any president the power to start a war unilaterally.

Having stated the reasonable objections to this military action, however, we must now take a look at the two images to the right to see its immediate and very positive consequences. Both pictures are from videos of very spontaneous demonstrations on February 28, 2026 by Iranian refugees celebrating the American/Israeli attacks against Iran.

Did you ever think you would see the American, Iranian, and Israeli flag together at a celebration?

The article notes:

Moreover, these demonstrations took place in two Democratic Party strongholds, cities where pro-Hamas demonstrations have been routine, including rioting and violence against Jews and anyone who dared suggest Israel’s actions in Gaza might be justified.

Nor are these two demonstrations an exception. They have been the rule across the United States and Europe, as well as in Iran itself. The public — the ordinary people for whom governments are meant to serve — seem very much in favor of what President Trump and Netanyahu are doing in Iran. And they are expressing that support of both America and Israel quite unequivocally. If this doesn’t indicate to the world that Israel and the rest of the Middle East can live together in peace and mutual cooperation, nothing can.

This conclusion is further supported by the response by almost every Arab nation in the Middle East, most of whom started off quite willing to let the U.S. and Israel do this deed, with no opposition or with covert support. Now, because of Iran’s indiscriminate attacks on Arab nations, they have all publicly joined the war, allying themselves not with the Islamic nation of Iran but with the U.S. and Israel.

This is the path to freedom for the Persian people. They need our prayers.

Looking At The Big Picture

Despite what his enemies tell us, President Trump is a very smart man. The backing of the Israeli attack on Iran is a major step toward American national security because of its impact on China’s fuel supply. President Trump may have just prevented an Chinese attack on Taiwan.

On March 3, Red State reported:

President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Iran takes a big economic bite out of one of America’s chief rivals: China.

Over the span of two months, the Trump administration has removed the leaders of two countries that both shared China as their most important crude oil customer. Although China buys oil from nations all across the Middle East, Iran was second only to Saudi Arabia as its supplier last year, according to a POLITICO analysis of data provided by market research firm Kpler.

Almost all of Iran’s exported oil, and more than half of Venezuela’s, went last year to China, which remained one of the only purchasers of goods from the two heavily sanctioned nations. The two countries combined represented some 17 percent of China’s overall oil purchases — a meaningful share for the world’s largest importer of crude oil.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it was “highly concerned” by the attacks on Iran and called for an end to the war. The squeeze on China’s energy supply also comes just weeks before Trump is slated to hold a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

…Iran has a single use beyond supplying cut-rate oil to China’s economy, that is to provide a distraction to the U.S. Iranian operations effectively handed us defeats in two wars. Iranian explosive-formed penetrators killed hundreds of American soldiers and Marines. Iran’s sponsorship of Lebanese Hezbollah and the Houthis has created conflict and disrupted international trade. In case of a real war, a nuclear-armed Iran could create a massive distraction to any U.S. effort in the Indo-Pacific and put the Suez Canal as well as Gulf oil fields at risk.

We are in the early stage of a rollback of Chinese influence. From an oil perspective, Venezuela and Iran account for 17 percent of China’s oil imports. Not much you say. Making up that oil volume at below-market rates is difficult. Add to that the fact that the supply of Russian oil smuggled by “dark fleet” tankers is also coming to an end. President Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed that India will stop buying bootleg Russian oil. In fact, only three weeks ago, India seized a tanker carrying Russian oil; Indian Coast Guard Seizes Three Sanctioned ‘Dark Fleet’ Tankers Carrying Illegal Iranian Oil…to India – RedState. This has caused a significant disruption in the supply of Russian oil to China.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. The implications of the fall of the current government of Iran are wide-ranging.

History Repeating Itself

On March 3, Real Clear Politics posted an article about some of the history between Iran and Israel. Remember, Iran is not an Arab country–it is Persian, and Israel and Persia have a history. Israel is currently celebrating the feast of Purim, where Queen Esther prevented the genocide of the Jewish population in Persia.

The article reports:

The joint United States and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, 2026, did more than destroy military infrastructure. They decapitated the ideological command center of a regime that has spent four decades promising Israel’s annihilation and financing America’s enemies. The death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei marks the most consequential blow to state-sponsored terror in modern history.

It revives a question Jewish thinkers have wrestled with for centuries: When does confronting evil move from a strategic option to a moral obligation?

The Torah’s final commandment provides the frame. “Remember what Amalek did to you … you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.” The mandate sounds ruthless because it addresses something ruthless: a force that attacks the vulnerable without provocation and defines itself through destruction.

Maimonides did not treat Amalek as a racial category. He treated it as conditional. If Amalek accepted basic moral law, it survived. If it persisted in predatory evil, it forfeited its claim to endure. Amalek therefore describes not bloodline, but ideology – a governing doctrine that sacralizes annihilation.

The article notes:

The timing could not resonate more clearly. Purim begins as the Iranian regime loses its supreme leader. The Megillah names its villain precisely: Haman the Agagite, traced to Agag, king of Amalek. Scripture signals continuity. Hatred survives defeat. It reappears when it acquires power.

October 7 exposed that continuity in blood. Hamas did not act spontaneously. It operated within an architecture financed, armed, trained, and strategically directed by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The massacre of civilians – deliberate, theatrical, ecstatic – reflected doctrine, not desperation. It was a demonstration of what the regime believes is holy.

Iran built the machinery that made it possible.

The article concludes:

Amalek returns whenever annihilation joins theology to weapons and funding. Purim does not mark vengeance. It marks survival – the moment when a people recognized genocidal intent before it matured beyond containment.

This year, as the Megillah recounts the fall of Haman the Agagite, the final mitzvah reminds us that confronting predatory ideology cannot wait until encirclement completes itself.

The obligation lies in refusing to mistake declared annihilation for diplomacy – and in acting before the next decree becomes irreversible.

Many people in America and around the world are tired of diplomacy that simply feeds the other guy to the alligator. It’s time to destroy the alligator.

When The Predator Becomes The Prey

On Saturday, Townhall posted an article which might explain President Trump’s decision to attack Iran on Friday night.

The article reports:

Now we have more information on why the strikes happened today, from Salem Radio host and CNN contributor Scott Jennings. Jennings is reporting that intelligence indicated Iran was planning strikes on U.S. military and civilian targets in the region, which would have resulted in mass casualties.

The article quotes a CNN report:

A senior administration official said today that they believed Iran was preparing to potentially launch preemptive missile strikes, a factor that influenced President Donald Trump’s decision to initiate military action.

“We had indicators that they intended to use it potentially, preemptively, but if not, if not simultaneous, against with any actions against them, immediately against us,” the senior administration official added. “And the president decided he was not going to sit back and allow America’s forces in the region to absorb attacks from conventional missiles.”

“We are not going to be held hostage by them, and we are not going to let them hit us first, because it would have substantially increased the risk to our troops in the region and to our allies,” the official added.

However, a source familiar with the intelligence contradicted that assertion to CNN, saying that there were no indications that the Iranians planned to strike US forces or assets first — unless they were attacked by Israel or the US.

Given the choice between having civilians and American military killed by a regime that murdered thousands of its own people in cold blood and ending that regime, I choose ending that regime. Iran has been at war with America since 1979, when they began chanting “Death to America.” We have ignored those chants for too long. We have allowed the women of Iran to live as non-persons for a long time. Where are the feminists?

I commend President Trump for taking much-needed action. I pray that the people of Iran will finally be free.

Just a note–much of the military hardware Iran was using to protect itself came from Russia and China. The same was true for Venezuela. Are Russia and China not giving their allies their best technology, or are they both not as advanced as we thought? It’s too late now, but if I were aligned with either Russia or China, I would be asking them for better air defenses!

The Next In Line?

The future of Iran is uncertain. Although the people were protesting in the streets recently, we don’t know if there is enough unity in the country to form a cohesive government. There are a lot of Iranian ex-patriots around the world celebrating the fall of the regime, but the regime has already named its successor. One of the ex-patriot voices is that of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran. His father was a dictator who did horrible things to those that opposed him, despite moving the country closer to western ideas. The Prince is making noises as if he wants freedom, but he is in ‘campaign mode’ at this time.

On Saturday, Breitbart reported:

The son of the last Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, called on the country’s military, police, and security forces to abandon the “crumbling” Islamist regime of the Ayatollah amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Saturday.

“Decisive moments lie before us,” the exiled crown prince of Iran said amid a major military operation launched in the early hours of Saturday by U.S. President Donald Trump in conjunction with Israeli forces targeting the rogue nation’s missile programme and leadership apparatus.

In a statement on social media, Reza Pahlavi said that the military operation initiated by President Trump should be seen as a “humanitarian intervention” targeting the Islamist regime —  “and its machinery of killing” —  rather than a strike on the country and people of Iran.

“However, despite the arrival of this assistance, the final victory will still be achieved by us. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish this task in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is approaching,” he said.

Pahlavi, who has lived in the United States since 1978, shortly after which his father, the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was deposed in an Islamist revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called on the Iranian military, law enforcement, and security services to abandon the “collapsing” regime.

“You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian nation, not the Islamic Republic and its leaders. Your duty is to defend the people, not to defend a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the nation and help ensure a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will sink with Khamenei’s ship and his crumbling regime.”

The hope is that because he has lived in America for so long, Reza Pahlavi understands the value of freedom and can bring freedom to his home country.

Be Wary When The Lobster Shows Up

On Saturday, Ed Morrissey posted an article at Hot Air about the rising tensions with Iran.

The article notes:

What will happen next in the standoff with Iran? Donald Trump drew a red line nearly two months ago, and the regime brutally crossed it. Trump acknowledged this yesterday, announcing that US intelligence estimates the mullahs murdered more than 32,000 Iranian protesters last month:

…Since those massacres, Trump has assembled one of the largest naval and air armadas the Middle East has ever seen. He has demanded that Ali Khamenei stop all uranium enrichment activities, put serious limits on its ballistic-missile systems, and end support for terror proxies Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. Iran keeps trying to offer a sequel to the deal the mullahs cut with Barack Obama, a JCPOA-Lite that only addresses their nuclear-weapons development – and that only for the next three to five years. 

The article notes:

Taking Khamenei and his princeling off the chessboard would be satisfying, but it would change very little. They are not the only mullahs in the clique that runs the theocracy in Iran. The other mullahs are almost certainly not living in close connection to each other, either, likely housed in residential districts where civilian collateral deaths would be almost a certainty. A decapitation strike would have to be timed for a plenary meeting of the mullahs, and the Iranian regime would be idiotic to call one at this time. This option might take the Khameneis out, but another mullah will take their place, and so on. It would end nothing. 

So what’s next? Whatever it is, it may come quickly. The Times of Israel reports today that an “unbridgeable impasse” has emerged in the indirect talks between the US and Iran, likely over Trump’s demand for a full-spectrum retreat by Iran. It’s bad enough that the Iranians are refusing to read US proposals on missile limits:

On Sunday, MSN reported the following:

While there is no official confirmation, a common belief suggests the US military serves its troops a ‘last meal’ with a fancy menu including steak, lobster, and pie, before sending them on a war front. Some link the hearty meal to a dangerous deployment or an extended mission. The theory has circulated on social media for years and often resurfaces during periods of geopolitical tensions. …

Last year, in June, similar reports surfaced on social media on June 18 after military soldier Antonia Lopez posted a lavish meal video that went viral on social media. The day also coincided with the US Army’s birthday. In the clip, Lopez showed that she was given steak, lobster, caprese salad, asparagus, hush puppies, a baked potato, shrimp cocktail, fruit salad, garlic bread, cake, and pecan pie in the meal.

Days after the video was posted, the United States carried out military strikes on Iranian targets on June 22.

Hang on to your hats–the road ahead is going to be bumpy for a little while!

Just Say “No”

On January 16th, Red State posted an article about the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Iran is feeling the impact of the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and is looking for relief.

The article reports:

Iran is now signaling a desire to play “Let’s Make a Deal” with the United States, acknowledging that they will “discuss” their nuclear ambitions of the United States eases back on sanctions. Bear in mind, this is the largest state sponsor of Islamic terrorism in the world, here, trying to get America to back off.

The New York Post reports:

Iran is prepared to “discuss” its nuclear program if the US is ready to lift some of its crippling sanctions on the regime in exchange, the country’s deputy foreign minister said over the weekend.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, argued that the ball is “in America’s court to prove that they want to do a deal” and predicted the two sides will make progress if the US is sincere.

“We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program if they are ready to talk about sanctions,” Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC Sunday.

Takht-Ravanchi didn’t specify how much relief Iran would expect in order to make concessions on its atomic program.

The article concludes:

These people cannot be trusted. Any deal they agree to isn’t worth the paper it is printed on. Iran has been a blight on the planet for far too long, and the Iranian people, the ones who have been in the streets demanding change, protesting the mullahs even at the cost of their own lives, deserve better. Over 7,000 Iranians have died in these protests. That loss can’t be for nothing. The mullahs have to go. Iran has to rejoin the community of civilized nations.

We can’t do it for the Iranian people. But we sure can put a steel umbrella over their heads while they get the job done, and President Trump looks to be moving resources to the region to do just that.

If we loosen the sanctions, the Iranian people will never be free. They have to fight for their freedom, but our sanctions can help them in that fight.

Freedom Is Expensive

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence paid a high price for America’s freedom. Five of them were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.  (source here)

Many Americans paid a heavy price for America’s freedom. Now Iranians are fighting for their freedom and already paying a heavy price.

On January 13th, Townhall reported:

Iranian security forces have begun killing civilians not even involved in the country’s mass protests, according to witness accounts, as the country’s officially reported death toll surpassed 2,000 on Tuesday.

However, even that number has been eclipsed, according to the Editorial Board of Iran International, which says the death toll has risen to over 12,000, with the vast majority of those taking place last Thursday and Friday.

…Accounts began emerging late on Monday, after citizens were finally able to make international calls. The country had cracked down on most major forms of communication, including the internet and most international traffic, but then selectively restored and allowed limited channels of communication. Several Iranians were able to contact the foreign press.

According to a witness, Iranian security forces on motorcycles were seen opening fire on protesters in the city of Fardis, just outside the capital city of Tehran. Others have reportedly been operating from unmarked vehicles, patrolling alleys and murdering local residents, including people not involved in the protests.

One woman told the press that the worst of the slaughter occurred on Friday in Tehran.

“Security forces only killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my own eyes made me so unwell that I completely lost morale. Friday was a bloody day,” she said. “In war, both sides have weapons. Here, people only chant and get killed. It is a one-sided war.”

I don’t know if the resistance in Iran has the leadership or the strength to stop the killing and remove the thugs from power. I hope they do. I also hope that Israel and America have undercover people in Iran helping and working toward freedom for the people of Iran.

Somebody Wants To Come Back And Be In Charge

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about a recent post on X directed at Iranians from Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the former Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The article reports:

Now, Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the former Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, took to X to post instructions for the people, and specifically addressing the people of Tehran.

“My fellow compatriots,” Pahlavi wrote, “Today, I want to share with you a clearer picture of what is necessary and essential to bring down this regime. My words are especially addressed to the people of Tehran, who with their courage have initiated this new wave of the national uprising. The Islamic Republic is striving to prevent the formation of gatherings in Tehran; because it well knows that the seizure of the streets of Tehran and other major cities will seriously accelerate its downfall.”

The post continued, “The Islamic Republic is striving to prevent the formation of gatherings in Tehran; because it well knows that the seizure of the streets of Tehran and other major cities will seriously accelerate its downfall. To achieve this, first we must all overcome our fear and realize that if we seize the streets, the regime will quickly lose its ability and will to repress.”

Note: He is posting that from a safe location. He is not actually on the ground in Iran.

The article concludes:

With the Ayatollah’s regime on edge and Iranians taking to the streets, the coming hours and days could determine the course of Iran. Does the Ayatollah and the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) still have control or have the people gained momentum in ousting the regime? Only time will tell, but it seems that — unlike 2009 and 2022 — there is a clear message, the opposition is unified, and Pahlavi is pushing for the Iranian people to take back their country.

This also has global implications. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and the spread of Islamism around the globe. The fall of the IRGC and Ayatollah could fracture that entire movement.

Please follow the link and read the entire article. There is a lot going on here that the mainstream media is ignoring.

Why? Why Now?

On January 3rd, The Epoch Times posted an article about the indictment of Nicolás Maduro and his wife. This story is just breaking, so there will be updates in the future.

The article reports:

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were indicted in the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced early on Jan. 3.

“Nicolás Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Bondi said on X. “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
Bondi issued the statement hours after Maduro and Flores were captured and extracted by U.S. armed forces in Caracas in the early hours of Jan. 3.

The article notes:

In 2020, Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials were charged with narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other charges in New York City, Miami, and Washington, D.C.

“The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in the 2020 press release. “As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.”

So what is this actually about, and why now?

Venezuela has been a center for Hezbollah operations in South America for years. Iran has poured money into the country. Iran had money during the Obama administration the Biden administration–sanctions on Iranian oil were either withdrawn or not enforced. During the Obama administration roughly $150 billion of frozen Iranian assets was released. In essence, America was funding the terrorism used against our troops in the area. Under President Trump, Iran is going broke. The people are staging a revolution. They are not in a position to help Venezuela. This is the time to strike. The taking of Maduro and his wife is part of a battle against drug cartels and worldwide terrorism. Hopefully, Venezuela can now return to the thriving democracy it once was.

Amazing Perspective!

On Sunday, The American Thinker posted an article about America’s destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The article reports:

Something called the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has won a Nobel Peace Prize for its opposition to the existence of nuclear weapons.

Its slogan is, “We must eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us.”

Good plan. So, ICAN (what happened to the ‘W?’) must have applauded the Trump administration’s recent beatdown of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, right?

I mean, the U.S. used non-nuclear bombs to (hopefully) prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, at least for a while.

Nope. ICAN denied that Iran was developing nuclear weapons and blamed America for refusing to give up its nuclear weapons. Much as it also condemned Israel for striking Iran’s nuclear-development facilities.

Americans would be speaking Russian and/or Chinese now if we had surrendered/destroyed our nuclear weapons, and Israel might not exist.

Not to be outdone, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW?), which helped found ICAN, also condemned Israel and urged it to create “a Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone.”

The article concludes:

Iran’s nuclear weapons program was dealt a significant setback at the very least. And the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is too upset to admit it.

Wow.

It seems clear that the International Campaign to Abolish Reason and Sanity has been successful.

What would happen if the Middle East were free of nuclear weapons? Does anyone actually believe that Israel would exist if it were not assumed that it has nuclear weapons? I don’t think Israel has ever officially admitted that it has nuclear weapons. It doesn’t have to–just the idea that it might has been enough to provide some degree of safety for the country. Israel lives in a really bad neighborhood. Any weapon they need to keep their country from being overrun is okay with me.

A Prelude To The End Of The War?

On Thursday, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article about the rapid changes happening in the war in Gaza. Hamas is in an awkward position now that a lot of the leadership in Iran has been removed. It is not clear how much funding Hamas continues to get from Iran. Evidently other countries in the Middle East have taken note of the recent actions against Iran.

The article reports:

Symbolic? Maybe, maybe not. If true, Hamas leaders didn’t just get a soft ultimatum from Donald Trump this week. 

Yesterday, Trump warned Hamas that the final deal for a cease-fire in Gaza was on the table, and that all other options would get “MUCH WORSE.” Qatar may have decided to raise the stakes to something more personal for Hamas’ billionaire clique in Doha:

Doha-based senior Hamas leaders have been told to lay down their arms as part of the efforts to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to a Thursday morning report from The Times newspaper. …

The Times stated that those told to lay down their weapons were “the most senior Hamas leaders outside Gaza,  including the lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and other key figures.”

One of the key figures reportedly included Hamas political ­bureau member Zaher Jabareen, “a founder of the group’s military wing in the West Bank.”

An additional bureau member told to lay down weapons was Muhammad Ismail Darwish, who had “met the leaders of Iran and Turkey this year while shuttling between Cairo and Doha for indirect negotiations with Israel,” the report said.

The Times credits this as a “symbolic reflection of Hamas’ interest in the ceasefire proposal,” but that doesn’t make much sense. If Hamas wanted to send that kind of signal, their Qatar contingent would have voluntarily and unilaterally disarmed. They wouldn’t have needed the Qataris to order them to disarm.

That makes this sound like a much different kind of signal. The Qataris are likely as tired of playing the Hamas Hokey Pokey as everyone else, for one thing, while their leadership fattens up on “aid” meant for Palestinians. However, it may mean more than that, especially after the strike on Fordow by Trump and the B-2 bombers. That didn’t just send a signal to Tehran, but to Doha as well — and the rocket fire on Qatar afterward probably didn’t help, either.

This is definitely a wait-and-see moment. It is very possible that the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities may have had a larger impact than initially realized.

Two Weeks That Changed America And The World

On Sunday, Clarice Feldman posted an article at The American Thinker about the last two weeks of the Trump administration. The successes of the Trump administration in the past two weeks include tariff negotiations, peace deals in various locations, lower inflation, closing the border, and deporting illegal aliens. The article chooses to concentrate on Iran and the Supreme Court.

The article reports:

Despite CNN and much of the legacy media misusing a leaked preliminary assessment (of “low confidence”) the bombing was of great value to both Israel and the United States. 

Israel’s use of the F-35 was an absolute success for the U.S. for the following reasons:

1. Combat-Proven Validation — Israeli F-35s successfully struck deep into Iranian territory without losses, proving the jet’s stealth and precision in real-world combat.

2. Global Surge in Demand — The success triggered a wave of interest, with countries like Romania, Greece, and Germany accelerating purchases, boosting U.S. defense exports.

3. Massive Economic Benefit — Lockheed Martin gains billions in new deals, creating thousands of American jobs and expanding the U.S. defense industrial base.

4. R&D and System Improvements — Israeli combat experience helped identify and fix performance issues, saving the U.S. billions in research and development.

5. Strategic and Tactical Edge — Insights from Israeli operations now inform U.S. Air Force tactics, improving readiness and increasing pilot survivability.

In short, this wasn’t just a success for Israel. It was also a major win for Lockheed Martin and the U.S. economy.

The article includes the Pentagon assessment of the raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities:

Pentagon Assessment Operation Midnight Hammer : Planned Over 15 Years #Iran

Chairman Joint Chiefs GEN Dan Caine @thejointstaff

 Strike at Fordow exploited two ventilation shafts

Days before, Iran tried to cover shafts with concrete cap

First US weapon removed concrete cap

Weapons 2, 3, 4, and 5 entered main shaft, traveling at 1000 feet per second  to Iran’s underground mission center

Weapon 6 “flex” capability

The “kill” mechanism was the combination of blast and overpressure on the target

Officer from DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency) began the mission 15 years ago when the underground target was identified and the officer recognized the US did not have a weapon to counter it. 

Years of highly classified (likely special access program) development and testing followed.

Caine said he talked with the two DTRA officers who “lived this single target” for years. 

Post mission, they described hearts “ filled with pride to be a part of this.”

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. It’s been a good two weeks.

If The Strait Of Hormuz Is Closed, Who Loses?

On Monday, CNBC posted an article about Iran’s Parliament voting to block the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty percent of the world’s oil is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.

The article reports:

  • Should Iran follow through on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, it could alienate its neighbors and trade partners.
  • But the possibility of a closure of the strait is low, experts said, despite Tehran’s rhetoric around closing the strait.
  • A closure would provoke Iran’s markets in Asia, particularly China, which accounts for a majority of Iranian oil exports.

The article continues:

Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that Iran had shipped 1.5 million barrels per day via the Strait of Hormuz in the first quarter of 2025.

Furthermore, a closure would also provoke Iran’s market in Asia, particularly China, which accounts for a majority of Iranian oil exports.

“So very, very little to be achieved, and a lot of self inflicted harm that Iran could do” Hari said.

Her view is supported by Andrew Bishop, senior partner and global head of policy research at advisory firm Signum Global Advisors.

Iran will not want to antagonize China, he said, adding that disrupting supplies will also “put a target” on the country’s own oil production, export infrastructure, and regime “at a time when there is little reason to doubt U.S. and Israeli resolve in being ‘trigger-happy.’”

Clayton Seigle, senior fellow for Energy Security and Climate Change at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that as China is “very dependent” on oil flows from the Gulf, not just Iran, “its national security interest really would value stabilization of the situation and a de-escalation enabling safe flows of oil and gas through the strait.”

Iran does not need to alienate anyone right now. I am sure many of the Middle Eastern countries are breathing a sigh of relief knowing that Iran at the moment does not have nuclear capability.

Things We Need To Know

On Sunday, The Epoch Times posted an article detailing what we need to know about President Trump’s bombing of the Iranian nuclear facilities.

The article lists five things:

Iran’s Key Nuclear Sites ‘Obliterated’

Trump said during an address to the nation that U.S. strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan (also spelled Esfahan).

…Trump Threatens ‘Far Greater’ Attacks If No Peace

Trump threatened Iran with “far greater” attacks if the regime refused to make peace.

…US Worked With Israel

Trump confirmed the United States worked with Israel, taking a moment in his address to the nation to thank Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

…Iran Atomic Agency Vows to Continue Program

The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said it will continue with its development of its “national industry,” an apparent reference to its nuclear development.

…Some Lawmakers Want Congressional Authorization

While some lawmakers have been supportive of Trump’s authorizing the strikes, others want congressional authorization before any additional actions are undertaken.

The lawmakers who insist that President Trump needs congressional authorization need to look at some of America’s recent history.

Double standard, anyone?

No one wants another endless Middle Eastern war, but I suspect President Trump does not have the patience for an endless war. I expect the Iranian situation–nuclear reactor sites, Strait of Hormuz, etc., to be resolved quickly.

The View From The Lair

Better Late Than Never

The Islamic Republic of Iran declared war on the US in 1979. Granted, it has been an asymmetric war, but it has been war nevertheless. Asymmetric warfare is the method of choice when a smaller or less powerful nation wishes to conduct a war of attrition against a larger, better equipped foe.

Last night President Trump responded to their declaration. President Trump has been telling the mullahs of Iran that they would not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons for over ten years. Trump 1.0 was stymied in most of his objectives by the prevalent deep state operatives trying to defeat him.

Other than Reagan, none of the presidents since – including G.W. Bush – have taken Iran seriously. With such an anemic presidential response and after Barry Obozo and Resident Brandon were selected as leaders of the American nation, it was no surprise that the sociopathic mullahs would expect that all future US presidents would roll over and ignore the true facts. After all, if this is a representation of the will of the American people, that will is pretty weak. And dismal.

Enter President Donald J. Trump 2.0.

POTUS told the mullahs “No nuclear weapons”– a pretty simple declaration. And in true ideological response, they ignored him. After all, they have done whatever they wished – and were richly rewarded for it – for three presidential terms. Last night President Trump asked the proverbial question “What part of NO! do you not understand? Can you hear me now?”

After Israel had decimated the Iranian anti-aircraft missile capability as well as both the military hierarchy and their nuclear scientist cadre, President Trump utilized US capability to finish the job. He didn’t reduce Tehran to a smoldering parking lot, as many have wished for a long time (me among them). And so far, he has left intact their refinery and electrical grid. The subjects in Iran are largely unaffected–for now. But their nuclear weapons program has been eliminated. There hasn’t been a diplomatic response from Iran yet. Their recalcitrant attitude might have been adjusted.

I suspect that Chairman Xi and President Putin have watched with some interest. They are both aware that President Trump is serious about what he says. And now they have the proof that he has the cojones to deliver on his word.

But there will be a response. After Resident Brandon invited tens of thousands of criminals and terrorists into our country, with the assistance of an historically ignorant Marxist deep state and dummycrat legislators, the capability of delivering a response is already in place. For those of us in eastern NC, MCAS Cherry Point, MCAS New River, Camp LeJeune, and Seymour Johnson AFB are likely targets. Not to mention any large gathering of people that an attack upon can bring attention to the world.

I don’t consider the expected attacks to be of the “lone wolf” variety. Some will be coordinated, some will be the efforts of wandering vipers. A “lone wolf” in the real world is simply a packless predator seeking to survive. These attacks will be murderous tantrums of ideological throwbacks seeking to draw attention to their “mission”– that of killing any Jew or Christian, while attempting to facilitate the arrival of the next caliphate. It will not be pretty. It will be fearful.

But least if won’t be accompanied by a mushroom cloud.

As I have mentioned previously – Be prepared.

ciao.

The Snark.