Tough decisions in Iran were done for correct reasons

In ordering the bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran, President Trump did the right thing, for the right reason, and at the right time. As usual, some in the major media got it wrong. The New York Times initially headlined: "U.S. Enters War Against Iran." A Washington Post editorial said: "Trump did not prepare America for his war with Iran." The U.S. has effectively been at war with Iran since 1979 when "Iranian students" seized the American Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostages for 444 days before releasing them, apparently fearing what incoming president Ronald Reagan might do. Trump turned that fear into a reality. In a brief Saturday night address, the president said all of Iran's nuclear capabilities were "obliterated," though the extent of the damage has not yet been confirmed. He then warned any retaliatory strikes on Americans would be met with even more disaster for the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Addressing the "are we, or are we not at war with Iran," the president said: "Fo 40 years, Iran has been saying death to America, death to Israel. They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty. We lost over 1,000 people and hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East, and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate. ... So many were killed by their general, Qassim Soleimani. I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue." Khamenei has reportedly retreated to a bunker, as did Adolf Hitler at the end of World War II. The difference is that Hitler committed suicide fearing capture by the Allies while Khamenei is said to be naming his successors should he be killed and is reported to have said he is willing to die as a martyr. This is another major difference between the two leaders. The defeat of Hitler squashed Nazism in Germany. Should Khamenei be toppled, it won't completely defeat radical Islamism. That's because it is a virus that does not respond to a diplomatic "vaccine." Still, the bombing may have set back Iran's nuclear bomb capabilities for a very long time, hopefully forever. Some feckless European leaders were still pushing the diplomatic track, despite violations by Iran of previous agreements, until the bombing began. A few still are. Democrats are talking impeachment again (yawn). They ignore that their Nobel Peace Prize president, Barack Obama, bombed targets in seven countries during his two terms without congressional authorization. The isolationists have again been isolated. As former Israeli diplomat Yoram Ettinger has correctly stated in his newsletter: "The well-intentioned wish of Isolationists to militarily disengage from Islamic terrorism, establish peaceful coexistence, and be preoccupied with the domestic agenda, must be based on global and Middle East reality; not on alternative reality. Thus, since the Muslim Barbary pirates of the early 19th century, irrespective of U.S. policy, Sunni and Shiite Islamic terrorism has been determined NOT to disengage from - but to intimidate, terrorize and subjugate — the 'infidel' West, and especially the 'Great American Satan,' while establishing Islam as the only legitimate, divinely ordained religion on earth." An act of war is a tough decision for any president, but when the world is already at war with Islamic terrorism, there can be no compromise. Failure to have attacked those nuclear sites would have put not only Israel at risk of destruction, but the U.S. in greater peril. President Trump's bold decision to end the talking and act against an evil menace could change the entire dynamic of the Middle East. Others have tried and failed. Trump may have just succeeded. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com.