Can't Win

We can be appalled by President Trump’s tweets. From his Easter praise for Allah with the F-word to his morning post yesterday declaring the coming annihilation of a civilization, we can condemn the words, put distance between ourselves and his tweets, but also recognize that, whether we like it or not, it actually is a strategy he is deploying.

I got lit on fire yesterday on Twitter by those who despise the President for rationally pointing out that the President is not going to nuke Iran and is not going to destroy the Iranian civilization. I also pointed out that the President alienates others from him with his bombastic tweets, puts his own party on defense, and turns voters off.

He was far more popular when he was not on social media. He lacks impulse control and can’t help himself.

But also, there is a coherent strategy.

The President has embraced playing the madman for negotiations. If you think he’s nuts, you’re going to try to cut a deal. The President wants deals. He wants deals more than anything because he wants to take credit for stuff. And he is willing to make bombastic and over the top demands and threats to then meet in the middle so he can get a deal.

So he tried to outcrazy the Iranians yesterday morning. By yesterday afternoon, he launched B-52 bombers and midair refuelers. By last evening, Iran said it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Left immediately declared the President had chickened out. He was going to be a nuke-deploying war criminal for them, until he was a chicken. They, with their friends in the press, ensure Trump cannot win. Heads, they win. Tails, he loses. The war criminal war monger became the chicken. In the morning, Democrats screamed the 25th amendment needed to be deployed. By nightfall, they were mocking Trump as a coward.

It is odd how they basically ended the day by all but encouraging the President to continue to attack Iran by mocking him.

And that is, frankly, why the President should wipe out the Iranian regime. That is the only path for the President to really win.

The Iranian regime is going to develop nuclear weapons. They will harvest their uranium and, if they can, make dirty bombs. The President is trying to outcrazy people he does not understand. The President, behind the scenes, mocks sincere adherents of religion. He finds it all rather silly.

The Iranians do not. The Iranian regime is premised philosophically on the destruction of Israel and bringing about the apocalypse. It is the reason for the regime. The President has hindered them, but they will go right back to work on a nuclear weapon and anything else they can build to end the world as we know it.

Progressives think Iran just wants a nuclear weapon, so no one can mess with them because that is what the North Koreans want. But the North Koreans are godless atheists. Iran is a theocratic regime.

Frankly, we are less safe today because the President sought to negotiate a settlement that keeps the Iranian regime in place. If this lasts, he will alienate not just Americans with his outlandish tweets, but he will alienate our Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

After the ceasefire went into effect, Israel, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates all still had to deal with incoming missiles and drones from Iran. That signals the level of disarray Iran found itself in. The regime struggled to communicate the ceasefire to the regional commanders.

Credit where it is due — the President, through his outlandish tweets that absolutely are beneath the dignity of the Leader of the Free World, has a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Now, Iran has two weeks to get weapons and supplies from Russia and China, put in some anti-aircraft batteries, and prepare for round two.

The President should stop tweeting and just be President. But at least the markets will do well today, and oil prices will come down. When the President tries to take credit, Democrats and the press and even some of his allies will wonder why go through what we just went through when all we did was leave the Iranian regime in place to rebuild.

He can’t win with his critics, and his foolishness on social media alienates him from voters. But the spice flows today, and the markets will go up.

It is my hope the President will realize the Iranians are fully committed to their nuclear ambitions and will proceed with annihilating the regime. It is the only way for him to win and the only way for our Middle Eastern allies to be assured the Iranian threat is ended. If he wants a hint of where this goes, consider the response of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, the most powerful entity in Iran today:

It is hereby announced to the noble, great, and heroic nation of Iran: The enemy, in its unjust, illegal, and criminal war against the Iranian nation, has suffered an undeniable, historic, and crushing defeat. By the blessing of the pure and sacred blood of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Imam Khamenei (peace be upon him), the measures of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei (may God protect him), and the struggle and bravery of the fighters of Islam on the fronts-and especially the historic, enduring, and epic presence of you, the dear people, on the scene from the very first days of the war-Iran has achieved a great victory and forced the criminal United States to accept its ten-point plan. In this plan, the United States has, in principle, committed to non-aggression; the continuation of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz; acceptance of enrichment; the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions; the termination of all United Nations Security Council and Board of Governors resolutions; compensation to Iran; the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region; and the cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon. We congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory and emphasize that until the details of this victory are finalized, continued resilience and prudence by officials, and the preservation of unity and solidarity among the Iranian people, remain necessary. The brave fighters of Islam and their courageous allies in the axis of resistance, despite their hearts being wounded and shattered by the martyrdom of their Imam, resolved-relying on Almighty God and following the example of the Master of Martyrs-to deliver a historic lesson to these enemies once and for all, to avenge all prior crimes, and to create conditions such that the enemy would forever abandon any thought of aggression against beloved Iran and fully taste humiliation and disgrace before the great Iranian nation. With this strategy, and relying on the unprecedented political and social unity formed within the country, Iran and the resistance began one of the heaviest hybrid wars in history against the United States and the Zionist regime, and during this period achieved all the objectives they had designed for this battle. Iran and the resistance almost completely destroyed the U.S. military machine in the region; delivered crushing and deep blows to the vast infrastructure and capabilities the enemy had built over years for this war and positioned around it; imposed heavy regional casualties on the U.S. military; inflicted severe and devastating blows inside the occupied territories on the enemy’s forces, infrastructure, capabilities, and assets; and tightened the arena on all fronts to such an extent that not only were none of the enemy’s primary objectives realized, but roughly ten days after the start of the war, the enemy realized it had no ability whatsoever to win. For this reason, it began-through various channels and methods-attempts to establish contact with Iran and request a ceasefire.

President Trump threw a temper tantrum over CNN spotlighting this statement, instead of the statement by Iran’s Foreign Minister. But the Foreign Minister’s statement was meant for the world stage. The Security Council’s statement is the internal statement of the regime, declaring Trump lost.

Frankly, if we leave it as it is, Iran certainly has to rebuild a lot of its military. But it still controls the Strait of Hormuz, still has its nuclear materials, still has a massive arsenal of missiles, and is still controlled by the present regime.

What is the point of what we did if this is it?