Critically Thinking about Iran
The importance of this issue is hard to overstate...
Iran is yet another matter that screams out for Critical Thinking. Regretfully, like with many things, much of what you read and hear will be devoid of that, as it’s a lot easier to spew political talking points, disguised as journalism.
This short commentary will try to put some parts of this concerning matter into perspective. As readers know, accurate perspective is a necessary ingredient of Critical Thinking.
Brief History of Iran —
Most of us know very little about the long history of Iran. Here is a recent overview. This is a reasonable (but somewhat more detailed) history.
How we have confused Iran —
It’s understandable that Iran may not take any President at face value, as the last three have had radically different Iran regime policies…
Despite claims that the Iran regime was a terrorist state, etc, President Obama gave them $1.7 Billion in cash, plus freed up $50+ Billion more for them. With these funds they worked towards building a nuclear bomb.
In President Trump’s first term, he stated that he was exerting “maximum pressure” on the Iran regime. One consequence of this was that their annual oil reserves went from $122 Billion in 2018 to $4 Billion in 2020 (see here). Despite setbacks, they continued to work towards bulding a nuclear bomb.
President Biden’s Iran policy was vague and non-descript, which translated to that it was about appeasement. This led to Iran being enriched by tens of billions of dollars (e.g., here, here, and here). With this encouragement the regime continued to work towards building a nuclear bomb.
What’s at Stake —
Three things are clear about the current Iranian regime: 1) it hates Israel and America, 2) it has funded deadly terrorist activity in many areas, and 3) it has been aggressively working towards developing nuclear bomb capability.
The ruse of the JCPOA —
JCPOA = Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. See here, here, and here.
What Israel has done recently —
In the last week or so, Israel has made multiple very targeted (military only) strikes on Iran. For sample reporting see here and here. In response, the Iran regime has made several non-military attacks on Israel (e.g., see here).
What the US has done recently —
The Iran regime was given numerous warnings by President Trump in hopes of getting them to be serious about a diplomatic solution. However, their responses indicated that there was no hope for that. No citizens know exactly what stage Iran was at regarding a nuclear bomb. The President and his team (who do have access to such confidential intelligence), decided that we needed to quickly undermine their nuclear bomb progress, which seems to have been accomplished (see here and here).
What Iran may do —
This, of course, is unknown. These articles opine: Seven Options for Iran After US Attacks; Here's how Iran could retaliate after US strikes on its nuclear program; How Iran Could Shake Up Global Economy in Response to US Strikes.
The short-range impact on US citizens —
There are multiple possibilities, from cyberattacks to oil price increases. There will also be incessant political dissent from never-Trumpers — like calls for his impeachment. [Note that complaining Dems forgot that the prior U.S. Secretary of State publicly stated that military intervention to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons could not be ruled out — e.g., here.]
The long-range impact on US citizens —
One potentially positive outcome is that other bad actors will appreciate that President Trump is willing to step up if necessary. Hopefully that will lead to less bad behavior on their part…
China and other players —
China is an ally of Iran, and what they will do is undetermined. One recent reported development is that they sent five 747’s to Iran. These may be to: a) replenish Iran’s missile stockpile, b) remove and safeguard some of what Iran has developed regarding a nuclear bomb, or c) something else.
The Bottom Line —
The short answer is that no one knows what the total fallout will be here.
This was not a zero-sum matter, as doing nothing had major potential for catastrophic results. In effect, the U.S. was between a rock and a hard place.
Praying is a good idea, and getting your own affairs in order also makes sense.
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Another glaring, but undeclared point is that Barack Obama was raised and influenced by Communist parents and Communist grand parents, and had much of his youth education in an Islamic school in Indonesia. He was groomed and mentored for the American presidency by Valerie Jarret, a Communist, and his campaigns were largely funded by George Soros, who we all know has a bent for destroying western civilisation. Obama appointed known Communist John Brennan as his CIA head. Obama was the epitome of a Manchurian Candidate.
Americans were fooled by his "Hope and Change" slogan. His allegiance to Islam was demonstrated by his wilful financial assistance to Iran, knowing that Iran was intent on undermining both Israel and America. His "anti-colonialism" message was a euphemism for his desire to promote Communism to replace western civilisation. His not-so-subtle introduction of racial division within America played a part of his "Slow march of Communism through the institutions". He played the game of politics so smoothly he still has half of America and the free world fooled. It's amazing how some people still believe that Barack Obama was a good person when in fact he was the exact opposite.
Kamala Harris failed with her feeble attempt to emulate the Obama Manchurian Candidate Trick, so now try and guess which Democrat politicians aim to try and repeat the Obama trick?
p.s. The Council for Foreign Relations (CFR) is an anti-American Globalist organization.
It only takes one side to make a war. Iran has been at war with us for 46 years. Fighting back and winning ends wars. NOT fighting back, and NOT fighting to WIN creates endless wars. Remember Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan? They all ended badly because we fought for a draw, not to win. Trump is not paralyzed by the Democrats (communists) who paralyzed Truman, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Cahtuh, Reagan, Bush, Cliton, Bush, Obama, and Bidet. Democrats are imploding, Russia is busy, China is faltering, and Trump doesn't give a damn about them.
My only regret about Trump having smashed important parts of Iran's war machine is that Jimmuh Cahtuh did not survive long enough to be humiliated by witnessing it.
Persians and Jews were friends for 2,500 years, from when Cyrus the Great ended the Babylonian Captivity. Persians were our friends too. Jimmuh Cahtuh whined about the "heavy hand" of Reza Shah Pahlavi — who (unlike the peanut farmer) understood the Muslim Brotherhood and was our ally against it, undermined his government, and then sat on his hands while the Nazis ("iran" is Farsi for "aryan") attacked sovereign American territory -- our embassy in Tehran. Then we and the Persian people were reminded that the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood is much heavier than anything Pahlavi did.
The Persian people are still our friends. They overwhelmingly hate the viciously murderous regime. The regime must go, but USA mustn't end it. That would just give the communists and Fascist Russia and China and the Democrat party and universities "American colonialist imperialist" talking points. Here's a better plan: Fill a fleet of B-1s (or C-17s or B-52s) with fully-loaded AR-15s (or AK-47s) and Colt 1911s (or Glock 9s) and air drop them into Iranian cities. Educate the world about the importance of the Second Amendment.
The Persian people will need their oil fields and refineries. If we bomb Iran into the stone age, they'll blame us and Israel for a generation of poverty. Blockade their ports. Destroy their easily-repaired trans-border pipelines. This will have the salubrious side effect of dumping some hurt on China, who will need to get oil from Russia, putting a dent in Putin's Ukrainian war machine.