Iran – Declare Victory and Leave

By Larry Huss,

Over the past weekend, President Donald J. Trump demanded that Iran allow transit for all ships through the Straits of Hormuz.  He gave them forty-eight hours to comply or face a devastating torrent of missiles and bombs aimed first at the Iranian power grid and second at the missile sites along the Persian Gulf that threaten passage.  Prior to the expiration of that forty-eight hours, one or more self-identified leaders of Iran contacted Mr. Trump about complying with his demand.  On that basis, Mr. Trump extended the time line to five days, ending sometime late on Friday.  Mr. Trump has sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff back to the Middle East to arrange a peace agreement.

Great.  But there are two pieces missing.  As of the writing of this column, the “Iranian leader(s)” has not been identified nor has his bona fides for speaking on behalf of Iran’s rogue Islamist regime been verified.  Or that there is a strong likelihood that this is just another example of Iranian duplicity known as taqqiyy.  Taggiyy  is an exception to the general condemnation of lying and deceit under Islamic doctrine.  According to a group identified as The Religion of Peace (TROP):

“There are several forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, the best known being taqqiyya (the Shia name). These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause of Islam – in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.”

Or course under the regime of Iranian ayatollahs, everybody, including most of the Iranian civilians were considered “non-believers.”  They have raised lying to an art form that parallels Joe Biden. To put it into American vernacular, it simply means that if their lips are moving, then you know they’re lying..  There are no exceptions to the rule in Iran.  So, how are you going to know whether the person you are negotiating with represents any segment of the Iranian populace outside of his own tribe and even at that how are you going to know whether he is telling the truth or just another lie to get what he or his tribe wants.  You don’t.  That’s it.  End of debate.  Hard stop.

Now add to that the history of Iran (Persia).  At least since the turn of the Twentieth Century and continuing through the first quarter of the Twenty-first Century,  Iran has been victimized by a series of despotic rulers.  Prior to 1925, Iran was run by a series of religious leaders – ayatollahs.  At that time it was a land mass housing a variety of tribes and what little centralized governance there was based on councils of clerics – none of whom trusted the others.  Then in 1925, Reza Pahlavi took over and declared himself to be Shah (an Arabic form of King).  He was succeeded by his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1947 and, like his father, ruled with one eye on modernization (education, infrastructure, and the economy) and the other on iron-handed control to root out any dissent.  While much of Iran thrived under the Shah, when dissent and suspicion put one under the surveillance of the dreaded SAVAK (secret police) the result was that literally tens of thousand of Iranians were arrested, tortured, killed or simply disappeared.  The SAVAK were not unlike the Nazi’s Gestapo or the Soviet KGB.  The primary difference being that American CIA supported both the Shah and the SAVAK.

In about 1978, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led a revolt against the Shah but not the despotism that Iranians suffered under the Shah.  Mr. Khomeini was a brutal dictator and he passed his thirst for the blood from all those with whom he disagreed onto his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenie who ruled until his timely death two weeks ago.  And while the Shah had his SAVAK, the Ayatollahs have their Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – same effect, different leaders.    The point is that the Iranian people have never experienced democracy.  They have been ruled by despotic regimes – mostly cruel and repressive regimes.

We are at a time and place where the advice of former President Richard Nixon about ending the war in Vietnam is appropriate:  Declare Victory and Leave.  For Mr. Nixon, declaring victory was really admitting defeat.  There never were any definitive goals or paths to exit.  But currently, Mr. Trump has stated specific goals prior to commencement of the engagement.

• Destroying the regime’s ballistic missile stocks and launchers and its capacity to produce new ones.
• Annihilating the Iranian Air Force and Navy
• Stopping Iran from arming, funding and directing proxy militant groups.
• Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

There is no question that America has achieved the first three goals.  The fourth goals is more about maintenance than it is about destruction.  Vigilance about what occurs in Iran regardless of who rules, is the only means of ensuring a nuclear free Iran.  Obviously a cooperative regime would make it easier but even at that the promise to forego pursuit of nuclear weapons is only good until it isn’t.

So, congratulations America, congratulations Mr. Trump and mostly congratulations to the unbelievable skills and courage of America’s fighting men and women.  You won and we can welcome you with the hero’s welcome you deserve.  Yes, some of your brothers and sisters at arms will be required to watch carefully as Iran proceeds.  Although a better solution would be to pass that baton to the Arab nations surrounding Iran and who were attacked by the ayatollahs of Tehran.

Oh, I almost forgot.  There is that pesky problem of the Strait of Hormuz and the oil that must transit to fuel Europe and the Far East.  But there is an easy and historic solution that rises from one of our most enduring forefathers Benjamin Franklin:

The Lord helps those who help themselves.

So there you go England, France, Germany, Italy, etc., this is really your problem since the United States is already energy independent.  The United States will help those who help themselves.  We have already done the heavy lifting.  It you need oil from Iran and the Persian Gulf, YOU need to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Now we’re all done.  Welcome home America.