BLACK REPUBLICAN BLOG

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Democrats Start To Look Like the Gadarene Swine

Posted: 09 Jan 2020 07:18 AM PST
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By CONRAD BLACK | The Sun

The Democrats have stumbled into yet another beartrap in their unanimous
objection to President Trump’s order to kill the world’s leading terrorist,
Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The same misdirected solicitude that
caused the Washington Post to describe ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
after he was driven to suicide by U.S. special operators, as an “austere
cleric” has elevated Soleimani to the status of an Iranian General
MacArthur.
The Democratic presidential candidates agree that Soleimani was a nasty
man, but all the principal active candidates — Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders,
Pete Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren — have embraced the Obama
Administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, in which Iran undertook not to
develop a full nuclear-tipped long-range missile capability for 10 years.
Under this agreement the United States released approximately $150 billion
of frozen Iranian assets, which substantially have been squandered in
underwriting the terrorist acts and infiltrations supervised by the late
Soleimani — especially by the Iranian-sponsored terrorist organizations
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthi in Yemen.
Apart from being unverifiable, and giving a tremendous stimulus to Iran’s
terrorist and other destabilizing activities around the Middle East, the
agreement (also ratified by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and
China), only dealt with fissile material, not rocket development or the
perfection of a warhead. So Iran’s nuclear military research has continued
apace, as it escalated its terrorist activities: a terrible and
indefensible agreement the Democrats are now robotically defending.
The reimposition of sanctions by the United States has badly squeezed the
Iranian economy and its oil exports have fallen substantially. The Iranian
economy has partially collapsed and there is immense discontent; months of
rioting required very heavy-handed action by the secret police and army to
repress. The Democrats who would take Trump’s place have thus conveniently
lined up on the side of the appeasement of Iran, the toleration without
reprisal of all Iran’s terrorist outrages, the absolute right to life of
the world’s leading terrorist and America’s greatest single enemy.
There could not be a better foreign policy political gift to the president.

There have been pro-Iranian and anti-Trump demonstrations in 70 different
locations across the United States in the 48 hours following the death of
Soleimani. After the Iranians, on the direction of Soleimani, attacked the
U.S. embassy in Baghdad and destroyed the reception area on Thursday, the
Iranian theocratic leader Ayatollah Khamanei announced to his Friday prayer
session that despite Trump’s threats, “There’s not a damn thing he can do
about it.”
A few hours later, Mr. Trump did something about it. It is shocking and
disgraceful that the Democratic leadership and candidates have swarmed like
the Gadarene swine to support Tehran’s side of this issue. The Democrats
screamed that Trump would blow up Asia when he called North Korean
president Kim Jong-un “Rocketman” and warned him of military action if he
committed aggression or attempted to become a nuclear power.
No audible Democrat has understood that Trump cannot lose these arguments
with Iran or North Korea. Land and sea-based air power, including cruise
missiles, that the United States has in-theater in both cases, could
destroy every relevant military target in North Korea, including
decalibrating the artillery aimed at Seoul from caves just north of the
Korean cease-fire line, in five minutes. The United States could also
destroy every strategically relevant military and economic target in Iran
in 30 minutes.
Mr. Trump has made it clear that if there is any move to achieve a nuclear
military capability by either country, he will strike. The elimination of
Soleimani, apart from being just in itself (if unduly merciful), helps
bolster the Tehran regime’s confidence that Trump means what he says.
Iranian threats of retaliation are rubbish—any retaliation will be returned
to them at once tenfold.
The two crisis areas are now clearly separate and easily distinguishable.
Mr. Kim accepted the overture to meet, failed to swindle Mr. Trump as he
had his three predecessors, and Mr. Trump has given him plenty of time to
grandstand, promise “Christmas presents” that didn’t happen, and Gasconade
about. Mr. Kim has not materially advanced his military nuclear program and
eventually will make the choice between forging ahead and being completely
humiliated, and making an agreement in which he gets an official peace and
recognition as a legitimate state, the end of sanctions, economic
assistance, plenty to crow about as part of an agreement for a nuclear-free
Korean peninsula from the Yalu to Pusan.
Mr. Trump has also made the point that American appeasement of China, as it
rifles through American corporate pockets and dumps cheap goods in the
United States, is also a policy that has ended, and in this he has received
Democratic support.
A side-benefit of the more level economic playing field that is emerging
with China is that Mr. Kim can now see that his guardian-cheerleader from
Beijing, in all his mischief, is not immune to assertions of American
economic strength, and will not put North Korea’s interest ahead of China’s
own.
These are elemental steps in Great Power diplomacy, deploying economic and
military strength as required. All the presidents from Franklin D.
Roosevelt to Bill Clinton knew how to do this, except Jimmy Carter (and
even he learned very late on). But President Obama thought this was
obsolete white American self-importance, and the main Democratic
presidential candidates have reflexively embraced that legacy of implicit
anti-American failure.
The rather pathetic Iranian attempt to threaten Europe with violation of
the nuclear military agreement will lead nowhere. Despite the warnings of
Democrats, the United States only has to say, as it has, that failure to
observe U.S. sanctions against Iran will result in loss of access to the
U.S. market for the exports of offending countries, to keep France,
Germany, and Italy on our side. These countries are singularly lacking in
robustness as allies, but at least they can still count and will vote with
their wallets.
Iran will soon be at the point of having to choose between having their
nuclear program bombed out of existence, or stalling as North Korea has, or
starting to deescalate the crisis. The United States is infinitely more
powerful by every measurement than Iran or North Korea and this president’s
application of elemental recourse to that power is producing results.
It is a slow process, and all countries, especially an ancient and proud
nation like Persia and an ideologically and militarily aggressive garrison
state like North Korea, have to be given time to adjust to the profound
change in their relations with a more vigorous and self-interested America.
They will take the time and make the change.
President Roosevelt enunciated the principles of all subsequent U.S.
foreign policy in 1941 in his State of the Union message to Congress. He
said that the United States must not be an appeasement power, and in his
war message in December he said: “We will make very certain that this form
of treachery [the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor] never again endangers
us.”
All subsequent presidents except Mr. Obama have followed the same policy,
and the response of America’s enemies has been to foster terrorist activity
apparently independent of any identifiable sovereign state, as with Islamic
extremism, or indirect mischief as with China’s incitement of North Korea’s
impertinences.
George W. Bush and Barack Obama had a good record fighting terrorism, but
they were both taken over the barrel by North Korea, as Bill Clinton was.
The total failure of George W. Bush’s Iraq invasion was particularly
evident last week, as the country is largely an Iranian satellite except
for Kurdistan. And Mr. Obama gave the store away to Iran. Mr. Trump is
taking it back.
The overwhelming majority of Americans will support the president — the
Democrats have put their head in a noose while standing over a trap-door.
The consequences are predictable.
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President Trump Delivers Another Blow to Iran in White House Address to the
Nation

Posted: 08 Jan 2020 02:41 PM PST
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Katie Pavlich| Townhall.com

Source: (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
President Trump addressed the nation from the White House Wednesday morning
less than 24-hours after Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at
al-Asad airbase in Iraq. As he spoke Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and the Joint Chiefs
of Staff stood behind him.
"As long as I am President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed
to have a nuclear weapon," President Trump said at the start of his
remarks. "The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for
with the funds made available by the last administration."
"Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be
standing down," he continued, reporting no casualties from the attack. "The
United States will immediately impose additional punishing economic
sanctions on the Iranian regime."
President Trump called on European allies and China to abandon the Iranian
nuclear agreement once and for all. He went after the Obama administration,
slammed appeasement of the regime and repeatedly noted Iran's violent
behavior.
"Those days are over. Iran has been the leading sponsor of terror and their
pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world," he said. "Iran’s
hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was
signed in 2013, and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8
billion in cash. Instead of saying "thank you" to the United States, they
chanted 'death to America.' In fact, they chanted "death to America" the
day the agreement was signed. Then, Iran went on a terror spree, funded by
the money from the deal, and created hell in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon,
Afghanistan, and Iraq."
On the killing of Iranian terror leader Qassem Soleimani, President Trump
justified the strike and said, "He should have been terminated long ago."
"To the people and leaders of Iran: We want you to have a future and a
great future, one that you deserve, one of prosperity at home, and harmony
with the nations of the world. The United States is ready to embrace peace
with all who seek it," he said.
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