02/10/2017 / By JD Heyes
During the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump said the U.S. military was in a state if exhaustion and in major need of new investment, which he pledged to make as president. But he obviously believes it is more than capable of handling a country like Iran, and he’d be right.
In fact, some believe the president may be preparing for a conflict with the Islamic republic, which has been openly mocking his administration while its naval forces harangue and harass U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.
As reported by Activist Post, on the campaign trail Trump criticized the so-called “nuclear deal” between Iran and the Obama administration, a deal so bad and so against American interests in the region that the last White House paid off the Iranians in cash – $1.7 billion, some of which was flown to an airport in a cargo plane, to be paid when four Americans being held by Tehran were released.
AP further noted that the Trump administration has also “put Iran on notice,” referring to a recent statement by National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. His statement was made after it became clear that Iran had been testing ballistic missiles, which is forbidden under the provisions of the nuclear deal.
“Recent Iranian actions, including a provocative ballistic missile launch and an attack against a Saudi naval vessel conducted by Iran-supported Houthi militants, underscore what should have been clear to the international community all along about Iran’s destabilizing behavior across the Middle East,” Flynn said.
“The recent ballistic missile launch is also in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls upon Iran ‘not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology,’” he continued. (RELATED: See what threats the U.S. currently faces at NationalSecurity.news)
While his reference to a UN Security Council resolution is curious – some reports have suggested the administration is preparing executive action to reduce the U.S. role in the globalist body – there is no question that Iran, likely emboldened by the deference shown it by the last administration, seems to be agitating for a fight.
As The National Sentinel reported, Iranian gunboats belonging to the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps pointed their weapons at a U.S. Navy destroyer, forcing the captain to order warning shots be fired across the bows of the rapidly approaching Iranian vessels. While it seems silly to a layman for the captain of a U.S. destroyer to worry much about fast-attack vessels armed with machine guns, some of those smaller crafts can carry torpedoes which, if launched close in, would give a larger ship virtually no time to react to or maneuver away from.
Plus, incidents are occurring in international waters; if the Trump administration simply ignores them as Obama did, then he will invite additional provocations from Iran that someday may actually result in U.S. casualties due to a miscalculation by Tehran. What if Iran decides to take more U.S. sailors prisoner?
Then the proverbial stuff will really hit the fan, and when it does, Iran will lose. The U.S. military is the most advanced in the world, and while we have near-peer competitors in Russia and China (to a degree), Iran is no match for U.S. military power.
We can have a debate with our elected leaders about what our foreign policy ought to be and as a free people, we certainly should. Our leaders should explain the policy, why it’s necessary and why, at some point, it will be worth spending American treasure and, perhaps, blood. (RELATED: Find out what the Trump administration faces next at Whitehouse.news)
But what we can’t do is box in our commander-in-chief who has the defense if this nation, and the protection of its people, as his highest priority. From time to time that requires the use of force, and clearly the Trump administration appears ready to employ it against Iran if the need arises.
Rather than rush to always ‘blame America first,’ how about we recognize the president’s responsibilities, remember that we have national interests all over the world and that those interests require defense from time to time? Trump is no globalist; Trump has no such ambitions and is not controlled by the globalist elite, which is why they so revile him.
If he decides Iran has pushed too far, it will be because he thinks so, not some shadowy faction loyal to the military-industrial complex.
We elected him to lead; do we now ask that he not do so?
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
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Tagged Under: Iran, nuclear deal, Trump administration, Trump.news, War