How to respond to Iran’s threat of a wider war

On Friday I got a glimpse into the thinking of the Iranian regime — not from the fundamentalist theocrats who guide the country, but from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that actually runs the country.

Hat tip to CNN correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who snagged an exclusive interview with Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. 

The news is not good. Rezaei threatened to open the aperture  to a much wider war.

Despite the glad talk from President Donald J. Trump about how the Iranians are desperate to make a deal, Rezaei said negotiations are deadlocked, and nothing will happen until and unless the U.S. agrees to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets — $12 billion immediately, another $12 billion later. 

That’s a no-no for Trump, who bitterly criticized President Barack Obama for handing over “pallets of cash” to secure a previous deal with Iran, which Trump foolishly tore up.

Not reported in the CNN story are other stories I have seen that the Iranian government is determined to get the cash because it is approaching bankruptcy. Inflation has soared to more than 70%, making even small food purchases painful. 

There is unrest in Iran, but that doesn’t matter to a regime that has slaughtered its own citizens in the streets. But things might get dicey if the military doesn’t get paid.

In the U.S., affordability has the natives restless and there are elections in November that almost always punish the party in power.

Trump says he doesn’t care about the midterm elections, but he should. He stands an excellent chance of losing the House, and even a long shot of losing the Senate. Even if it is just the House, Democrats will launch their own revenge jihad.

Maybe the Epstein files come back, maybe Trump’s alleged corruption and imperial executive orders. Either way, the Dems will make his life a living hell.

Speaking of hell, that’s what the Iranian general promises if the U.S. returns to military action. Big time.

Rezaei warned that Iran will “drag the war” from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, the Bab al-Mandan Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. If that doesn’t sound like world war to you, check your hearing aid.

Would our allies join in then?

In an earlier column I asked where are our allies and said that was a subject for another day.

That day is today.

There is likely more than one reason, but certainly one reason they treat the U.S. like Typhoid Mary is because Trump has spent most of his presidency vilifying them, disrespecting them repeatedly.

After he spits in their eye, why should we be surprised that they decline to offer a hand to the man who did the spitting?

Trump, following his own weird star, both condemned our allies for not offering aid while simultaneously bragging we don’t need it.

Actually, we do.

America First is fine. America Alone is not.

Iran seems to be waving a red cape at America, as if we were in a Madrid bull ring.

The bull doesn’t know there’s a sword hidden beneath the red cape. We must be cautious.

But caution is a yellow light, not a stop light.

If Iran wants to challenge us to an alley fight, we should not turn away. Bit we have to be smart about it. 

Right now we are focused on the Strait of Hormuz, but let’s not have convenient amnesia.

Iran is a hostile state, not just to Israel and America, but to Christianity and the entire West. They wish to dominate. 

Through their vassal terrorist organizations, they have killed hundreds of Americans, and thousands of others.

Allowing them to achieve nuclear weapons would be like handing them a Glock to point at our head. Both Republicans and Democrats agree on that much.

What should Trump do?

Can he get a declaration of war from congress?

Unlikely. As CNN host Michael Smerconish pointed out on his Saturday show, the last declaration of war was against — wait for it — Germany in 1941.

No war declaration against North Korea, North Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, plus at least a dozen smaller military engagements.

Other legal niceties were invented to avoid the “W word.”

Such as the AUMF — the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which green lights the President to use force under specified conditions. 

Smerconish suggested that Trump should go to congress and make his case for the use of force against Iran for the reasons mentioned above.

I think that’s a great solution, except for a not-so-small flaw:

A lot of isolationist Republicans, who are the soul of MAGA, want no foreign entanglements, which Trump promised during the campaign. And few Democrats would trust Trump with that power.

So AUMF is out the window, but this armchair general says the U.S. should take the challenge from Iran.

If a war is going to come, let it come now. If our munitions are low, which has been reported, put defense contractors on a crash basis, as was done with Operation Warp Speed to develop a Covid serum.

We must prepare for Iran widening the war, which is the bad news. The good news is it will widen the number of nations opposed to Iran. 

When other nations’ economies start crashing due to Iranian attacks, they will see the threat to their well-being is Iran, not the United States.

I am reminded of a World War II quote attributed to Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamato about awakening a “sleeping giant.” He did not use those words, but after Pearl Harbor he cautioned to wait and see what the enemy does, that “angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counter attack.”

Which the U.S. did, ultimately bombing Japan into submission.

I would never use atomic weapons against Iran, nor massive attacks producing heavy human loss.

Iran exists on one product —oil. It is their soft underbelly (like public opinion is ours.) It is their Achilles heel.

I would not blow up Iran’s oil infrastructure, because that would have global consequences.

But capturing Kharg (the oil export powerhouse) and Oeshm (defense and industrial) Islands?

This would be a boot on the ayatollah’s neck. 

And it is hard to threaten others with a boot on your neck.