The President and the Bombing of Iran

By Dr. Harold A. Black

blackh@knoxfocus.com

haroldblackphd.com

Did John Bolton sneak into the White House when we were not looking? How else to explain the president joining Israel in its war against Iran? Yes, Trump imposed tough sanctions during his first term against Iran that Biden lifted. Now in his second term, Trump has reimposed the sanctions. They are export oil restrictions, a nuclear program blockade, a disruption of proxy group financing of Iran’s terrorist allies (Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis), and various economic sanctions. But the most significant action is the United States joining Israel militarily in its war on Iran.

Yes, Iran has been conducting a shadow war against the US since 1979. From the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1979 to the drone attack that killed three servicemen in Jordan in 2023, Iran has financed attacks on Americans through its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, and throughout the Middle East. We would occasionally bomb somebody or something, but we never have conducted a serious campaign against the regime. The president was itching to bomb Iran. Trump has called for Iran’s unconditional surrender and said that although the U.S. knows where Khamenei is hiding that the US wouldn’t kill him, “at least for now.”

I thought that Trump and JD Vance were opposed to intervening in foreign wars? Apparently not so with this one. Yes, Trump has been consistent in saying that Iran should never have a nuclear weapon. But couldn’t he just have provided support to Israel’s attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear capacity rather than joining them in the effort?

Will the MAGA faithful fall into line to kiss Trump’s ring – like they always do? Apparently not all of them. First, Tucker Carlson remains staunchly opposed to U.S. military involvement as does Steve Bannon. Trump now calls Carlson a kook. Marjorie Taylor Greene has voiced her concerns. Although Bannon says that military involvement will cause most of the MAGA folk to get on board with the president, he acknowledges that it does have the potential to splinter Trump’s support among his base.

The president has said repeatedly that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Yes, they are enriching uranium, perhaps even to weapons grade, but does that mean that they are close to having a bomb and the capacity to deliver it? Many national security experts and scientists contend that they don’t and that they do not have the expertise necessary to do so. I won’t go into all the technical details, but consider that there is the possibility that the administration is not telling us the truth. The National Security Director, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in March to Congress that “the intelligence community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” She said that we are closely monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. She also noted that the country’s “enriched uranium stockpile is at its highest levels and is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons.”

The president sharply disagreed. He said, “I don’t care what she thinks,” and that Iran was close to having a nuclear bomb. Given this put down, one would guess that Gabbard would resign. Instead, she said, “President Trump was saying the same thing that I said.” “We are on the same page.” Since she didn’t resign, if I were Trump, I would fire her. One, for speaking on a sensitive issue without being vetted by me, and two, knowing now that the Congress, the press and the American people will not believe another word she says.

Who to believe, the president or the national security experts, the intelligence community and the nuclear scientists? Regardless, the bottom line is that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon because the zealots running the country will use it on Israel. That threat is intolerable for any people, but especially one that has experienced the holocaust, the pogroms and all the purging and terrorism of the Jewish people throughout history. That said, this is Israel’s war and is its responsibility – not ours.