OPINION:
As if President Donald Trump doesn’t face enough heat for his tough talk on foreign nations — now comes Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo, in a few widely reported words, made clear that one goal of this White House’s reformed policy toward Iran would be to “crush” the regime with economic sanctions and military pressure, the kind and style of which it’s never before faced.
And now, predictably enough, the hand-wringers are wringing hands.
Specifically, Pompeo said: “We will ensure freedom of navigation on the waters in the region. We will work to prevent and counteract any Iranian malign cyber activity. We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world and crush them. Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East. The Iranian regime should know this is just the beginning.”
America First; nations of peaceful intent second. And Iran with all its rogue intents, somewhere down the list.
What’s wrong with that?
Well, make room for the globally minded diplomats and pro-Iran factions and apologists of the world.
“I think this is war, but not by name,” said Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, CNN reported.
Another critical response, from the liberal-slanted J Street and its vice president of government affairs, Dylan Williams: “[Legislators] must make clear that the president does not now have its authorization for the use of military force against Iran.”
Then this, from The Washington Post, a headline that smacked hard at the tougher White House stance on Iran: “Mike Pompeo gives a silly speech on Iran.” The opinion piece opened by saying, “Pompeo used his first speech as secretary of state … to send a message directly to the Iranian leadership and its people: ’Do what we want, or else!’”
As if Iran is the calm and friendly face in the Middle East, and America the aggressive bully.
That Washington Post piece came right after another in the same newspaper, from the editorial board this time, that blasted the headline, “Mike Pompeo sets the stage for perpetual conflict with Iran.”
Once again, as if Iran were the voice of peace in the Middle East equation, simply trying to go about its business — and now, here comes America to disrupt its calm and friendly designs.
But here’s where all the Pompeo critics and White House faultfinders miss the mark: Iran’s led by wicked and rogue people who want to A) spread radical Islamic ways of thinking throughout the world and B) develop nuclear warfare capabilities — mostly to enact Mission A.
Pompeo’s tough talk does not bring out the wicked in Iran. It simply recognizes the wicked that’s already there, and lays out the path America will travel in order to fight against that wickedness.
The left doesn’t like to recognize any evil at all in the world, though. And this is where the trouble starts with this White House and those who want to walk around with blinders on their eyes.
So now: Just as Trump had to, and has to, fight off the talk-at-all-costs forces who’ve plagued his administration and called out his tough talk as overly aggressive, Pompeo, apparently, will face the same critical crowd. But let’s not mistake Pompeo’s “America First” and this White House’s peace-through-strength foreign policy rhetoric as a call for war. It’s not. Rather, it’s a sign of strength and it’s a principled stand that takes real men and women of courage to enact. Why? Because it’s a stand that has to withstand the fury of the left, the press and those who want to draw moral equivalencies between hostile nations and peace-loving countries.
And let’s face it, folks. When it comes to Iran and America, there’s a distinct difference between which wants war and which wants peace. Pompeo is just telling Iran that America’s not afraid to fight.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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